[Raghav_K]

Any heads- up from fellow Chennai BHP-ians, asto where i can get the raw materials for this project?

[ajay4060]

Normally shops selling Curtains/ Mattresses keep such mats.

Soft Noodle mats are recommended for cars; and the price is defined based on the Density of loops and the softness. This looped construction helps to retain dirt and moisture within the surface of Mat. While selecting such mats you have to ensure that the loops are strong enough to handle wear and tear caused by your shoes; else these loops will come out.

Quality is also defined on its capability to protect against mildew Growth; but it’s advisable to clean such mats at regular interval.

Hope above info is helpful and do post some pics of you DIY; once done.

Originally Posted by savyo

hey saurabh,

thank you, any specific shop?

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by dinu2506

I've used a brand called Softurf and costed me Rs 73 per sq ft from a local furnishing shop.

Can you please give me directions or location in Tipasandra where you purchased Soft Turf noodle mats? I know Clumax, as a reference.

[dinu2506]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Can you please give me directions or location in Tipasandra where you purchased Soft Turf noodle mats? I know Clumax, as a reference.

Come further down the Tipsandra Main Road road from Clumax, maybe 50 metres and its on the right. You will see couple of rolls outside.

[sandeepmohan]

Noodled.

This has taken close to 3 years to figure out. From the day I got my new car, I decided that it has to be kept clean. I can't stand the sight of dirt inside my car or any car. When I step in to a car, the first thing I look for is how clean it is on the inside. It could be a cab or a friends car. Does not matter. I prefer a clean environment for travel and I am sure must of us prefer the same.

I stuck to the original fabric car mats in my car and you may not believe this, but they are still in good shape. As good as new. The trouble is, I had to dust them out after every single trip. Even if it was a short 5km trip to the grocery store. If you step out of the car and step back in, your foot wear has some amount of sand stuck on the sole and god knows what else.

Next up was placing a full newspaper on top of the fabric car mat. This worked quite well except that I now had double the work to do. Take out the newspaper and car mats for dusting cause the newspaper won't stay in one place and dust finds it way on to the car mats. Not only this, they were annoying. You could not drag your feet on them cause them would crush. I was careful but I can't expect my passengers to be. They would crease, tear the newspaper and that was it. It was a mess.

I read about 3M mats as a really good solution. A lot of folks out here have done 3M car mat installations. What I could not digest is the price for them. I am big 3M fan. I love everything that they make and feel they are value for money. Use a lot of their products for the house. The mats were expensive. I could afford them but wondered if spending Rs. 6000 on rubbers mats for the car and that too for a really small area. Thanks to the thread starter, I decided it was time to "Do It Yourself". Found a store not too far from my house and got exactly what I wanted.

I bought a roll of 12ft. It cost Rs. 1920. I am useless at bargaining. Durosoft is the brand though it isn't written anywhere. I bought grey color. It is very flexible and the loops are soft. I was excited. Got straight to it after dinner and I was done in less than 2 hours. I took it easy and though the template cuts are far from perfect, I feel I got it right for the most part. Some mistakes mostly on the rear cut outs. The section where I got it wrong goes under the front seat so I was not too worried. I ended up using all of the 12ft length. Wasted bits were quite a lot. Better planning on cut out's would have saved some. These mats are heavy. My guess is the cut mats have added a good 20 kilos or a little more.

Before I put in the mats, I soaked them over night with some Nile shampoo. Two reasons; one is to bring down the rubber smell and the other to just rinse them out cause the rolls were standing at a store. The rubber smell has not gone completely. Another wash may be required. The next time around I will dry them in the shade. The water from the rinse was black so that's how much muck or dust was already in the mat.

Here are some pictures. Tracing out the insides on a Linea, especially the rear seating area is not easy.

The roll.


A close up of the noodles.


The cuts outs. There are imperfections, especially the lower middle image where I have not cut out a "C" shape for the rear ac foot vent. The vent isn't covered though so I am okay with that.


The under side of the mat has this triangle sort of structure and I am guessing they will be enough to grip the carpet. Let us see. Yet to take out the car out after putting in the new rubber mats.


Quite a lot of wasted bits. Should have been more smart about this.


Drivers seat.


Drivers seat.


Front passenger seat.


Rear section.

[cnu]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

The rubber smell has not gone completely. Another wash may be required.

Sandeep, has the rubber smell vanished now ? Curious to know the time taken for the smell to go completely.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by cnu

Sandeep, has the rubber smell vanished now ?

Yes it has. The smell went on its own. I did not rinse the mat with water again which is what was advised.

