How to Clean Car Seats with Household Products

Spills happen. But when they happen, your car seats can become quite messy and stained. So, to help you keep your car clean and mess-free, we have some useful and easy-to-do tips on how to clean car seats with household products. You’ll notice that the cleaning items needed are linked so that you can easily purchase them.

Cleaning Cloth Seats

Instead of taking your car in to a cleaning service, there are several ways that you can clean your cloth seats on your own. For instance:

- Use club soda. Lightly spray it on the stained area and use a brush to scrub away the stain, then wipe it away with a clean towel.
- Use a baking soda solution. Mix ¼ cup of baking soda with a cup of warm water, then use a light layer of the solution and a toothbrush to scrub away the stain. If the stain is difficult, let the solution sit for around 30 minutes.
- Use a vinegar mixture. Mix a cup of vinegar, a few drops of dish soap and about a gallon of hot water in a bucket. Then dab the mixture into the stain and use a brush to scrub it out of the seat, use clean water to rinse the seat off.
- Use laundry detergent. If you don’t have a specific upholstery detergent/cleaner, you mix some laundry detergent with hot water and dampen the stains with it. Use a towel with cold water to rinse the detergent off the seat and scrub the stain away.

[Learn More: Tire Care Tips]

Cleaning Leather Seats

Leather seats need extra care compared to cloth upholstery because of the premium quality of the material. To clean messes and stains off of leather, try one of these do-it-yourself ways:

Use nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol. Blotting the stain with a cotton ball that dipped in the alcohol will slowly lift the mess from the leather. And once the stain is lifted, clean the alcohol off the seat with warm water and dish soap.
Use a non-gel toothpaste. A more unique technique, dab a bit of toothpaste on the stain and then use a clean toothbrush to gently scrub away the stain.
Use a lemon juice and cream of tartar paste. Mix an equal portion of lemon juice and cream of tartar into a paste and apply to the stain. It should sit for about 30 minutes and then you can wipe it away with a damp sponge. The paste has a bleaching effect, so it should only be used on light-colored seats.
The vinegar mixture works on leather seats as well!

We hope these household products help keep your car seats looking like new. Continue to follow our blog for more useful tips. This post contains affiliate links to help you shop for the items in this post.