What is the Best Way to Clean Car Seats?

Whether you have a family car filled with muddy footprints and food wrappers or use your car for the work commute, it’s wise to regularly deep clean your car’s seats.

By deep cleaning the car seats, leather, or cloth, you will reduce unwanted odours and give your car a fresh clean feel. If your car is carrying an unwanted odour, here are our top 5 tips for removing unpleasant smells from your car’s interior.

Car seats absorb sweat and dirt from our clothes as we drive and can harbour germs. So, whether you are selling your car or just want to keep your car clean, here are our top tips for cleaning car seats.

Best Way to Clean Leather Car Seats

Many modern cars are now fitted with leather seats, which adds a level of luxury and is helpful when you suffer an accidental spill, as potential stains can be wiped away. However, leather seats can still attract dirt and grime, so here is the best way to clean them.

A black leather driver's and passenger's seat of a vehicle. The two seats are divided by a center console with the emergency brake visible. The driver's seat is positioned a bit further forward than the passenger's seat. The seats are stitched with white thread.

  1. Park your car in a safe, well-lit area.
  2. Start by vacuuming all the seats using the soft brush head attachment, this will remove any crumbs, dust and dirt. Don’t forget the back seats, even if you don’t often use them, you will be surprised how far dirt can travel.
  3. Start by wiping each seat down with Leather Cleaning Wipes of choice, plenty can be found in automotive stores or online. Here are our favourite car upholstery cleaners.
  4. Then apply a leather cream cleaner of choice and follow the product guidelines. You should notice the leather becoming brighter as the product removes surface dirt.
  5. Once the leather seats are clean, buff with a clean dry cloth for a perfect finish.
  6. Finally, apply a specialist leather protector to make it easier to remove any future stains.

How to Clean Cloth Car Seats

Not all vehicles are fitted with luxury leather upholstery. Many cars and vans have standard cloth seats, particularly older models.

Man hoovering seat of car during car cleaning

Seats that are light in colour, will make dirt more visible. But don’t be fooled by dark materials looking ‘clean’ as they are likely to be holding hidden dirt.

  1. Choose a mild day and park the vehicle in a safe, well-lit area.
  2. Begin by vacuuming the seats to remove any loose dirt and crumbs. If you have pets, you can use a pet hair brush to remove the hair from the seats.
  3. Once the seats have been vacuumed and all pet hair removed, take an upholstery cleaner or car interior shampoo of choice. Following the product’s guidelines, apply the product to the seat, avoid soaking the seat as this will take much longer to dry. Gently work the product into the material with a soft brush. It’s recommended that you work in small patches to avoid water stains.
  4. Once the shampoo has worked its magic, take a clean microfibre cloth to dry the dampened area as much as possible.
  5. Then leave your seats to dry naturally.

How to Keep Car Seats Clean

  • Consider buying car seat covers, especially for family cars. Most protective seat covers are machine washable and will keep your car seats in good condition for longer.
  • Like any stain on your car’s interior, quick action is the best solution and will avoid permanent staining. Keep a cleaning cloth or seat cleaning wipes in your glovebox for emergency spills.

Now your car seats are clean and fresh, here are our top tips for keeping your car clean.

Best Car Upholstery Cleaners

These cleaners can be used to clean most car upholstery materials. All can be used on both fabrics and interior plastic and metal trim, including the dashboard and door handles.

Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner

Meguiars’ upholstery cleaner is a jack-of-all-trades. It can be used on all cloth seats and carpets, as well as vinyl and leather surfaces. The liquid can be diluted it to the right concentration for your fabric – make sure to follow the instructions. The cleaner’s foaming action gently lifts away dirt and the optical brighteners leave everything looking light and spotless. It’s the best choice for a thorough clean if you want to treat all the seats and carpets.

Halfords Upholstery Cleaner

This affordable all-purpose upholstery cleaner is ideal for spot removal and cleaning small areas with stains or marks. The foaming action cleans deep in the fibres of upholstery and dries quickly.

Autoglym Interior Shampoo

This car seat cleaner is a gentle and effective formula that lifts light stains and leaves a fresh, clean scent. It’s suitable for all interior fabrics except leather and works just as well on hard surfaces too.

Mother’s Carpet and Upholstery Brush

If you have a lot of car upholstery to clean, it’s worth investing in a dedicated brush. This brush from Mother’s has stiff bristles to work the product into the fibres, yet it’s gentle enough not to scratch or damage the material.

Car Carpet Cleaners

Astonish Car Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner

If your car carpets and mats are very dirty you may want a dedicated carpet cleaner. This product from Astonish is suitable for natural and synthetic fibres and kills mould and mildew that can occur in car boots and footwells. It also disinfects and deodorises carpets.

Car leather cleaner

There are dozens of car leather cleaners available, but they may not be necessary. Modern leather is not as delicate as it used to be and unless your vehicle is high-end, it may be vinyl rather than full leather. You can use Meguiars All-Purpose Cleaner (above) on leather seats – make sure to spot test in a hidden area first. Or try Autoglym’s leather care range below.

Autoglym Leather Cleaner

This leather car seat cleaner has a neutral pH formulation that won’t damage leather or strip out its essential oils. It will leave your seats with a natural matt finish. Spray the cleaner onto a cloth and use this to apply onto the leather. Leave for two minutes and wipe down repeatedly with a clean, damp cloth.

Autogylm Leather Care Balm

Once or twice a year you will need to protect proper leather to replace the natural oils and keep it supple. Massage a small amount of Autoglym’s Leather Care Balm in with a cloth. Allow to soak in for a few minutes then buff off with a clean cloth.

How to Clean your Car Upholstery

Before you apply any cleaning products, make sure they are suitable for your fabric. Follow the instructions carefully so you don’t mark or damage your upholstery.

  1. Always vacuum the car thoroughly to remove dirt and grit. This is important before you apply wet cleaners
  2. Remove the floor mats
  3. Spray your cleaning product sparingly onto the fabric and work in with a brush or rough cloth
  4. Work methodically across larger areas to make sure you don’t miss a spot
  5. Follow the package instructions for how long to leave it, then mop up with a clean microfibre cloth to remove as much product as possible
  6. Repeat the application as necessary. It’s better to make multiple light applications
  7. Allow the carpets and mats to dry before putting them back in the car

Bear in mind that the easiest car upholstery fabrics to clean are looser and carpet fabrics. Tightly woven areas, especially around the base of seats, are difficult for cleaning products to penetrate and may need multiple applications. 

Once your interior is fresh and clean. Why not turn your attention to those minor paintwork scratches and scuffs?

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