Removing carpets and their glue from rubber mats

[Catts]

I have taken up all the carpets from our van and how need some advice on how to remove the foam backing and glue particulary from the rubber mats in front of van. Can anyone recommend a product?

[weldore]

we did this on our cab mat.....let me tell ya...it was a nightmare.we had the spongey backing stuck on it too.some of it would just pull off and other bits were a bleeder....its as frustrating as taking 10 year old wood chip off the walls!!!! we tried turps to soften the glue...crap...we tried hot water..same as..we tried cold water..same as.it just came down to some good old fasioned elbow grease with a pan scrubber ...there might be something you can use but we just scrubbed at it,took a couple of nights to get it all off

oh and welcome to the asylum...its not so bad after you get your medication

[jason k]

change the rubber mat its easier!!!

[Catts]

Thanks - brillo pads have worked best so far but as you said a nightmere. Bought the van a month ago and just started updating - i am sure this will not be our first cry for help.

Where can you buy new mats from?

[plurker]

.

[eatcustard]

How about a steamer?

That will melt the glue

[Davy MacLean]

Tried using a hair dryer to soften it up then scarpe it off just be careful that the backing doesnt become too soft and smear all over the place. Once done give it a good clean down with a solvent based cleaner

[mikey9]

ALso tried all the above (acetone, hair dryer etc).

The only thing I found was elbow grease and a wire brush - and where lucky you could pull big bubbles off.....

Just get stuck in - and write a couple of evenings off

Finding a good or better replacement cab mat was like hens teeth for me........i had a couple of offers who never came through though.

[AngeloEvs]

there was me hoping someone had an easy peasy remedy as mine needs doing too..........will have to wait, short on elbow grease at the mo!

[mikey9]

So hens teeth are suddenly a bit more common - - -

From our very own swap and free forum
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=47571

(and after I used all my Elbow grease too....)

[1664]

I've done this to two campers. In the first van the carpet was foam backed, the second it was fibre backed. In both cases I removed the mats from the van (carefully to avoid tearing) and ripped off the carpet to reveal the mat, foam, glue etc.

I then painted a small (Foot square) section with Nitromores and left it for a few minutes. I then vigourously scrubbed the area with a stiff brush and hot, very soapy water and then dried it to leave a section of rubber. The Nitromores does soften the rubber a bit but I never had it melt it or eat a hole. Once the whole mat is done you're left with a matt black rubber mat. Brush or rub in (lots of) good old fashioned black shoe polish and leave for a while. Then simply brush off and buff to a high sheen - comes up showroom

It is hard work but well worth it

[weldore]

So hens teeth are suddenly a bit more common - - -

From our very own swap and free forum
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=47571

(and after I used all my Elbow grease too....)

i bet that rip would be an easy fix....just use carpet glue ,that stuff is awsome

[jaylo264]

Mikey , try using some "black magic " type wetsuit glue -- even better ?
jaylo

[gsmoke]

I've recently removed and cleaned up my floor mat.
It was foam backed and and while removing it, most of the foam crumbled to dust.
The remaining foam and glue was a nightmare but I got best results with a green kitchen scourer and white spirit.
It was a bugger of a job.

[Epiphone]

Ive ripped out all the carpets, as they were quite old and dirty. The interior paint work looks quite good I find. So I will just fit mats etc in the places which will be stepped on.

On the wheel arches and the seat boxes where the carpet was glued, there is alot of residual glue left over. Today Ive used a combination of a paint stripper and Universal Thinners to remove some of the glue. I havent mastered it yet, but I think first applying the thinner to soften it up then heat and a cloth to wipe of the melted glue and then when there is only a small amount left, thinners and cloth again.

Here how its gone so far. You can still see what it looked before like on the far left.

IMG_5417_small.jpg