September 22nd, 2008
No matter what kind of motorist you are, keeping the interior of your automobile is a good idea: it will keep your car or truck feeling new for a longer time, will add lots of money to your resale value, and frankly it will just make your ride look nicer; something you can be proud to drive. Because of foot traffic, most of your interior’s maintenance will be focused on your floors, and trying to keep those carpets as clean as possible. For this purpose automobile owners have two options to choose from: floor mats, and floor liners. Both products strive to do the same thing: protect your floors. But floor mats and floor liners protect in different ways, and before you buy one or another you need to put some careful consideration into their differences. Husky Liners is the top brand in interior protection, and offer both products: Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats, and Husky Floor Liners. Both lines are considered the best by most gearheads, so choosing between the two may be difficult: let’s look at the differences.
While Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats can be bought for most automobiles, Husky Floor Liners are only sold for trucks and SUVs, so if you’re looking for something to protect your car or van, you should check out the mats. For truck and SUV owners, which you choose will depend on what you’re doing. Here are the basics:
The biggest difference between Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats and Husky Floor Liners is the type of protection they provide: Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats are designed to cover the area beneath your feet, whereas Husky Floor Liners are designed to cover the entire floor surface of your truck or SUV. Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats are semi-custom mats, tailored to the make and model of your auto. These are approximations however, and while most mats will fit your floor perfectly the first time, some mats will require trimming for an exact fit. Husky Floor Liners however, are custom molded, so once you find the right one it will fit the inside of your truck or SUV like a glove with no alterations needed. Additionally, Husky Liners can also be bought for cargo areas, which stresses the difference between the two products: Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats are for foot traffic, whereas Husky Liners cover both foot traffic and spills. If you’re carrying around messy cargo, a Husky Floor Liner is the only way to go.
These differences in protection have also determined the designs of the two products: the Heavy Duty Floor Mats have 3/8 inch ridges across the surface to catch mud, snow, and other substances from your shoes and boots, and do a good job of keeping them on the mat. They also have a ½ inch outer rim for the same purpose. Husky Floor Liners sport a diamond shape pattern designed to keep cargo in place, as opposed to trapping liquids. Instead, Husky Floor Liners have a 2 ½ inch outer rim, to keep even the biggest spills under control. Husky Floor Liners can cover the first, second, and third rows of your SUV or Suburban in addition to the cargo area, making sure every inch of your floor is protected, something no floor mat can do.
The differences also affect how you clean them: the ridges of the Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mat would make wiping them off difficult – instead you can simply pull them out and hose them down outside. The Husky Floor Liner however, stays in: the lack of any ridges makes it easy enough to sponge off, but it will require you to crawl around the inside of your SUV to clean everywhere. This makes Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats easier to clean, but again the trade off is the amount of coverage offered.
Both the Husky Heavy Duty Floor Mats and Husky Floor Liners are made of the same durable material, and carry a lifetime guarantee to not crack or break. They also come in the same colors: black, grey, and tan. The main difference is the type of protection: if your worries are limited to what you drag in on your feet, then the Heavy Duty Floor Mats should suffice, and the added ease of cleaning them makes the mats a smart choice. If you plan on carrying leaky cargo, or just want the added assurance for accidental spills from kids or messy passengers, then the Husky Floor Liner is for you. Whichever choice is right for you, protecting your floor’s carpet – and along with it the value of your automobile – should be a top priority.