How to Deep Clean Fabric Seats and Get Rid of That Stale Cabin Smell

I cannot stress this enough: vacuum the living daylights out of the seats first. If you spray liquid onto a seat covered in loose dust, you’ve just made mud. Spend at least 10 minutes just on the seats. Use the crevice tool to get deep into the joins where the backrest meets the base. You'll find enough loose change and hot chips in there to buy a coffee, trust me.

Try to work in the shade or in your garage. If you're out in the direct Aussie sun, your cleaning product will dry on the fabric before you've even picked up your brush. That leaves nasty chemical rings that are a nightmare to get out.

Find an inconspicuous bit of fabric, maybe the back of a headrest or down low near the rail, and test your cleaner. You're looking to make sure it doesn't bleed the colour. It's rare on modern cars, but better safe than sorry, especially on older imports.

Working one section at a time (like the seat base first), lightly mist your fabric cleaner over the surface. Don't soak it! You want the surface wet, but you don't want the foam underneath to become a sponge.

Grab your brush and work in circular motions. You'll see a light foam start to build up. This is the cleaner lifting the oils and dirt out of the fibres. If you're using a drill brush, keep it on a low speed or you'll sling cleaner all over your windows.

Take a clean microfibre and press it firmly into the fabric, twisted slightly. This 'blotting' action pulls the dirty liquid into the towel. Keep flipping the towel to a clean side. If the towel is coming up black, keep going.

For stuff like coffee or grease, hit it with a bit more concentrated cleaner and let it dwell for 2-3 minutes. I once had a client with a red cordial spill on a grey Corolla seat, I honestly thought it was a goner, but a bit of dwell time and some steam saved it.

If you have a steamer, run it over the fabric now. The heat breaks down stubborn oils (like the suncream that gets stuck on the bolsters). Follow immediately with your wet/dry vac to suck the moisture out.

Lightly mist the seat with plain warm water and vacuum it off again. This removes the 'soapy' residue. If you leave cleaner in the seat, it actually attracts dirt faster once it dries. (Learned that lesson the expensive way on a black Commodore, the seats looked sticky a week later).

Take your brush and brush all the fabric in one direction. It makes the 'nap' look uniform and professional. It's a small detail, but the missus will notice the difference.

Open all the doors and let the car air out. If you can, put a pedestal fan inside. You need those seats bone dry before you lock the car up, or you'll get that 'wet dog' smell by morning.