Car mat cleaning life hack

[dwasifar]

Advertisements for all weather car mats always show some smiling customer rinsing the mat with a hose: "Easy to clean!" I don't know if that's true in other areas, but here in the slush and road salt Midwest, you can scrub one of those mats until your fingers bleed, and when it dries, it's still brown and gray with ground-in dirt.

So today I had an idea. Here's a three year old set of mats after a trip through the dishwasher:


All the ground-in dirt is gone. They don't look like new, but they look a whole lot better than they ever did cleaning them by hand.

Today's life hack.

 

[Wiz02]

Advertisements for all weather car mats always show some smiling customer rinsing the mat with a hose: "Easy to clean!" I don't know if that's true in other areas, but here in the slush and road salt Midwest, you can scrub one of those mats until your fingers bleed, and when it dries, it's still brown and gray with ground-in dirt.

So today I had an idea. Here's a three year old set of mats after a trip through the dishwasher:


All the ground-in dirt is gone. They don't look like new, but they look a whole lot better than they ever did cleaning them by hand.

Today's life hack.

Great idea, @dwasifar . Now I'm not trying to proposition you, but you must be single or divorced. I can't imagine what would happen to me if SWBO found out that floor mats were in the dishwasher, but it would not be pretty.

 

[southalabama]

My wife isn’t amused by the variety of things she finds in the dishwasher

 

[Walkers]

My wife doesn’t mind a bit. Of course I have never been caught either!

 

[Firebrick43]

Great idea, @dwasifar . Now I'm not trying to proposition you, but you must be single or divorced. I can't imagine what would happen to me if SWBO found out that floor mats were in the dishwasher, but it would not be pretty.

Its not our fault that you chose poorly of whom you married. My wife doesn't care as long as it doesn't smell like diesel when I am done.

 

[Wiz02]

@Firebrick43, over 30 years of marriage and no complaints, I think that l chose wisely.

 

[dwasifar]

Great idea, @dwasifar . Now I'm not trying to proposition you, but you must be single or divorced. I can't imagine what would happen to me if SWBO found out that floor mats were in the dishwasher, but it would not be pretty.

Actually my wife saw me putting them in the dishwasher, and her comment was, "that's a clever idea!" And not sarcastically, either. I got a good one.

 

[Jeff C]

Y’all must have either a commercial sized dishwasher or tiny floor mats. I can’t fathom how I could get one mat in my dishwasher let alone two. Granted I’ve never tried so I could be mistaken.

 

[dwasifar]

Y’all must have either a commercial sized dishwasher or tiny floor mats. I can’t fathom how I could get one mat in my dishwasher let alone two. Granted I’ve never tried so I could be mistaken.

Well, they don't have to lay flat. I just bent them into sort of an arch with the dirty side facing the jets. I imagine you could also take out the top rack, bend them 90 degrees and stand them on their sides in the bottom rack.

 

[Jeff C]

Well, they don't have to lay flat. I just bent them into sort of an arch with the dirty side facing the jets. I imagine you could also take out the top rack, bend them 90 degrees and stand them on their sides in the bottom rack.

Taking out the top rack seems possible. Now you’ve got me curious because my mats have the seemingly permanent brown stains.

 

[PCustoms]

I vacuumed 5 months worth or gravel from mine today and hit them with the pressure washer.

No need to bring them inside.

Had weathertech for 20 years and did this a couple times per year. A squirt of protectant and good as new.

Gravel driveway and spend a lot of time in the woods. Stuff builds up....

 

[yelchevelle]

I have used auto carpet cleaner on stuff like that and it works pretty good. I rinse off, then spray with the foaming carpet cleaner, agitate with soft to medium brush and rinse off. Probably 3-5 minutes each.

 

[Crowbarman55]

Having cleaned thousand of mats in the rental car business over 26 years in Michigan, vinyl, rubber and leather cleaner sprayed on and wiped off will do the same thing.
Todd

 

[scooby074]

Keeps the wife and the Miele dishwasher happy

 

[Renegade1LI]

Great idea but I really don't want dirty floor mats being cleaned where our dishes get cleaned, just doesn't seem right.

 

[dwasifar]

Taking out the top rack seems possible. Now you’ve got me curious because my mats have the seemingly permanent brown stains.

You can see the barest trace of those remaining in the driver side mat where my heels rest; a larger one for gas/brake, and a smaller barely visible one for clutch.

 

[4xdog]

I use Super Clean -- the purple stuff -- on my rubber mats along with a scrub brush. Super Clean cleans rubber like nuthin' else.

 

[dwasifar]

I appreciate all these options. I'm probably going to stick with the dishwasher trick though, because it took virtually no effort and left no mess.

