DIY: Detail Your Cars Upholstery!!
Clean the seats in your car YOURSELF!
Do you have kids in car seats? In my experience I have found this equation to be very, very true: Kids + Car Seats = Stains for days. The other day, I was cleaning my car out and removed the booster seats. What I saw mortified me. Stains, melted chocolate, spilled red juice, and the smell, we are not even going there.
I called around to some local car detailers and I WAS NOT going to pay almost $200 for someone to clean my seats. I have tried using my steam cleaner on them before and it only took about 3% of the stains away AND left me with water spots everywhere. 🙁 Not exactly what I was going for.
So I did some research and I found the perfect solution! This really worked well for me. You may have to tweak the amounts a little bit (but equal parts of each should get you really close!).
What You Need:
I grabbed a heavy duty spray bottle and added in equal parts of club soda, Dawn, and vinegar. My spray bottle was pretty big so I used 1 cup of each of the ingredients. Some of you are worried that this was too much Dawn, but it the amount that I use. You can try less if you’d like, and if you do, let us know in the comments below how it worked! Make sure to shake it pretty good to get it all mixed up.
Spray the stains and let the mixture sit for a few minutes. I let it sit about 3 because I am impatient as heck.
Take your scrub brush and brush in circles on the stains. This is where you are going to be wondering if it’s worth the $200 to have your car detailed. But I’m not afraid of a little hard work, and I did it on an “arms” day, so I got to skip part of my workout!
Now use your shop vac or steam cleaner with ONLY water in it to “rinse” out the seats. If you have the shop vac, I would spray water on the seats and then suck up the mixture.
Let the seats dry and get ready to be amazed.
My car did smell like vinegar for about 2 days. It was totally worth it though. You could use an essential oil to help the smell! The purification blend or wild orange would be great choices! Be wise with your choices of oils though. Some aren’t pure and will stain your hard work! I personally only use and trust doTERRA Essential Oils.
DIY: Detail Your Cars Upholstery!!
Ingredients
- Club Soda
- Blue Dawn Dish Soap
- Vinegar
- Scrub Brush
- Spray Bottle
- Shop Vac/Steam Cleaner
Instructions
- Combine equal parts of club soda, Dawn, and vinegar in a heavy duty spray bottle
- Shake well to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Spray the stains and let the mixture sit for a few minutes.
- Using a scrub brush, brush in circles on the stains.
- Use your shop vac or steam cleaner with ONLY water in it to "rinse" out the seats. If you have the shop vac, I would spray water on the seats and then suck up the mixture.
- Let the seats dry out with windows down
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I wonder if you could get the same result using rubbing alcohol instead of vinegar? The smell will evaporate much quicker.
I haven’t tried this but if you do, let us know if it worked!
I have used rubbing alcohol only on a microfiber couch and the result was FANTASTIC. Idk about using such a concentrated smell in a small space like a car, however, unless it could sit for a couple of days before driving. You have to use a white scrub brush in a circular after it dries to ‘fluff’ the fabric so it doesn’t feel crispy. But it totally works.
Hey Amber do you know if this will clean the carpet in the car as well?
Hi Traci! Amber, the original author of this post, isn’t on our team anymore. I would think it would work though. But since it is a different fabric makeup, I would test it out in a small area first. Let us know how it turns out!
It doesn’t work. I am literally outside scrubbing my car seats and vacuuming it all up and my seats look the same as they did before.
I’d say it worth a try, as I used it though it does work well, the smell of vinegar is strong , and it’s been 3 days. Keep in mind I used a bit less vinegar then asked also.
So sorry the vinegar smell is so persistent! I didn’t have a problem with it when I tried. Maybe doing it during the summer heat has an effect on it?
could you maybe scrub it then febreeze or shampoo it to get the smell out
It’s better to neutralize odors than add to it. Shampoo will just add chemicals that will attract more dirt. Febreeze might be OK, but vinegar neutralizes odors, so that’s why we use it.
Hi all,
Baking soda will help neutralize vinegar odors. Sprinkle on. Leave for 30 minutes/1 hour. Vacuum up.
Thanks for the tip Brenda!
Would it destroy the foam under the cloth covers?
Car seat foam is polyurethane, highly unlikely it will have an affect in it
Can you use this to clean your headliner? Thanks.
Hi Lilli! I have not tried that!
No! Car dealers and detailers warn against getting the headliner wet. It will come loose, and you sure don’t want that!
