How To Clean Your Nasty Office Chair Floor Mat

Let’s cut to the chase: if you’re rolling around on one of those clear plastic floor mats under your office chair, it’s probably disgusting. Sorry, facts are facts.

Whether you work from home in your leggings or a cubicle downtown, your chair mat collects everything: dust, crumbs, coffee drips, pet hair, toe jam (don’t ask), and if you wear shoes indoors… hoo boy.

If you’ve never cleaned it? Prepare yourself. This is your sign.

What You’ll Need for the Job 

• HOT water
• A few drops of Blue Dawn® dish soap or powdered Tide® (less suds) 
• Microfiber cloth
• Scrub brush (if your mat has texture)
• Mr. Clean® Summer Citrus (for sticky spots)
• Vacuum (with horsehair brush attachment)
• Disinfecting spray or bleach (depending on whether or not there is carpet around)

A Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning Your Chair Mat 

Here is the exact process to get your mat looking brand new.

Step 1: Get the Mat Off the Floor

Yes, you need to remove the mat. I don’t care if your chair is heavy or your dog is sleeping under the desk. You can’t clean it properly if it’s still on the floor.

Roll the chair away, pick up the mat, and brace yourself for the dirt underneath (especially if you haven’t seen that floor since 2020).

Step 2: Vacuum first, always

Use your vacuum (USA | Canada) to suck up every hair, crumb, piece of tape, and mystery fuzz from both sides of the mat. 

Don’t forget the bottom side. That’s where the grime builds up and scratches your floor (while you are at it, clean the floor under the mat). 

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Step 3: The Best Way to Scrub and Clean a Plastic Floor Mat 

Fill your bathtub (or your kitchen sink, if it fits) with HOT water, a few drops of blue Dawn® dish soap, or a teaspoon of powdered Tide®. If you’re using hot water and Tide®, add a splash of bleach to disinfect, but only if you’re not around carpet.

Use a microfiber cloth to scrub every inch of the mat. If it’s bumpy or textured, grab a scrub brush and go for it.

Work in an office? If the cleaning crew isn’t cutting it, take it to the janitor’s sink or bring it home. (Yes, it’s worth the trouble.)

Step 4: Rinse, Dry, and Tackle Stubborn Spots 

Rinse the mat with clean water. 

Sticky spots remaining? Spray with Mr. Clean® Summer Citrus and let it soak for a minute before scrubbing, then rinse again.

Then dry it with a towel or let it air dry completely. Don’t put it back wet – you’ll wreck your floors and trap stink.

Step 5: Disinfect like a boss

If you didn’t use bleach while washing, spray it down with a disinfectant like Lysol®. This thing is literally under you all day. Enough said.

How to Keep Your Chair Mat Clean Longer 

• Vacuum or sweep under the mat weekly.
• Wipe it down during your regular floor cleaning.
• Don’t eat Doritos over it. Or Cheetos. Or anything crumby.
• Home office? Try no shoes at the desk.

The verdict:

Your office chair mat deserves better. And so do you.

A quick clean once a month (or once a quarter, let’s be real) makes your whole space feel fresher, and keeps you from skating around on a mat covered in last year’s lunch crumbs.

Now grab your scrub brush and show that mat who’s boss.

Need more cleaning pep talks and routines that actually make sense? Follow us on instagram @GoCleanCo and check out our guides. We do the dirty work, so you don’t have to.