Driving on roads in winter is a tricky task. There’s snow on the streets that is made into slush with salt. No one drives rashly or even speedily on winter roads…and we hope you don’t either! However, no matter how carefully you drive, the trio of snow, slush, and salt will manage to find their way onto your car’s floor mats or carpet and leave behind unsightly stains and residue. There’s no point cleaning it all up while winter is running in the city. Once it exits and spring comes though, it’s time to get your car floor mats and carpet clean and good looking again.
In this post, we will cover 2 ways you can clean out winter salt from your car floor mats. Both methods will get rid of salt stains and have your mats looking clean again.
Method 1: Using a Solution of Vinegar and Water.
What you need:
· Household distilled white vinegar
· Hot water
· Spray bottle or bucket/mug
· Hard bristles brush
· Paper towels or cleaning cloth or sponge
· Vacuum cleaner
Method:
1. Mix a solution of vinegar and hot water in a 50:50 proportion and fill the spray bottle with solution. Spray bottles are ideal as they make application convenient. But if you do not have one, you can use a mug or bucket.
2. Spray/pour the solution on the salt stained portion of your mat/carpet, taking care to avoid all electrical wires or parts. If you’re using a bucket or mug, instead of pouring, you can use a sponge to drop some on the stain.
3. Let the solution sit for a few seconds.
4. Next, use the brush to scrub the stain. Do not scrub hard-brush lightly but firmly. Overzealous scrubbing could damage your mat/carpet. Use the upward motion to scrape up salt stuck in the fibers.
5. Next, dab the area with the paper towel/cloth to soak up the solution. If the stain is still crusty and visible, spray/pour/drop water on it, let it sit, and then scrub again. Do this till the stain is cleaned.
6. We recommend vacuuming to suck hidden salt out from the mat or carpet fibers.
7. Once you have completed vacuuming, you can hang the mats out to dry. If you have a carpet installed, leave the doors open to allow the wet spot to dry. This is important as vinegar in the cleaning solution has a strong sour odour that needs to be aired out or the whole car will smell unpleasant!
Method 2: Using Carpet Cleaning Foam
What you need:
· Foaming carpet cleaner
· Hard bristles brush
· Paper towels or cleaning cloth or sponge
· Vacuum cleaner
Method:
1. Spray carpet cleaner on the stain.
2. Brush the stained area gently but firmly with the brush. If the spray can has a brush attached, use that instead.
3. Let the solution sit for a few seconds.
4. From here, you can follow the same Steps 4 to 7 from Method 1.
We hope that these 2 methods will help you get your car carpet/mat back to its pre-salted state!
Source - Matsupplier