How to Clean Car Seat Straps Vomit? The Ultimate Solution

What’s the grossest experience you have ever had? I bet nothing feels worse than to see your kid or pet vomiting on the car seat. The condition worsens when the vomit gets on the car seat strap, and you must continue driving the car for miles.

At this point, the odor coming from the vomiting can force you to wish you could set fire to the car. Well, behold yourself as we present you the ultimate guideline on how to clean car seat straps vomit. It will work like magic.

You can easily wash the vomit from the car seat strap with a wet sponge, warm water, and detergent. However, you must also remove the vomit from the car seat. For this, you must remove the car seat cover, wipe the hard shell, scrub the vomit using water and detergent with a sponge and dry it. Also, you should apply baking soda or white vinegar to eliminate the smell of vomit.

How to Clean Car Seat Straps Vomit?

No doubt, kids and pets are incredibly charming. They bring smiles to our faces with their cutest smiles and activities. However, when you carry them in your car, things turn upside down, and suddenly they throw them away in your car seat and strap.

The vomiting soon spreads its smell, making the car interior hellish like nothing else. So, you stop the car and look for ways to get rid of the vomit from the car seat and its straps. But how do you clean the vomit?

The easiest way to remove vomit from the car strap and seat includes the following steps.

• Removing the car seat cover
• Wiping down the hard shell
• Cleaning the car seat strap
• Drying the straps
• Removing the smell of vomiting from the car inside

However, to begin cleaning the car seat’s vomit and strap you will require a few items. Before you head towards cleaning the car seat strap, you must arrange these items. So, what essential things will you need to wash off vomiting from the car seat belt? We will show it along with the steps below.

Step 1: Arrange the Cleaning Items

First, you must arrange all the cleaning items needed to remove the vomit from the car. These items are:

• Paper Towels
• Car Wipes
• Warm Water
• Soft Cloth
• Mild soap or detergent
• Toothbrush and sponge
• Air Freshener (optional)

You should find these items readily available in your home. Also, you can use regular washing detergent or mild soap to remove the vomit.

Step 2: Inspect the Car Seat and Its Strap Before Cleaning

After arranging everything you require to clean the vomit from the car interior, you must inspect it. Look at the car seat, its belt, and the car floor to trace the vomit. If the vomit is on the strap, cleaning it will be easier.

However, in most cases, the vomit will be on the seat and floor of the car. So, you must wash the seat, the strap, and the car floor to eliminate the presence of vomit inside the car. That’s why closely observing the car interior is crucial to find the vomiting thoroughly. It will help you clean the vomit effectively without leaving any presence for the later inconvenience.

Step 3: Removing the Cover of The Seat

When your baby or pet vomits inside the car, almost obviously, the vomit will spread all over the car seat cover and its strap. Also, while cleaning the vomit from the strap, you may accidentally cause stains on the seat cover.

Henceforth, you must remove the car seat cover to safeguard it. After removing the cover from the seat, bring it outside to clean the vomit and any stains. At first, use a paper towel to wipe off the vomit and stain from the cover. Then, you need to wash off the cover, following the manufacturer’s guidelines. Or else you may follow our suggestions.

Tips on Cleaning a Car Seat Cover

When you have removed the car seat cover, you must also wash it. Firstly, you should remove the vomit stains from the cover and start cleaning it. You will need warm water, a sponge, a bucket, and mild soap to clean the seat cover.

The cleaning steps for the car seat cover include the following ones:

• After removing the car seat cover, use a paper towel to wipe off the vomit.
• Then, wipe it with clean and fresh water. Run your outdoor hose or tap and hold the seat cover under the running water.
• As you hold the seat cover on running water, use the sponge to scrub off any presence of vomit and residues on it.
• In a bucket, mix mild soap or detergent along with warm water. Then, put the seat cover in the cleaning solution and let it soak for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Now, scrub off the car seat cover with the sponge or toothbrush. You need to be careful not to damage the expensive cover.
• Finally, rinse off the cleaned car seat cover with running water. You may need to clean and rinse the seat cover multiple times until any traces of vomiting is gone from it.
• Then, let the seat cover dry in the open air.

