The Best Garage Floor Mat to Keep Your Floor Oil-Free

We’ve all seen oil spots on the garage floor from time to time. When you’re working on a project or a repair, if fluids are involved, it is a good idea to have a catch pan on the ground. The only problem with catch pans – at least for us – is that fluids don’t always fall where we think they will.

Garage floor mats can help keep the garage floor clean. Even if you aren’t concerned with your floor’s appearance, you should be concerned with safety. Oil, fluids and even melted ice can make the floor a slippery place to work.

Clean-up mats like Pig Mats are great after fluids have fallen and you need a quick way to get them up. The better option is to protect the floor before the fluids even get to it. Garage floor mats are designed to lay on the ground, under your vehicle, and protect the entire area under the car. Once you lay one of these mats down, you can simply drive over them and park on top of them. Now, if your car leaks fluids, drips oil, or maybe just thaws out after it was snowed on, your floor will be protected. Cleanup is quick and easy, since the mess is contained by the floor mat.

We have tested some really great garage floor mats, and some really lousy ones too. What we have found is that, to an extent, you do get what you pay for. Now we aren’t saying you need to go out and buy the most expensive mat on the market. Not even close. From what we have found, however, going the cheapest route is not going to get you a product that will do the job well, at least not for long.

The Best Garage Floor Mat

To be clear, we aren’t reviewing disposable cleanup mats and pads designed to soak up fluids once, and then go in the trash. While those products serve a purpose and work great as a last resort when there is a fluid mess already on the ground, they are not what we are talking about today. The products we are covering today are designed to be used before the fluids are on the ground.

As for the best garage floor mat, we found The AutoFloorGuard Containment Mat to be the best of the best. This floor mat comes in several size options that measure 7’9” x 16’, 7’9″ x 18′, and 7’9″ x 20′ which means you can cover the floor under anything from a Fiat 500 to a Mercedes S-class.

The material used in this product is a commercial grade, woven PVC fabric that is commonly found in the trucking industry for tarps and covers on big rigs. The built-in raised edge of the mat is closed cell foam that can easily be driven over, but snaps back to size quickly. Water tight seams allow the AutoFloorGuard Containment Mat to be used with either side facing up.

We really like the ability to cover the floor under an entire project car, since they often leak from many places when we first bring them in to the shop. Being able to keep our floor clean while differentials, transmissions, engines and radiators drip fluids all night makes life easy. Once we have addressed the problems on the car, the mat can be cleaned and put away without a hassle.

The thick materials used in construction are sure to hold up for many years of service. To give you an idea of the quality of materials, this mat weighs in at about 20 pounds! It is built to last.

Overall, we highly recommend the AutoFloorGuard Containment Mat. As is usually the case, Amazon.com is one of the best places to buy this product. That said, we hope that you will be happy with your nice clean garage floor! Happy wrenching!

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