Seat cleaning tips

My 2007 has had it's fair share of coffee spills on the front seats over the last 15 years I've owned it. I bought WetOkles probably 6 years ago which work great and clean great with a Oxy-Clean soak prior to the machine. However, it's what lies under the seat covers that keeps me up at night. I want to lift the stains, scrub, vacuum, whatever it takes to get them looking better and I wanted to hear your feedback.

 

I used some McGuire's upholstery cleaner with a scrub brush, let it soak for 1 min or so, then scubbed hard. Worked pretty darn well. Might even be better if you hit it with some hot water, then come at it with some of that cleaner.

 

A good quality upholstery brush, cleaner and some elbow grease.

 

An air pulse gun works really well too.

 

upholstery cleaner of your choice, agitate gently with a soft-medium bristle brush, hot water extractor.
If an extractor is not in your budget, you can consider a few options (i have listed them in a ranked order of what will be the best/most effective method:

1) have the interior professionally detailed.

2) build a "diy" extractor using an upholstery cleaning tool and a shop vac, there are videos on youtube on how to do this.

3) use a shopvac and a pump sprayer filled with hot water.

4) bucket of hot water with terry cloth or microfiber rags.

no matter what you do, use the upholstery cleaner sparingly so that it is easier to extract, do not saturate the seats with cleaner. any residue will attract dirt and make the fabric feel weird once dried. and when using an extractor, use only hot water, do not add any chemical to the extractor water or pump sprayer.

 

Thing is about foam cleaners is I use about 15 Walmart terry cloth rags to get the dirty black residue up. For some reason, my bench seat turns a blackish color in about 6 months (grey fabric). That blackish color seems to accumulate all by itself. Probably airborne soot since I see the same crap coming off on the rag when wiping down the dash. One of these days I’ll pay to have an upholstery cleaner with its better extraction. Does anyone use Scotch Guard afterwards? Does it help any?

 

Club soda, followed by steam cleaning will make them new and soft feeling.

 

I use a Bissel upholstery stain remover. It works really well for for all kinds of upholstery. I clean my seats couple times a year and they look like new every time. It really deep cleans the fabric. Sprays a cleaning solution into the seats and then sucks it out along with all the accumulated dirt, dust and other contaminants.

Bissell SpotClean ProHeat Portable Spot and Stain Carpet Cleaner, 2694, Blue

https://www.amazon.com/BISSELL-SpotClean-ProHeat-Portable-2694/dp/B07Q2MKX5C?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

I use the club soda sprayed onto the material, agitate it, wipe off the dirt, followed by a steam. Let them completely dry then add a fabric protectant . This won't allow the stains to come back, my seats in my 99 4Runner look new as well as the carpet.

 

Yes, Scotch Guard does help. Check your seats first on a small, out of the way portion of your seat by spraying a good bit of Scotch Guard on it and wiping with a white cloth. If you see no seat color on the white cloth, you are good to go.

I have Scotch Guarded all my vehicle seats that I have owned. First pass spray in a grid pattern in one direction, and then second pass spray in a grid pattern going the other direction (like a weave). Let drive by leaving the truck open. You will be amazed at how water and other liquid substances puddle up and don't penetrate after using it.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/eBKkY-H1s8w?feature=share

 

I just bought some oxiclean fabric cleaner at autozone so we'll try that one

 

Works good… soft bristled brush, lots of light scrubbing, rinsing the brush and blotting the seat.

 

Worked just okay for the first use but I'm gonna go back in and let it sit for a bit longer before applying all the elbow grease

 

Get Chemical Guys Lightning Fast. Spray it on the seats and agitate it with a white circular brush on a drill and extractor.

My results this this combo…