Cleaning Stained Car Seats

lisa701

What's the best way of cleaning car seats which are badly stained and not very clean?


I'm not so bothered about completely getting rid of the stains, it is an older car driven by my builder husband so I don't expect them to come up tip top, but it would be nice to get out of it without feeling like you need a good wash!!


Thanks

facade

Upholstery cleaner, carpet shampoo etc. & a scrubbing brush, then get the VAX to it.

If you don't have a VAX, all that happens is the water & soap push the dirt into the cover, you need to suck the dirty water out.

jimjames

Depending on the car you can remove the seat covers and put them in washing machine. One way to guarantee they'll be clean!

http://vw-golf-mk2-gti.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/cleaning-car-seats-in-washing-machine.html

lisa701

Thanks for your replies.


Doesn't look like the seat covers are removable so looks like I will be giving them a good old scrub. Think my Mum has a Vax with a small attachment for doing stairs etc. so I will buy her some chocs and see if she will let me borrow it :-)

BeenThroughItAll

jimjames wrote: »

Depending on the car you can remove the seat covers and put them in washing machine. One way to guarantee they'll be clean!

http://vw-golf-mk2-gti.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/cleaning-car-seats-in-washing-machine.html

I did the same with a full interior from my wife's old Impreza about five years ago. Snipped all the hog-rings and used cable ties to put it all back on after it was washed.


Didn't cure the smell, but at least the covers were clean.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

lisa701 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.


Doesn't look like the seat covers are removable so looks like I will be giving them a good old scrub. Think my Mum has a Vax with a small attachment for doing stairs etc. so I will buy her some chocs and see if she will let me borrow it :-)

Do you have a steam machine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT10-bIAgyk


if not and the vax is all you can get hold of, go to home bargains and buy the astonish vac maxx shampoo 89p a bottle. mix approx. 4 capfuls per 1litre of water in a bowl, and get a nail brish and some cloths and give the hard stains a pre treat and scrub, whilst using the vax machine and tool after approx. 10 mins soaking time and scrub do the rest of the interior.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I did the same with a full interior from my wife's old Impreza about five years ago. Snipped all the hog-rings and used cable ties to put it all back on after it was washed.


Didn't cure the smell, but at least the covers were clean.

I have atip for you next time you encounter something like that.


If you can remove the seat covers, and there a pungent odor, it gets absorbed into the sponge of the seat, go to aldi and buy some oxy stain powder and some a bottle lemon juice.


soak the sponge with lemon juice, and place the powder over the seat and seal it in with a black bag ontop and leave the seats or sponge for 24 hours, come back and the powder will have absorbed most the lemon juice and thus the odor with it, the powder would have turned to rock and stuck in places, but a quick tap and hoover up and the odor is gone.


I do this if the cat has a "accident" on my sofa and it works really well and doesn't cost the earth plus use the oxy stain lift can then be used for washing stains out of clothes and used up.

BeenThroughItAll

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

I have atip for you next time you encounter something like that.


If you can remove the seat covers, and there a pungent odor, it gets absorbed into the sponge of the seat, go to aldi and buy some oxy stain powder and some a bottle lemon juice.


soak the sponge with lemon juice, and place the powder over the seat and seal it in with a black bag ontop and leave the seats or sponge for 24 hours, come back and the powder will have absorbed most the lemon juice and thus the odor with it, the powder would have turned to rock and stuck in places, but a quick tap and hoover up and the odor is gone.


I do this if the cat has a "accident" on my sofa and it works really well and doesn't cost the earth plus use the oxy stain lift can then be used for washing stains out of clothes and used up.

I should have perhaps made things clearer. I wasn't washing the covers to cure the smell, but to clean them up. Seat foams weren't the source of the issue, as I know how to clean upholstery and foams. The headlining, carpets and door cards were the main source of the smell, and to be honest I couldn't be arsed taking the headlining out having cleaned and deodorised everything else.


Useful tip for someone though, I'm sure.