Husky Liners Garage Mat Review: An Effective and Comfortable Alternative to a Creeper

I like working on cars, but I hate climbing under them. It’s dark and scary down there! Kidding, kind of. But the closer I get to 40 the less I like plopping myself onto concrete. I’ve got a padded creeper on wheels that makes it easy to slide in and out from under a vehicle on jack stands, and a bit of cardboard can provide a tiny cushion when you don’t have as much clearance. This Garage Mat from Husky Liners kind of splits the difference. It’s fairly portable, very comfortable, and fits between you and the ground even when your project car isn’t very high.

The Garage Mat is quite light, and about 2×2 feet when it’s folded up. It works as a nice knee pad in this position. When you need to lay down, the mat folds out on one axis, becoming 2×4 feet when deployed. It’s only about an inch thick, but felted with almost the texture of a speaker box and squishy with the cushioning of a mid-level camping mattress. The bottom is slick and can be slid easily over pavement to put into position, though it’s not easy to move once your body weight is on it.

A friend of mine uses an old toy foam sled as his trackside “improvised creeper,” and this Garage Mat pretty much follows the same principle. It is, however, considerably more comfortable.

Another nice aspect is that if your floor’s kind of dingy and you want to quickly inspect something without ruining your shirt, you can toss this down for a quick peek without having to throw your onesie on.

It also comes in handy if and when you’re dropping something heavy and somewhat fragile off your vehicle. For example, a front bumper—that’s not something you necessarily want to lay directly on pavement. The Garage Mat could keep chrome and painted items from getting scratched as you set it down.

You do need to decide early on how much you care about keeping your Garage Mat itself clean, though. If you’re protective of it, it will retain its fresh smell for longer.

Husky Liners says the Garage Mat is hose-cleanable and resists staining from automotive chemicals, specifically calling out “oil, battery acid and even bleach” on its product page. Structurally, it did seem unphased by a little used oil I splashed onto it for science. However, it definitely left a brown stain. Water and some scrubbing dulled it, but getting it completely clean would require more work than I’d be willing to put into detailing something like this.

In other words, you could use it in a dirty environment without panicking that oil will burn a hole in it. But don’t expect it to stay looking mint when chemicals spill on it, either. Frankly, I’d recommend throwing rags over it when you’re going to be doing oil changes.

If you do hose it off, make sure you don’t need it again right away—it sops up a lot of water, so it’ll need a few hours in the sun to dry. And maybe a few wringings.

That said, I still think it’s a solid buy at the $39.99 list price. The cheapest crappy foam sled is $11 right now on Amazon, and I have no doubt that the Husky Liners Garage Mat is at least four times as comfortable and robust as that. Plus, Husky Liners has a lifetime no-questions-asked warranty so if you really ruin it, you can get it replaced.

It’s great in the garage, around the house, and at motorsports events. It’s even a decent road-trip accessory since it’s so much lighter than a traditional creeper and much tougher than a piece of cardboard. I’ve been using mine a lot, and plan to be laying on it until it wears out—at which point I’ll put that warranty to the test.

Where To Buy the Husky Liners Garage Mat

The Husky Liners Garage Mat is available on Amazon, RealTruck, and the official Husky Liners website.

Got any other garage products or accessories you’d like us to review? Drop me a line at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.