[savyo]

Hello again guys,
I got my noodle mats done for my swift today. Bought it from a shop at Malad station west for 70/- a sq ft. Needed 16 sq ft, it cost me 1120/- and the guys cut it for me too. Perfect fit.

This is the picture of the cutouts.

[savyo]

Guys,

I dunked my new noodle mats in a bucket of warm water n surf excel.
Dried them out and the smell was gone,also, if you use a good airfreshner, your job is done.

[H_Dogg72]

I bought a single drivers side nomad, now I am looking to put the Durosoft mats for the full car.
Could someone recommend me the location to buy the mats from in Delhi?
Kashmiri gate seems like an option.

EDIT:
I found out the Duro Soft is the roll and Dura Mat is the car mat material.
Maybe the reason for that smell is that the Duro Soft is not intended for car use
http://www.timetechnoplast.com/duro-soft.htm

[RiGOD]

It's been a month and half since I started using noodle mats in my Ford Classic. Decided to post the pics only after using it extensively, so here they are.

Passenger Side



A closer look



Driver Side



Another closer look



Rear floor (Notice the three piece arrangement)



Yet another closer look



Mats extending all the way up to the hump below front seats



Price of the mat used : Rs.1250/metre (the width of the roll was 1.2 m)

Quantity purchased : 1.4 m (1.4 x 1.2 = 1.68 sq.m)

Total Expenditure : Rs.1750

While cutting out the patterns, I totally neglected the OE mats and solely depended on newspaper templates and hence wastage was minimal and there were enough extra portions on every mat so that they could be easily slid beneath the sides of each area. This in turn prevented any sort of sliding and the vinyl flooring beneath the mats remained completely dust free even after 1.5 months of usage.

And here comes the best part, trust me or not the above pics were clicked just before I took out the mats for the first ever cleaning after 1.5 months of heavy usage and you won't believe the amount of dirt the damn thing was holding. All the loose dirt, mud, small stones etc. were just falling off the mats when I started to shake it and the way these mats concealed all this dirt really deserves some appreciation. Time for the pros and cons.

Pros

1. Really heavy duty and conceal all sorts of dirt for a considerable period of time

2. Very very easy to clean. Take it out, bang it against a wall and you're done.

3. Fits like a glove. If the templates are cut out perfectly, it leaves no room for the dirt to penetrate and no sliding from the actual position.

4. Lighter shades really gives an airy and luxury feel to the interior. Every single person who stepped into my car gave a good comment about the flooring.

5. Durable. Yes 1.5 months is a pretty short span to redeem a stuff as durable, but by the looks of it I really got a feeling that this thing is gonna last long. (Really long)

Cons

1. Somewhat pricey, but hey, this is one of the best examples of money (and time) well spent on a car and trust me, your mom or wife are not gonna complain about it.

2. I've heard users complaining about the rubbery smell lingering around for a while but I didn't face such an issue.

PS : IMO it is better to go for lighter shades like beige than darker ones like black, maroon etc. as the latter shows the dirt easily.

Finally, to all fellow BHPians who still have not tried this :

'GET NOODLED, STAY HAPPY!'

[G V Krishna]

Originally Posted by RiGOD

It's been a month and half since I started using noodle mats in my Ford Classic. Decided to post the pics only after using it extensively, so here they are.

'GET NOODLED, STAY HAPPY!'

Dude, small query here. I see that you have PVC flooring in your classic & over that you are using these noodle mats. Do they slip? because my car also has this vinyl carpet and I'm very skeptical that these noodle mats might slip in the driver bay. How about your experiences?

[Vinay Stanley]

For noodle mats use a hot glue gun across the ends as a seam line this helps it to be placed better and it fits snugly in the corners. Did it for all my vehicles.

Its a small but time consuming job and more hands the better to get the job done.

[RiGOD]

Originally Posted by G V Krishna

Dude, small query here. I see that you have PVC flooring in your classic & over that you are using these noodle mats. Do they slip? because my car also has this vinyl carpet and I'm very skeptical that these noodle mats might slip in the driver bay. How about your experiences?

No slipping at all. The key is to leave some extra width to the mat on the driver and passenger side, so that you can slide it beneath the plastic portions. This will help to prevent the skidding and the PVC floor will remain completely dust free as there is no gap between the floor and the mat. Check the first couple of pics in the earlier post to get a better understanding.

[Dry Ice]

I see these kind of mats are now readily available for most of the cars. http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...ds=noodle+mats

Have ordered a pair for my Alto - will check the quality against the ones in my Scorp (which was a D-I-Y job just like OP) and update.