Weather Tech floor liners

[FrozenWS6]

I have detailed 3 different Suv's with the Weather Tech floor liners and have tried 3 different products and they still won't come completely clean.

First I used Tire Rubber Cleaner and my short bristled scrub brush. Rescrubbed them 2 times and they still had dried dirt on them. So I went back over them with Bleach W. Still dirty but got them a little better.

Then the next Suv I used APC at 100%, and wouldn't get them fully clean either after 2 scrub downs.

The 3rd Suv I used just the Bleach W and it did ok because these ones weren't as dirty as the others but still not completely clean.

Has anyone else had this issue? Looking for more ideas.

I'm having to top them off with VRT to hide the remaining dirt but its leaving them a little slippery.
I don't have this problem with my Husky Liners so I know I'm not doing anything wrong.

Here is a pic of what I started with on the last set I did. These are out of a 4,000 mile 2016 Silverado so there isn't any wear started on them yet. These are pretty clean for Alaska standards

Edited March 2, 2017 by FrozenWS6

[Nathan]

Yeah this is what I've been trying to accomplish. To have them look decent and acceptable.

When a customer wants the inside cleaned and they open the door and the mats are still dirty looking and dirty at the edges that's not good or acceptable in my book. I was ashamed of those other mats. They were killing me.

I do bring the customer down to reality about what there going to get back because of the wear and how long or what has caused a stain as to how well it would come out.

But I think the customer would remember how bad It was before lol! Nasty!

[SS LeadFoot]

I would like to know how it ddoes with the shoes.

[FrozenWS6]

But I think the customer would remember how bad It was before lol! Nasty!

 

 

Very true. But many people still expect or think it'll look like brand new and that's not possible since things wear and fade from the sun.

 

 

 

 

I would like to know how it ddoes with the shoes.

Just tried it. Felt pretty slippery to me with with the heels of my work boots.

[SS LeadFoot]

That's not good. I'll keep you posted on how the weather tech stuff works.

[Firebuff17]

I have used TID before on my weather techs and it is slippery. Even more so when your shoes are wet.

[bjoeaull]

This last time I cleaned a set of our weather techs I used Adams tire cleaner, let it sit a few minutes, scrubbed with a brush, then rinses.  I let them sit a bit, then blew them off with the sidekick.  They looked pretty good, they are only 3-4 months old, but a few small spots that still had some wornish dirty kinda look, nothing major at this point like older ones.  So I then sprayed them with the weather tech protectant.  It works pretty well, covers up any of the dirty spots, leaves a matte/satin sheen, and its not slick.  I do like using it, I sprayed it on and spread it with a microfiber sponge I had laying around.  My hopes are the protectant helps with future cleanings.  I did put the protectant on when they were new.  Hard to say if it helps with keeping them nice at this point.  

[Nathan]

Now that you mention It have you tried leather conditioner? Or VRT? That's a cheaper option than a ceramic trim coating.

[Nathan]

Or have you tried H20 G&G or the undercarriage spray? Don't know how slippery it would be through...

[SumBeach35]

I definitely wouldn't use, leather conditioner, vrt, undercarriage, or H2OGG on weather tech mats. You don't want to kill your clients...I won't even use TID anymore since feeling how slippery they were after. Within the Adam's line, i'd stick to APC,or TRC and scrubbing as needed. I also will be trying the weather tech products and steam. You can't clean off any wear.

Edited May 4, 2017 by SumBeach35

[Nathan]

I definitely wouldn't use, leather conditioner, vrt, undercarriage, or H2OGG on weather tech mats. You don't want to kill your clients...I won't even use TID anymore since feeling how slippery they were after. Within the Adam's line, i'd stick to APC, SG, or TRC and scrubbing as needed. I also will be trying the weather tech products and steam. You can't clean off any wear.

That is all stuff to try, not that I would use it. And it you would, only on a few spots.

[SS LeadFoot]

No way would I try undercarriage spray. That stuff makes the ground slippery lol.

