As the working man’s vehicle has changed over the years, many make it a way of life to personalize their ride. Beyond the additions of mud flaps and toolboxes, the interior to our vehicles is where we spend countless hours driving and it is our home away from home.
To combat the harsh weather conditions in the Southern Northwest United States, Jim Dantun is now a firm believer that quality floor mats are a necessity. “On rainy days, which happen too often up here, I’m in and out of my truck all day doing deliveries. I have had a set of Husky Liners in my Silverado since I bought it and I didn’t know they would help me out in bigger ways than just keeping my floors clean. My partner has always joked around saying I spend too much time and money on my truck, but on one of our runs, he was stepping out of his truck and slipped out, breaking his pelvic bone and collar bone. If he had some mats to help him with his wet step out, his problem would have been solved. He told me that his boots were wetting from dropping off packages and he rushed out of his ride and slipped from the cab to the ground. Maybe Husky should know that their mats can really do more than they would think.”
I researched floor mats and the benefits that I found for them are that they:
• Protect against unpleasant stains that harm the appearance and value of your vehicle
• Stop spilt sodas, fumbled coffees and mishandled snacks from staining your carpet
• Provide year round protection against even the most severe weather conditions
• Trap mud, water, road salt and sand before it gets ground into your flooring
• Prevent wear, snags and rips caused by foot friction
Here's a quick list of some of the most common flooring foes:
• Mud, moisture and grime that are tracked-in on shoes, and then ground deep into your carpet
• Sticky sodas, boiling coffee and on-the-go meals drenched in condiments that spill, stain and become permanent additions to your floorboards
• Foot friction caused by entering, exiting and shifting about in your seat
• Gum on your shoes that transfers to your flooring and dries into impossible slabs of minty concrete
• Crud, muck and filth that catch a ride on our shoes and end up smearing all over our nice, new and expensive vehicle interior
All-Weather vs. Carpet Floor Mats
Constructed from heavy-duty rubber, pliable vinyl or thermoplastic, all-weather floor mats put-up an extreme defense against mud, snow and other shoe-born grime that inevitably finds its way onto your floorboards.
Whether you work out of your vehicle or just play in it, the all-weather floor mats give you a virtually indestructible barrier between your carpet and the world. Not only that, they are also incredibly easy to clean - just give them a quick bath with a hose, and they're as good as new.
Stitched together from durable nylon and Berber yarns, carpet floor mats are soft to the touch, but put up a hard line of defense against your floorboard's enemies. Not only do these floor mats replace the ones that came with your vehicle, they're thicker and heavier to provide added protection and a longer life-span. On top of color selection, you can further personalize your floor mats by embroidering either logos or your own personal catch-phrase.
Who Makes Them
Two well-know floor mats, Husky Liners and Weathertech Floor Mats, are semi-custom-designed. What this means is that these particular floor mats fit well in your vehicle as well as in various other makes and models.
Just as GM and Ford reuse the same floor plan in multiple cars, trucks and SUVs, so Husky and Weathertech follow suit. These floor mats are anything but the dreaded one-size-fits-all floor mats that many retail shop are trying to pawn off on its unsuspecting customers. They are still guaranteed to fit exactly, and the manufacturers have over 50 patters to match your floor with great accuracy. I plan on following in Jim’s footsteps (pun intended) as apposed to his work partner’s and looking forward to getting a set of new floor mats…. :)
