Ruined my maxi cosi cabrio fix- help!

[clareanna]

I have a 3 year old maxi cosi cabriofix car seat which I used for about 12 months for ds1. In preparation for ds2 I washed the car seat covers by hand, following the washing instructions on the label. The result is that the seat covers are now completely misshapen and the foam filler seems to have expanded.
Maxi cosi won't do anything as the warranty is only for 2 years.
Am as I deliberately chose a maxi cosi for it's safety profile and the fact you could wash the seats if necessary. I can buy replacement seat covers, but wanted to warn others in case they try to wash them too!

i washed mine in the machine about 10 times and it was fine!tumble dried it on low heat too!
are you su

I'm pretty sure it's trashed- new baby looks totally wrong in it- is sitting far too proud in the seat and the straps have to be full length to do up. The seat cover is properly on the base though.

are you sure the straps are fitted correctly?

Yes I'm pretty sure. The head hugger doesn't fit correctly now, it sits really high on the base .

sounds a bit strange!
i would get yourself a set of covers on ebay cheaply,but i wouldnt use the seat til the new covers are on it :)

Can't figure out what you could have done! I've washed the fabric cover on mine loads.

Without wanting to sound patronising, did you only get the fabric cover wet or did you also try to wash the white polystyrene/foam bits that sit on the black plastic seat frame?

If its just the fabric cover do what Sazm suggests, get either a cheap second hand seat on ebay (keep the covers, bin the seat) or just look for replacement covers. Only any good if the black plastic bits and the white polystyrene bits underneath are still sound though.

tinkywinky you may be a genius

I'd asked Dh to reassemble the car seat whilst I was in hospital... he had shown great initiative and fitted ANOTHER car seat's newborn padded thing under the maxicosi cover.... So after seeing your posts I decided to take the cover off myself and investigate, and discovered what had happened.
I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to mr Maxi and mr Cosi for assuming it was their carseat cover and washing instructions that were to blame.... All sorted and fixed now!!!

Thanks for your help

Thats good news, bless your DH!