Getting your car seats dirty is often going to be a huge annoyance. You don’t want to simply leave your car seats looking shoddy or messed up in any way. Whether you’ve spilled a drink or if you accidentally got dirt on your car seat, it’s important to be able to figure out how to clean things up. The problem is that most people don’t really know where to begin with cleaning a car seat.
It’s actually possible to take care of cleaning a cloth or fabric car seat by yourself, so long as you have the right stuff. Today I am going to be going over what you need to clean your car seats and how you’re supposed to do it. My goal is to provide you with a thorough guide that you can use as a reference point if you’re cleaning your cloth or fabric car seats for the first time.
Cleaning your car seat will not be overly difficult when you know how to go about things. The first step that you should take is to grab a vacuum cleaner. I’ll go over some other methods that you can use later on, but this first method has proven to be very reliable for many people. Take a look at each step and follow along to figure out how to remove annoying stains from your car seat.
1. Start With Vacuuming
Taking the time to vacuum the car seats is an important part of the process. You want to do this to remove any dirt, crumbs, or other types of debris that are on the surface of your car seats.
This should be done ahead of anything else to get things cleaned properly. You don’t want to accidentally rub dirt into the seat or anything else like that, so do your best to give the seats a good vacuuming to get things started.
You may also like: How to Clean Between Car Seats.
2. Apply the Cleaning Solution
Next, you’re going to want to make use of some type of cleaning solution. Fabric cleaning products are going to be the ideal thing to use here. You don’t want to simply use a household cleaning product, since these might have chemicals that will not work well on fabric. Just lightly spray the area that you want to clean and everything should be fine.
Take note that you don’t want to soak the seat with the cleaning solution. This can actually cause problems and it’ll be tough to get things to dry right. Just lightly spray things and don’t go overboard. Usually, four sprays are enough to help you clean up a stain.
3. Scrub the Seats With a Brush
You’ll want to have access to an interior brush for this next part. What you’re going to do is brush out the stain with the brush as soon as you spray your cleaning solution. So you’ll be spraying and then scrubbing the stain out as well as you can. You can sort of massage the seat with the brush to remove the stain.
You might need to buy a soft or medium brush just to do this. If you use a brush that is too stiff, such as a carpet brush, then you might hurt your seat. You want to avoid this, so try to be mindful about whether or not the brush that you’re using is too stiff.
4. Wipe Everything Down With a Microfiber Cloth
It’s always going to be helpful to own a few microfiber towels. You’re going to be using a towel to help wipe away dirt and built up suds from the cleaning solution.
Massaging the fabric with your microfiber towel might even help to bring some more built-up dirt to the surface. Just remember to wipe things down with your towel before it starts to dry.
5. Vacuum Once Again Once You’re Done
Once you’ve finally removed the stain, you can vacuum again to help dry up any overly wet areas. This won’t take long to do at all. Just give your car seat a quick vacuuming and you’ll be good to go. Try to wait for things to dry before you sit down in the car again, though.
DIY Cleaning Solutions for Cloth/Fabric Car Seats
I told you I’d mention some alternative methods earlier in this article. If you don’t want to use a normal cleaning solution, or if you simply don’t have what you need, you can consider making your own solution.
Laundry Detergent
Laundry detergent works just as well to help you remove stains from your car seat. Dilute some laundry detergent with a bit of water and it can make for a great replacement for a fabric cleaning spray.
You’ll be using this alternative in the same fashion as the fabric cleaning spray. The only difference is that you’ll be pouring and rubbing this mixture into the area of the seat that you’re trying to clean. Try not to use too much so that you won’t get the seat too wet. You don’t want to cause yourself any issues when it comes time to dry the seat out.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is actually another very good alternative that you can try out. Around ¼ of a cup of baking soda can be mixed with one cup of warm water to provide a good cleaning solution. You can use something such as a toothbrush to dip into the solution and then scrub it into the stained area of your seat. This is a simple and effective method for removing stubborn car seat stains.
It’s worth noting that this is particularly effective at dealing with stains that aren’t coming out using conventional means. You can really work the baking soda into the seat with a toothbrush. If you have a really bad stain, then you might want to consider using this method. It’s easy to pull off and it’s a very cost-effective way to fix your problems.
Vinegar Solution
Vinegar is another popular alternative to fabric cleaning solutions. If you have some vinegar lying around your house, then you can mix one cup of vinegar with a gallon of hot water and a few drops of normal dish soap. This will create a very useful cleaning solution that should work to eliminate stains. You want to simply dab some of this mixture onto the area of the seat that you’re cleaning.
You should be able to use your brush to work the stain out. This works out just as nicely as a normal fabric cleaning solution. For some people, this is going to be more practical than going out to buy a fabric cleaner. Keep this in mind as a good option.
Keeping Your Fabric Car Seats Clean
One of the best ways to prevent yourself from encountering problems in the future is to simply be proactive about cleaning. You should try your best to vacuum your car out often. If you use a handheld vacuum on your car once per week, then this will keep dirt and grime from becoming trapped in the fabric of the seats. You can actually avoid many messes just by being vigilant about vacuuming your seats and other parts of the car.
Also, it’s a good idea to avoid doing certain things in your car. You can eliminate the risk of making a mess in your car by not eating while you’re in the car. Some people eat breakfast or lunch in their car as a convenience due to driving to work. If you find that you’re making a mess while doing this, then it might actually be better to just wait to eat until you’re out of your car.
You also need to be good about cleaning things right away when you do make a mess. There are likely going to be times when you’ll spill a drink or drop something on your car seat. Try your best to clean this mess up right away. This will help you to avoid having problems with stains and it’ll be a lot easier to get things looking nice again.
In Conclusion
If you do your best to follow this advice, then you shouldn’t have any issues getting your car seats clean. Take the time to read all of the information so that you have a good understanding of what you should be doing. This isn’t really that tough to pull off, but it’s going to be easier when you know how to get started. Your car seats will look great and you won’t have to worry about stubborn stains any longer.
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- By CarRoar