Keeping the interior of your car clean is fairly easy though it can be frustrating.
Car seats and center consoles are bad for collecting small crumbs and stubborn pet hairs. If you’re a perfectionist, you could spend a long time trying to get that last crumb out.
You can ignore them, but without cleaning these areas out, even after cleaning your car upholstery, your car will always feel dirty.
There’s nothing worse than climbing into a car with crumbs and hair all over the place. In fact, It’s downright disgusting.
NOTE: When cleaning the between your car seats, you should try your car away from the street as you will normally have a door or two fully opened.
You should also make sure that you’re cleaning it in daylight so you can see what you are doing.
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Should you remove the car seat?
The best way to clean between your car seats is to completely remove the car seats from the equation.
Removing the car seats isn’t necessary but it allows you to access crevices far easier and will give you a lot more space to work.
Taking the car seats will also allow you to clean underneath the seats better and even wash the carpet if you want.
If you are going to take the seats out, use youtube to research seat removal for your exact vehicle model.
Understandably this may be a step too far for some. You may not have a socket set or want to mess around disconnecting a car battery before removing the seats.
If you’re looking to become a professional detailer, you’ll definitely want to learn how to safely remove car seats. It will let you achieve a much cleaner finish.
Clean Car Seat Folds & Crevices
When it comes to cleaning seats people brush over them quickly with a cloth and say job done.
If you clean your car upholstery regularly and make a conscious effort to keep them dirt-free, this can be enough. If you don’t… god knows what’s hidden in the crevices.
Equipment you will need:
- Vacuum
- Crevice Tool
- Microfiber Towels
- Upholstery Cleaner
- Interior Detailing Brush
- Air Compressor / Compressed Air Cans
The folds in a car seat attract an unbelievable amount of hair, dust, and crumbs and they’re very stubborn to get out. Because the folds are narrow, they hold the dirt very well, you’ll have to put some effort into cleaning them.
To begin with, you want to take the vacuum without any attachments to the back and bottom of the seat. This will cover the most surface area and pick up any dirt, preventing it from falling into the folds later on.
Next, you should attach a crevice tool and run it along the seams, using your fingers to open the seams as you work. This may require a little bit of force, especially where the bottom of the seat and the back join each other.
After that, apply some upholstery cleaner and use an interior detailing brush to agitate the folds where the dirt remains. Wipe away any product and dirt using a microfibre towel and then vacuum the seat again one last time.
If you don’t have a detailing brush, you can use a small can of compressed air to blow the dirt out. I prefer using a brush and product, but using cans of compressed air will push the dirt out of tricky areas too.
How To Clean Between The Car Seats And Console
Cleaning between the car seats and center console can be incredibly frustrating because of how close together they are. Removing the seats and/or having the right tools will make the job much easier.
Equipment you will need:
- Vacuum
- Crevice Tool
- Microfiber Cloth
- Interior Detailing Brush
- Steam Cleaner (optional)
- Air Compressor / Compressed Air Cans (optional)
First, remove any goods that are stored in-between the gaps of the seat and center console. Normally this is where old receipts, change, chip packets, and free air fresheners end up.
Once you’ve removed the junk out of the way, use a vacuum and crevice tool to hoover in and around the center console. Don’t forget to hoover down the sides of the seat and the center console as well.
Spend enough time hoovering these areas and you’ll end up with a very clean seating area and center console.
If you want to give your car a proper interior detail you can clean these areas further. You will need compressed air, a detail brush, and a steam cleaner though.
How To Clean Car Seat Rails
Ever had problems adjusting your seat? Odds are there wasn’t actually anything wrong with your seat. It would have been a build-up of excess dirt and rubbish that was partially blocking the rails.
Cleaning and maintaining this area is important, especially if you have a 3 door car and regularly carry passengers in the back.
Equipment you will need:
Before even touching the rails, you should hoover the surrounding areas. Make sure that you hoover underneath the seat and have already cleaned between the car seats and center console.
Depending on how dirty the rails are, it may be best to hoover them first. If not, grab a detailing brush and force it into all the dirty crevices, brushing all the dirt towards yourself so it’s easier to hoover up.
Bonus Tip: Have a handheld vacuum or one with a long hose? Try to vacuum and agitate the area at the same time. This will pick up the loose dirt instantaneously meaning it won’t get stuck elsewhere.
Once you’re satisfied that you have cleaned the back of the rails enough, you will have to push the seat the backward clean the front of the rails.
As you move the seat back and forward you will find that some more dirt has come loose. Unfortunately, you are fighting an uphill battle and won’t be able to get the seat rails 100% clean.
Finally, after you’ve finished cleaning the rails you should lubricate them. You can use WD-40 but I prefer to use White Lithium Grease as it provides long term results.
Once done with the drivers seat you should repeat this process for the passenger seat as well.
How To Clean Back Seats
After all the hassle cleaning the front seats and center console, you’ll be glad to hear that cleaning the back seats is easy.
The back seats are normally made up of a bench and the back of a seat. These are incredibly easy to remove if you want to clean them out completely. Normally you’ll just need a socket set and a Torx set.
Many modern, family-friendly cars will allow you to remove the back seats without using any tools.
If you don’t fancy removing the back seats, you should clean them the same way as the seat folds.
I start cleaning the back seats by going over them with no attachment on my hoover. I make sure to clean the back, the seat itself and the carpeted bench that it sits on.
To get into the major crevices you will need to attach a crevice tool. Using your crevice tool, gently force it down the side of the seats, middle and again where the bottom and back join.
Once you’ve done this, grab a detailing brush and upholstery cleaner. Following the instructions on your cleaner, agitate the product and stubborn dirt to clean the seat.
When you’re satisfied that the area is clean wipe away the product with a microfibre towel and then finish up by hoovering the area once more.