Cleaning and caring for car seats and upholstery is an important part of maintaining your car.
Just like other parts of your car, the seats and upholstery need preventive maintenance to keep them from getting damaged over time. On top of this, those hot Phoenix summers can take their toll on any type of interior. It does not matter if your windows are tinted.
1. Interior Maintenance
It goes without saying that different types of car seats will need different cleaning treatments to keep the structure of their fabric intact.
As a rule, there are three important things to keep in mind when cleaning your car seats and upholstery:
- Always check your car manual for any cleaning or maintenance advice from the car manufacturer.
- Read the label on any cleaning products you use to ensure it is safe and will not damage the fabric or upholstery.
- Always test the cleaning product on a small area (select a spot that is not easily visible) of the car upholstery – this way you will know if the product is safe for use.
2. Cleaning the Fabric of Your Car Seats
Clean the Debris
- You can use a hand-held vacuum, or just an ordinary household vacuum cleaner that comes with a brush attachment, to clean up debris and dust from the seats.
- Vacuum the surrounding areas of your car’s interior as well so that dust and dirt don’t accumulate on the seats again.
- Once the vacuuming is over, you need to clean it with water – fill two buckets, one with cold water and the other with warm water.
- Add laundry detergent to the bucket of warm water, soak a sponge in the bucket and gently but firmly clean and scrub each seat.
- It’s important that you swipe the seats in quick firm motions – don’t let the seats soak in water or get too wet.
- After cleaning the seats, dip a towel or soft fabric into the bucket of cold water and clean out any excess debris or dust, as well as the laundry detergent, from the surface of the seats.
- Allow the seats to dry naturally.
3. Cleaning Leather and Faux-Leather Upholstery
Leather upholstery needs to be cleaned with care. If you are not careful about using the proper cleaning agents (use cleaners that are PH-balanced) or the proper method, you could easily cause permanent damage to the leather upholstery.
Important Preventive Care Tip – One of the best ways of keeping your leather upholstery clean is by routinely vacuuming the seats. This will prevent too much dust and debris accumulation, making your job easier when you want to go in for an intensive cleaning of the leather upholstery.
- Again, the first step always involves vacuuming the car seats and interiors – you need to clean out as much dust and debris through vacuuming first.
- Once the vacuuming is done, use the car upholstery cleaner and follow the directions on the package; don’t lather the cleaner – use it sparingly.
- Gently but firmly wipe down the seats with a soft cleaning cloth and ensure the cleaning agent is completely removed from the seats.
- Allow the seats to dry out a little while ensuring that no cleaner spots or stains are left behind.
It’s a good idea to use leather conditioner on your seats periodically. This will make sure the leather maintains its texture, feel, and form, while also locking in the natural oils so the surface of your leather car seats don’t get dry or crack.
Make sure you follow the instructions on the leather conditioner for a clean finish.
Preservation for the Long Term
The cleaning of your car seats, the interiors, and leather upholstery should be carried out on a routine basis. Simple periodic vacuuming does help; however, a deep or intensive cleaning is required to keep your seats and leather upholstery in stellar condition through the years.
As mentioned above, it is important to check your car manual about the kind of products that are safe for cleaning leather seats.
If you are unsure about what products you can use, check with a professional car cleaning service for advice on what is best for your car seats and upholstery.
Reliable Car Maintenance with Professional Auto Experts!
We take car care very seriously at Virginia Auto Service. If you need a professional car technician for any kind of car repair services or for routine maintenance work on your car, we can help.
Give us a call today at 602-266-0200 or schedule a visit with us online at your convenience.