Easy Car Upholstery Stain Remover
| July 19, 2012 | Posted by Amee under How To . . . |
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I desperately want a new camera. The one I now have is a $60 point and shoot which does okay, but I want a camera with more abilities. My hubby asked me to go and have our truck detailed before we go on vacation. I got a few estimates and the average was around $150. I told my hubby he could hire me and put a portion of that money towards my camera fund. He agreed and this past weekend I started to clean our truck.
I have three small kids, and when I took their seats out, the photo above shows the ugly, nasty, stains and more stains. If you cart kids around like I do several times a week to various appointments, then accidents and spills can happen in the car. The lost Cheerios, the stickers stuck to the windows, and the forgotten hair bands or small toys. I am not sure what my kids spilled or got into, but it was the worst condition in which I ever saw my truck seats.
The day before, I tried this new cleaning solution on my tubs, sinks, and showers. It used Dawn and vinegar, and my results were nothing short of amazing. I decided to use that combination as a base, but I also knew club soda was great to remove stains from carpet. I figured if I did a 1:1:1 ratio of Blue Dawn Dish Soap, white vinegar, and club soda, the stains might come clean.
Easy Car Upholstery Stain Remover
Ingredients:
1 cup Dawn blue dish soap
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup club soda
A heavy duty spray bottle
A scrub brush
After I removed the car seats, I vacuumed the seat thoroughly and picked any crusty or sticky substances from the upholstery surface. I then mixed the Dawn, vinegar, and club soda together in my heavy duty spray bottle and shook it lightly to mix.
I sprayed liberally over the stained areas and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. I took my scrub brush and scrubbed in little circles over the stains. To my amazement the stains started to lift and disappear. I ran out of time to finish, but the next morning when I came back most of the stains were completely gone except a few of the worst ones. There were water marks where I sprayed my cleaning solution the day before so this time I used my Hoover SteamVac and only filled it with warm water. I resprayed the stained areas that did not come out and then scrubbed again. I used the hand held spinning attachment and water sprayer, and as I went over each section it sucked up the water. It was amazing how well Dawn, vinegar, and club soda worked together.
The transformation was pretty incredible, because I really thought I was not going to get the seat looking that good. I even got out a milk stain that a professional carpet cleaner was not able to remove a couple of years ago. It was not perfect, but those were OLD stains and some were even greasy tough stains. I am one happy mama! It also worked on the coffee stains in the driver seat where my husband notoriously spills his coffee.
An upholstery and carpet wet vacuum is not required to clean, but it does help to remove the blotchy water markings, and leave a more uniform look to the upholstery unless you choose to spray down the entire surface of the upholstery with the solution.
Do you have any favorite cleaning trick you would like to share?
XOXO,
Amee
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GURL… wow that rocks! Not to mention, your. back. seat. looks. huge.
I cannot get over what a great job that did… I bet it will work on the upholstery in my kids play room. I have leather seats… ah, but my floor boards are AWFUL. You cracked me up with “…and picked any crusty or sticky substances” Yep that is a kidmobile… the inside of my car would probably get condemned. Good luck with the camera fund
Awe thanks Amy! Well it is a pretty big back seat except when you put the car seats back in it gets tight. I used this on the floor boards as well and it worked pretty good too. Hope to have my camera before Christmas at the rate I am going! Thanks for popping in!
Wow! I am impressed! I need to try this trick in our car
I love Dawn – I have used it mean times to steam out red juice stains from white carpet. It’s amazing!
I love Dawn too had no clue it has so many uses. Now when there is a mess I think will Dawn clean this? Thanks, Amee
Aimee
What did you use to take out stains for carpets?
Hi Kim,
I have not experimented yet on carpet, but I do have this post about mattresses http://www.inspired-housewife.com/2012/03/30/how-to-get-pee-stains-out-of-a-mattress/ People have used this on their carpet with great success. I also have this post for certain carpet stains that work for me as well. http://www.inspired-housewife.com/2012/09/08/boiling-pot-of-water-a-stain-fighter/
Hope these links help and when I get more time I will try to figure out a great floor cleaner.
Amee
Amazing job! You’re very resourceful too!
Hi Anne,
Thank you! Still shocked I got it to look that good, but glad I did. Thanks, Amee
Amee, that looks great. I have one question. Since you used vinegar in the solution I was wondering if you can smell vinegar at all after you are done? Thanks
Hi David,
Yes for a couple days I did, but I used the solution over my entire front and back upholstery. I guess someone could try it without the vinegar if worried about the smell. Thanks, Amee
I used this and loved it! But I used a “tropical scented” dawn in my car and had no vinegar smell. And at my grandmas (on the carpet in her home not in her car) I used lavender and again no vinegar smell
hope this helps!
