You might never have given much thought to cleaning your child’s car seat, but a 2019 report carried out in the United Kingdom suggests that maybe it is time to take a look!
Car seats are, apparently, the muckiest area of the whole car. More invisible bacteria collects on a car seat than anywhere else, and this is where we put our kids to keep them safe!
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), kids should use a car seat until they are 12 years old or over 57 inches tall. That’s a pretty long time. So, how often should you be washing this surprisingly grubby item to ensure that your children are safe from bacteria as well as potential accidents?
The simple, if slightly unhelpful answer, is ‘whenever it gets dirty.’ In a theoretical world where your child never soils the car seat, you might never need to clean it. However, whether it’s boogers and tears, or crumbs and spilled juice, your kids will inevitably create a bit of a mess when in the car.
So, when should you clean the various components of your car seat? And what’s the best way to ensure its cleaned properly?
Straps
Car seat straps look like a single piece of material but are actually made up of tightly woven fibers with even tinier holes and crevices. Crumbs, food residue, and liquids can easily get trapped in these little spots, and they can quickly become breeding grounds for bacteria. Straps should be removed and washed as regularly as once a week to prevent this.
Cover
The cover can usually be easily removed and therefore is not a huge challenge to keep clean. Taking the cover off your kid’s car seat every couple of weeks and popping it in the laundry is usually enough to ensure that every day smells and stains are kept on top of. If there is a particularly bad spillage or a nappy accident, then it is worth dealing with the cleaning right away, of course.
Full Seat
Crumbs, drool, and other debris can fall through the cracks and clog up the main structure of the seat, as well as letting harmful bacteria grow. It is well worth disinfecting and rinsing the entire seat whenever you remove the cover to clean it.
How to Clean a Car Seat
Plenty of modern car seats come with specific instructions on cleaning them, and following these is the best way to go. Nevertheless, there are some basic cleaning principles and general tips to stick with as well.
Avoid bleaching the car cover at all costs, and keep an eye on the cover’s laundry label so that you don’t shrink it in the wash. Some seats allow the straps to be removed, in which case you can place them in a pillowcase or mesh laundry bag, then pop them in the machine as well. If you can’t remove the straps, an old toothbrush is a great tool to get crumbs out.
The seat’s main hard structure can be cleaned with standard household products but should be rinsed thoroughly with water afterward and dried carefully.
If you’re still concerned about washing your kid’s car seat, or need help catching up on laundry, why not give WaveMAX Laundry a call? We can help with all sorts of laundry problems.
