While winter is coming to an end, the salt spread on roads to melt snow for convenient driving, it finds its way into your ride through your feet. Road salt can be very detrimental to your car’s interiors especially to the floor mats.
After winter, your vehicle floor mats get white salt stains that may be a little difficult to remove with regular water and detergent washing. It’s always important to perform a deep cleaning service for your floor mats for them to stay looking clean and new.
In this article, we’re going to show you the best way on how to remove salt stains from car carpets and floor mats using home DIY procedures.
Table of Contents
The Way to Remove Salt Stains from Car Floor Mats:
Items Required:
- Pure white Vinegar
- Hot water
- 2 Cleaning cloths
- Bristle brush
- Dry vacuum
- Spray bottle
Procedure
1. Remove the Mats from the Car
This should be the first step before commencing the cleaning process. This enables you to avoid spilling any loose salt and dirt particles onto your carpet making it dirtier.
Once you have removed them, shake each one of them vigorously to make the debris loose for easier cleaning. You can also use a stick or hand to beat it for maximum dust and contaminant removal.
After that, use a vacuum to remove the small debris that may be hiding in between the contours of the floor mat. This shall help to avoid re-washing the floor mat again after discovering you forgot about those hidden parts.
Read More: Best Quality Truck Bed Liners & Mats
2. Prepare the Water and White Vinegar Solution
We recommend using this solution over normal soap or detergent since it’s better at absorbing and removing salt and dirt.
On a spray bottle, pour equal amounts of water and white vinegar and stir vigorously until the mixture is well done. After it has mixed well, allow it to sit for about a minute before starting the scrubbing process.
3. Clean the Floor Mat
Spray half of the solution you’ve made onto the floor mats and concentrate more on the affected parts. This ensures that the areas with the most salt stains become easier to remove during scrubbing.
Scrub and wash the surface of the floor mats with a clean cloth until the salty points start becoming clean and move to other areas until you’ve cleaned all parts. If you’re dealing with rubber floor mats, it’s recommendable to use a bristle brush in removing the stubborn stains.
Also, if you want to remove salt from the carpet, spray the remaining solution onto the carpet and scrub gently using another clean cloth. Scrubbing gently removes the probability of damaging the carpet that occurs when a lot of force is used.
These processes should be repeated until you’re satisfied with the cleanliness of your floor mats and carpet.
Also Read: Top Quality Halo Lights For Jeep Wrangler
4. Drying the Floor Mats
At this stage, begin by wiping off the leftover liquid from your mixture so that drying becomes easier. Vinegar has an unpleasant smell and therefore you need to give it a lot of time to dry out in the hanging line before bringing it back in your car.
After you’re done with the cleaning, place the floor mats on a clean hanger for them to dry out in the sun. Drying allows the floor mat to avoid attracting new salt and dirt particles from your legs hence staying cleaner for additional time before requiring another wash.
NB: As a driver, it’s advisable to purchase and use all-weather floor mats. They give your interiors more protection and are easy to clean since they don’t allow the accumulation of any kind of debris on their surface.
By using a hosepipe and water, they can be sprayed and left to dry before you put them back in your car.
Tips on How to Keep your Car Floor Mats Clean
1. Regular washing of the floor mats helps in preventing the formation of hard salt stains that may be stubborn to remove by a regular wash.
2. Buying high-quality mats that can be used in all kinds of roads and extreme weather types can be cleaned easily compared to standard mats.
3. Avoid unnecessary movement into and out of your car. This includes reducing the number of times that you allow your kids to play inside the car.
Final Thought
It’s very important to regularly wash your car’s floor mats especially during and after the winter season due to salt stains that accumulate during that period. Using a vinegar solution is the most effective as it dissolves salt better than other solvents. When you don’t check on the accumulation of salt stains on your vehicle’s floor mats, they may start cracking and losing aesthetic value over a short time. This may mean that you need to replace them which is costly.