Car seat smells like sick- help!

[ARoastPotato]

Does anyone have any tips for me, please?

My son was car sick on Monday. I have really thoroughly cleaned the car seat, it looks fine but as soon as you get near it, you can really smell vomit.

I have taken the seat out of the car and it’s currently airing in the garden. Does anyone have any tips on how to remove the smell? Do I tip bicarb on it?

I am worried the smell will make him feel ill next time he’s in the car, worried the car will smell, too!

Thank you!

Yes, bicarb should help. Sprinkle it all over the car seat, leave it for a day or so if possible and then hoover it. Or you can dilute the bicarb with some water and spray it on, then leave the car seat out to air.

Did the straps get covered in sick as well?

An enzyme cleaner like Simple Solution should help if bicarb doesn't do the trick. It's for pet accidents but it will break down the smell of vomit as well.

@limepip thank you so much, I’ve put bicarb on today, will vacuum it up tomorrow and then add a wet solution too, luckily we dont need to use the seat until Sunday so I’ve got time to scrub. Only a bit of the strap got covered, however that bit is looking quite speckley, if you know anything that works on it? I’ve used cotton buds to clean the seat belt buckle and screw holes etc. which seem to have cleaned okay.

@spiderlight thank you, appreciate the link, I have ordered it to try depending on how the bicarb goes but will keep it in my stash, as I doubt this will be the last time there’s a mess in the car 🙈

Thank you both again!

Be careful with what you use on the plastics and straps, you might want to contact the manufacturer to check, I know that caustic or other "harsh" cleaners aren't allowed in case they degrade the materials - I am not sure if enzyme cleaners would come under this. Probably not since most washing powder contains enzymes, but it might be different if applying directly. Vinegar is not a good idea for example, even though it's "natural", because it's acidic, and things like bleach are also not advised.

What I've done before with straps that had sick on is get a small bowl of warm, mild soapy water (e.g. some washing up liquid or shampoo) and an old toothbrush, and sit and scrub that bit of the strap until it looks clean, then wipe/pat dry with a flannel/muslin and repeat with more warm soapy water, then once happy, leave in an airy place to dry. If it is really stubborn you can use a really small bowl and sort of fold the strap over and swish/squish the sicky bit about in the water a bit to try and loosen it from the fibres, but don't soak the strap for any length of time as again you don't want it to be weakened. If you do this, I would dry the strap off as best you can with a towel/muslin and then leave to dry.

The covers can usually be taken off and put in the washing machine, but straps might not come out of the seat and as said, should not be soaked or really submerged anyway.

@BertieBotts thank you so much for this! I’m really sick (!) of cleaning this seat already! If I could take the cover off I would, I can take the bit that covers the back off but the worst point is the crease between where the back support starts and seat starts (not explained that well) where it puddled, that bit’s not removable.

The straps I think are fine now, thankfully, soap water and a toothbrush helped!

I’ve tried bicarb dry and wet bicarb and it’s made a slight difference, I’m just shocked how bad it smells. I’ve got the enzyme cleaner spray but am cautious as you say I don’t want it to ruin the material. I am having our stair carpets cleaned on Monday and I’m wondering if they might able to use their magic water vacuum on it? Maybe too chemically?

It still has quite an acidic smell, so I’ll keep going with the bicarb and leave the enzyme spray as a final resort! Thanks again

You can send an email to the company that makes it or message their social media about the enzyme cleaner. I think I probably wouldn't unless they say it's OK.

If the sick has gone right down inside the seat it might just need to dry out, gross as that is. If it's a high back booster type thing it might come into two parts if you lay the backrest down flat. You might need to remove the straps before you do this. But check the manual :)