Spray window cleaner onto a clean cloth. Wipe the headliner, but be careful not to pull or push on it. Presto.
What is a headliner??
A head liner is the fabric that covers the ceiling of your vehicle .
be careful scrubbing on your headliner, as it tends to dissolve the adhesive used, and cause drooping…
I use shout stain remover on the headliner and leave in a few minutes then scrub lightly with a rag and it cleans them really well.
Thanks for the tip!
What kind of club soda did u use?
I just purchased generic club soda. Whatever was cheapest at the store.
I used the carbonated water from my Soda Stream and it worked well.
what is club soda? I am from south Africa…
Club soda is carbonated water. Carbonated water is water into which carbon dioxide gas under pressure has been dissolved. Some of these have additives such as sodium. This process, known as carbonation, is a process that causes the water to become effervescent
I’m Australian and we have Soda water
Good For you.
“Good for you”? In case you didn’t notice she only shared that bit of information so we can know that it’s not called the same thing in different countries. Sorry that it wasn’t explained thoroughly enough for you but “Good for you” for trying.
I think she was pointing out that it is called soda water in australia, so that people don’t get confused. The aussies have a thing called club soda and it is a different thing altogether.
its the samething
Would Soda Stream water work??
You could test it out. I’m not familiar with that kind of water so couldn’t say for certain.
It is soda water in South Africa.
Thanks alot I don’t have a car but this will be very useful when I do get one.
In having done a lot of repair work, this detail is awesome for many household items, too. The point is just perhaps not to be more afraid of getting results than making a mess. We are women! (Seemingly, from the posters, that is.) We represent quite the best part of our countries’ soft powers!
The question of alcohol in place of vinegar is good, as I use alcohol for everything possible. The only thing I would suggest is to be careful, as some old fabrics are more fragile and “sponge” material, etc, will disintegrate or flake away. Some backing, or underside of heavy materials, are why it is flagged as “fragile”.
Best wishes!
Err…. Hahaha! I posted “the point is…” a bit backwards. I meant for us not to be more afraid of making a mess than of getting results. 🙂
Soft powers?
Thanks worked great………….I used the leftover mixture to spring clean my patio chairs.
Smell didn’t last that long…………………………………………………………….
cheers
you said 1 cup of equal part do I use 1 cup of Dawn as well ??
Sorry Ana! We updated the post!
1 cup of dawn ? Seems a little excessive.
Yes – a cup of Dawn seems like you’d never get the suds out??
Sorry! We updated the post!
What did you update the amount of Dawn from a Cup to ????
Equal parts… So it depends on the size of your spray bottle.
No, still showing same. Equal parts of vinegar, club soda and Down
I have used the product . It works great . The vinegar in the solution help to keep the bubbly affectdown that dawn gives. No worries !!!!!!
it is!! I cannot get the soap out, cut waaaaay back on the Dawn and save yourself a lot of work 🙂
Thanks for letting us know about the dawn and using much less 🙂
Thank you for posting that info about the Dawn! Glad I kept reading down 🙂
Do you add water to the dawn , club soda and vinegar ? 1cup Dawn soap?
Yes. It is equal parts of each.
1 cup of dawn? Seems like a lot.
1 part…I would not recommend more than a couple of tablespoons for a spray bottle.
If each ingredient says 1 part, that means equal amounts.
I live in Italy and want to know how can I do this mix…
can I use a normal powder dish soap? Is club soda a water with bubbles or the water for ironing?
Liquid dish soap (Like for your sink, not a dishwasher).
Club soda is water with bubbles
What if you don’t have a shop vac?
Go buy one
Don’t be an idiot Rose.
Hi Rose! You will need something that can pull up the liquid. Many car washes have wet vacs too!
you could always do this at the car wash, then use the vac’s there. get a dry cleaning bag to sit on so you can drive home then, i’d lightly brush the seat to make sure I didn’t leave an imprint
In england we call it washing up liquid if that helps anyone x
Thanks Cheryl,
As a professional auto detailer, if you use equal parts of liquid dish soap, you will have a nightmare on your hands and the soap residue, of which there will be MUCH, will attract dirt quickly. I don’t know which ratio you will need, but this will be a very soapy mess. I have read that it was updated, but I don’t see how this can work. It would take a LOT of passes with a steam cleaner to rinse this out.
