I want to power wash my seats.

Can anybody tell me what sensors are in the seats and will getting them wet damage them, if so can they be removed with ease? The seats in a 2006 are SUPER dirty and I would really love to power wash them as I already have them taken out for cleaning.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

I would rent a machine and do hot water extraction instead. I did mine that were filthy nasty and looked like someone threw a large coffee all over the interior when I bought the truck and now they look almost new. I dumped out several gallons of muddy water from the machine. Pressure washing the seats will only drive the dirt in further and could cause mold and mildew in the seat if it isn't dried quickly enough.

I really hope it wasn't puke in the seats, but it is gone now whatever it was.

 

Go to Walmart and buy a Little Green Clean machine. I think I paid $99 for mine, and it has been well worth the money, so many uses for it.

If you power wash them you'll soak the foam and it'll end up smelling soured.

 

I'm pretty sensitive to chemicals so renting things like that aren't an option for me. I would otherwise totally agree with you and that's what I would do. I live in Tucson with 9% humidity so mold and things like that are much less of an issue for me.

I have a LGM but that thing is a light weight, I actually normally us a shop vac and a 2 gallon gardening pump bottle which does a great job, much better than the LGM I used to use.

 

I would steam clean them

 

Do it. You'll be fine. The sensors aren't actually in the seat.

 

Woolite carpet cleaner, a scrub brush and a shop vac...

 

Wear some gloves and don't ruin your seats.

 

Using chemicals isn't an option so that one is out, it isn't about wearing gloves it's that I don't want my body and lungs around them. These seats are grimy as hell though and need some serious cleaning so I will get it figured out.

 

I removed the covers on mine and ran them through the washing machine a few times.

 

What about steam cleaner???

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J_FtEmkPIMk

 

I did it with straight hot water, nothing else. You could try some white vinegar if the water itself isn't doing it.

 

I have thought this over and it's what needs to happen, they need to be power washed. I know there are some concerns about driving the dirt further in but I've done this on older seats before and it did an amazing job I just made sure to wash them a few times. These seats haven't been cleaned in 11 years of Arizona living so they're full of dust, dirt, and grime.

My questions are as follows:

1) The seat belt sensor isn't a huge concern so I'm going to not worry much about those, maybe toss a bag over the connector and call that done. I guess this isn't really a question.

2) The other wires, are those strictly airbag related, would you be worried about them if I just wash the seats, leave them to dry overnight before plugging back in and call it done. They don't look like they're easy to remove, what would happen if they weren't even working/connected, has anybody disconnected theirs?

3) Anything else I should be worried about with this plan?

 

You're going to regret it, but it sounds like your mind is already made up.

 

You better suck out all of the water you can with the shop vac and let them dry for several days if you are going to do this. I would also have a contingency plan, ie find where you can get some seats out of a wrecked tacoma.

 

I'm not unwilling to disagree I just need to understand why I will?

Suck out the water, several days of drying, getting new seats? I live in southern Arizona, when I do this on Friday the forecast is 101 degrees with 11% humidity and a 10mph breeze. If mold or something is the concern you have to understand just just how quickly water evaporates in conditions like that. I do know if I lived in South Carolina or something the seats would be toast.

If I wanna do this, what precautions would you take since the only concern I have is the electronics in the seat.

 

Power washing is going to push dirt into the seat foam.

A commercial/industrial hot water extractor (HWE) will actually suck all of the stuff AWAY from the foam and emulsifies most oils and grease that are trapping the dirt in.

Plus, hot water dries very quick so you can get it all bolted up once you're done.

I'd also recommend you look into getting some neoprene seat covers afterwards.. much easier to take off the seat covers once a year and wash them separately.

 

Do it right. Remove the seats and remove the fabric. Wash the fabric in any manner that is except able to you. You could even pressure wash the fabric if you wanted.

Using the pressure washer is just going to push the dirt and water into the foam.

Now you have water and dirt deep into the foam. It would take a month to dry out the foam.

While its drying, that dirt, now deep in the foam is turning to mildew. If you are sensitive to chemicals, you most likely are sensitive to mildew and mold. Even a person with no sensitivities will be at risk.

Please don't pressure wash the seats.

The steam cleaner is your next best choice. Steam the fabric to loosen the dirt and vacuum out the dirt.

 

How do I get the fabric off the seats (never mind I found the link, super helpful), I didn't even know that was an option, how involved is it? As for the drying, as mentioned above I live in southern Arizona, when I do this on Friday the forecast is 101 degrees with 11% humidity and a 10mph breeze. If mold or something is the concern you have to understand just just how quickly water evaporates in conditions like that. I do know if I lived in South Carolina or something the seats would be toast.