Is washing of OEM cloth seats from a 1994 Toyota 4runner a good idea??

[whitetrooper]

I am removing the two front seats from the car in order to wash them with soap and water and a soft brush. I am wondering if anyone here has ever had experience washing the original cloth seats with water and soap and soft brush before?

How to get rid of the water and dry the seat foam?

It appears that the seat covers can be removed from the seat with some difficulty for the purpose of washing them seperately from the seat foam? has anyone here tried to wash them through this method?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Reinout]

I am removing the two front seats from the car in order to wash them with soap and water and a soft brush. I am wondering if anyone here has ever had experience washing the original cloth seats with water and soap and soft brush before?

How to get rid of the water and dry the seat foam?

It appears that the seat covers can be removed from the seat with some difficulty for the purpose of washing them seperately from the seat foam? has anyone here tried to wash them through this method?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hey. yes it's a good idea depending on the condition of the cloth. There are a ton of videos on YT from detailers that do this all day long. You can Scotchguard the seats at the same time to reduce staining later on too.

For drying you'll want an extractor of some sorts such as what you can rent from your local grocery store for something like $50 for a day. When I do this I make sure that I have other things that need the cleaning as well such as furniture in the home, other cars' interiors. You'll never pull all the water out so make sure that you have ample time to allow the seats to dry out (don't do it on a rainy day or if its cold outside, unless you have a heated garage).

I have taken the covers off of the seats in my 3rd gen and they are a pain to take off and a nightmare to put back on. In my opinion, not worth it.

 

[whitetrooper]

SCot​

Scotguarding is a good idea. It is a pain in the back task for sure. Thanks.

 

[DAW89446]

I have an upright Hoover carpet cleaner with an upholstery kit (extractor hose, sprayer, pick up head). I use it to clean the upholstery on my vehicles. You can get them at Walmart or pretty much anywhere for around $150 (or so it was about ten years ago when I bought my last one).

It’s easy to use and pretty rugged. In the past 30 years I’m on my second unit. The hose is long enough to reach anywhere within all the vehicles I’ve owned in the past three decades. I usually clean the interior on my vehicles annually.

There have been times I know that I’ve soaked the fabric enough to wet the foam rubber, but suction is strong enough that I can get all the water out and everything dries quickly.

 

[Greasemonkey64]

I would highly recommend renting a carpet cleaner for this job, they work great.

 

[Richy]

Wash away

I use the spray foam cleaner

 

[FinnishDog]

I did a thorough clean of my 1990 interior over the summer using a wet/dry vac. Simple enough to spray it, brush it in, and then suction out most of the water. Here in SoCal I was able to leave the seats out for a day and have them pretty much be dry after

 

[thewanderlustking]

In the shop we use Tough Stuff Foam cleaner. It is awesome for getting out grease and the like.

 

[wcjeep]

I have cleaned many seats/carpet with a steam cleaner and attachment. Recommend renting a steam cleaner. $100 Bissel lacks proper suction. One vehicle was so bad I pulled the interior to get the carpet out. Then used the normal steam cleaner brushes to get it clean.

Use box fans to speed up the drying process. Avoid rainy days. Rainy days mean high humidity, longer drying process.

 

[Junky4Rd]

I was wondering about the best way to clean the seats as well, recently picked up an 86 4Runner and the interior actually looks pretty good, but definitely needs a good cleaning.

I removed the rear lower seat to access the fuel pump and noticed the zippered cover, but would rather not remove it. Then again, the zippers are maybe there for a reason!?