What Are Floor Mats & Liners?

Floor mats & liners cover your vehicle’s original flooring, helping to prevent dirt, debris and spills from spoiling your vehicle’s interior.  Although its purpose is rather obvious, there are many reasons our customers choose to protect their vehicle with a new set of floor mats:

  • To easily keep your vehicle’s interior clean, which is important if you live in an area with snow, rain or sand, or if you just have messy family members, friends or animals you regularly transport.
  • To protect your interior from spoilage as the result of spilled groceries or regularly transporting other notoriously dirty items (such as plants!)
  • To help protect the vehicle’s resale value
  • To replace the vehicle’s factory mats, which often do not provide the best protection
  • To cover already spoiled or stained interiors, typical in a lot of older or well-driven vehicles
  • To make the interior show-room quality, which is common with our Lloyd logo mats on newer & older car models

What Are Floor Mats & Liners

What and Where Do Floor Mats Protect?

Think of everywhere in your car or truck that your feet touch – the front driver and passenger sides, the rear rows, and in some cases the middle hump.  Floor mats, especially custom fit floor mats, are designed to cover every square inch of floor real estate, so that your muddy feet have a place to land.

Additionally, cargo mats are available to complete your floor protection, protecting your interior from unruly cargo, dogs or other potential disasters.  Perhaps the most vulnerable of all floors, the cargo area is the place things get tossed, thrown or temporarily discarded.  A proper cargo liner will keep all of this from every hitting your floors, allowing you the luxury of a worry-free drive.

How to Install Floor Mats

Installing a new set of floor mats is rather self-explanatory, but there are a few important notes to keep in mind when placing your new mats in your vehicle: 

  • Remove your old floor mats from your vehicle – your new mats are designed to replace your old mats.  Do not install your floor mats on top of your existing mats.  It will prevent your new mats from protecting your vehicle as designed, as well as may cause your new mats to slip or slide while driving.
  • Be sure any safety anchors in the floor and/or mat are fully secured.  A lot of vehicles come equipped with safety anchors to help prevent the mats from sliding around – be sure that these are fully utilized with your new mat set.  Note:  some mats may not be designed to use the anchors and may instead use its own proprietary system or have a bottom surface that prevents sliding.  Be sure to check before installing.
  • Check your pedals – you’ll want to make sure your mats are not interfering with your pedals and verify that your pedals can freely move before driving (make sure your vehicle is turned off and in park before doing this!)
  • From time to time, double check your pedals and safety anchors to make sure everything is still in working order.

 Following the above steps will help ensure your floor mats are safely secure.

How to Care for Your Floor Mats

Your floor mats are designed to last the lifetime of your vehicle, but for optimal usage you’ll need to clean your mats from time to time.  The process will differ depending on if you have carpet or rubber mats, but it’s a rather simple process either way.

For both carpet & rubber mats, typically the easiest and most effective way of cleaning is simply to vacuum all the dirt and debris off the mats, just as you would do with your interior.  For heavier messes or a deeper clean, consider the following:

  • Rubber Mats – rubber mats are the easiest to clean.  All you need to do is remove the mats from the vehicle and hose them down.  For an even deeper clean, use a non-chlorine based detergent to wipe down any sticky messes
  • Carpet Mats – typically any standard carpet cleaner and a scrub brush will suffice and make your carpet mats look like new again. 

No matter what type of mat you have, you’ll need to make sure your mats are fully dry before placing them back in the vehicle.  Otherwise there is a chance of mold or mildew forming, ruining your mats and making your car smell bad!  Just place your mats outside for an air-dry before putting them back in the vehicle.

Floor Liners vs Floor Mats

The difference between floor mats and floor liners is almost interchangeable, but there is actually a distinct difference between the two.

  • Floor Mats – a flat rubber or carpeted mat piece with no raised lips or edges to contain spills.  Floor mats may still provide spillage protection through the usage of inset reservoirs.  The Lloyd lines of carpet and rubber mats are the best examples of floor mats.
  • Floor Liners – will contain a raised lip or edge that contains spills.  Floor liners are best for ultimate protection – many times floor liners are manufactured with a combination of inset reservoirs in addition to the raised edges, which give it a final layer of protection.  The WeatherTech DigitalFit Floor Liners and MAXpider KAGU Floor Liners are prime examples of this.

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