Hi Randy! It did take a few passes with the steam cleaner but set on the rinse feature it sprays water in and soak it + the suds back up.
Also – why bother with all this wetness when you can use a natural, residue-free window cleaning solution? Don’t spray it onto the upholstery; spray it onto a clean cloth and wipe the upholstery down. You’d be amazed.
Which window cleaning solution is natural and residue free? Please post. Thanks
Would like to know more about doing it this way? And how well it works?
What window cleaner, specifically? I’d rather try this method.
Hi Randy, The vinegar kills the foaming action of the soap as well as killing any yucky smells in your upholstery. It may take a couple of days for the vinegar smell to dissipate. I would rather smell vinegar for 2 days instead of spilled soured milk for a couple of hours.
My recipe calls for 1/2 c white vinegar, 1 c club soda, 1/4 c lemon juice and 1/2 c non toxic dish soap. Haven’t tried it yet but plan to this week.
Jody I use this except 1/8 C dawn works just as well without the bad effects of the dirt drawing to the residue. Just my opinion.
Would you add water to this mixture or keep it pure
I am so sorry but I just had to reply. I was looking for car cleaning hacks and noticed that your name is Ita, too. I’ve never met anyone with the same name!
how did your recipe work to clean the car seats?
Randy,
What would you recommend we use to detail clean the interior of our vehicles? I know that sounds kind of sassy, but I’m not trying to be. I seriously want to know what a professional would use at home. Thanks!
That is correct, Randy, not just for upholstery, but for carpeting, as well. Our facilities management company once had a carpet cleaning seminar from a Waxie Company representative, who said that soap based cleaners, even their own, should only be used as a spot cleaner, and as a last resort, then the entire area should be cleaned with an extractor of some kind using plain water, to pull out dirt and any soap residue. Soap residue acts like a magnet and draws dirt faster, and traps it at the base of the fibers.
The article does say to use an extractor, but I agree that it seems like too much soap anyway.
Could we use this to clean home carpets. I have burber carpet and it was suppose to have stain guard and if it did it didn’t help at all. Dog and dirt stains are bad. Will this treatment help it?
HI Pattiann, I have not used this on home carpet. I have used this though. https://fabulesslyfrugal.com/homemade-stain-remover-picture-tutorial/
Down use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?
Hi Joyce! It is white vinegar.
In sorry that was suppose to say do we use?
Hi, thanks for this and I’m going to try it. I’d recommend that you update your post AGAIN and be VERY specific on the measurements. You say “equal parts” in your post but in this Q&A you say no more than a couple of table spoons of soap in a spray bottle. So that’s two table spoons of soap, two table spoons of soda water and two table spoons of vinegar? Still seems wrong and now the portions seem WAY too small for a spray bottle. It’s important that you get all this right as people are counting on your measurements. Most people don’t have time to experiment so please take a few minutes and REALLY nail these numbers down. Thanks.
Hi Paul – It is equal parts. A reader stated the tablespoons comments. I use 1 cup of each.
reading this really pushes all of my buttons! im not sure how much more you want these people to do? get better measurements? do this and that, well what about this or that? the article CLEARLY says use EQUAL parts!!! lets go over what this mean…. if you choose to use a whole cup of vinegar then you also use a whole cup of dawn and club soda. if you choose to use a half a cup of vinegar then you also use a half a cup of dawn and club soda, if you choose to use a tablespoon of vinegar then you also use a tablespoon of dawn and club soda, so on and so on! USE what you think works best for you and your situation! I personally used a half a cup of everything because my spray bottle was small and I didn’t have very many stains, this mixture worked wonders! I will say if I was doing a bigger project like the whole car you would deff want to use a whole cup of everything, remember do not add soap to your steam cleaner this will make things a soapy mess!! add water ONLY!! I LOVE THIS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING
I’m glad you like the recipe and that it works well for you! 🙂 We love it!
Can this solution be used on dining room chairs
Yes, it sure can!
I’m glad someone said it. I mean, come on, how more to the point can you get?!
with all those comments sounds like they want her to come do it for them. lol There really are people out there that are book smart but have no common sense. Thanks for sharing Amber
Awesome. 1 out of all of these comments actually tried the recipe and it worked. I’m going to try it as well. ?
Save yourself a lot of work !! I only used 1/2 cup of dawn along with the 1 cup of Vinegar and Club soda and I still cannot get the soap out of the upholstery !! I am actually in the process of it now, had to take a break to write this comment…. I have even resorted to using my garden hose on mist setting and my shop vac to suck the water out as there is so much soap residue….It is clean, but, man, this excess soap is a nightmare !!
