If your car seats are looking worse for wear and want them freshening up, you may be considering you're options in what kind of company to use.
You would be right to wonder who shampoo cleans car seats and upholstery because there are more options than you may have previously thought, and the better option might not have been what you believed either.
First, let's have a look at what companies actually offer this service:
Who Shampoo Cleans Car Seats & Upholstery
First, let's have a quick look at who offers the shampoo cleaning of fabric car seats and upholstery:
Car Detailing & Valeting Companies
Car detailing companies offer a car seat and upholstery cleaning service including the mats, floor carpet, side upholstery, and of course, the seats. They appear to do a reasonably good job of cleaning your cars upholstery items, however, can they do more than just a surface clean?
In most cases but not all, car detailers won't be able to tackle the more difficult to remove stains and spillages such as milk stain removal.
Let's take a look at the pros and cons of using a car detailer/valeting company for your fabric car seats:
Pros
They do a pretty good job of surface level cleaning
Can tackle many stains that are often found on car upholstery
More services can be paired together such as 'interior details'
Car detailing companies can even offer protection for your car seats
Can also clean leather seats
Cons
Most car detailers are not equipped to deal with tough stains and spillages
Often run by part time workers who are not as well trained in upholstery cleaning, making mistakes common
Smaller carpet cleaners preventing them from getting deep into fibres
Unable to clean car seat foam cushions
Steam Cleaning Companies
Cleaning companies solely dedicated to using steam as a cleaner will offer to clean your car seats as well.
While this can seem like a good option in terms of disinfection, it's not ideal for actual cleaning.
Pros
Great way to disinfect your carpets
Stains can be removed with steam cleaning
Faster service
Cons
Dirt is pushed into seats rather than extracted
Results are not great compared with carpet cleaning or detailing
Moisture may go into the foam and, if not dried, may cause mould
Steam cleaning gained traction for it's 'eco friendly' vibe but sadly the reality never met expectations. Steam cleaning companies are now adding chemicals to their cleaning process which is helping.
When it comes to cleaning carpets and upholstery, steam cleaning is not a great option and can often cause more problems later down the line.
Carpet Cleaning Companies
Your next and best option would be to use a carpet cleaning company familiar with cleaning car upholstery. After all, upholstery is what we do day in, day out.
With our knowledge and expertise, you can't go wrong with us and it really shows in the end result.
Let's take a look at the pros and cons of using a professional carpet cleaner for your car upholstery:
Pros
Better and more specific chemicals means deeper stain removal and deeper cleaning
Better equipment means we can reach where a detailer can't. Stronger carpet cleaners with the right equipment makes true seat cleaning possible
Able to provide a full car odour removal service without relying on masking or dangerous equipment such as ozone generators
Faster drying times thanks to our stronger suction power and commercial fans
Able to protect seats after and give great tips on how to keep upholstery clean
Cons
Can only offer upholstery cleaning services, not trained for washing cars
More expensive option than detailing
Do not offer leather cleaning options
Other companies that offer a car seat cleaning will include general cleaning companies who would 'have a go' if you asked them. These aren't really a true option as they won't be trained, nor will they have the right equipment to do a particularly good job.
Who Cleans Leather Car Seats & Upholstery
Alright great, so we now know who can clean car fabric seats well. But what about leather car seats and upholstery? Leather is a delicate material and requires a lot of attention to detail.
Let's take a look at what companies can competently offer such services:
Leather Cleaning Companies
It's an obvious choice but you may not have realised that specialised leather cleaning companies existed, let alone that they will come to clean your car seats.
Not only can they clean them safely and effectively, they can also repair, protect and bring back colour fading as well.
They are true experts in their field so if you have leather seats and want to take care of them properly, leather cleaning companies are your best option.
Car Detailers
Those detailers are at it again! But hey, they do a decent job of it so more power to them. Of course not all detailers will give you the same results here, make sure you get to know the detailing company well before booking in as leather is an expensive one to damage.
Most car detailers will only offer a basic clean and maybe a leather feed to restore the 'shine'. They probably won't offer repairs, re-colouring, or any of the other professional services a leather cleaning company can do for you.
That being said, most of them will give your leather a good clean, the detailing world is full of decent leather cleaning products and tips on how to lean leather safely.
Conclusion
So there you have it. I bet you didn't know that there were so many options for cleaning your car seats did you?
Many people stop at car detailing when considering options for seat cleaning but there are better options out there.
For fabric seats, carpet cleaning is king when it comes to quality and deep cleaning capability while leather cleaning companies are ideal for you leather seats.
Thanks for reading, don't forget to search our blog for some more great tips and tricks on how to clean your carpet, upholstery and even leather.