You should look at the material of the seat cover. This cleaning process is mainly for cotton seat covers. If you have a leather seat cover, you should use leather cleaner for the best results. Also, use a leather conditioner to bring back the glow of the old seat cover.

Step 4: Cleaning the Car Seat Strap

Now, it’s time for you to show the main discussion of this article. This detailed step will show you how to remove vomit from the car seat strap. Nonetheless, before cleaning the car seat strap from vomiting, let’s clarify one crucial mistake.

Most parents think they can toss the car seat strap in the washing machine to clean it. Well, most car manufacturers strongly discourage you from cleaning the strap in the washing machine. The washing machine’s strong cleaning cycles weaken the seat strap’s webbing. Also, the strap will stretch when cleaned in the washing machine. So, it will largely lose its effectiveness.

Henceforth, it would be best if you prefer hand washing to remove vomit from the car strap. However, for this, you will need the right cleaning detergent. Here’re our top two choices for cleaning the seat strap safely.

1. Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray: The degreaser cleaning spray works superbly on dishes, fabric, and other materials. It comes with 3X cleaning effectiveness. Also, it allows you to spray it on the car seat strap and scrub the vomit with a sponge for the best washing results.
2. Bissell 78H63 Deep Clean Pro: This Bissell cleaning solution works as a cleaner and shampoo for the car interior, including the seat and the strap. The powerful formula can remove the toughest stains and odors from the interior. So, it serves you a 2-in-1 purpose while removing the vomit from the car interior.

Once you have selected the right cleaning spray for the car seat strap, you need to find the other items. It includes, as we described previously, a car wiper, sponge, paper towel, toothbrush, etc. Now, you can start cleaning the strap.

• At first, use a wet paper towel to remove the vomit from the seat strap. You must clean and use the paper towel multiple times to remove the vomit.
• After that, spray the cleaning detergent on the vomited space. Then, you should wait a few minutes to allow the cleaning detergent to work on the vomited space.
• Alternatively, mix the detergent or mild soap with warm water. Then, use a clean cloth or sponge to apply the solution to the seat strap.
• Then, you should use the sponge to scrub off the vomit from the seat strap. It would be best if you continued cleaning the vomit from the strap until you removed the last stain from it.
• As you clean the vomit, don’t forget to wash off the sponge on running water for better results.
• When you have cleaned the vomit from the car seat strap, you need to dry it safely. We will discuss it in the next step.

An Important Note:

While cleaning the car seat cover and strap, you must avoid using bleach-containing detergents. It will cause skin irritation to your kid. Also, bleaching isn’t ideal for the expensive seats. It may easily damage the seat cover and strap, the last thing you want.

Step 5: Dry Off the Seat Strap Properly

Most experts recommend that you dry the car seat strap in the open air. It would be best if you detached the seat strap from the car interior. However, you might have difficulty disconnecting the strap from the car interior.

You need to find the connecting lock of the strap with the seat. Then, you may detach the strap from the seat and let it dry in the open air. If you can’t remove the car seat strap or the weather doesn’t permit you may use an electric dryer to dry the strap.

When you use the electric dryer to dry the strap, don’t bring it too close to the strap. Keep 4 to 6 inches distance from the strap while using the electric or hair dryer. You can confidently clean and dry the strap from the vomit.

Read Also: How to Clean Diarrhea From Car Seat?

Tips on Removing the Vomit Odor from The Car Interior

Cleaning the vomit from the car strap isn’t as tough as most people imagine. The hardest part is to remove the odor that spreads across the car interior due to the vomit. Plus, it is truly a horrible experience because the vomit of the kid or pet is highly odorous.

Therefore, you need to find a way to remove the vomiting odor from the car interior. Or else you can hardly drive the car peacefully as the odor will make it impossible for you. But how do you remove odor from the car interior?