Hi Sheri,
Amee
Hey that is a cool idea now you can drive around pretending to sit on the beach, eating a platter of tropical fruit, while you have a fruity drink in the other hand, while a cabana boy shades you.
if the steam cleaner is not available, try using alcohol. nearly all of it evaporates and wont leave a water mark. do a test area first to make sure it doesn’t mess with the color. I use alcohol to clean my couch, its kind of a fake suede (ish)(its supposed to give the look of leather while being soft and not sticking to your skin) but i take a bowl and dip in a white rag and just scrub in small circles then let it dry then rub it down to get out any stiffness.
Hi Emily,
That is good to know I also own a fake suede couch too and it needs cleaned badly too. :0 Amee
Speaking of couches do you have any cleaning tips for a microfiber couch? I cant seem to keep my clean and it drives me crazy
HI KayCee, Here is a pin I pinned a while ago. http://chrisandrobinsnest.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-clean-microfiber-furniture.html Hope this helps you! Amee
Hi Emily, you said to use alcohol? Would you use that in place of the water?
Do you know if this would hurt if I have heated seats?
Hi Nicole,
I am not sure what kind of upholstery you have in your car, but I would get out your owners manual and look up the care and cleaning directions. I personally do not think it would hurt them as you are not soaking the seat with water, but I am not there in person to see your car first hand. Thanks, Amee
This is brilliant! The blue Dish soap doesn’t leave a blue mark on the light fabric? Frankly mine is so bad, one more stain wouldn’t matter!!
Hi Jessica,
My interior is grey and no hint of blue was left at all. Amee
you LITROLLY saved the day. My car looks just like your truck used too. I looked up car detailers last night on google- I-kid-you-not- and I got the same prices 150-200 range…ridiculous! so thank you for posting this and pinning it…definitely doing it!
Hi Kelly,
Glad you found me and I hope it works for you like it did me. Kids and car seats create lots of messes! Congrats on finding out you are having a girl they are very different from boys.
Amee
About a month ago, I used my carpet cleaner on my seats ( used a more portable version of your hoover) and it left water stains…if I go over again with your solution you think they will come out?
Hi Maddie,
If you only use my cleaning solution you will most likely still have the uneven water stain look. I sprayed water from my Hoover all over the seat and sucked it dry. Otherwise, I only did the stains not the entire seat with my remover. Hope this helps all you can do is try and see if it works. Good Luck, Amee
I wanna try this on my car seats super bad! but I was wondering, do you HAVE to use dawn blue dish soap? or could you use the dish soap you already have? we have gain green dish soap and I was wondering if that would hurt or ruin anything?
Hi Jessica,
I do not think it would hurt, but I would test a small area first. Hope it works for you like it did me. I am still shocked it turned out so well.
Amee
My seats look like that too. hubby thinks it’s just me! Kids just trash vehicles!
Hi Beth,
Yes kids sure do trash seats even without giving them food. I already had a side window covered in Pooh stickers from our last trip to the dentist!
Amee
Hi there. I jyst have to say u remind me of the british show how clean is ur house(or so.ething like that) i used to watch it frequently and they NEVER used regular cleaning chemicals. They had GREAT tips for everythi.g. thanks for the awesome tips!
Hi Amanda,
Thank you so much I have never heard of that show, but I am always experimenting in ways that save me money. /) Amee
Hi Amee,
Do you think that this solution would work on carpets? Mine are super bad in our car, as we all know…children destroy everything nice. Haha. Thanks!
Hi Amber,
Yes I used it on spots on the floor of the truck as well.
Amee
I’ll be trying this today! Unfortunately, I don’t have kids but the husband made a mess in my vehicle one day and left a large orange soda stain. I am so thankful I ran across your article! I thought my backseat was a goner!
Hi Emily,
I hope it works for you like it did mine. I already need to clean my backseat again because my kids spilled orange juice back there the other day.
Amee
Hi, sorry if this is a stupid question, but what type of vinegar did you use?
