How to Clean a Baby Car Seat

Is your car seat ready for that next road trip or grocery run? Here’s a simple and safe cleaning and sanitizing routine to help you keep your child’s car seat ick-free and nap-ready.

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By Mary Gagliardi

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Use as directed.

Car seats covers that are heavily soiled should be removed and machine washed following the manufacturer’s instructions. For regular cleaning needs, Clorox® Free & Clear products are safe to use around kids and food*, and they make it easy to quickly clean and spot treat car seats without removing the cover.

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What you need

Step to clean and sanitize a car seat

  1. Vacuum away dirt and crumbs

    Use the crevice tool to vacuum away loose dirt and food crumbs. If you are not using a vacuum, you can brush crumbs away.

    Tip

    If you are machine washing the car seat cover, vacuum out the car seat body while the cover is getting washed.

  2. Wipe away grimy dirt

    Use Clorox® Free & Clear Compostable* Cleaning Wipes to work build-up out of the seat, off the back, under the buckles and off the straps.

  3. Spot clean stains

    Spray Clorox® Free & Clear Multi-Surface Spray Cleaner onto a microfiber cloth, then rub away stains.

    Tip

    If you have machine washed the cover, you can skip steps 2-3. Replace the cover before continuing on to Step 4.

  4. Sanitize fabric

    Holding the bottle 6-8 inches from the surface, lightly spray Clorox® Free & Clear Disinfecting Mist onto all soft surfaces, including the straps, until visibly wet—do not saturate.

    Tip

    Fabric and other soft surfaces must remain wet for 2 minutes to sanitize.

  5. Sanitize plastic components

    Spray Clorox® Free & Clear Disinfecting Mist on any the plastic components.

    Tip

    Hard surfaces must remain wet for 1 minute to sanitize.

  6. Allow to dry

    After the required dwell time for sanitizing is complete, hard non-porous surfaces can air dry or be wiped dry with a microfiber cloth. Soft surfaces can air dry.

    Tip

    No rinsing is required.

  • *

    When used as directed.