Carpet Issues in Cabin - Any Advice?

[paull]

Hi,
Has anybody got any experience of the VW cabin carpet going discoloured?

We had a T5.1 and fitted the "VW T5 Walk-Through Premium Rubber Cabin Mat" bought from the club shop (https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product/vw-t5-walk-through-premium-rubber-tailored-cabin-mat)
When we came to take the mat out - the original van carpets colour had gone very yellow, I didn't try using any cleaner to restore the carpet - should I have done?

We are in the process of waiting delivery of a new van, and don't want to use another cabin mat if it will discolour the VW fitted carpets.

Any help or advice appreciated

Thanks - Paull

 

[Daggartukvan1]

Hi there, I've never heard of this happening personally - what colour were the carpets originally? Is it possible that the yellow colour is the original colour and the uncovered parts have faded in sunlight. Alternatively, is it possible that the back of the rubber mats were wiped with something during cleaning which caused bleaching?
Good luck

 

[paull]

Hi All,

Thanks @Daggartukvan1

The carpets were classic grey I think - a light grey colour
The cabin mat bought from the club shop covered the entire area, so I don't think it was anything to do with the sun.
Initially we just had the VW Monster rubber mats, but like the idea that the area around the handbrake wasn't protected so we bought the all in one cabin mat.

I am just worried about putting new mats in my new van - so any advice or knowledge appreciated.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Hi All,

Thanks @Daggartukvan1

The carpets were classic grey I think - a light grey colour
The cabin mat bought from the club shop covered the entire area, so I don't think it was anything to do with the sun.
Initially we just had the VW Monster rubber mats, but like the idea that the area around the handbrake wasn't protected so we bought the all in one cabin mat.

I am just worried about putting new mats in my new van - so any advice or knowledge appreciated.

It sounds to me like the rubber in the mats has not been stable, and the polymer has reacted with the carpet. It can occur if the rubber hasn’t been cured correctly. This same thing happened in a room of our house. We’d laid a woven rug on top of a neutral carpet, mainly as decoration. The rug was in service about a year, when my wife noticed the non slip rubber backing with cracking. When we took it out of the room, there was a perfect rug shaped yellow patch! We left it exposed to daylight during the summer and it did gradually fade a bit. We since bought another rug without a rubber backing.

We‘ve got VW rubber mats installed in our Cali, and hearing your experience I’ll be keeping an eye on the carpets. We’ve got the carpets type mats as well, but to be honest the rubber ones are really useful. It might be a good idea to swap occasionally though.

 

[AlistairC]

Interesting to hear this. Perhaps you could leave a review on the shop so others are aware of the risk. I still have the original mats beneath my walkthrough mat so am now tempted to remove the Vw mats to save them from the risk of discolouration..

 

[paull]

Thanks @Hawthorn37 for the explanation - I get it. We think it was the VW mats that caused this, but we can't be sure. Maybe we were just unlucky - nobody has said anything related about their van on the forum.

I plan on putting VW mats in the new van, but will be checking regularly. Watch this space

Thanks all

 

[Autumn]

I have just bought the rubber walk through mat from the club. Was it the campervan bits one or the true VW ones that seem to come in 3 parts? I would be very interested to know.