Hi Ashley,
Hey no question asked is stupid at all in my book. I use plain white vinegar you get in the grocery store. I have heard that some Walmarts carry a cleaning grade white vinegar which is cheaper that is the same thing as cooking white vinegar. Hope this helps. Amee
Hi! I’m really excited to try this but I don’t have a steam vac
does this need to be rinsed out or is it ok to just air dry and go??? Thanks so much for the tip!! — Jessica
Hi Jessica,
If you do not have a steam vac then I would probably use another spray bottle with water afterwards to get the soap out. I used my steam vac to give the upholstery an even look as well because it will show water spots if you do not do the entire seat. Let me know how it works for you without a steam vac. If you get your seat too wet you might try using a shop vac to suck out the excess moisture. Thanks, Amee
What purpose does the club soda do? I’m going to try this for sure just curious what the soda does.
Hi Patty,
I have read that club soda works great on carpet and upholstery stains so that is why I added it. You could try it without it, but the solution I used had it in there. Hope you get great results like I did.
Amee
My backseat looks similar. I was reading through all the comments and was wondering if anyone had any success with a different brand of dish soap…although not expensive to go out and buy I’d rather just use what I have here.
Hi Cin,
I do not think it should matter and I am not sure what other people used when they did this.
Let me know if it works for you with another brand of soap. Amee
I saw a recipe for this solution, minus the club soda. A few weeks ago, I got a flat tired. The flat was put in the back of my SUV. After the tire shop guys got me up and running, I found a HUGE grease stain from where the tire was laying on the carpet. To say I was irritated is an understatement! So, a few weeks past and I finally had time to work on the grease stain with a similar recipe and it worked beautifully! The carpeting in the back is a light brown/tan and, of course, the grease was black. If you look at it now, there is not a single indication that a tire rested on that carpet! I used a scrub brush and a washcloth to work the stain out. And, I really didn’t have to work on it for long.
Hi Courtney,
Glad you got the grease stain out!
I would be irritated too so glad it worked out for you. Amee
This worked! THANK YOU for figuring out how to clean car upholstery. That has been my one complaint with our 2008 Escape…I could never get our seats clean. They weren’t wonderful when we purchased the vehicle (4 years ago) and one child later with lots of long road trips…well, your before pictures looked much nicer than our seats. But this solution really worked. I did not have a steam cleaner thing to suck out the soap, so I used a wet rag with clean water and a dry towel to help remove the solution after scrubbing. Worked great! Again, thank you for experimenting and then sharing your knowledge with the world!
Hi Raejean,
I am so glad it worked for you! You are more than welcome so happy for you.
Amee
Just found this recipe, so excited to try it! So funny about the frequent coffee spills in the car, that’s exactly our car! More than once, my large Dunkin Donuts iced coffee has tipped right out of our shallow drink holders, and soaked the floor of the passenger seat. =( Thanks so much for sharing about the cleaner, I’ll be trying it shortly! =)
Hi Ashley,
Yes it is a joke in this family that if my husband has coffee in hand it is going to spill somewhere. :/ I hope this cleaner worked great for you and thanks for the comment love.
Hugs,
Amee
Wow, your car came out looking beautiful! I read most the comments but didn’t see anyone ask this question: What does it leave your car smelling like? Dawn? Vinegar? Nothing?
I saw this on Pinterest but when I clicked on it it went to a different site that showed nothing about this post-You are very smart putting your bog address on your photos.
Lastly, I’m was happily surprised to see gluten free recipes on here too! I’ve been gluten free for 5 years now (Celiac)
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Robin,
Well glad you found me I hope you reported the photo to Pinterest so they can take it down or fix it. People like to steal photos and use them to their site which is silly and childish, but whatever.
I will say about the smell that for the first couple of days my car smelled like vinegar, but it dissipated. I was shocked it even worked because my seats were so bad, but lots of other people have used it with great success.
Yes we went gluten free as a family almost three years ago for my son Tristan who could not talk a word until gluten was taken out of his system. He does not have Celiacs, but is sensitive. It was the best move we ever made as a family and I have learned to cook and bake because of it.
Thank you for stopping by and letting me know about Pinterest.
Amee
I used a scented dawn (tropical something I think) and I didn’t smell any vinegar, and only a slight scent of the tropical scent. I would imagine it would be the same for any scented dawn… Idk about the original dawn though… But I hate the smell of vinegar. So I wanted to make sure and just went for the scented one
loved it and have used this solution all over my house!
Hi Sheri,
Yeah I have had others use different scented dish soaps, but I am glad you love it and have used it all over your house. Good to know I love when something I come up with or come upon works for others.
