Clean your matts, if you dare...

Voodoomelon

NCT is on Monday, so i've started a mega-valet of the car a few days in advance.

First up is the carpets. What's worrying about these pictures is that the matts were perfectly clean apart from a few scuffs, and I had cleaned them roughly every 6-8 weeks with upholstery foam for the last two years.

I thought it was time to give them a bath with very hot water, washing powder and lots of elbow grease with a nailbrush. Bloody hell, 10 years of dirt below!

First round of scrubbing:





Rinsed the matts, emptied and refilled the bath for round two:





Did the same again for a third time round:



Finally rinsed them off and now they're drying in the greenhouse .

Unbelievable amount of dirt came out of the drivers matt, no matter how much I scrubbed and rinsed the water coming out was filthy. Scrub & rinse, scrub & rinse, scrub & rinse. I gave up after a while, it was clean enough!

As I say, the matts are always kept clean, its amazing what comes out with a proper clean though. Makes me wonder what the carpets are like...

Stay tuned for after pics!

Absurdum

I'd hate to see your shoes!

Voodoomelon

This is the bizarre thing, i go nuts if anyone gets in with dirty shoes and my own are always spotless. Matts are never visibly dirty, but I guess they were rotten!

squod

Just stick mine in the machine like. Use a deck brush for the rubber mats on the other car.

Anan1

Washing machines can easily tear mats, the water can get trapped by the centrifugal action of the spin and rip holes in them.

H8GHOTI

I hope you pass your NCT

Voodoomelon

I hear they test matt cleanliness with the "tongue test".

DUBLINHITMAN

i use a george wet/dry vac
430 euro here
shipped to my door for 230 euro from the uk
here's a 50/50
[URL="[URL=http://s642.photobucket.com/albums/uu146/DUBLINHITMAN/?action=view&current=fordmondeo022.jpg][IMG]http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu146/DUBLINHITMAN/th_fordmondeo022.jpg[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]

Voodoomelon

Nice! Thats what I need for the carpets. Or a giant bath...

DUBLINHITMAN

lol
I can imagine me saying to a customer can i use your bath love lol

i reakon if you did your matts like that with the bath thing twice a year they,d always be
clean
looking forward to seen the dry picks
fairplay to you buddy

bazz26

I would have just bought new mats... :pac:

Voodoomelon

You know how much matts are for a 7 series? Nailbrushes are cheaper!

CaraFawn

Nice, they probably do look a lot better now.

The thing about the NCT is that since they do not care about your car, you will probably have to detail it again right after ...Last year when I went for mine, it came back with white spots all over, some sort of powder, on the steering wheel etc...

Bonito

Voodoomelon wrote: »

You know how much matts are for a 7 series? Nailbrushes are cheaper!

That's what you get for owning a 7. Here's to waiting for the dry pics and passing the NCT. o/

Hogzy

Oh dear god. Iv got the exact same grey mats as you except mine is a coupe!
Might give that ago!

EDIT: just forgot i have no bath in the house

Voodoomelon

CaraFawn wrote: »

Nice, they probably do look a lot better now.

The thing about the NCT is that since they do not care about your car, you will probably have to detail it again right after ...Last year when I went for mine, it came back with white spots all over, some sort of powder, on the steering wheel etc...

Could it have just been talc from the inside of latex gloves?

Hogzy wrote: »

Oh dear god. Iv got the exact same grey mats as you except mine is a coupe!
Might give that ago!

EDIT: just forgot i have no bath in the house

Do give it a go, even out on the drive with a bucket of soapy water and a brush, foam cleaner isn't enough. Even if they're clean, they ain't! I also got a strong whiff of fish with the first clean, dissappeared after all the other rinses.

Alun

If you've ever used one of those carpet cleaners you can hire and looked at the state of the water that comes out of them when used on what you thought was a not too dirty carpet in your house, you wouldn't be surprised.

Cookie_Monster

Rubber mats FTW

Forest Master

squod wrote: »

Just stick mine in the machine like

Like what?

Jumpy

Forest Master wrote: »

Like what?

like Cark biy!

Seth Brundle

@VoodooMelon - hopefully they haven't shrunk on you!

bazz26 wrote: »

I would have just bought new mats... :pac:

My E39 mats were IIRC about €150 five years ago!

old_aussie

Why, is it necessary to clean the mats, do the NCT inspectors get down and sniff the mats or something?

