Salty mats

Cleaning floor mats is something I take pride in. Because winters in my world make it virtually impossible to maintain a clean exterior, I take solace in the tidiness of my car's interior. I heard it once said that the floor mats are the windows to a car's soul, so I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the floors of my SQ5. Here's the process I follow when my mats and carpet need some cleaning. 

The Nightmare

As you can see, there is a significant amount of salt residue that has hardened to my floor mats. When snow melts on my mats, the salty run-off can leak out on the front corners of the mats. I have some strips of microfiber towels positioned to combat that run-off which prevents the salt from penetrating my carpets. The mats and the microfiber needed a good clean. 

The Process

Using my long blue bucket as a catch basin, I spray the mats down with warm water. This results in a bucket of very dirty water. Next, I spray the mats with a couple squirts of Adam's Rubber Mat & Liner Cleaner. This is a highly effective spray liquid that, in combination with a green medium-bristle brush, made quick work of the leftover residue and buildup. A final rinse in the blue bucket and the mats are hung to dry on my "mat wall". 

The Results

You can see how nice the mats look now that they have been thoroughly cleaned. I used Adam's ECO All-Purpose cleaner and hot water to clean the strips of microfiber and left them to hang dry. I performed a quick vacuum and cleaned the door sills with Adam's Interior Detailer before reinstalling the mats. 

A few Instagram commenters voiced concerns that my Audi OEM winter mats did not provide sufficient protection during the winter months. I have been pretty happy with their performance over the past two winters. With the black microfiber strips protecting my carpet from salty run-off, there has been zero issues. Plus, they just look better than aftermarket mats in my opinion.