Right, let's talk about cleaning car mats. Mine were getting absolutely disgusting. You know how it is, mud, bits of leaves, who knows what else gets tracked in, especially on the driver's side. I used to drag them out, hose them down, scrub with a brush, let them dry... it took ages and honestly, they never got perfectly clean.

So, the other day I was at the car wash, the self-service one, and I spotted this machine tucked away in the corner. A car mat cleaner machine. Never really paid attention to it before, but my mats were looking particularly grim this time. Thought, what the heck, let's give this thing a go.

Pulled out the driver's side mat first – always the test subject. It’s one of those rubbery ones, thankfully, not carpet. Easier to clean, usually. The machine looked pretty simple. Just a slot, really. Fed the mat into the slot, kinda like posting a big, floppy letter.

The Process Itself

As soon as it went in, the machine whirred to life. Lots of noise, like brushes spinning and water spraying. It wasn't super quick, took maybe a minute or so per mat. I just stood there watching it. You feed it in one end, and it slowly spits it out the other.

• Fed the mat into the designated slot.
• Machine automatically started making noise, sounded like water jets and rotating brushes inside.
• Waited as the mat slowly moved through the machine.
• It came out the other side, looking wet but much cleaner.

Did the same for the passenger side and the back mats. The back ones weren't nearly as bad, but figured I might as well do the whole set while I was there. Each one took about the same amount of time.

Getting Them Out and Checking

Pulled the last one out. Okay, first impression? They were definitely cleaner. A lot of the ground-in dirt and scuff marks were gone. Way better than I usually manage with just a hose and brush. They were pretty wet, though. Soaking, actually. The machine doesn't dry them.

I gave them a good shake to get the worst of the water off. Then I laid them out on a clean bit of pavement in the sun while I finished washing the rest of the car. By the time I was done with the vacuuming and windows, they were dry enough to put back in. Not bone dry, but good enough.

Was it Worth It?

Yeah, I think so. It cost a few quid, maybe like using the jet wash for 5 minutes. Saved me a bunch of effort scrubbing. The results were pretty decent, especially on the rubber mats. Not sure how well it would do on deep-pile carpet mats, might need a proper wet vac for those still. But for a quick, relatively easy clean? It did the job. Faster than doing it by hand, and probably a bit more effective on the surface dirt. I’ll likely use it again next time they get really mucky.