A Guide To Car Floor Care

Car Care Guide Topics

Taking good care of your interior helps you and your passengers enjoy the drive much better. And, as an extra bonus, a vehicle with clean floors is much more likely to fetch a higher price for trade-in or resale.

Keep these factors in mind when caring for your floors, seats and dash.

Car floor care in general

Without basic care, your floors can go to pot pretty fast. Think of all the things that can destroy your floors—like mud, dirt, spills and more—and make a plan to keep them sharp. Check out our basic tips for cleaning vinyl and carpet interiors.

All-weather floor mats and floor care
The surefire way to save your floors from certain doom is to employ a set of custom all—weather floor mats. They cover your carpet edge—to—edge with impervious material, and usually feature a tall outer rim to contain liquids.

That means a fallen grape Slurpee need not cause a sudden panic attack, and a dropped mocha isn't the end of your interior.

Vinyl floor care
A mild mix of soap and water is best for keeping vinyl floor vehicles in good shape. Avoid the temptation to use a shine or protection product on vinyl floors—it creates a slick floor surface that makes it a little too easy to slip off of your brake pedal.

Be careful not to overdo it with the water, though. It can be quite a mess to clean up.

Carpeted floor care
For carpeted vehicles, a quick vacuum job is usually enough to dress-up your floors. Whether it's in your drive way or at a service station, spending just a few minutes (and perhaps a few quarters) to suck-up the dirt prevents little bits from being ground into the carpet and makes your interior look worlds better.

Stain protectors/treatments

Modern interiors are typically treated with stain blockers and protectors to keep your interior fresh. These polymer coatings prevent your latest latte from soaking into the carpet, making cleanup easy with warm water and a light carpet cleaner.

If your vehicle is not treated with these protectors, do-it-yourself products or professional application is available. They make cleaning the little spots much easier.

Car carpet cleaners

For those without carpet protectors, spilled drinks and food can be the downfall of your vehicle's interior shape. Unsightly rings are left behind by careless kids or "stop-short" spills. Not to worry—conventional carpet cleaners are safe for use on your auto's carpeted interior. Whether it's a spot treatment spray bottle or a full-on steam cleaner, these treatments can go a long way to beautifying your interior and upping your resale value.