Because cleaning vomit out of car seats – particularly the straps – is a parenting nightmare, we suggest having your prone-to-puking child wear a bib/smock OVER the straps to keep the car seat and themselves nice and clean should the grossness happen. AFTER your child is buckled snug, put the bib/smock on them… then if the gross happens, the gross only gets on the bib. The Bumkins Super-Sized SuperBib is under $10 and should do the trick nicely – and best of all it has a pouch at the bottom, as nothing is grosser than puke running down to the floor of the car. Another full-coverage bib is the Bib-On. These are also helpful for kids who eat in the car seat and let’s just say aren’t the neatest of eaters.

Seriously… read the instruction manual to your child’s car seat – there is always a section that discusses how to clean the car seat. If you can’t find it, you can usually find it free online on the manufacturer’s website. Can’t find it or confused by the instructions – call the car seat manufacturer’s customer service number. They’ll be happy to give you the do’s and don’ts for cleaning your specific car seat.

Car seats are one of the only products you’ll ever buy for your child with the sole purpose of saving their life. Therefore, maintaining the integrity of the car seat is critically important to it being able to offer your child the protection it was designed to – as car seats have to withstand thousands of pounds of force in a crash. Cleaning products – even “green” products – can affect the integrity of the plastic and the straps – especially given that car seats are exposed to extreme heat and extreme cold. The harness straps have elastic fibers that can be compromised.

Most car seats have a fabric cover that is removable – and machine washable. Getting the cover off may be tricky, so here are a few pointers:

Read the instructions to your car seat and check the company’s website to see if they have videos on removing/replacing the fabric cover – as often there is a specific order that will make it much easier to get the cover off (and of course this order is often counterintuitive).

Put your smartphone’s camera to good use – video yourself removing the cover as this will help you when it comes time to put the cover back on. If you don’t have the memory for a video, take still pictures at each step. Trust me… while you think you’ll remember how to get it back on, you won’t.

In most cases, removing the fabric cover requires detaching the shoulder straps from the metal plate they connect to in the back of the car seat – since the shoulder straps are threaded through holes in the fabric cover. Take a picture of how the shoulder straps are connected before you disconnect them – and when you put the seat back together pay careful attention that you connected them properly (and didn’t put any twists into the straps).

Pulling the cover off can be hard on some seats – particularly on the more expensive seats where the fabric cover is tucked neatly into the frame of the seat.

Do NOT put the fabric cover in the dryer. Trust me on this one it will ruin it – literally, the fabric on the back disintegrates in the dryer. Not only that, but the instructions to basically every car seat forbid you from putting the cover in the dryer. As such, make sure you wash the cover at a time when you have sufficient time for it to air dry.

If you wish to maintain the integrity of the flame retardants used in the fabric cover to your child’s car seat, avoid detergents. If you want to get rid of the flame retardants, use detergent to wash the fabric cover.

Washing straps is tricky for several reasons.

First, some manufacturers don’t want you to submerge the straps in water, others permit the straps to be submerged in water (here’s why you need to read the manual to your child’s car seat). Most manufacturers only allow you to clean the straps with water (no baking soda, vinegar, lysol wipes, febreeze, etc). From personal experience we’ve found that a toothbrush (with water, not toothpaste on it!) can help clean straps – and especially the nooks and crannies in the chest clip and buckle tongues. If your straps are still smelly from vomit or other yuck despite your best attempts with water we recommend replacing the straps which is something you can do for less than $15 on most seats by calling the car seat company’s customer service number.

Second, some car seats have the straps permanently attached to the car seat – meaning that you can’t take them out to wash them or replace them. 

Now comes the wet. Take a rag that is wet (but not dripping) with water and wrap it around the end of the screwdriver and get the stuff out of the crevices. Some crevices might respond best to a toothbrush (with water, not toothpaste!). Again, don’t use chemicals on the shell of the seat – no lysol, clorox, febreeze, baking soda, etc – stick with water, it will get the plastic clean.

Last, take a dry rag or paper towels and dry off the seat – paying particular attention to areas with metal making sure they are dry so there is no chance of anything getting rusty. If it’s a sunny day, doing the cleaning outside can be helpful as the mess goes in the grass not on your living room floor and the sun will help dry the car seat.

Cleaning services specifically devoted to car seats & strollers have begun to proliferate in many areas in the past few years. Having seen car seats that parents have brought to various cleaning services in the NYC area I’ve noticed several recurring problems with many of these businesses.

First, they clearly do not know how to work a car seat – as the chest clips are often threaded improperly when the car seat is returned, the straps are improperly routed and/or twisted.

Second, there is almost always “yuck” visibly remaining in the seat – particularly in the crevices.

Third, it is unclear whether their cleaning practices are in keeping with the instructions as stated by the car seat manufacturer.

Tot Squad is the only one whose cleaning practices have been approved by any (albeit a few) of the car seat manufacturers.