When your car seats start to smell and there are visible stains, you know you need to get them cleaned. Not just any type of cleaning, you would want it shampooed so you know your car is thoroughly clean and it will smell good. While this may be the best option, vehicle detailing will take time and money. You would have to take it to a shop that specializes in this kind of cleaning and it may cost money. This procedure can be done at home with household materials. Here are a few steps you can do to shampoo car seats.
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Step 1: Clean your car of all debris
Car seats are where the food pieces, soda droplets, stickers, and all other things that could be left in a car could be found. Most of this stuff could be something you tend to ignore until you notice the stains and all the stink in your car. Before thinking of doing anything with your car make sure you remove all kinds of debris. Remove all these small pieces you can remove by hand. After doing that, thoroughly vacuum your car. Vacuuming your car removes a huge part of the dirt.
Step 2: Mix upholstery shampoo in a bucket of water
Choose the brand of shampoo for upholstery you would like to use. When using this shampoo, you need to add a generous amount of it in water so it would create more foam. You can create a lot of foam by mixing the water and the shampoo vigorously. You will use the foam to clean the seat and not the water.
Step 3: Clean one area at a time
Apply the foam one area at a time. Start from one side and continue doing it until you had cleaned the entire seat. Doing will avoid the foam from getting dry when applied to the whole area of the seat at once. Aside from that, you can also focus on one area to clean and you will see all the dirt you would want to get rid of.
You can do this by using a stiff bristle brush. Use the brush to get the foam out of the bucket then use that to scrub off the dirt from your upholstered car seat. This method will avoid the interior of the car getting soaked in water. If the foam starts to die down, just stir your water and shampoo solution to create more foam.
Step 4: Remove excess moisture
Even if you are using the foam to clean the car seat, there would still be moisture remaining in the seat since the foam still contains water. To remove this excess moisture, you can use dry terry cloth. Press the towel down the upholstery. Move the towel in the same direction. Wring all the excess moisture from the towel. Repeat until you have already gotten rid of the excess moisture.
Step 5: Let the rest of the area dry
When you have already gotten rid of the moisture, you can leave the seats to dry. You have to leave the windows rolled down or the doors open so air can circulate. This will also prevent molds and mildews to form. You can use a fan so it will lessen the time of drying the seats.
Scrub the carpet
When you are done with your car seats, you can continue with the carpet. Cleaning the carpet should be done one area at a time. This is to avoid soaking the carpet with shampoo. You can use the same solution you used for cleaning the upholstered seat. Unless there is a stain. Some stains can be cleaned using spray-on shampoo.
For tough stains, you have to choose a stain removal for it. You have to treat these heavy stains before you wash the carpet. You can dab or spray the stain remover directly on the stain. Leave it for a few minutes, then you can proceed to wash it using shampoo.
Clean the car mats
Car mats and carpets must be cleaned separately. You can use the shampoo you used on the car seat and carpet or you can use a multi-purpose cleaner. You can put the cleaner on the mat then scrub it using a stiff brush. You can use the same brush you used for the carpet and car seats. After brushing, rinse the mats and hang them vertically. Let it dry. When both the carpet and the mat are dry, you can put back the mat in the car.
