restoring floormats (removing ground in dirt and stains)

My car has close to 200K miles, although I have kept my interior in
great condition.
Even new carpeted floormats however seem tough to keep clean.
I have used pure steam on them with no luck (Euro-Pro EP93 steamer),
and those aerosol cleaner cans with the built in brush don't cut it
either.
Surface dirt rubs off, but a black/grey film remains.
I see the pros using an orbital carpet polisher to clean mats, but I
cant find such
a tool online.
Please share your ideas on keeping floormats clean of dirt buildup and
stains
Thanks

 

It may be too late for your mats but here's what I do to keep the tan
ones in my mustang clean... I take the mat to be cleaned and put it in
the bath tub or I can use a bucket of water outside... depends on the
weather. I generally use laundry soap... I get the whole mat soaking wet
and use a large brush and the soap. rinse, squeegy, repeat. takes awhile
but they are clean. Lately I just have a thin walmart cheapy mat to take
the abuse...

 

Two techniques that I've used, quite successfully:

After a while, buy NEW MATS.

Get some $10 cheap mats from Wal-Mart.

Either or both of these procedures results in very good results.

 

I was gonna suggest the same thing. Probably cost more in cleaning materials
and elbow grease than it would to just replace the things outright.

 

When ever I have the interior shampooed, or just the mats washed, I
spray scotch-guard afterwards.

 

Its not easy to remove all that dirt and oil, but it is possible. As a
carpet cleaner I do have the technology and products. YOUR best bet may
be to go to the laundromat and run them through a cycle or two in a
front load machine. You need detergent to break down the soils (thats
why the steam didnt do the trick) and them lots of rinse to remove the
released soil and detergent.

-SP
oHIo

 

Once upon a time floor mats were made of sensible rubber.

The purpose of a floor mat is because people's feet are dirty, and
the mat will eventually get soiled, and all that rubbing of dirt into the
mat sandpapers it and wears it out. The idea is once the mat is
dirty and worn out, you remove it and throw it out and buy new ones.

Ted