How to Clean Car Upholstery: The Complete Guide

There is nothing quite like stepping into your freshly cleaned car.

Many of us think a professional valet service is necessary, but you can achieve a professional job yourself from home. The key is deep cleaning the fabric within your car's interior—the carpet and the car upholstery.

After a little preparation with some everyday household items, Rug Doctor will help you remove dirt, deep-seated stains, bacteria, and dust from your car seats and carpet. With our tips and tricks, you should have beautifully clean car seats and a car that smells fresh in no time.

How to clean car seats with household equipment

What you’ll need:

• Rubbish bag
• Tote bag or box
• Microfibre cloth x 2 (Use one for the car’s interior and one for your windows)
• Rubber dishwashing glove or roll of tape
• Soft brush (a soft-bristled toothbrush will work), toothpicks or even a paintbrush.
• Leather cleaner wipes (for leather car seats)
• Glass cleaner
• Vacuum cleaner
• Rug Doctor Products:
  • Rug Doctor Machine
  • Hand Tool 
  • Upholstery Cleaner
  • Odour Remover
  • Stain Remover
  • Spot Remover

1.  Start with the big stuff

Before you begin the cleaning process, you need to remove anything that isn’t bolted down. Clothes, receipts, drink bottles, rubbish, shoes, and sports gear all accumulate in our cars as we go about living our lives. If these items are in the way, we can’t get a deep clean.

Grab a rubbish bag and a box and remove everything from your car's seats, floor, and middle console. Check under the car seats and your backseat pockets. Throw all rubbish into the rubbish bag, and use the box to store things you don't want to throw out so you can sort them later.

2.  Remove dust and debris

Clean hard plastic surfaces

Use a microfibre cloth to wipe down your dashboard, steering wheel, handbrake, gear stick, door handles, middle console, and armrests first – you want to get rid of all the dirt and dust here. You can use a damp cloth if the dust isn't coming off easily. Sometimes dust will settle deep into these plastics – use your soft brush and warm water to gently loosen this dust, then wipe off with your cloth.

Get into the air conditioning vents

Clean the gaps between the vents using a dry foam brush or paintbrush and sweep out all the dirt and dust. Use a low setting and a soft-bristled head on your vacuum cleaner to gently clean any dust from your air conditioning vents as you go (to prevent the dust from settling elsewhere).

Shake out the floor mats

Your floor mats collect gravel, sand, and dust, so give them a good shake outside to remove dirt and debris.

Remove hair and fur

Carpet and car upholstery love collecting hair and pet fur. A rubber dishwashing glove will help lift this out of the car seats and carpet, making it easy to pick up clumps and throw them into your rubbish bag. If you don't have a rubber glove, you can use the sticky side of tape to lift the hair and fur.

Check out our blog about how to get rid of pet smells from your car.

Give the car’s interior a thorough vacuum

Vacuum the car seats and the floor. Take the head off your vacuum cleaner and use the smaller nozzle to get into those harder-to-reach places down the sides of the seats and seat seams.

Slide your car seats backwards and forward to open up as much space around them as possible so you can get in there with the vacuum. Don't forget about your floor mats.

3.  Deep clean your car upholstery

Once you’ve vacuumed your car’s interior, you can get the deep-clean feeling with our Rug Doctor Machine, Hand Tool and Upholstery Cleaner. Just add the Upholstery Cleaner to the machine and follow the instructions. You will enjoy knowing that germs, dust and stains will be no more.

The hand tool will allow you to get into those hard-to-reach places, and the deodorising agents mean your car will smell fresher, reminding you of the great job you did.

How to clean fabric car seats

Follow the instructions on your bottle of Rug Doctor Upholstery Cleaner. Run the hand tool connection along your fabric car seats, removing germs and stains, and giving you peace of mind about your car’s hygiene. The Rug Doctor hand tool will allow you to manoeuvre into some of those trickier places in your car, and remove any excess moisture to avoid that damp smell. For stubborn stains, apply the cleaner directly to the affected area and let it sit for a few minutes before extraction.

If you’ve got children, check out our helpful blog on how to clean the stains kids leave behind.

How to clean your car carpet and floor mats

Take the floor mats out of your car and place them on the concrete ground, making them easy to clean. Repeat the previous steps with the machine and hand tool.

How to clean leather car seats

After a good vacuum, clean leather car seats with leather wipes or a specialised leather cleaner and a damp cloth. Be sure to treat the whole seat, including seams and crevices where dirt can accumulate.

Final touches for an immaculate car

Use a glass cleaner to make your car windows and windscreen transparent again. Make sure you wipe this off effectively so you don’t get streaks or have any residue.

Dealing with cigarette odours? See our guide on removing smoke smell from your car.

Tips to keep your car’s interior clean and fresh

• Keep a plastic box in the boot of your car so you have a place to store clothes and gear as you go.
• If you are prone to leaving rubbish in your car, keep a small rubbish bin or bag handy to hide the rubbish from view and make it easier to dispose of more regularly.
• Remove stains with a good stain remover as they happen.
  • For acidic brown and yellow stains, use Rug Doctor Stain Remover.
  • For heavier oil and food-based stains, use Rug Doctor Spot Remover.
  • If you have pets, you can give your car an extra clean feeling with the Rug Doctor Odour Remover, which is handy to have in the car for a light spray to keep your car fresh and hygienic.

Ready for professional-level car upholstery cleaning at home?

Keep your car looking its best without spending a fortune on professional detailing. A Rug Doctor machine, along with our home and car upholstery cleaner, makes deep cleaning your car upholstery simple and affordable. Don't wait for that new-car feeling—hire a Rug Doctor today and make it happen!

Updated November 14, 2025

Author: Gina Gibbs

Gina is the Business Manager at Rug Doctor NZ. With over 20 years at Rug Doctor, she's dedicated to helping New Zealanders keep their homes clean and healthy. Outside of work, Gina enjoys hiking, reading, and enjoying Vietnamese and Asian fusion cuisine. Oh, and let's not forget her expertise in cleaning up after everyone, especially her two kids!