Well, since flloor mats seem to be a premium these days, especially black ones in good shape, I decided to see what I could do to fix my driver's mat. The top side looked ok, but the bottom was a mess and the rubberized backing was all flaking off leaving a mess on the carpet. There was a big crease across the center from being bunched up all the time.

I went down to Autozone and bought a can of rubberized undertreatment and a can of headliner spray adhesive. Then I went to the quilt shop and bought some black backing material.

I masked off the border of the mat with tape and got it pinned down so it would lay flat. I used the rubberized undertreatment spray to build up all the areas of the mat that backing had fallen away, especially where the crease was. There was one area of the border that was starting to unravel, right in the 90 degree corner. I arrange the thread and held it in place with black silicon. I worked it into the thread and then formed it back in shape. Once it dried, it was starting to look very nice. In about 5 hours, I was able to get the really bad areas of the backing kind of built up with the spray. It was sort of dry the same day and the mat started to stiffen up, like a new one.

It took about three days to dry well. It concerned me though because I thought the spray might come off on the carpet in the heat when closed up. Even though it was rubbery, you could dig your finger nail into it, kind of like tar. It did, however, fix the flaking and peeling of the original backing that was left. I figured now I needed to put another backing on it to protect the carpet.

I used the headliner spray which works like contact cement. You spray both the mat and the material and let dry for a few minutes before pressing together. You need someone to help lay it down because once they touch, they are stuck forever! If you spray only one side, it will not stick well.

Once I got the new backing material laid on it and pressed together, I trimmed the new backing around the border. This turned out far bettter than I could have ever hoped. The mat is fairly stiff, does not break up due to bending, and looks good too. I have been using it now for several weeks driving every day or so and it is still in perfect shape (or as good as a repair could be until I find new mats).

Since the top was still ok to start with, it looks like a brand new mat in the car. You can't tell unless you look at the back. I am fairly convinced now that this will stop further deterioration, and probably last a long time.... Thought there might be some interest in this...

 

Hmm. I should have tried that. I ended up just buying new ones. Good idea though.

 

Here's a pic

 

Nice. Info stored for later use.

 

You know the mat won't slide around and bunch up if you put that gromet over the little stud in the floor and put a washer and nut on the stud. (keeps it from sliding around) Jack

 

Yeah you are right, That wasn't the problem though in this case. Some previous driver must of had bad foot-habits. It was sliding down from the front and wadding up under foot. Once it got folded that way, it wouldn't lay down again. I figured (just to try something new) that I would have to come up with a way to stiffen it up again.

 

Nice write up. I'm sure there are plenty of worn mats out there.

 

Never thought it would pull towards the seat. Must have been a really short person that coldn't reach the steering wheel ... LOL

 

Good stuff. Any pics of how the back looks with all that work done to it?

 

Yep, we need to see the back!

:-) neil