The footwell of a car can quickly become a collection ground for muck and other nasty contaminants. Winter brings mud and salt, summer offers sand and pollen, while fallen fast food and spillages can cause stains all year round. Unsurprisingly all these can leave your car's carpet looking filthy in a relatively short time.
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Vacuuming is a good start, but car carpet has a science-defying ability to hold onto debris even when faced with the beefiest vac in existence. For such occasions, it's best to resort to the unrivalled cleaning power of a carpet brush to deeply scrub surfaces and get your carpets looking like new again. We've found the best examples right here.
The best car carpet brushes
Best carpet brush
For scrubbing any carpeted surface, we recommend this simple brush from Mothers. Designed for both carpets and upholstery, this brush is easy to use thanks to the ergonomic hourglass design, grippy rubber patches and lack of an extended handle.
It makes use of nylon bristles for deeply penetrating fibres and thoroughly cleaning fabrics. It also features a handy peg hook for easy storage, and it's so lightweight that there's no chance of tired hands after a full interior clean.
Best carpet brush for pet hairs
Rubber bristles are increasingly being used for fabric scrubbing thanks to their sacrificial build. Scrub too hard, and you won't end up with a patchy, balding carpet because the rubber will disintegrate first. These bristles are particularly useful for lifting pet hairs and can penetrate deeply into carpet fibres to clear away embedded debris without causing any damage.
We've previously tested this brush both for cleaning cars and around the home and found it to be excellent, the rubber squeegee, in particular, finding immediate use in cleaning windows and spillages. The only reason why this brush from The Dustpan and Brush Store misses out on the top spot is that the handle can make scrubbing carpets and awkward areas difficult.
Best carpet brush on a budget
Nail brushes often make use of toughened nylon and can be used to both clean dirty fingernails and deeply clean upholstery. The lack of an extended handle and ergonomic top makes this nail brush ideal for deeply scrubbing fabric and also means it can reach into awkward areas with ease.
There's no need to worry if you're using stronger cleaning products with this brush either, it's designed to withstand chemicals with a pH level from three up to 11. It's not the fanciest option on the market but is reassuringly robust and excellent value for money too.
Best powered carpet brush
For particularly stubborn stains, adding a little electric boost to the cleaning will help make the task a lot easier. Drill brush attachments can be found of various stiffness,
and this super-soft example from Kornley is the perfect option for carpet, upholstery and leather. While they require an electric drill to work properly, the cleaning results are extraordinary, and nothing short of a carpet extractor will come close to the deep cleaning offered by this brush.
Best carpet brush for adding stripes
Car dealers and valeters love to leave those fancy stripes on a car's carpet to show how much care and love has gone into its preparation. There's no real benefit to doing carpet stripes, they simply look nice, and for creating those delightful patterns, we recommend this simple brush from Duel Autocare. Designed primarily for pet hair removal, this rectangle of rubber features small notches that can lift pet hairs as well as be used to leave a neat pattern on the freshly cleaned carpet.
What to look for in a good carpet brush:
Bristles - To effectively clean carpets and fabric upholstery, look for soft bristles, preferably made from nylon. These synthetic bristles will be tough enough to break through dirt and other contaminants without damaging the fibres.
Handles - While a longer handle is preferable for cleaning the exterior of a car, a longer handle will get in the way more when you're trudging around the footwell of a car. Look for something with either a short, stubby handle or a brush with no handle at all (like a nail brush). The other benefit to these brushes is that it makes scrubbing fabrics easier.
Extras - Carpet brushes are very simple tools and don't need any fancy extras. There's no need to look for rubber coatings as the chance of leaving a scratch is almost impossibly small. Look for an ergonomic design to prevent hand cramps and maybe a peg hole for easy storage.