The maintenance of the flooring of a truck is just as important as the maintenance of the truck itself.
Here, we’ll show you how to take care of the rubber floors in your trucks.
Before we dive deep into the methods (with exact steps), let’s first see why you need to clean them.
Why Do You Need to Clean Rubber Floors in Trucks
1- Floors Are Caked With Dried Mud
Sandy shoes or muddy footwear and different kinds of dirt from footwear get stuck easily into the rubber floor mat of a truck. Some rubber mats come with spiky fiber which collects this dirt and makes it difficult to get them out while cleaning.
Hence, dirt like mud and caked sand leave the mats dirty even after cleaning, as they do not get out after cleaning.
2- Crumbs, Leaves, & Dirt Get Stuck in Floor Mats
Due to the fact that most rubber mats usually have tiny holes between their strands, various kinds of dirt like withered leaves, crumbs of cookies or snacks, torn or used toilet paper, etc. get stuck easily in the floor mats.
Hence, making them difficult to clean. Most times, these particles remain in the fibers of the mat, unremoved. It takes thorough cleaning that also consumes time to carefully get these out.
3- Water spots remain after washing
After successfully cleaning, most rubber floorings have white spots left on them from the water used to clean them.
These spots are scattered around various areas on the rubber mats, apart from each other, giving them a poor, unclean, and rough look right after washing! This poses a problem as the floors still appear dirty and with stains even after cleaning.
4- Smell of paint or paint peels after painting
Most often, it is great to apply paint after washing. This helps to make your rubber floor mats appear shiny, neat, and new all over again. However, the smell of some paints could be uncomfortable after they are dried and could last long after a while after application.
Some paints, also, (most likely not original or good quality paint) break into small bits after drying. These bits get into the floor mats and create dirt as well as discomfort.
In addition, when the paint peels off, it leaves white or dull patches on the rubber mats, making them look old and poorly kept or maintained. This poses a major problem that comes with using rubber floor mats in trucks.
However, you can still achieve impeccable results after cleaning the rubber floor mats in your trucks.
How To Clean Rubber Floors in Trucks (6 Steps)
MATERIALS Needed for Cleaning Rubber Floorings
1- Plastic buckets
2- A tube or can of floor wax
3- Sponge
4- A spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner
5- Water
6- A hose
7- A scrub brush
8- A vacuum cleaner
9- A bottle of spray paint
These materials help in the cleaning and maintenance of rubber floor mats, to enhance their durability and maintain their quality.
However, in cases where not all of these materials are available, alternatives like those listed below could be employed.
• A stiff brush attached to a drill (in place of running water or hose).
• A fiber-thread towel.
STEPS to Clean Your Rubber Floors
STEP 1: Use a scrub brush to remove the dried mud. You could also make use of a vacuum cleaner to take off the dirt from the surface. It would help suck off all dirt that could be stuck tightly in the fibers of the mat.
STEP 2: Rub some floor wax on the rubber mats and leave them to soak for about five minutes. Make sure the wax touches every area of the mat to make washing easier when the cleaning agent is introduced.
Be careful not to walk on them while washing as they could be slippery when they are wet or greasy. Leave to penetrate the mats for about a minute.
STEP 3: Apply an all-purpose cleaner to remove all excess wax that could be stuck in the rubber mats in the process of soaking.
Allow the cleanser (which could also be a spray) to stay for a few minutes on the mats to collect dirt. It takes off all white spots or stagnant stains and makes the black rubber look brand new after rinsing.
Do not use a cleaner that is too strong and would be too intense on the rubber so that it does not soften it. Get one that best fits your rubber mats. Alongside making sure that your cleaning agent is not too harsh on your mats, get one that leaves a fresh, long-lasting smell on them.
STEP 4: Connect your hose to a source of water (preferably a running tap) and use it to rinse out the cleaner.
The hose helps you direct water rightly so that it does not wet sensitive areas or surfaces that can be easily damaged by water or provoked electrically, in your truck.
It also helps to distribute water adequately to all areas of the mats so that they are not only rinsed well, but it removes whatever dirt or cleaner is stuck within the holes of the floor mats.
If you are making use of a scrub brush attached to a drill instead, press it on the mats and scrub hard, following the lines inscribed in them and collect the embedded dirt accordingly.
Continue this for as long as necessary. On the other hand, make sure to rinse thoroughly as improper or inadequate rinsing leaves excess cleaning agent stuck in the rubber.
This attracts dirt and could cause a stain; most times, irremovable.
STEP 5: Use black spray paint on your rubber mats. Spray generously but carefully to ensure that the paint sinks into the mats (as they are often thick) so well that they come out shining after they are dry.
If you make use of a fiber-like towel instead, use it to dry the water and suck out liquid from the mats before applying the paint.
STEP 6: Leave your mats to dry for some minutes. Ensure that they are exposed to enough ventilation to speed up the drying process. This would also help air get into the very thick areas of the floor mats so that they do not remain damp while being used.
Rubber Floor Mats Maintenance
1- Avoid using harsh cleaning agents or detergent while washing, to reduce the possibility of softening or reduction of the mats’ thickness.
Harsh or corrosive chemicals in cleaning agents could damage the mats and reduce their degree of absorbance of water, as the chemicals gradually eat up the material of the rubber mats.
2- Clean all liquid dirt from the rubber surfaces immediately. The resistance of rubber floor mats to water could be threatened and weakened when they are often exposed to too much water spillage or any kind of liquid.
3- To maintain your rubber floor mats, clean them regularly. Do not wait until they are excessively dirty before cleaning them.
Have a regular periodic time of cleaning your mats; whether dirty or not. This helps maintain them and keep the dirt that sticks away from them.
4- When choosing paint for your floor mats, choose mild paints that will sink deep into and last long on the mats. If the paint you use has strong chemicals in it, it would pose a danger to your rubber floor mats. It could burn the thick material or weaken it, depending on the corrosive ability of the paint.
Types of Truck Flooring
A truck could be floored with rubber floor mats or vinyl mats. The differences between the two are as follows:
1- Rubber floor mats are made of thick rubber material while vinyl floor mats are made of hard plastic materials, water, and other additives.
2- Rubber floor mats are thicker and often more durable than vinyl floor mats. Unlike vinyl mats, rubber mats can bear heat and immense pressure and still remain in good shape. Vinyl mats would often shrink, melt or year as they can not withstand heat or too much pressure.
3- Rubber floorings are often more expensive than vinyl floors because of their quality and guaranteed and proven durability.
4- Rubber mats often come in big thick black, Dark Grey, or army green colors while vinyl mats could often come in small, medium, or large sizes, and in varieties of colors. This is a result of the varying thickness of both materials, which the penetration of colors depends on.
Hence, for a truck, it is best to use rubber floor mats.
Conclusion!
As comfortable and enjoyable as using rubber floor mats in a truck could be, cleaning them could come as such a burden.
Cleaning rubber floors in trucks could be a demanding, troublesome, and even annoying process for truck owners because of the challenging process it takes to do it right and leave the floors completely free of dirt.
