What’s the difference between floor mats and floor liners?
You can sometimes hea r the words “floor mat” and “floor liner” interchangeably. But they are different and work best in different situations, depending on the needs of your truck. With either product you choose, having a good carpet protection is always good in the long run. This article is designed to give you the information you need so you can get the best product for your needs.
Don’t forget to check out our product comparison for f150 floor mats if your looking to upgrade
Floor Mats vs floor Liners, Why care?
If your vehicle often includes children in it, is often buried in muddy and slippery areas, or tracks snow during a storm or ice storm, your carpet may not be properly protected. And stained carpets can reduce vehicle resale by thousands.
These add-on floor liners provide incredibly high protection over typical floors and offer superior durability. Choosing the right product will depend on how many times you will encounter messy conditions.
Do I Really Need Floor Mat or Floor Liners?
Yes! Having floor mats or liners protect the carpets in your car, and in the long run can help keep the value of your car higher. They can even end up paying for themselves over their life time, keeping the resale value of your car higher. Car carpets can end up sticky and even mildewy from soda spills or your kids apple sauce packets, stiff with mud, dirt and snow salt. Mats and liners are easy to clean, durable, and make your life easier.
Floor Mats vs Floor Liners
Car floor mats are universal shaped pieces of rubber or carpet (or a combination of the two). They are generally less expensive than liners. Floor liners are custom made to fit the make and model of your vehicle.
When to Choose Floor Mats
If you have an older vehicle and are looking to cover worn or stained factory carpets for a low price, liners are your best bet. They are flexible and fit most any car’s interior shape. One feature that can be helpful on rubber mats is having lots of ridges and grooves to catch liquid messes. Another feature that can be helpful is cut lines, to help you customize them to the correct size. These are great for climates that don’t have much inclement weather like snow, mud, and dirt.
When Not to Choose Floor Mats
If you want full coverage and protection for your carpets choose liners instead. Since floor mats are made to fit the make and model of many different vehicles, they end up sliding around a bit. If you want protection against liquid spills and anything else, choose liners. Floor mats generally do not have raised edges.
Husky Mat Features
Husky’s Unifit mats are made of their patented Duragrip rubber material, with grooves to collect liquids. They use the Unipost retention system to prevent sliding. Husky mats are meant to be cut to size for acceptable coverage and easy to install. They are also have a lifetime warranty.
Weathertech Mat Features
Weathertech’s All-Weather Floor Mats are won’t curl or cracking in sub-zero weather because they are made from advanced a flexible rubber-like Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE), which is actually 100 percent recyclable, and will not fade with exposure to UV light. They feature a non-stick surface to make cleaning as easy as possible, and use anti-skid ridges on the backs of the mats to prevent them from sliding out of place. Many mats are vehicle specific, but most are assigned the best possible fit on your floor. Mats can be cut to fit when needed.
When to Choose Floor Liners
Preventing wear and tear on your vehicle’s interior is best achieved with custom fit, laser measured floor liners for your specific make and model. They are most often made of heavy duty rubber, or other composite or thermoplastic surface material that is easy to clean.
For example, Weathertech’s floor liners are a premium product that are custom designed to fit over 1000 different vehicles. They have raised edges made of rigid material particularly in the rear to contain melted snow, mud, and other messes from spilling on to the carpet. Liners also have nabbed backing, which prevents them from sliding around. They are durable and give your truck a rugged look.
When Not to Choose Floor Liners
If you are looking for a product with an economical price, these may not be for you. Or if you don’t like the heavy duty more industrial look of liners.
Weathertech Liner Features
Weathertech floorliners are among the best liners. Here are some specific details of the Weathertech floorliners. They are made of High-Density Tri-extruded material (HDTE), and have high ridges, low grooves, and raised sides to trap messes. They are laser measured for a custom fit that covers the entire footwell. Factory compatible retention systems allow them to be securely attached to prevent sliding. Weathertech premium liners are worth the cost to keep your truck free from wear.
Husky Liner Features
Husky liners are also a great option, a little less in cost that WeatherTech. These custom laser measured liners are made of Duragrip rubber material, not too hard, not too soft. They also have raised edges to protect the floor and footwell . Factory retention posts and cleats prevent slippage. Also, Husky liners look rugged and are guaranteed for life.
Custom Fit vs. Universal Fit
While floor liners are usually tailored to a particular vehicle, mats may not be. Liners are laser measured and created to fit every contour of the floor of your specific vehicle. Universal mats sometimes have excess surface area and can be trimmed to fit the needs of the customer. Some mats and linings provide a feature that includes buttons (sometimes called “cleatholes”, floor liners will match exactly with those locations but mats may not.
Do you put mats on floor liners?
No, mats and liners are designed to be used by themselves. If used together you will get a big lump in your liner and it might not work as design.
Is Husky or WeatherTech better?
Husky Liners were our top picks in our all weather mat review. When you get to the details they have the same quality and features as WeatherTech but just at a bit lower prices. Although both companies offer a good selection of flooring mats that provide protection for carpet and floor in cars, the ones you choose will depend on your specific needs.
We also have a ton of other interior upgrade options for your truck.