DarkJager

CaraFawn wrote: »

Nice, they probably do look a lot better now.

The thing about the NCT is that since they do not care about your car, you will probably have to detail it again right after ...Last year when I went for mine, it came back with white spots all over, some sort of powder, on the steering wheel etc...

Are you sure it was an NCT centre and not a crack house you left the car at?

TestTransmission

old_aussie wrote: »

Why, is it necessary to clean the mats, do the NCT inspectors get down and sniff the mats or something?

If you're gonna have it clean for the NCT ya might aswell have it proper clean

MetzgerMeister

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Did the same again for a third time round:

Did you get caught short in the middle of doing this one??

ToxicPaddy

oh good god!!!

Dont show the missus those pics.. she'll kill ya for destroying her bath!!!!

Tea 1000

http://www.tailored-carmats.co.uk/bmw/sc-7-series-e38.html?z=car-mats

Prices here seem quite good, they're proper fitted mats, and offer a range of colours and fabric quality.
Good job on the cleaning though, Nothing like clean mats to help lift the inside of a car!
I hate rubber mats, and I hate generic mats.

Gilligan.Mark

Fantastic job cleaning the mates. Some serious dedication!

It's good to see someone who takes care and appreciates their car. You can learn alot from a man, by how he treats his car.

Voodoomelon

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

oh good god!!!

Dont show the missus those pics.. she'll kill ya for destroying her bath!!!!

Keep it on the down low.

Gilligan.Mark wrote: »

Fantastic job cleaning the mates. Some serious dedication!

Yeh, I love cleaning my mates, some job getting them all in the bath at the same time. :pac:

MetzgerMeister

How did you get the excess water out of them or did you?

A good idea to do this would be to use a rolling pin

TestTransmission

I had a rugdoctor for a day as I was moving house and I ran it over the mats,it was crazy how filthy they were.Goes to show all that carpet cleaner for cars doesnt do much good.

Voodoomelon

einheisserschre wrote: »

How did you get the excess water out of them or did you?

A good idea to do this would be to use a rolling pin

Good idea alright. I just lay them flat against the wall of the bath and wiped the water out of them with my hand, top to bottom.

TestTransmission wrote: »

Goes to show all that carpet cleaner for cars doesnt do much good.

Absolutely, you have to get the scrubbing brush out. If anything this has thought me that foam and the like is a waste of time.

MetzgerMeister

Voodoomelon wrote: »

If anything this has thought me that foam and the like is a waste of time.

...and a serious waste of money as they are usually fairly expensive!

Seth Brundle

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Yeh, I love cleaning my mates, some job getting them all in the bath at the same time. :pac:

I just have a few beers with my mates. Still what you all do together in the privacy of your own home is fine!

JHMEG

Looks like homebrew!

Throw out that upholstery cleaner... it's not working!

Anan1 wrote:

Washing machines can easily tear mats, the water can get trapped by the centrifugal action of the spin and rip holes in them.

I've been washing my mats in the washing machine for 10 years, sometimes at 60 degrees. Mats are tough, and so they have to be. They're OEM, so they're good quality.

Actually the current car has no "tranmission tunnel" so the mat for the back is one big one, full width. Won't fit in the washing machine without a lot of effort.

Gilligan.Mark

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Yeh, I love cleaning my mates, some job getting them all in the bath at the same time. :pac:

Might have used too many vowels :rolleyes:

Anan1

JHMEG wrote: »

Looks like homebrew!

Throw out that upholstery cleaner... it's not working!


I've been washing my mats in the washing machine for 10 years, sometimes at 60 degrees. Mats are tough, and so they have to be. They're OEM, so they're good quality.

Actually the current car has no "tranmission tunnel" so the mat for the back is one big one, full width. Won't fit in the washing machine without a lot of effort.

Might be that your mats are porus enough to get away with it? I wouldn't recommend anything with a waterproof backing, though.

JHMEG

Anan1 wrote: »

Might be that your mats are porus enough to get away with it? I wouldn't recommend anything with a waterproof backing, though.

They have a non-slip backing on them and are no-where near waterproof. Altho, they provide good soakage meaning the car's carpet will stay dry.

vectra

good job
Anyone ever buy one of those wet & dry hoovers in LIDL for around 60 euro?
Thats what you need now to suck the dirt out of them in future