Making your own dashmat

'Twarn't nuthin. My first roasted ride was a huge Oldsmobile 98 where the fuel line blew off at highway speed at night. Flames were coming through every opening between hood and fenders as well as from underneath the car. The power brake hose melted instantly and you don't stop two tons of car quickly without power brakes. I had both feet on the brake pedal pressing with all I had and the car only slowed gently. I threw it in park and bailed out about 5 MPH as I'd had enough at that point. It too was totally toasted when all was over.

Did I ever tell you that I'm a very lucky person? My luck is very good or very bad with very little of any other kind of luck happening :rolleyes: At least I'm a survivor :cool:

Phil

Oh, so you have a history of this kind of thing. :D

My experiences with luck are very similar to yours. :)
 
Last edited:
The best luck is the one you dont expect or count on.
I had it a few times, and one time it may even have saved my life.
 
Posts like we see above are unnecessarily misleading and alarmist, ignore the actual facts presented in the cited SDS and reach unsupportable conclusions and assumptions.

There was nothing alarmist about it, merely a re-quote of the safety data sheet and some questions about whether or not it was advisable to put it to an unintended use in a small enclosed space without advice.
 
Maybe get a little triangle warning sticker saying " warning painted dashmat in car"
 
There was nothing alarmist about it, merely a re-quote of the safety data sheet and some questions about whether or not it was advisable to put it to an unintended use in a small enclosed space without advice.

Well, personally I did indeed find your post misleading and unnecessarily alarmist. It is one thing to post some information and a link to a household paint product SDS, it is entirely another matter to arbitrarily assert that it, "applies to the cured product", something which at no time is mentioned anywhere within the text of the document. There is literally nothing in the document that speaks to any general environmental hazards for humans being in the vicinity of the product after it has been applied properly and has dried. The precautions in the document are primarily in reference to storage and application.

To my mind you are inserting your own speculations, conclusions and fears into your reading of the document rather than conveying the actual facts as presented.

To be fair, the language used by engineers and technical writers (and perhaps corporate attorneys as well) in these kinds of documents can seem confusing. While they did use the words, "open flame", "acrid smoke", "irritating fumes" along with "carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide", they might have gone to the trouble of using the more direct term "burning" rather than the oddly vague and ambiguous term " heated to decomposition".

Anyway, there was a good reason that members other than me who have hazardous paint application experience promptly responded by refuting your claims and cautionary remarks.
 
To be fair, the language used by engineers and technical writers (and perhaps corporate attorneys as well) in these kinds of documents can seem confusing.

it's also typical these days to have product warnings that border on the ridiculous as common sense is no longer that common and companies end up having to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits if the warnings don't state the obvious, reflection of the times we live in where anything and everything is somehow someone else's fault
 
it's also typical these days to have product warnings that border on the ridiculous as common sense is no longer that common...
That is, unfortunately, all too true. I was just looking at a package of microwavable snack food that has the following in bold letters on the package: "WARNING, CONTENTS MAY BE HOT AFTER HEATING!" No sh1t, isn't that the purpose of heating it? :rolleyes:
 
That is, unfortunately, all too true. I was just looking at a package of microwavable snack food that has the following in bold letters on the package: "WARNING, CONTENTS MAY BE HOT AFTER HEATING!" No sh1t, isn't that the purpose of heating it? :rolleyes:

Hope the snack was good and that you are OK and haven't burned your tongue badly or something. :D Glad you read the label.
 
OK, so let's get back on the topic of dash mats.

My example from the other day showed how effective a dash mat can be. (especially a spray painted brushed suede one :)), yet I got to thinking that the conditions in my screen shot weren't really all that challenging in the scheme of things when it comes to reflections caused by direct sunlight. So, I dug up another example with the parking lot ticket on the dash board, only with reflections just about as extreme as they can get with oblique low in the sky afternoon direct sunlight hitting the windshield.

Somehow, the dash mat confines reflections, even of the dash mat itself to the area of the hood/bonnet of my truck yet somehow completely eliminates them from the glass out in front of vehicle where it really counts. Even in these extreme conditions the dash mat performs admirably. As before, there is no CPL in use here.

(Kindly excuse the filthy truck but that's normal in these parts this time of year. We are well into what is known as mud season here and so even if I wash the truck it will look like this again by the time I get home up on the mountain.:()

glare.png
(previous screen shot post)
dashmat.jpg
 
Last edited:
.. it is entirely another matter to arbitrarily assert that it, "applies to the cured product", something which at no time is mentioned anywhere within the text of the document. .

Maybe you need to read more carefully before you say I "arbitrarily asserted". What I wrote clearly says ..."would appear to apply to the cured product".

Anyway, water under the bridge. We've established that painting your dash mat is safe, global warming is not a myth and certain politicians didn't get advice from the Russians. Maybe we can move on.