Thankfully, there are a few easy yet effective ways to remove the odor from the car interior. To eliminate the nasty odor, you may use baking soda, white vinegar, or a dedicated car air freshener.

Use Baking Soda:

Baking soda has been used to remove odor and smell from different items for hundreds of years. You need to sprinkle a handful of baking soda inside the car. You must ensure that the baking soda reaches underneath the seat, the gap between the two seats, and on the strap.

As you spray the baking soda, it will soak the odor. Then, you may clean off the baking soda to eliminate the vomiting smell forever.

Apply White Vinegar:

Although the vinegar won’t soak the bad smell from the car interior, it reduces its effect of it greatly. You can use lime if you don’t have white vinegar at home. You must cut the lime into pieces and spray it over the car seat and the strap.

The fresh fragrance of the lime will eliminate the vomiting odor. Also, you should keep the car window open for a few minutes. It will help fresh air to come inside the car and eliminate the odor better. Also, lime brings a sense of freshness to the car that you will love.

Furthermore, you may even use white vinegar and baking soda paste. The paste works brilliantly to eliminate the odor of the car interior.

Use Professional Car Air Freshener:

Whether or not there is vomiting in the car, you should always use a professional car air freshener. It will help you keep the car interior neat and clean with the freshest smell inside it. For instance, Febreze Unstopables Car Air Freshener will work wonderfully to bring a refreshing sense to the car interior for a great feel. Its irresistible fragrance will fill the car interior. Furthermore, it removes the toughest odor so you can drive your car peacefully.

Alternatively, you can keep Yankee Candle Car Vent Clip HW Pink Sands inside your automobile. The world is going crazy about this wonderful fragrance. You have to apply it to the car vent, and it will slowly release a magical fragrance inside your car. You may choose from different smells, such as lime, orange, etc., to fit your mood.

Get to Know: How To Remove Blood Stains From Car Seats?

What Shouldn’t You Do While Cleaning Car Seat and Strap?

When you clean the car seat and strap to remove the vomit from it, you should be careful. There’re certain things that you must avoid in cleaning the car interior. Otherwise, you may damage the expensive car interior.

• Avoid using bleaching-containing detergent or too strong soaps. The bleach can discolor the color of the seat cover and strap. Also, bleach can easily irritate the skin of your kid or pet to cause them severe problems.
• When cleaning the vomit, look at the gap between the seats and underneath it. Or else there can still be vomit left inside the car. Therefore, it is important that you closely look at all the interior parts of the car to clean the vomit properly.
• While cleaning the leather seat cover and strap, use leather-safe cleaners. It is crucial because leather is highly sensitive, and harsh detergent will damage it quickly. Also, leather-safe cleaners mostly have conditioners with them. It will help you shine the cover better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you still have any queries remain in your mind about how to clean car seat straps vomit? Go through the F.A.Q. section below, and you’ll have most of the answers to your queries.

How Do You Get the Smell of Vomit Out Of Car Seat Straps?

You can use baking soda, white vinegar, or a professional car air freshener to remove the smell of vomit from the car interior. The paste of baking soda and vinegar will be a great solution.

What Happens if You Wash Car Seat Straps?

Washing the car seat strap in the washing machine will weaken the wobbling. So, the strap will become loose, and the strap will become ineffective.

How Long Does Vomit Smell Last in The Car?

The smell of the vomit will last inside the car interior for at least 12 to 24 hours. In reality, the smell will last for 48 hours or more. So, you must clean it ASAP.

Conclusion

When a kid or pet vomits in the car seat, it can easily get into the strap. Therefore, you should clean the car seat and strap ASAP to avoid terrible conditions. Regarding this, our guideline on how to clean car seat strap vomits should help you.

The removal process of the vomit is easy with a sponge, mild soap or detergent, and warm water. Finally, you should use vinegar or baking soda to remove the odor of the vomit too. It is important as the smell of the vomit will last for 72 hours inside the car unless you remove it.