With all the foot traffic that happens in your car, it’s not a wonder your floor mats get dirty quickly even after cleaning.
Yet, having a busy schedule with tons of activities to attend to denies you time to keep waiting for the mat to dry after washing. Unfortunately, you have to regularly wash and dry your mats to keep your car tidy and comfortable for travelers.
You must be armed with methods of cleaning and drying your car floor mats real quick to avoid inconveniencing your schedules in this case.
In this article, we’ll look at the surest ways to clean and dry your mat to save your time and energy.
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How Do You Clean a Floor Mat?
The inside of your car needs love. And there’s no greater way to take care of your car’s interior than keeping it tidy.
So, here is the procedure to clean your car floor mat.
- Remove the floor mat from your car. Washing your floor mat inside the car will only spread the mess to parts you don’t want to bother with water like the dashboard. So, you need to get the mat out for convenience and effective cleaning.
- Shake off loose debris. You can remove loose debris from your mat by beating it with a stick, vacuuming, or hitting it on a wall.
- Place the floor mat on concrete and rinse with water. Washing your mat on grass will get them messier with loose grass. Rinsing on concrete allows you to eliminate debris that may still be caked on after shaking.
- Wash with soap solution. Using a wash mitt in the process helps remove debris in the small creases on your floor mat.
- Rinse it off. Use your garden hose or pressure washer to rinse completely with plenty of water.
And now to drying your floor mat!
How Do You Dry a Floor Mat?
So, you finished washing your floor mat and you’re wondering how to dry it? Worry not because we’re going to look at how you can dry your floor mat properly in detail.
Just before that, there are removable and non-removable car floor mats. Besides, you might have preferred washing your removable floor mat inside the car by choice or by chance.
Either way, you’re going to have to dry your car floor mat lest it:
- Develop molds
- Starts smelling
- Gets slippery and uncomfortable to step on.
How Do You Dry a Removable Floor Mat?
If you just cleaned your floor mats, it’s important to dry them so they don’t develop molds or start smelling.
Drying your floor mats is an easy task, especially if they’re removable. You’ll only need to leave them under the sun for a few hours to dry.
Did you know How to Make Your Car Floor Mats Look New Again?
Here’s how you can speed up air drying your floor mats:
- Use a paper towel or a rag to soak up excess water.
Instead of waiting for long in the sun for your floor mat to dry, you can just pat it down to soak up puddles.
Press a towel or a rag into your mat to eliminate excess water. Hold on for some seconds before moving to another spot until you dry the entire mat.
- Wipe your mat down with a microfiber cloth to remove puddles.
Rubber mats are the easiest to pay dry. Use your microfiber cloth to wipe the mat down. The process soaks up puddles on the surface and fastens the air-drying process.
- Lay your may down in the sun to dry.
Having a heavy clothesline hanging out in the sun is helpful in accomplishing this step. Just hang your floor mat in the line with the topside facing up.
Otherwise, you can just lay your mat down on a flat, dry, clean surface and let the sun dry it out.
But don’t lay it on grass because it could be wet and slow down the process. You should also check the weather to prevent your mats from getting soaked again by rain or moist air.
- Return the mat back to your car when it’s dry.
After sun-drying for about an hour return your mat into your car if it’s fully dry.
If it’s still dumpy, leave it to dry for a couple more minutes.
Ensure your hands are dry to feel whether the mat is dry before putting it back into your car. This will allow you to avoid having a musty smell from dampness.
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How Do You Dry a Non-removable Floor Mat?
Drying out non-removable car floor mats is significantly different from drying out removable mats. However, the process is easy and effective as you can see in the steps below:
- Use a shop vac to eliminate the standing water.
Sucking up standing water is easy by using a shop vac or a wet-dry vacuum. Power your vacuum on and run it over all wet sections of the mat to soak up any puddles or wet sections of the mat.
Protips:
- Ensure you have an extension cord to reach all parts of your car mat. Some cords might be compatible with your car’s power ports, simplifying the work for you!
- But check out your vacuum design to ensure it’s okay to use on water. Regular vacuums aren’t safe to use on water because they can get damaged and cause an electric shock.
- Press towels down all parts of your mat to remove remaining moisture.
Place a clean, dry towel on the mat. Press and hold it down for some seconds to absorb water in that spot. Then move to other spots until you dry the whole mat.
- Keep windows and doors open for 12-24 hours to air the car out.
Allowing free entry of air quickens the drying and recreshens your car’s interior. This prevents musty odor from generating inside your car.
Note:
- Parking your car in a sunny spot will help the mats dry faster.
- Leave your car in your garage or driveway if you’re carrying out the washing inside your compound. Otherwise, keep a close eye on your car if you’ve parked on the street.
- Point a fan on your mat to improve ventilation.
Using a portable fan will help your mats dry faster. Carry your fan into your car and place it near the wet mat.
Turn it on and let it run for a few hours to bring more ventilation into your car’s interior. An extension cord may also help extend the usage of your fan.
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How Long Do Floor Mats Take to Dry?
The duration your car floor mats take to dry depends on the type of your floor mat and what you do after washing.
An in-built floor mat could take 24+ hours to dry on a cold day. But less than 24 hours on a sunny day after parking it in the sun with windows and doors open.
If your mats are removable, they take between 12 and 24 hours to dry.
The keener you’re on the stipulated drying procedures, the faster your mats will dry.
Key Takeaways
Drying your floor mat is convenient for your car’s freshness and your mat’s safety.
It prevents the growth of molds and keeps away musty odors that could make you and your passengers uncomfortable.
Follow the distinct procedure according to your mat type to keep it dry and neat.