Sunday, August 26, 2012

Cleaning Car Mats the LAZY (But Effective) Way! YAY!

WOW it was a whirlwind of a week. I have got to tap the brakes and try and slow myself down. SERIOUSLY.

This was a first for me and somewhat alarming but Thursday I rushed to the doctor from work mid-afternoon after experiencing sharp pains in my chest. My neck was bothering me, I was achy all over... Quite scary when you google the symptoms! Come to find out I must have injured myself trimming our bushes Monday night and strained the joints in my chest.  Hurts like a mug if you have never had this happen and it takes a couple of days for the pain to set in after the injury. The name for it is Costochondritis. I've always tried to be a tomboy with yard projects but I guess I overdid it trying to hack the bushes like the HULK with the trimming shears. ; ) How do I always do such stupid things? It never fails, I feel like the Queen of STUPID yet again. So now I am on anti-inflammatory meds for 2 weeks. Thankfully it was not my heart just a minor, self-inflicted injury!

On to the car mats! I am excited about this one. Tonight I washed my car for the first time in months and man did it need it. It was horrifying how many raisins and cheerios and smashed up food littered the floor boards. Before kids I washed my car every other weekend and took so much pride in it. Nowadays I don't have time to wash the car because I'm always running but tonight it sparkles and shines. The car is 12 years old and I really enjoy it and especially after it gets a bath like this. No "new car" fever here!

The interior is not the best color for dirt and grime and spills. It is tan and shows everything! While I was vacuuming I told my husband I wanted new floor mats for Christmas, I just couldn't look at them anymore. Then I jokingly said I wondered if I could just throw them in the washing machine. So a light bulb came on and Google it was!!!!! Cleaning car floor mats just got easier! I added a few steps to this process but it worked like a charm!

I only washed two at a time and turned mats carpet-side-in to avoid damaging the backing. Each mat was placed on opposite sides of each other. I washed on "hand wash" cycle using warm water.

It's jumping the gun but below is a picture of how clean the mats got!

Below is a before shot. GROSS!

I pre-soaked using a generous dose of OxiClean powder and warm water and scrubbed.

I covered the mats with the OxiClean and warm water mixture and let soak for about 15 mins before throwing them in the washer.

I used liquid detergent and OxiClean in the actual washer too. The mats came out super clean. I sat them out to air dry.



My car is going to feel like new! Can't wait to get them back in place! Do you have carpet or rubber mats and how do you clean yours?

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