Cleaning under hood rug?

[MattN03]

What is everyone using to clean the underhood rug/mat that are found on some vehicles? My Ranger's mat is looking pretty dirt, and wiping it down with a slightly damp rag (damp with only water) isn't quite enough to make it look nice. Any tips?

[RDVT4ME]

I mist some Meguiars APC on a terry cloth towel. I also have used my wet/dry vacuum on it. Do the vacuum first, then follow up with the APC.

[MattN03]

So that return it to the original black/dark color it was when new and not harm the material?

[RDVT4ME]

Is it perfect, like brand new....no. But it is significantly better. It's fairly close to looking new.

I did this process to a 1998 Corvette that was really dirty under the hood. The owner was very pleased with the results.

You are spraying the APC onto the cloth, not the hood pad. So you will not be getting lots of product on the pad. Which means no damage to the hood pad. I do this with my own corvette and it works well.

[BenP]

I hose the rug down, spray on some APC, give it a scrub with a brush and then rinse. Leave the hood open and allow it to dry.

Ben

[F-150]

would it be okay to use safe d- greaser on the black matt under the hood? Sry to high jack the thread. I think it's used for insulation so that the hood on the top surface wouldn't be hot. So what would be safe for it besides apc?

[Murr1525]

The 'rug' is also a fire supressant.

I would imagine Safe-Degreaser would be ok to use. It might not be quite as much of a foaming cleanser, but you should be able to wipte it on and scrub a little if needed.

I would be sure to wipe down with a wet towel after, to make sure residue is removed.

[sneek]

used to use EXTRA on it and it worked well

[BenP]

Originally posted by F-150
would it be okay to use safe d- greaser on the black matt under the hood? Sry to high jack the thread. I think it's used for insulation so that the hood on the top surface wouldn't be hot. So what would be safe for it besides apc?

I've used Safe D-Greaser with great results.

Ben

[F-150]

Rick from autodetailingsolutions helped me out with this and check out the pics under "preparing to detail engine compartment". I used apc plus and didn't hose down the mat. I first vacuumed it. Then spray apc plus on a terry cloth, wiped on, wiped off with damp terry cloth(it had only water on it) I sprayed around the mat and used safe d greaser for the surrounding (which I rinsed off of course and terry dried)

Here's the link:
Preparing the Detail Engine Compartment

Sorry I forgot to take a before pic of the mat, just picture the dirty muddy water splattered all over the engine as pictured, on the matt and that's what it looked like.