Awesome!
I seen this post and decided to use this recipe to get my car seats clean I have two little boys so you can imagine the mess they make and it worked wonderfully. The only thing I changed was I used peroxide in stead of club soda my local store was all out of club soda but it still worked great thank you for saving my car and money ?
I was just going to say peroxide works great.
Okay so I used a cup of each, I had a pretty big spray bottle,am and quite a lot of stains. When I shook the bottle though, it actually expanded and began to ooze out of the spray tip. I had to turn the tip to closed so it wouldn’t leak until I was ready to use it. By then it had settled down. The ratio was a bit soapy when I was trying to remove it from my seats, I used my Bissel pet stain remover to spray just clean water and then suck it all out, but it was still soapy. I figured it would be fine though. I didn’t really have much of a vinegar smell at all, but I did not use blue Dawn because I didn’t have it, I just used the dish soap I had which was pink and pomegranate smelling so maybe that was why. I will say it worked fabulously. I have at 5 year old and had a ton of stains. This worked on my seats and even my floor mats. Thank you!
Would this work on leather or fake leather seats????
Yes, it would!
These comments are funny. All you wanted to do was post a hack and then idiots come out the woodwork…wait, can i use it on my woodwork?…lol
Felicia, your comment cracks me up and finishes this year perfectly! Happy New Year!
Well done, Felicia!!
I’m going to try this on my couch.
I bet it’ll work!
How long can you store this mixture so it is still effective?
Had two kids who are grown now. Get on the spills right at away with baby wipes….I always kept them in my car. They clean up absolutely everything!! Never had a stain. I am a working mom so I cleaned as I went along.
My mom tried this mix in her van. The back seats were dirty from her grandkids. The experience was awful. The seats looked great at first once she was done cleaning thembut like others stated… The dirt was attracted to the soap film like a magnet!! Within 6 weeks the seats looked terrible, but instead of the back seats looking bad it was all of the seats. She ended up having it professionally detailed anyway which worked… Will never make this again.
Thanks for handling the troll Celeste.
Wondering why three equal parts is so hard to understand. Water is not mentioned in the formula. Good not to try making things more complicated than they are.
Never, ever use soap of any kind on textiles! If you want a cheap easy stain/odor remover spray a heavy coat of white vinegar on textile. Then pour a coating of baking soda over that. If time is not of the essence, pour the vinegar on and cover the wet area with baking soda. The worst part is you HAVE to allow this to dry!!! No scrubbing is necessary! Just let the chemicals do their job! The baking soda gets horrible, yucky, nasty looking but again, do not disturb it! Just let it dry completely. When it is dry, vacuum all of the baking soda up. It takes a lot of vacuuming if the baking soda us thick. If it is thick use a shop vac first and follow up with your home vac. Going to a car wash and using a heavy duty vac is ideal! This works on ANY textile that can tolerate vinegar! Make sure to use white vinegar! As with everything, test a small hidden piece of the textile first in the event it is not color-fast! Most auto textiles are as well as most carpeting. Furniture upholstery is not always color fast nor is many clothing fabrics. The beauty of this is that your car, carpet, etc. will not have ANY smell! No vinegar smell lingers! I have used this on my carpets for years with kids, pets, hubby…you name it! I have used it in a “used” car for my son’s friend and it looked like new upholstery and had no stinky, cigarette smell lingering. White vinegar and baking soda are both child and pet friendly and are natural deodorizers. Good luck! Btw…soap will attract dirt of ALL kinds! Do NOT USE SOAP ON TEXTILES EVER UNLESS IT CAN BE COMPLETELY RINSED OUT!
I appreciate this, I’m from NZ and Club soda isn’t a common term, Soda water is 🙂
We just call it soda where I’m from. In NYC it’s called seltzer.
This even works fairly well on stubborn grease stains (I’m a mechanic, so my upholstery takes a bit of a beating)… I used a nail brush to work the solution in, pretty impressed with the results!
That’s awesome! I’m glad you had great results!
