How-To: Fix Bunching, Moving Floor Mats

My floor mats have been driving me crazy! Perhaps a little explanation is in order. The driver's floor mat in my old-enough-to-drive-itself 1991 Honda CRX has always bunched up and moved around. Maybe my clutch-depressing technique is unusual. Maybe my tiny feet and stumpy legs are the problem. Whatevs. The point is, this issue has plagued me for all of the 11 years I've owned the vehicle. I was recently inspired the fix the problem by a post of the CRX Community forum. Here's how you, too, can have smooth, stationary floor mats.

Cut apart an old wire hanger. (Joan Crawford and my own mommie dearest would be proud.) Then straighten the 2 "shoulder" pieces as much as possible:


Next, bend them to an angle approximately matching the footwell of your car, probably about 45 degrees:


Place the mat over the edge of a coach or what have you to approximate the correct curvature and use duct tape to fasten the ends of the wires to the mat. It's important to get the bend in the correct location.


Add more duct tape to keep the hanger parts in place:


You may not have copious amount of adhesive hook-and-loop (Velcro) closures in your home liek I do---Take that!---but you can buy a box of a meter or so for a few bucks. Cut the hook side into 2 to 4 strips, whatever works best for the geometry of your mat, then stick them firmly to the underside of the mat. Be aware that you may have some kind of rubber mat built into your car's floor carpeting. You need to ensure that the Velcro will land on your carpet and not that built-in mat.


Take the mat out to the car, position it carefully over the spot where you want it, and press it down into the carpet. You may need to press on the curved area to put the correct bend into the wires.

I've had this hacked---ahem, customized---floor mat in my Rex for 2 weeks, and it hasn't bunched, moved, squirmed, or otherwise irritated me. I consider this little project a success.