Hugs,
Amee
I did this today and it left a big water mark
I have a steam mop with a carpet attachment, wondering if that would work to get rid of the mark?? Or the alcohol thing? The spot is dry now though, just a water stain I guess. Looks even worse than before 
Hi Ally,
Yes it will leave a water mark if you do not use a steam vacuum to make your upholstery even looking. I state this in the post because that is what happened when I first did it and then had to quit because it got late and finished the project the next day. You will have to use your steam mop or vacuum and go over your entire seat to get an even look.
Thanks,
Amee
Hi,
I have 2 kids, 2 & 4, and my seats are a disater!! I would love to try this but don’t have a steam vac. Do you think using the vacuum at a gas station would help prevent the water marks? I think that is stronger than a household one.
Thanks so much!
Hi Tayla,
A regular vacuum will not help with the water staining as you need a steam vac to get the entire seat wet.
Amee
I have a question. A whole cup of Dawn seems like WAY too much! Are you sure this is correct? And isn’t the soap terribly hard to get out with that much? Thanks!
Hi Lisa,
No I used a 1 to 1 ratio so you could make it less, but then the other stuff would need to be less too. I did not have an issue, but I only sprayed it on the area not poured it. I would assume if you poured it, it would become hard to get soap out, but with how much I put on I did not have that problem.
Amee
Just wondering if it left watermarks on the floor board mats as well or just the seats?
Hi Elisha,
Only on the seats. With the mats you could spray those down with a hose after scrubbing them and then let them dry with no issues.
Amee
its 3:15 am and i just finished my car. this is the first time something good has come from my insomnia. =D. its amazing. i did not have club soda on hand so i substituted with water. also i don’t have a steam vac so i used my bissel little green with just hot water in it for the rinse. without the club soda it did take little elbow grease, but not much. its not totally dry yet but i don’t think i’m gonna have an issue with water spots. thank you for being clever!!!
Hi Garnet,
Wow 3:15 am you clean late into the night or early
You are more than welcome I hope the outcome is what you hoped for. 
Amee
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! This was a miracle worker for my poor car! It took out a huge grease stain that was over a year old that I couldn’t get out and it lifted a melted candy cane right out of my backseat! My hubby was shocked !!! I don’t have a steam vac so I just patted dry with a towel and there wasn’t any water stains!!
Hi Kim,
Glad it worked for you and even with out the vacuum too.
Thanks for the feedback. 
Amee
You said you cleaned your mats in the washer. Did you clean the floor carpet the same as the upholstery?
Hi Patty,
Yes I cleaned my floor boards the same way as the seats.
. Amee
WOW!!!!
I saw this on Pinterest and thought I might as well give it a shot. Read through the comment threads and it sounded simple enough.
Let me give some background. I have had my car for roughly 6 months. Except my car is 18 years old. You wouldn’t believe what the inside looked like when I first got it. AWFUL. But it runs okay, it was cheap, and it has air/heat. That’s all I need lol.
More background, I’m an 18 year old, lazy, couch potato with the patience of a 2 year old.
But my car needs help and I figured, not like I’m doing anything else today. I used it on HALF of the front passenger seat and I about died. This is magic in a bottle. I started with my floorboard, but that mainly is just 18 years of dirt and mud and I think it needs to be power washed before I try to get the stains out.
I am currently letting the seat dry, to see how it looks and if it dries at all. I’m not even worried about water marks because that would be a million times better than what it was. For anyone wanting to know about not having a steam vac, I just “rinsed” it with a wet rag for a while by rubbing, dabbing, and “”squeegee”-ing it until I found it acceptable, and then did the same thing with a dry towel and it seemed to work.
My solution was about 1 part dish soap (I used something other than Dawn), 2 parts vinegar, 2 parts water. Mainly because I was out of dish soap. This seemed to work fine, and there is no vinegar smell.
But seriously, this stuff is magic. Might have to do this in small doses, like, half a seat a day. But I’m doing this for my whole car.
Thank you so much for posting and pinning!
Hi Bea,
Your post made me chuckle and I know how you feel about the difference in clean. Wow is right! So glad it is working on your old, but new to you car. Thanks also for all your other tips on what worked for you and how you did it.
The solution was great in getting the stains out, but for some reason there is a bad case of the vinegar smell! Anyone has any idea on how to remove the odor? Thanks in advance!
Hi Peggy,
It might take a day or two for the smell to dissipate, but it will not stay permanent. Glad you had success too!
