Making your own dashmat

Many people buy dash mats for cosmetic reasons or to cover a damaged or cracked dash board. That's why they come in so many textures and colors. Buying a suede or velour finish one in black generally works very well to eliminate glare from my experience. (and can be enhanced if desired)

So which would be better, the velour, suede, or heavy photographic material (is this velour?)
 
So which would be better, the velour, suede, or heavy photographic material (is this velour?)

Personally, I don't see any reason to make your own dash mat when you can buy a custom fit one for 40 bucks on Amazon as I did. The one I bought was brushed suede and I'm really pleased with the results. I don't even really need a CPL at all with the dash mat but having both is "killer". As I've said previously I went the extra mile and spray painted my suede dash mat with Rust-Oleum Flat Black Camouflage Paint to eliminate the slight nap in the fabric that could show up in strong sunlight and that made it extra effective but that sort of thing isn't really necessary and is more for DIYers and dash cam fanatics like me. :)

Photographic specialty fabrics (usually specialty velours but sometimes flocked) would probably work really well but then you would have to do what @Street Guardian did which is an expensive and time consuming proposition with probably only marginally better results and diminishing returns for all the trouble and investment.

There are some velour dash mats on the market but I have no experience with them. The problem with some of the dash mats on the market is that they sometimes are made with fibers that can be shiny and you don't really find out until it arrives. I have the feeling that some velour dash mats have a sheen and if one buys one that would be the thing to try to find out before purchasing.
 
Personally, I don't see any reason to make your own dash mat when you can buy a custom fit one for 40 bucks on Amazon as I did. The one I bought was brushed suede and I'm really pleased with the results. I don't even really need a CPL at all with the dash mat but having both is "killer". As I've said previously I went the extra mile and spray painted my suede dash mat with Rust-Oleum Flat Black Camouflage Paint to eliminate the slight nap in the fabric that could show up in strong sunlight and that made it extra effective but that sort of thing isn't really necessary and is more for DIYers and dash cam fanatics like me. :)

Photographic specialty fabrics (usually specialty velours but sometimes flocked) would probably work really well but then you would have to do what @Street Guardian did which is an expensive and time consuming proposition with probably only marginally better results and diminishing returns for all the trouble and investment.

There are some velour dash mats on the market but I have no experience with them. The problem with some of the dash mats on the market is that they sometimes are made with fibers that can be shiny and you don't really find out until it arrives. I have the feeling that some velour dash mats have a sheen and if one buys one that would be the thing to try to find out before purchasing.

Hi Dashmellow, what is CPL? I was thinking about contacting a company and having them give me a price for using my material to make a dash mat. That way I could get some good material.

Would you happen to know if the company on Amazon where you bought your dash mat is still in business?
 
Would you happen to know if the company on Amazon where you bought your dash mat is still in business?

I'm not 100% satisfied with the DIY one I made. It doesn't look polished enough to leave in full time.

I just bought the following one off Amazon. It's pretty black. $48.99. I might dust it with paint but only if I confirm it needs it after testing first (just arrived). I might reupholster it with Viper Black material as well.

The ArtDeco
2011 - 2016 Ford Explorer Dash Cover Dashboard Cover Mat Dash Pad - Premium Custom Carpet (Black)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01D1647B2
8bc39917679ef83b7bb8d4afe9bab11b.jpg


5891db9f3154468c8e1cb89974a30930.jpg
 
@Street Guardian USA, what's your new dash mat made of? It looks a little sparkly in your second photo, much like I described in my last post about "shiny fibers" in some dash mat fabrics. Hope that won't be an issue.
If you do find it to be a problem, I'm sure the camo spray paint will fix that. In my case, the paint mostly soaked into the fabric so the faux "brushed suede" still looks like suede. Hopefully, something similar will happen if you decide to paint yours.

The new dash mat looks very nice, BTW.
 
@Street Guardian USA, what's your new dash mat made of? It looks a little sparkly in your second photo, much like I described in my last post about "shiny fibers" in some dash mat fabrics. Hope that won't be an issue.
If you do find it to be a problem, I'm sure the camo spray paint will fix that. In my case, the paint mostly soaked into the fabric so the faux "brushed suede" still looks like suede. Hopefully, something similar will happen if you decide to paint yours.

The new dash mat looks very nice, BTW.

All I know is it says: "Premium Custom Carpet (Black)" I'll have to contact the seller and see if they know more. (they probably won't)

I'll try to test it as is soon so I know if a light paint dusting is needed. I'm going to buy the camo spray and test spray it side by side against plasti-dip spray to see which one is better first. (testing on a similar carpet martial, not on the actual dashmat right away of course)
 
Hi Dashmellow, what is CPL? I was thinking about contacting a company and having them give me a price for using my material to make a dash mat. That way I could get some good material.

Would you happen to know if the company on Amazon where you bought your dash mat is still in business?

