In my GTI I have the rubber Monster mats (picture below), love them as they look good and are very functional, and the hex shape ties into the rest of the car. I normally clean them with just APC and a long hair brush and cleans them well and go over with SV brush if any bad areas. Only issue is I have not found a good dressing to use on it that is not slick as anything and a pain to apply due to all the hex shapes. I was hoping there is something that is just spray on and walk away deal. I cant really think of anything that would work, I have tried white pearl tire dressing, rubber dressing but had to go over every little hex and took a long time to do each matt. A little slickness is ok as it will wear off after a day, any suggestions?
hmm i was actually thinking about this one day. This is a out of the box idea but how about diluting the dressing a little bit? that and go over it with a clean mf towel afterwards to catch any slickness. just an idea :shrug:
You mean just do a light spray and just clean off the top of the ridges or actually go through every hex? Big thing is if I put too much on then it pools up in the hex and collects crap like no other. I dont know if there is a dressing that you could spray on, let it sit for a bit, then hose the mats down to get rid of extra and left with something nice looking but not over done. Maybe that is wish-full thinking haha.
be carefull couse i think i tried something on mine and it made it too slick and not good for driving
i have always wanted to try out chemical guys fade to black on my monster mats. from what ive heard and read, you just spray and you can either leave it or wipe it down to get more of a satin look
I do have some Megs trim detailer, which is like fade to black, may have to see how it goes today if i get a chance.
That's not bad. How about Hyperdressing? I've got half a gallon of it if you don't have any, you're welcome to some.
Hyperdressing might be a better play. It's water based, of course, so you can cut it to whatever strength strikes your fancy. It's also really good about wiping clean - a clean towel will rid you of the excess and take away a lot of the slippery feel. I've never tried it on mats, as none of my cars have rubber mats, but elsewhere, especially engine bays, being able to get rid of the slickness is really nice. Makes the car easier to work on. It's close to 70 degrees outside today, so I'm looking for excuses to go driving the S2000 around. Text me if you'd like to try some HD.
haha, I will let ya know..gonna take care of a few things and send ya a text so you can drive the s2000, also check out the lights.
When I do rubber mats, I explain to the client that I'll do my best to scrub/APC them but most of the time there's nothing to do to save the ugly greyish look they turn. But I explain the upside to that, is they aren't ruining their carpes/floor mats. I personally would never dress the rubber mats for a) safty hazzard and b) it'll wear off the minute I or the client steps in the car.. :shrug:
ankeet, the best option i have found to work on monster mats was Adams In and Out Spray. it leaves a great finish, and once applied it dries nicely and does not leave a slick or slippery finish at all. unfortunately it is not in production anymore due to VOC regulations, but if i remember correctly they are reformulating it to re-release the product. other aerosol type spray dressings i have used on other things leave too slippery of a finish for me to risk using them on my mats. the problem is once the mats are slick and your shoes get that slickness from the mats, its transferred to the rubber grip nubs on our pedals, and it makes them slippery as well. i have not yet had the chance to try fade to black. i have used liquid dressings with decent results, but having some sort of compressed air to blow the excess product from the hex shapes in them is a life saver as well as a time saver. i've found the best way to keep the mats looking fresh is regular maintenance cleaning, especially in the winter months.
+1 I use Hyperdressing for interior mats also at 3:1. Whenever I get mats with deep ridges and grooves like yours what I do is spray the mats down and use the blower port on my shop vac and blow the dressing into all the cracks and crevices instead of doing them all individually. This helps spread the dressing evenly and speeds up the drying process.
haha, will see if it can out do my new fav, Scholl Purple 9000. Hmm, Megs stuff is not that slippery but I am gonna get some HD from Karl as soon as he lets me know when he is free. I made the mistake of once using some tire shine, put my foot on the mat to get it and almost did a split. Pulled the mats out and stripped all the dressing. :doh: So 3:1 is a good dilution for HD, will try that out and see how it goes. Dont have a shop vac at my apartment but do have a can of compressed air haha.
I use either Megs HD @ 3:1 or another really good one is DG Tire and Mat dressing. The key for me is to lightly spray them down and then let them sit in the sun for a few hours. Same concept as spraying the engine bay down with Megs HD after cleaning and then running the engine for 20 minutes. The heat makes the excess dressing evaporate and everything sort of blend together really well. My Jeep has really deep grooves that go in multiple directions so wiping them down was a pain thus I came up with this method.
I am about to meet up with Karl in a bit to get some HD, will mix up a bit and try it out today as the sun is out today.
Try diluting 303 Protectant 1:1 with water, it works great and does not leave the rubber feeling slick. I only found this combination because my dad's RX400 has those A/S rubber weather matts and I was frustrated with having to leave them undressed for the sake of safety. I tried this just because it came to mind and it worked very well.