[SumBeach35]

That is all stuff to try, not that I would use it. And it you would, only on a few spots.

It really isn't all stuff to try if you're paying attention to safety.

[Nathan]

No way would I try undercarriage spray. That stuff makes the ground slippery lol.

I don't use it very much so I wouldn't know haha

 

It really isn't all stuff to try if you're paying attention to safety.

Hey man I'm not trying to hurt anyone, I'm just interested if any of those would work to fix the spot and then maybe remove the slickness later.

[SumBeach35]

I don't use it very much so I wouldn't know haha

 

Hey man I'm not trying to hurt anyone, I'm just interested if any of those would work to fix the spot and then maybe remove the slickness later.

And people gave you answers and said it's not safe and then said you it's just stuff to try. When you don't know something it's good to ask but you don't want to suggest something if you don't know especially when it's been previously stated as creating unsafe conditions for the operator of a vehicle. Edited May 4, 2017 by SumBeach35

[FrozenWS6]

I definitely wouldn't use, leather conditioner, vrt, undercarriage, or H2OGG on weather tech mats. You don't want to kill your clients...I won't even use TID anymore since feeling how slippery they were after. Within the Adam's line, i'd stick to APC,or TRC and scrubbing as needed. I also will be trying the weather tech products and steam. You can't clean off any wear.

Yeah I agree with these being too slippery. I had tried straight vrt on my personal mats once a while ago and didn't like it. Wasn't even going to go there again. Misting a 50-50 vrt/water mix in the low spots and wiped off and excess on the high spots wasn't too bad with slickness.

 

I'm not sure how old some of these are but it seems like some are showing wear fairly fast in my opinion.

 

You guys are lucky you don't have this kind of calcium chloride, slip, mud mix down there.

[Nathan]

You guys are lucky you don't have this kind of calcium chloride, slip, mud mix down there.

Here in Minnesota it is just as bad in the winter though, the salt from the roads is just nasty!

[Broc212]

Are you using brushing only? IMO, for guys that have mats like that (Hey I do as well though) pressure is required. Cleaning does A LOT, but enough not. Think about it, your shoes are constantly grinding the debris and pushing it further into the mat. I'm weird. I have to have my floor mat spotless. When I started as a Deere Mechanic I had to do my fair share of "Crappy" work and started out cleaning tractors. Those are truly dirty floor liners. The only way to truly get them clean is pull them out.

I usually lay them on the floor, spray them with cleaner, hang them up after 5-10 minutes depending on how much grime is built up, pressure wash them. Let them dry and that'll show you if anything is left. Usually nothing is left on them, then I let them dry COMPLETELY. Not even a little moisture on them. Then hit them with the Weathertech protector stuff. I would not use anything with anything slick in it. If you don't have anything, don't use anything at all honestly.

[FrozenWS6]

^. Brushing lol. That wouldn't do anything to these. I'm scrubbing the crap out of them and yes they were removed from the vehicles to be cleaned.

I've been detailing for over 20 years. This is just the first time I've experienced crappy floor liners like this that won't come clean.

[Nathan]

^. Brushing lol. That wouldn't do anything to these. I'm scrubbing the crap out of them and yes they were removed from the vehicles to be cleaned.

I've been detailing for over 20 years. This is just the first time I've experienced crappy floor liners like this that won't come clean.

Have you tried a drill brush attachment when cleaning them? They save me a lot of time on carpets and I wonder how they would work for floor mats. I got one on amazon.

[SumBeach35]

Did a bit of an experiment today. Detailed my interior today after winter. My weather tech Digifits were kind of rough. Here is what I did.

 

Mats are about 2.5 years old.

 

Before pics

 

Used 4 different cleaners: weathertech cleaner, Adam's Tire and Rubber, simple Green and Adam's interior cleaner. First I rinsed with the pressure washer. All were scrubbed with the old blue tire brush with briah being rinsed between each different cleaner then rinsed clean and dried with the sidekick.