The dash mat I bought is made by a company called Dash Designs. The one I bought is THIS ONE, but I found it on Amazon for just over 40 dollars, so much less than on this web site I've linked to. (Can't seem to find it on Amazon at the moment but as I recall I had to do some digging to find it on Amazon when I bought it.)

A CPL is a Circular Polarizer, which is a specialized filter for reducing or eliminating reflections. There are lots of discussions here on DCT about them, so just do a search and you'll surely find lots to read.
 
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All I know is it says: "Premium Custom Carpet (Black)" I'll have to contact the seller and see if they know more. (they probably won't)

I'll try to test it as is soon so I know if a light paint dusting is needed. I'm going to buy the camo spray and test spray it side by side against plasti-dip spray to see which one is better first. (testing on a similar carpet martial, not on the actual dashmat right away of course)

I don't think you want to use plasti-dip on fabric. I'd go with the paint for sure. I think it will work better and would be cheaper too.
 
I'd say that the factory made one seems to do a much better job with the windshield reflections but both of the are don't look so great cosmetically.

Much to my surprise the brushed suede one I bought, which I thought would look really hideous and then even worse after I painted it somehow came out looking rather elegant and appealing. Basically it looks like dark black suede. I'll see about posting a photo.

I think that if you paint either one of those two mats with flat black paint your quest for a good functioning dash mat should be over. (and they may even come out looking better than you might expect.) That's all you need at this point. But you could continue your pioneering efforts in DIY dash mats here which I think are very interesting as has been this entire thread.
 
The dash mat I bought is made by a company called Dash Designs. The one I bought is THIS ONE, but I found it on Amazon for just over 40 dollars, so much less than on this web site I've linked to. (Can't seem to find it on Amazon at the moment but as I recall I had to do some digging to find it on Amazon when I bought it.)

A CPL is a Circular Polarizer, which is a specialized filter for reducing or eliminating reflections. There are lots of discussions here on DCT about them, so just do a search and you'll surely find lots to read.

I remember seeing that company (Dash Designs) yesterday, but needed to ask you another question about the Brushed Suede. This isn't real brushed suede is it (Faux), Does it still have a fine knap like the real swede or is it smooth? I liked it the best of all the fabrics I seen on the websites I went to.
The Black Velours looked good also but the Faux Brushed Suede looked the best, at least from my monitor.
 
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I remember seeing that company (Dash Designs) yesterday, but needed to ask you another question about the Brushed Suede. This isn't real brushed suede is it (Faux), Does it still have a fine knap like the real swede or is it smooth? I liked it the best of all the fabrics I seen on the websites I went to.
The Black Velours looked good also but the Faux Brushed Suede looked the best, at least from my monitor.

It's faux brushed suede and it does have a nap, sort of like real suede. The photo on the web site gives a fairly accurate feel for what it actually looks like and you can see the "nap".

dash_designs_brushed_suede.jpg

BTW, one reason I was attracted to the suede dash mats is that they are relatively thin and form well to the dashboard without being too bulky. Many dash mats on the market are really just floor carpeting which is a look and feel I don't find appealing.
 
It's faux brushed suede and it does have a nap, sort of like real suede. The photo on the web site gives a fairly accurate feel for what it actually looks like and you can see the "nap".

View attachment 27483

BTW, one reason I was attracted to the suede dash mats is that they are relatively thin and form well to the dashboard without being too bulky. Many dash mats on the market are really just floor carpeting which is a look and feel I don't find appealing.
I agree for the same reasons, the Brushed Suede just seemed like it belonged instead of something that was thrown on the dash.
I've had to buy so many things the last couple weeks that I joined Amazon Prime so I'll see if I can get it from them instead of straight from Dash Designs they wanted $49.00. Amazon Videos are really neat also, I really like the serial type shows like "Deadwood", if hard language doesn't bother you, the acting is really great, just DON'T let any kids watch it !

My monitor is really giving me trouble also, so I'm going to need (like now) a new one.
 
I bought the Dash Designs brushed swede at Amazon for $41.?? For some reason there Dash Designs page was messed up (you could only buy 1 specific type). So, I had to go to Dash Designs and get a Manufacture number, then back to Amazon and finally found it and bought it. They gave me a delivery date of Nov 30 to Dec 3.
 
Over here kids are probably the most prolific users of the F word and similar, not sure if its due to us having absolute freedom of speech with just racist uttering being a problem.
I do dislike when Danish TV run a movie or series and then they have the American version with beeps and blurred faces god forbidding a person that can lip read see some one saying the F word.
Just one of the things i dont get, and probably the same Americans dont get about us Danes.

We do have ratings on movies too, but i dont think its something most Danish parents is bothered about, just stick a tablet in the hands of the kid and let it take care of the upbringing of your child, along with,,,, mmm weird people in the school system.

Its another reason i am glad i do not have any kids, cuz here i am not allowed to rise them in anything resembling the right way.
you are not even allowed to slap your own kid, something kids took full advantage decades ago when that was made law, so now they are all snotfaced punks.
 
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