 

[rooster59]

Can you clean yer floor mats and cook fish in aluminum foil at the same time?

 

[yatg]

Taking out the top rack seems possible. Now you’ve got me curious because my mats have the seemingly permanent brown stains.

depends if the top rack has a spray bar, and if it closes off the flow when the rack is removed.

that funny noise you hear is a water jet hitting the dishwasher door.

 

[like2wheel]

My wife puts everything in the dishwasher.
Doesn’t always work out well for the non-dishwasher safe stuff.
I'd be pissed if a set of Weathertechs came out distorted.

 

[jbfsr]

Knew a guy that put the furniture from a rack grade M1 Garand in his dishwasher. Claimed it brought out a lot of the "dents" in the wood.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I’ve done the dishwasher floor mat clean, mind you my wife was out of town. Also mixed all the breakfast cereals in one box. Did a few other things that had her shaking her head. That was the last time she left me on my own for 6 weeks.

 

[MR2FC]

Good for header tanks as well

 

[Pen & Wrench]

Not a bad idea, but it seems like its the perfect opportunity to buy a new power washer instead.

 

[58Yeoman]

My 2800 psi power washer works great on rubber floor mats AND the carpet mats, too. We don't have a dishwasher, but if we did, I wouldn't be putting any auto related parts in it for cleaning. That's just me, though.

 

[Crowbarman55]

This got me thinking... Dishwasher in the garage? Anybody else think this is a good idea?
Todd

 

[mike93lx]

This got me thinking... Dishwasher in the garage? Anybody else think this is a good idea?
Todd

Cheaper than a hot tank and easier to use than a parts washer. Git r done

 

[Grimpala]

Whatever you do, don't soak a bell-housing in de-greaser and then chuck it in the dishwasher!

 

[nadogail]

Ihad never realized how similar a Dishwasher and a Hot Tank are.

 

[thebmrust]

Pressure washer is cold water, dishwasher is very hot water.

Also… preheat a turkey before thanksgiving in the dishwater. Can just put it on rinse (no detergent).

Yes, I’ve done it and got the idea from my grandfather.

 

[Crowbarman55]

Need to change the name from dishwasher to multifunction appliance.
Todd

 

[Innovate1]

Most overused word: Hack. Ok, it's a reasonable tip. But why does everyone call whatever idea they come up with a hack?

But it does remind me of an incident in Navy boot camp many years ago. Had kitchen duty running things though the dish washer. It was a conveyor setup. Mops were pretty grungy so I ran the mops through after we finished all the dishes. Worked great but I got yelled at. Of course you got yelled at for everything in boot camp, at least back then.

 

[captain14]

But it does remind me of an incident in Navy boot camp many years ago. Had kitchen duty running things though the dish washer. It was a conveyor setup. Mops were pretty grungy so I ran the mops through after we finished all the dishes. Worked great but I got yelled at. Of course you got yelled at for everything in boot camp, at least back then.

Bet you would not have been caught if you had cleaned all the mop strings out of the filter at the bottom of the machine.

 

[Showkey]

As a side note to cleaning and getting mats black again with a like new look without being slippery.
WeatherTech sells cleaning and renewal kit ( not cheap) but it WORKS !!!!

My mats were 5 years old…….swap to a new car……..used the kit. The kit will clean and renew 5 sets of mats or more.

TechCare FloorLiner & FloorMat Cleaner/Protector Kit

TechCare Floor Mat cleaner and protector kit combined, dissolves grease and oil stains and leaves a like-new appearance and anti-flip finish on your floor mats.

www.weathertech.com

 

[JimH]

Those have to be the longest toes I've ever seen ...

 

[Renegade1LI]

I was thinking of this thread today as we were walking through the blood and urine being hosed down into the gutter where some guy got whacked last night in nyc.

 

[danallen]

Ihad never realized how similar a Dishwasher and a Hot Tank are.

Yeah Im now debating if I can get away with putting some old 302 heads in there without leaving a permanent odor...

 

[Zeke]

What, you guys don't have an old DW behind the garage? Hell, I've got an oven, hot plate, electric frying pan and microwave out there. You need these things to clean, strip, warm or heat, etc. Guy I know has a DW hooked up to hot water and all in the garage. Finishes up for the day and puts his tools in there. All nice and clean in the morning. Other things have been in there too, like carburetors after a soak. Just don't use off-the-shelf DW detergent. A little Simple Green goes a long ways except on aluminum.

 

[no704]

When I used to be a line cook in HS I wore sperry top sizers. They would get caked in grease. Ran them thru the commercial dish washer often.