 

After drying in the in the sun. You can see the wear on the driver side mat. All mats seemed equally clean. I had a drill scrub brush as a back up but it wasn't needed.

 

Final step was applying the weathertech protector using a damp microfiber applicator.

Edited May 12, 2017 by SumBeach35

[SS LeadFoot]

How did the protector work... Is it slippery at all?

[SumBeach35]

How did the protector work... Is it slippery at all?

I haven't driven the car yet since applying it but it wasn't slippery to the touch, left seemingly no residue but did darken the mats a bit.

[ocdrifter]

Thank you for the test run, looks great!

[FrozenWS6]

Did a bit of an experiment today. Detailed my interior today after winter. My weather tech Digifits were kind of rough. Here is what I did.

 

Mats are about 1.5 years old.

 

Before pics

IMG_20170509_113234.jpgIMG_20170509_113812.jpg

IMG_20170509_113816.jpg

 

Used 4 different cleaners: weathertech cleaner, Adam's Tire and Rubber, simple Green and Adam's interior cleaner. First I rinsed with the pressure washer. All were scrubbed with the old blue tire brush with briah being rinsed between each different cleaner then rinsed clean and dried with the sidekick.

IMG_20170509_114405.jpg

00007IMG_00007_BURST20170509114849_COVER.jpg

 

After drying in the in the sun. You can see the wear on the driver side mat. All mats seemed equally clean. I had a drill scrub brush as a back up but it wasn't needed.

IMG_20170509_121000.jpg

IMG_20170509_121014.jpg

IMG_20170509_121031.jpg

 

Final step was applying the weathertech protector using a damp microfiber applicator.

IMG_20170509_122533.jpg

 

Thanks for helping experiment. Yours turned out a lot better then any of mine have. I'm always interested in learning what others are doing to see if it'll work for me.

What's funny to me is what you started with is what these have looked like after I scrubbed the crap out of them. I wish these were that clean when I start.

I didn't have much luck with the Blue Adam's tire brush. The bristle length just bends over and doesn't even scrub into the dirt, just seems to go across the surface of this caked and heater baked on dirt. That's why I use a stiffer short bristle brush to get down into the dirt. I think I posted a picture of earlier. I haven't had a chance to try to find a stiffer short bristle brush to see if it can dig the dirt out of the textures better, but that is my next step.

 

Do you think they dye these black? I know they do seem very porous.

Even yours at 1.5 years old seem to be looking very faded and more greyish too. Like the last set I did. Maybe that's just how this plastic fades but my personal Husky liners have less fading then that at 5 years old.

Edited May 10, 2017 by FrozenWS6

[SumBeach35]

Thanks for helping experiment. Yours turned out a lot better then any of mine have. I'm always interested in learning what others are doing to see if it'll work for me.

What's funny to me is what you started with is what these have looked like after I scrubbed the crap out of them. I wish these were that clean when I start.

I didn't have much luck with the Blue Adam's tire brush. The bristle length just bends over and doesn't even scrub into the dirt, just seems to go across the surface of this caked and heater baked on dirt. That's why I use a stiffer short bristle brush to get down into the dirt. I think I posted a picture of earlier. I haven't had a chance to try to find a stiffer short bristle brush to see if it can dig the dirt out of the textures better, but that is my next step.

 

Do you think they dye these black? I know they do seem very porous.

Even yours at 1.5 years old seem to be looking very faded and more greyish too. Like the last set I did. Maybe that's just how this plastic fades but my personal Husky liners have less fading then that at 5 years old.

The mats had in quick spray down halfway through winter at a pay n spray.

 

I've considered cutting the blue brush bristles in half to give me more cutting power.

 

Truthfully most the dirt came off during the pressure wash. I used the 25 degree nozzle on my 2000psi pressure washer and was about 1-2 inches away from the mats.

 

Just sent an email to weathertech to ask about the fading. Interested to see their reply.

Edited May 10, 2017 by SumBeach35