Tuxmats: One Year Later

When I bought my CX-30 a year ago, I installed a full set of front and rear Tuxmats a day after bringing it home from the dealer. I really liked how they felt—their textured surface were quieter and less slippery than Weathertechs, and they were easy to keep clean and maintain during the spring and summer. But the real test would be how well they protected the cabin from a New England winter, and how easy they are to deep clean. Does the extra coverage matter?

Today was my annual post-winter interior detail. I live in Massachusetts (a commonwealth in New England, the northeast region of the United States) and we get plenty of salt and muck in the winter time. Since I drive mostly by myself, there wasn't much dirt and grime on the rear and passenger front mats. The passenger side cleaned up just fine with some Meguiar's interior cleaner, a bristle brush, and a dry-down with a microfiber afterwards. Didn't need to remove them from the car at all, and I just lifted up the lips to vacuum around the edges. Basically just like what I do during the summertime for regular cleaning.

The driver's side, of course, was a mess. This hasn't been seriously cleaned since September. Here's a before.

I intentionally did not vacuum or otherwise clean the mat during the winter, because I wanted to see how it would hold up to the harsh New England elements. Here's what the carpet looked like after removing the mat for cleaning.

Pulling out the mat was easy enough—undo the clips and roll it up a bit and it comes right out. The floor mounted pedal definitely allows some dirt and stuff to collect at the bottom, but thankfully that area is mostly hard plastic! My aftermarket pedal covers don't help this situation; the mats are molded so closely around the OEM pedal that it has a slight gap with this kind of cover. Dirt can fall between the rubber bits of the pedal and collect under the mat. Still, the area vacuumed up easily and some interior cleaner tidied up the plastic and pedals. After the vacuum it looked like it was right out of the dealer's lot. I spent less than five minutes vacuuming and cleaning the pedals.

If you don't have pedal covers then you'll probably end up with an even cleaner area around the accelerator.

Next, I took the driver's side mat inside for a bath. Diluted some Simple Green, took my interior brush, and gave it a good scrub in the bathtub. After a rinse and dry the mat looked good as new. It wasn't a lot of work—again, maybe five minute's worth. The material of the mat is super easy to clean, though I can tell that I missed a spot scrubbing near the dead pedal's corner. Another scrub with a hit of interior detailer cleaned it up.

Overall, Tuxmats kept the interior carpet spotless and were super easy to clean. Honestly, it could have been cleaned in the car, but at a minimum I would peel back the area around the pedal to vacuum there. Unfortunately a floor-mounted pedal is less than ideal, but it is what it is.