Cleaning your car seats can feel like a chore, but it’s something all car owners have to do. In fact, not doing it just creates problems of its own. Around 12% of driver’s seats – and a shocking 15% of child seats – are infested with enough dust mites to trigger allergic reactions. And if you have dust mites on your seats, the odds are that you have stains as well. You could even think of stains as a trigger to tell you that it’s time to find a mobile detailer in Gilbert that removes stains from car seats.
The question now is simple:
How do you get rid of those pesky stains?
Removing Car Seat Stains in Five Steps
If only removing car seat stains was as easy as combining some hot water and a little soap with some elbow grease. It isn’t. All three will be part of the equation but you need to combine these steps to get rid of those stains for good.
Step 1. Don’t Delay
The temptation is always to “leave it until later” when a spill leaves a stain on your car seat. We understand the logic – the stain has already happened so there’s no point getting worked up about it yet. Except there is.
Even when life doesn’t give you enough time to carry out a full deep clean of your stain, it’s always best to get rid of as much of it as possible quickly. A quick wipe with a clean cloth gets rid of liquids (and prevents them from drying into the seat), and a little soap and water will at least fade the stain a little.
Quick tip – blot, don’t rub. Rubbing stains (especially when they’ve just happened) can spread the stain around rather than clear it up. Use a repetitive pressing motion to lightly push your cloth into the spill/stain so it soaks up rather than spreads around.
Step 2. Vacuum Your Upholstery
When you’re ready to start a proper clean, break out the vacuum. Why? You don’t know what other crumbs and bits of muck might be lurking in your seat’s upholstery and you don’t want a swipe with a cloth to spread what might already be there around even more. Dig the vacuum into seams and crevices along with focusing on the immediate area around the stain.
Step 3. Gather Some Supplies
With a quick wipe out of the way, you’ll need some supplies. Grab all of the basics, including a clean cloth, a toothbrush or soft-bristled brush, and a bucket of warm (not hot) water. You’ll also need some cleaning materials, with your choices depending on what type of car seat you have:
- Fabric: The most common type of car seat materials – 90% of car seats use a polyester fabric blend – are also the most versatile in terms of cleaning. We recommend a mild detergent or an upholstery cleaner. You might also be able to use white vinegar on the stain.
- Vinyl: One of the easiest seat materials to wipe down, vinyl is best cleaned with warm water and a mild detergent.
- Leather: On one hand, leather is pretty easy to wipe down, which could allow you to tackle your stain before it sets in. But on the other, you have to worry about the material drying out and cracking if you use fabric-relevant cleaners for a stain that won’t shift with a wipe. Get a leather cleaner designed for use with car seats.
- Suede: A rare car seat material and one that has an aversion to water when applied improperly. You may be better served using mobile detailing services to handle suede seats.
Step 4. Run a Quick Test
As confident as you may feel with your cleaning materials, it’s always best to run a quick test with them first. Apply the material to a very small portion of your car seat fabric – ideally, a part you don’t easily see – and scrub. You’re looking for any signs the cleaning product isn’t compatible, such as discoloration, dye bleeding, and texture alteration. Use your cleaning product’s recommended contact time and switch things up if you don’t see the desired results.
Step 5. Clean Your Stain
The liquid or muck is blotted and you know you’re cleaning product works. You’re now ready to clean that stain with these steps:
- Prepare your cleaning solution, such as mixing some drops of mild detergent into your warm water. Instructions should be available on the packaging.
- Apply your solution to the stained area using your clean cloth. Don’t soak the stain. Blot around and on it to apply the cleaner.
- Work the cleaning solution into the stain using a toothbrush or soft-bristled brush. These cleaning tools ensure the solution spreads properly. Use circular motions rather than full-on scrubbing – circles lift while scrubbing spreads. You should notice the stain start to fade.
Repeat the cycle of blotting and brushing until your stain fades from view. After that, a quick rinse with clean water – not what you have in your bowl – and air drying should finish the job.
Why Do Some Stains Reappear After Removal?
Your stain was gone. Now it’s back.
What happened?
There are a few reasons why stains reappear, with wicking being the most common. Wicking happens when you have a heavy spill, leading to some of the liquid burying deeper into the fabric than normal. You clean the initial stain but that wicked spillage makes its way to the top of the fabric, causing the stain to reappear. Other issues can include sugar in the spilled material. Often invisible, these sugars attract dirt and muck – they’re very sticky – and essentially create new stains on top of where the old one was. Sugar can also caramelize into a stain of its own, especially when exposed to heat, which leaves a rust-colored stain on your car seat. Mobile detailing services specializing in stain removal may be your best option if your stain just won’t go away.
