Our car seats are probably the last thing we ever think about when it comes to giving our car a good clean. But our seats are what get used the most and come into contact with a lot of dirt over the years, so it’s important to keep them clean and maintained.
Before we give you our easy to follow guide on how to clean your car seats, it’s important you look in your manual or contact your local dealer for further instructions and advice – especially if the interior is leather or unique.
How to clean your fabric seats
Vacuum the interior
Before you do anything else it’s important to vacuum the interior and get rid of any dust and dirt that may easily come off. It’s important to try and remove as much debris as possible so you don’t scrub this muck back into the seats when you clean them.
If you have a lot of trash and litter in the car then you obviously need to empty all of this before you begin vacuuming the foot wells and the seats. Don’t make life hard for yourself by leaving trash in your car, and make sure you take out anything that will get in your way. You need to keep a nice space clear so you can easily vacuum everything in site.
Washing the seats
It’s now time to fill a couple of buckets of water – one with cold and one with hot. Now add a small scoop of laundry detergent to the hot water bucket to make a great upholstery cleaner.
Dip a sponge into the hot water and begin to scrub each of the seats, but be careful not to get your seats too wet. You only need to moisten the seats with the sponge for it to work and you don’t want to have to wait hours for your seats to dry.
Once you are happy that you’ve scrubbed every part of the seats, you can then dip a towel into the cold bucket of water and use this to get rid of any excess muck and soap from the laundry detergent.
Feel free to repeat this process for maximum effect!
How to clean your leather seats
Use specialist cleaning products for your leather.When it comes to cleaning your leather seats it’s important to remember that you must use a specifically designed leather upholstery cleaner. Please contact your local cleaning shop, dealership or garage for further advice to ensure you get the right cleaning product.
First of all you need to vacuum the seats whilst taking care to remove any dirt that falls down the seams. Once you have gave the car a good vacuum you can now begin to apply the leather cleaning solution you have purchased. It’s important to follow the instructions exactly on the bottle, as leather seats are extremely expensive to repair when damaged.
Now carefully wipe down every inch of the seats with a good chamois cloth, and take to ensure you remove all of the cleaning fluid so it doesn’t pool in one spot. Then allow the seats to dry, and have one final look over to make sure none of the cleaning fluid has been left.
Tip – also buy a good leather conditioner to keep the seats properly maintained. Conditioners are a great way to keep the leather looking like new and should prevent the surface from becoming dry and cracked over time. The conditioner replenishes the natural oils contained in the leather, so it’s important to always look after leather seats if you want them to stand the test of time.