Q&A for How to Clean Car Upholstery

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Question

What are some tips for effectively cleaning leather upholstery?

Chad Zani
Auto Detailing Expert
Chad Zani is an Auto Detailing Expert based in Los Angeles, California. He is the Director of Franchising at Detail Garage, an automotive detailing company with locations around the U.S. and Sweden. He and his team are auto detailing experts that offer detailing and car care services.

Chad Zani

Auto Detailing Expert

Expert Answer

Avoid using very alkaline soaps. They can stain the leather and really hurt it. I also recommend using a horse hair brush to clean leather. A horse hair brush gets into the pores of the leather, which will help the stain start to release.

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Question

How can I remove grease stains from my car upholstery?

Chad Zani
Auto Detailing Expert
Chad Zani is an Auto Detailing Expert based in Los Angeles, California. He is the Director of Franchising at Detail Garage, an automotive detailing company with locations around the U.S. and Sweden. He and his team are auto detailing experts that offer detailing and car care services.

Chad Zani

Auto Detailing Expert

Expert Answer

Grease is an oil-based product, so you'd want to use a citrus based cleaner.

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Question

How can I avoid spreading a stain when cleaning my car upholstery?

Chad Zani
Auto Detailing Expert
Chad Zani is an Auto Detailing Expert based in Los Angeles, California. He is the Director of Franchising at Detail Garage, an automotive detailing company with locations around the U.S. and Sweden. He and his team are auto detailing experts that offer detailing and car care services.

Chad Zani

Auto Detailing Expert

Expert Answer

You want to work from the outside of the stain to the inside so that you're not spreading it. You always want to work towards the center of the problem. That way you're not making the problem bigger than it should be.

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Question

How can I remove stains on the nylon restraints in a child's car seat?

Community Answer

Baking soda and vinegar work really well. Put the vinegar in a spay bottle and soak the stained area. Then take a toothbrush and rub the baking soda in. Afterwards, rinse it out with water. If that doesn't work, try it again, and the stain will eventually come out.

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Question

How can I get rid of a water mark/stain on cloth seats?

Community Answer

I just use a mixture of 1 cup distilled vinegar, 1 cup club soda, and 1/2 cup blue Dawn dish soap. Mix in a spray bottle. Spray on cloth seats and let dry. The stains should be gone. Depending on what caused the stain you may have to scrub at the fabric gently.

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Question

How do I disinfect the upholstery after a dog has been in my minivan?

Community Answer

Lightly spritz the seats with diluted vinegar and vacuum off. That will help kill any odor, remove dog hairs & dander, and help disinfect, plus it's healthy for you & your children - no chemical residue.

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Question

How do I remove Junior Mints from upholstery?

Community Answer

Since chocolate is mostly fat, blot the stain with extremely hot water and de-greasing dish soap.

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Question

How can I remove a dark drink stain from my car seat?

Community Answer

I had a dark liquid stain on my cloth seat. I tried everything! Finally I took a liberal amount of "Goop" (used to clean your greasy hands in the shop), applied it to the stain, and let it sit for 1/2 an hour. I then hooked up my steam carpet cleaner upholstery attachment and cleaned with carpet cleaner and hot water. Stain gone!

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Question

How can I clean blue melted Crayola from fabric car upholstery?

Community Answer

Here's what I did. First, I put ice cubes on the area for a few minutes, which firmed up the crayon enough that I could scrape pieces off with a butter knife. Then for the residue, I used 91% isopropyl alcohol. I repeated several times, first moistening the area with the alcohol, rubbing lightly with a microfiber cloth, and blotting with a damp cloth. This worked well on my black fabric upholstery. Just yesterday I read that WD40 will also work.

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Question

How do you clean the inside roof of your car?

Community Answer

You could take a buffer and put a little shampoo and some degreaser on a clean pad and go over the entire headliner, then vacuum the moisture out.

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Question

How can I remove lipstick stains from leather car seats?

Community Answer

Try using a wet or damp cloth to scrub the seats. You could also try to get a rough object to rub the seats.

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