Protection for rubber all-season floormats?

[mikebai1990]

What products would you guys recommend for cleaning and protecting all-season rubber floormats? I was thinking of using Armor All tire foam, but I`m worried that the foam will leave a sticky or oily residue.

[Kriminal]

I`m pretty sure the Armor-All tire foam should do the trick. If it IS a little oily (which I don`t think it will be) you can always buff it back to matt with a cloth.



Got any dashboard cleaners ? They could work as well - try it on a small area (maybe underneath) of the mat first

[paul34]

I think AA foam would do a good job too... the only problem with it (my concern) is that it will make the mats slick, which isn`t a good attribute for floormats. It`s a large reason why I only wash my rubber floormats. Yea, they don`t look nice at all anymore, but I don`t know what to do to them - it seems any type of dressing product would make them slippery.



Cleaning them... usually APC does the trick, but before that I just used some dishwashing liquid, palmolive to be specific. spray down the mats, pour a bit of liquid on, spread/"scrub" with an old body brush, then spray off again.



I did find that what detergent you use makes a difference. Palmolive did a decent job, but there`s other liquid I have... "joy" something. It sucks for cleaning floormats, I might as well be using car shampoo to try to wash it.

[mikebai1990]

I`m worried about using a strong cleaner on the floormats because I`m worried about discoloring the mats by sucking out the "natural oils" in the rubber. With a tire, I can provide some of that protection by using tire dressing, but with the floor mats, I haven`t found a good solution yet. So you guys don`t think the AA tire foam will attract dirt or something like that? I like the tip of wiping down the mat after application to provide a matte finish.

[Accumulator]

I just clean mine with Griot`s Rubber Cleaner (not saying it`s great stuff, but it`s what I have on hand) and I don`t dress them at all. After...uhm..maybe six winters they`re not exactly Pebble Beach Concours-looking, but they`re not badly faded/ugly either and I take a form-follows-function approach with `em.



Noting that I can be a bit serious about such stuff, I sure wouldn`t use anythig that might make them slippery. Even if *you* don`t mind, what if a passenger slipped and was injured?

[mikebai1990]

I agree. Maybe I`ll try the tire foam on one of the rear (less-used) floor mats. I`ll buff it to a matte finish and see whether it`s slippery or not. If it`s slippery, that would also mean it would attract dirt and dust, which is something I`m definitely not looking for.

[alexis]

i used 303 aerospace protectant, it won`t be as slick as the tire stuff