Used this today and had great results getting the stains out! Except now my car reeks of vinegar…. help!?
Hi Marisa,
Sorry for my late response getting my house ready to put on the market.
As for the vinegar smell it should dissipate with in 48 hours or at least it did for me.
Thanks,
Amee
This is a amazing idea! Your seats look practically new!
I was wondering though if this would work on my black upholstery in my car. There are various stains on the front and rear seats but I am scared that the vinegar will fade or discolor my black upholstery… Any suggestions? I can’t find anything online for dark/black colored upholstery..
Thank you,
Priscilla
Hi Priscilla,
Sorry I was having issues logging into my account this past week. I do not think vinegar will do anything to the color if I used peroxide or something of that nature then yes I would be worried, but not vinegar. I did not fade my upholstery at all and worked really well. If it were not so cold I need to do it again as I let my kids eat and drink in my truck (aka) my mini van.
Again apologize for my tardiness in getting back to your question.
Amee
Hi Amee,
I was wondering if you have any fabulous idea about getting stains off the silk carpet. As silk carpets and their maintenance are so expensive.
Farheen.
Hi Farheen,
Well I own several silk carpets myself and have never tried anything on them for fear I would ruin them. I might have to experiment, but at this time I do not have any great tip. Thanks, Amee
This was nothing short of amazing!!! I’ve had stains in my car for 5+ years and this took them out no problem. I was wondering if any left over cleaner will keep? I have about a 1/4 of a bottle left and was wondering if I could keep it and use it down the road or if I had to make a new batch when needed?
Hi Reece,
You could probably keep the left over, but it will lose its effectiveness after a while. If anything you could use the leftover to get rid of the scum in your shower and tubs. Glad it worked for you when spring time rolls around I need to do my truck again.
Amee
I am going to the store NOW! my car is awful! I’ve been embarrassed for 5 years since my oldest was a baby, throwing her cups and food…dog throwing up, every time she is in the car… now baby #2 adding stains.. my back seat is a HOT MESS! I have used steam cleaner solution, professional carpet cleaner solution.. and a few others…. but I am going to try this today!!! I’m tempted to wake baby up from her nap so we can go now! haha
Hi Becky,
I hope it works for you like it did mine. I am going to have to redo my truck once it warms up here because now with all three back there the back seat looks sad again.
Amee
Hi Amee!
I must repeat some of the others: this is nothing short of a miracle!!! I have a 2-year old grandson who was given a normal plastic cup with a straw in it while in his car seat. He didn’t want it anymore so he threw it across the seat and you can imagine what happened. There was a huge grape juice stain that smelled like something died and I tried everything to remove it to no avail.
I came across your site last night and just tried it — the backseat looks brand new and smells wonderful!! Now I’m getting ready to make a waterproof cover for the seat as we are getting our grandson for the weekend. LOL Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Hi Jessica,
Yeah I am glad to hear you got the grape juice out. Kids can make such a mess thanks for the feedback!
Amee
I tried this on my car upholstery the other day. I had a bottle of champagne that exploded in my car, leaving a bunch of stains on the back seats and ceiling. It seemed like the stains were lifting as I was scrubbing, but the next day, the stains were darker brown than before and there are now water marks around where the cleaner was applied (along with a vinegar smell). Do you think I should try scrubbing again or a different method?
Hi Kate,
I am not sure what to tell you about the stains going darker because the stains I had were food/grease/milk based and not alcohol. As for water marks I that is normal if you only did where the stains were and did not use a cleaning machine like I did. I would recommend a steam clean because of the high sugar content in champagne. My stains were more fat and protein based stains. The vinegar smell will dissipate after a day or two. Thanks, Amee
Would something like this work to clean a microfiber couch? I have been having trouble finding white sponges and wondered if this might work instead.
Hi Keira,
My middle child is named Keira
. I would NOT use this on your microfiber couch at all! It would be hard to get out and microfiber would leave lots of blotches. You can do one of two things. I just sold my microfiber couch before we moved and I used my heavy duty carpet/upholstery cleaner with warm water only and cleaned the entire couch. If you do not get the entire couch wet then it will leave water stains. If you do not own a upholstery cleaner you can use clean sponges, a small cleaning bristled brush, and a spray bottle full of rubbing alcohol. Spray the alcohol where you want to clean and then use the sponge to clean in concentric circles. This works great, but takes a lot more time. The alcohol also dissipates leaving not water marks also. I would test an area before you use this method as well.
Amee