I used this but I did it with Gain dish soap line and it made my car smell like clean laundry and vinegar but the vinegar smell went away after a day with the windows rolled down. I also took a twin water proof bed liner and neatly tucked it onto the seats after the seats were dry and replaced my kids car seats. I got a little handy one day and did 2 velcro covers so I can peel them off when they get a little gross and replace it with a clean one and wash the dirty one. And once a month I wash the bed liner. U may have to get a little crafty and cut here and sew there but in the end so worth it!!
That’s awesome!! Sounds like your car is going to stay pretty darn clean!
do you have any suggestions for cleaning leather seats in your car?
Google “How to clean leathe upolstry” you’ll be surprised at the advise about using oils
Can you use this for the roof of your car?
Yes, you can… just apply it slowly, and wear safety glasses so it doesn’t drip into your eyes.
If you have strong patience, you could just undo the seat covers slowly and place them in the wash like I did. They come out like brand new. Just hang them dry to make for an easier reattachment ( dryer tends to shrink things). If your not patient enough, then I would suggest you just scrub away instead. 🙂
wow! You are so patient! I don’t know if I could do that!
I should have read all the comments before doing this (my mistake), as I now have a soapy mess in my car that will NOT come out. Looks like I’ll have to get it detailed after all.
I am so sorry that it didn’t work for you. Many of us have done it and loved it. So sorry!
You have a ton of typo’s in this. Get a new editor.
Thank you for noticing Danelle. This post is from many years ago when we had less of a following and we are working on going through and getting all content up to date and edited.
LOL that you’re pointing out typos, and you make it possessive instead of plural.
I used this recipe “equal parts” …and it worked great! My car looks just like your pictures and it cleaned the hard surfaces as well! My husband and I were both very excited! It was worth the smell of vinegar and elbow grease. Thanks for this tip! It will be a regular😊
Awesome! So glad to hear it!
What steam cleaner did you use or recommend using?
Hi Ray! WEll of course, the more powerful the better. You might be able to rent something, or this one has worked well for me. https://amzn.to/2jLtjq4
I tried this out yesterday and heres how it worked for me: First, I followed your mixture of equal parts of each, and at first used a spray bottle that didn’t spray very well. It sprayed in a stream rather than more of a spray and it came out very soapy and didn’t saturate the carpet(seats) like I wanted it too. So i tried another spray bottle that sprayed better and it did a little better spray wise, but I still found the mixture too soapy for my liking. I think equal part of dish soap was a little too much soap because I used a steam cleaner with water to suck all of that solution out after scrubbing and it took me FOREVER to get the soapy-ness out. Also, the vinegar smell is lingering (not too bad) but I would have used a little less vinegar in the solution to avoid such a strong smell. My seats were pretty dirty, and on some spots I had to use a generic upholstery cleaner to get some stains out as I found the solution maybe was more for generic cleaning rather than spot cleaning. But it left my seats smelling better than they were before. Also, I recommend using a steam cleaner with the hand attachment to suck out all the products from the seats, or else if you think about it, those products will just linger in your seats doing who knows what. That took a lot of time but for me it was worth it as I can’t afford to pay someone to clean my car. If I were to do this again, I would probably alter the solution slightly (less soap and vinegar) and use my steam cleaner again.
Bri! You’re so awesome! Thanks for taking the time to shaer what worked for you and your personal recommendation! I agree that a handheld steam cleaner would be an added plus. And I use vinegar so much around my house, I’m used to the smell I guess! 😀 I think it’s great for neutralizing odors! Thanks again for the feedback!
We have placed a towel (usually a pale coloured one) over the back seat where the kids sit, tucked it in and put their child safety seats on top. Because the towel is pale, it’s easy to see when it needs a wash, so it doesn’t get too grimy – and end up transferring grot to other parts of the car.
… Might be useful after you have gone to all effort of getting your upholstery clean. 😉
Will this solution work on blood stains in car upholstery? My son had a bad nose bleed in my car and left a huge blood stain on the back seat…
Oh bummer! Not sure how it’ll do on blood stains. I’d test out an area to see how it does. Let us know what you find out!
Peroxide, full strengh, worked well on my blood stains.
This only worked marginally well, but left a significant vinegar smell for days. Not worth the time or smell!
Will it work on leather seats? Y’all
When I was done I put water plus essential oil in a spry bottle to help get rid of the bad smell.
I e done this by just mixing water and vinegar and using tide spray for stains. I sprayed the tide stain cleaner on the seat let set a few seconds. And just wiped with cloth wet with the vinegar & water mixture. Seats came clean. Didn’t measure any certain amount. I just winged it lol