That is, unfortunately, all too true. I was just looking at a package of microwavable snack food that has the following in bold letters on the package: "WARNING, CONTENTS MAY BE HOT AFTER HEATING!" No sh1t, isn't that the purpose of heating it? :rolleyes:

Yeah Over here some ladders say "Last Step" on the top step! WTF, unless you've been drinking you're unlikely to confuse it with the stairway to heaven! (Although it might well be if you do make that mistake and it's a long ladder).
 
and certain politicians didn't get advice from the Russians.

Maybe so, but I highly suspect that a lot of today's drivers took advice on how to drive from there and it was very bad advice indeed :p

I wonder what Elvis would have used for a dsahmat? I won't ask that question regards Liberace :rolleyes:

Phil
 
Maybe you need to read more carefully before you say I "arbitrarily asserted". What I wrote clearly says ..."would appear to apply to the cured product".

ap·pear
(ə-pîr′)intr.v. ap·peared, ap·pear·ing, ap·pears

1.
a.
To become visible: a plane appearing in the sky.
b. To be shown or included: That logo appears on all their sports equipment.
2. To come into existence: New strains of viruses appear periodically.
3. To give the impression of being in a certain way; seem: The child appeared unhappy.
4. To be likely or evident: It appears that they will be late.
5. Law To present oneself formally before a court as defendant, plaintiff, or counsel.
6. To be published or made available to the public: The novel first appeared in installments in a magazine.
 
Last edited:
I kind of just brushed it off to remove any stray lint, placed it flat on a sheet of plastic out in the back yard that I'd previously used for some other painting projects and sprayed it with two coats. That was about it. :)

I remember being surprised that the paint soaked in the way it did and was concerned that this might be an issue but the project came out much nicer looking and worked better than expected.

Thanks Dash, it shall be done, as soon as the weather warms up.:D
 
Thanks Dash, it shall be done, as soon as the weather warms up.:D

Hah, I know just what you mean! I have so many projects around here that need to wait for warmer weather and now after some weird 55º F days that made it feel like winter was almost over we are back down to single digits. Such is the month of March here in New England.
 
This holding dashmat in place i have been thinking about lately.

Since i am working with DIY materials here my setup is pretty light and fluffy, so to add some weight to it i plan on backing the felt with some rubber foil normally used to line garden ponds.
This should make it more heavy but still i dont think its enough to remain in place just by friction.
So here is the new idea, when gluing the rubber to the back side of my felt i plan on putting a little thin metal in between the felt and rubber in some areas, this way i can add a couple of neodymium magnets below my dashbord to hold it all in place.

I feel this approach is better than just wedging the felt / dashmat in between the dashbord and the A-pillars as thats the only place where i have a small gap.
Along the bottom of the windscreen there is a huge gap so i will have to add something 5 mm thick to the dashmat there to make it stay in place, and i fear thats not good as i have a huge cut in the front of the dashmat so my air vent there is clear, and this leading to there just being a 5 CM thin strip in front of the air vent cutout.
Anyways i have ample time to fine tune this as weather have put a stop to my work on the dashmat, simply too friggin cold here to work outside.

this tip is simple. I would like to try it but I must finish installing the floor liners on my truck first. Is Velour recommended or should I just go to dollar stores to find materials?
 
We had some debate on what is best, and i am not quite sure myself.
The black felt i am using i think is fine, or lets say a whole lot better than the dashbord on its own, so in general i think most materials selected with care will be better than the dashbord plastic.
Hell there is a guy in here with a nice Ferrari, and his black leather dashbord is also causing problems or at least the nice colored stitching on it.

I would have preferred a premade dashmat moulded to my car, but i drive a cheap little Suzuki that is driven where sun might fade the plastics, then it wouldn't bother people cuz it is after all a cheap car, so who cares.
So my only potion was to go the DIY route or use CPL filters that also have some drawbacks in my eyes.
 
Just out of interest, has anyone tried the chemical route - ie dash board dressing chemicals?

I have some Sonus Coockpit Detailer (remove 1 "o" from the name - the profanity checker is getting it) and unlike most chemicals which are silicone based and add shine, it puts a very matt finish onto plastics. Unfortunately I can't do a comparison as the dash is already treated (for cosmetic not dash cam reasons).

Another suggestion on the dash mat route and slippage, would be rather than magnets, try adding high friction rubber to the underside of the mat. This will add both weight and friction - there are some rubbers that are very grippy eg if you can get hold of it, the rubber that they use on climbing shoes is very sticky for obvious reasons! I know it's also been mentioned before but some heavy weight pond liner materials might make a good backing (these generally don't react well to light although some are more resistant to others), so need to be hidden underneath. A good heavyweight material is EDPM which can be bought off the roll. This is one supplier in the UK: http://www.bradshawsdirect.co.uk/pond-liners?p=2. I couldn't comment directly on the rubber vs temperature issue though. Maybe some testing required to ensure it doesn't melt and stick in high temperatures before usage! Needless to say, I disclaim any liability for damage. These are untried suggestions. Do your safety testing 1st!
 
Back
Top