Carpet floor mat repair

Toyota's OEM carpet floor mat doesn't have a rubber inset on the driver's mat. Ours lasted about 6 months before it was worn right through. I was vacuuming out the interior today, thought I'd try a repair, with some rubber floor mat material I had.

Cut it to size, then pre-drilled a series of holes around the perimeter. Did the stiching with a Tandy Sewing Awl. It'd been so long since I'd used one, I'd forgotten how they work, had to watch a YouTube video. The waxed thread is very grippy, more-or-less self-tensioning.

All in all I think it went ok. I'll leave it as is for a while, see how it wears. If there's a next time: I might make it extend a little further back, towards the driver's seat.

 

Just another thought: when you're doing any kind of extended interior cleaning, with the front doors open, all the unswitchable "convenience" lights are draining the 12 volt battery. Because I had it, I used a C-clamp on the door switch, to turn the lights off, but it's cumbersome, you might bump it, damage something. Something like this might work well, looks more convenient. If you could get one big enough. It needs a bit over 3" grip:

 

Yes, this was one of my more "fast, cheap and out of control" projects, took at most an hour. I find it often works out, albeit with rough edges. The more time I have to think it over, the more chance to mess it up, lol. But, I guess I focussed on the damage area, let that guide me. A bit more symmetry would be nice, and I think coverage a bit further towards the driver would make it less of a transition, your heel would be on it more.

Pre-drilling the holes was a good idea I think, made it a lot easier to sew, and maybe the rubber is less likely to tear later.

The best thing would be to do this pre-emptively, before you've worn a hole clear through. Time will tell, but I think some sort of filler in the hole might be needed, the rubber may concave into it as-is.

 

Hmm: if someone could make a variety of rubber mats, various sizes, with rounded corners, stitching holes and a groove between them to recess the thread?