Stinky Car Seat

The cover can be put in the washing machine on delicate. The straps - try hanging them outside in the sunshine. It sounds weird, but the sun kills the smell really well. Febreeze can work wonders in small amounts - just don't soak the straps!

I machine wash my Decathalon seat cover all the time(at least once a month). I also machine wash the straps too. Just do it on delicate and hang it to dry. The foam liner I just run under water and squeeze it out and hang it to dry.
I saw that "hand wash only" tag and just ignored it.
I just hate taking it apart and putting it back together, but it all washes up like new...give it a try!

Pull the whole thing apart... take the cover completely off. Wash it in the bath tub with mild soap and water and let it drip dry. Scrub the base with soap and either hose it off, or stick it in the shower.

You can wash the liner, means that it can't be put in the dryer and hot water might shrink it.

I have had my children throw up red slurpee in their britax seats... take the cover off and put it in the washing machine... but first before the washing machine go to a place like pet smart and buy natures miracle enzyme cleaner.. the enzymes eat the oder instead of mask it... let it soak in nature miracle and put a lot on the straps too.. dont put the staps in the washer.. then after the cover has sat for awhile with the natures miracle.. put in washer on cold and hang dry.. or put in dryer for 15 min.. then hang dry.. i learned about natures miracle from other moms and it is the best :)

One surefire odor eliminator is unexpected, vodka! Buy some really cheap vodka and put it in a spray bottle. Spray on the stinky areas of the carseat and let it dry completely. The alcohol evaporates, taking the smells with it. It works on clothes, too. This method has been used in theaters on sweaty costumes for years. Grain alcohol (eg. everclear) would also work but is not available in some areas.

I agree with Nature's Miracle for anything urine. And I've also thrown our Britax cover in the wash countless times (probably normal wash warm) and it comes out like teflon, looking almost brand new.

Hello K.-

I've always had great luck with Febreeze. You may want to try a combo of baking soda & water in a spray bottle.

Worse case, contact Britax & order a new cover & straps. It's not recommended you wash the straps because detergents weaken the fibers making them more prone to fail.

Good Luck-

R. Magby

take cover off and wash it :) It says not to take the cover off and wash it because it has fireproofing on it. Or at least it did before 2 lbs of cheerios and a gallon of juice got smeared into it ;) I would bet that it isn't fireproof anymore so might as well clean it. I wash mine on cold and air dry

I have a Britax too and I washed my cover in the washing machine on gentle cycle and then hung it to dry. It came out great!

Editing to say... Also you could take off the straps and wash them in the washing machine or hand wash them as well. If the straps are really stinky then you could use dish soap. Another option is that you can buy a new cover as well as new straps on Britax's website. Anyway, I hope you get it all de-stinky :)

I have the same car seat..and I had a throwing up incident! talk about stinky! I washed it in the washing machine in a pillowcase on the gentle cycle. It came out fine...If you are still worried...you can try soaking it in oxyclean...in the sink..I hand washed the straps this way and it seemed to work great....My daughter had several throw up incidents and did this a few times with excellent results..good luck!

I have bought and used several Britax Marathon car seats over the last 5 years. I know it states that you can only hand wash the covers, but I have found that putting them in the washer on a gentle/delicate cycle does a better job with cleaning than any hand washing job I can do myself. I also put in some oxyclean or vinegar to remove all the spills and stains and to disinfect. I always air dry the cover hanging up and it has come out beautiful! When the cover is off the car seat, I usually wipe the plastic down as well and soak the straps in an oxyclean and detergent mixture and scrub with a toothbrush. I have never had a problem with the car seat smelling bad afterwords. Good luck!

You can Remove it and wash it. I do it all the time and it's fine. I think it means not in the washer and dryer. I remove it and wash it on the delicate cycle and air dry.

I washed my grandkids' booster seat covers and they came out fine. The next time I washed them I threw them in the dryer without thinking. They shrunk so bad that they wouldn't fit the seat.

So I'd recommend washing the covers in the washer on cold but not drying them in the dryer.

Wash them in cold water and dry them on "no heat" and they will be fine.

I had a Britax Marathon and washed the cover regularly in the washer on the gentle cycle.

I have washed (& dried in the dryer) my Britax covers & straps many times. They come out awesome every time. While it is off clean all the plastic base, a steamer works best if you have one.

I have the same car seat and I wash it on cold gentle cycle and then line dry. It works well! For the straps I wash with soapy water once the cover is removed for washing.

I have the britax roundabout and I had the same problem. I just threw the cover into the washer on cold/gentle and hang dried it. It didn't shrink! and smells much better now :) I think most care for labels are more of a guide. If you know fabrics then you shouldn't have a problem :) good luck!

hi K.,..
I have the same one too !!

Took it off and washed it in gentle cycle and hung over a railing to dry, many times over the last 4 years.

I filled the washer with the detergent and let it soak for a bit for those stubbon milk/yogurt stains. in fact, sometimes used either spray-n-wash or shout too & also added some vinegar one time after all the ladies here suggested how it takes out odors.

I have had no problems with it. in fact - thanks for the reminder to put it on my 'to-do' list.

If I recall it was something about the straps they didn't want you to take off. but after one really bad yogurt spill.. the first time I needed to wash it.. I wash those too. well not the latch attachment,..but the harness ones.

-marg.

There are a couple things I have done to keep the carseats from stinking me out of my car! lol

First, the reason they recomend handwashing is because the washer can cause some pretty bad damage to the structure of the seat cover. You can avoid this with one of those mesh laundry bags. Just throw the seat cover in the mesh bag and wash on cold. Air dry the seat cover. Everytime I put the carseats back together I always sprinkle baking soda on the backside of the seat cover first. This buys me a little extra time. As far as the straps go, Dawn dishsoap and a toothbrush! Just scrub it up and hand to dry.

We had that one, just moved out of it a couple of weeks ago and I just threw the cover in the wash on the delicate cycle and air-dried it and it did fine.

we tossed the cover in the laundry and it came out beautifully. I don't remember if the straps went in to, but if they come off, they went in. Otherwise, we used Bio-Kleen Bac Out. :)

This is pain staking and time consuming, but a must do for car seats. I do this to my kids car seats every few months. keeps them clean!
1. take the car seat apart. Take off the cover and take out all the straps and everything (be careful to remember how it goes together), You will undoubtable find sour milk, cherios, forgotten toys, and maybe even money underneath the cover. I couldnt believe what could get "inside" the car seat.
2. forget the instruction manual! put all the straps and accessories in a delicates bag (the one you usually put bras in) and wash them and the cover on the gentle cycle. let it air dry overnight. Add some "Kids and Pets" or Nature Miricle (urine remover) to the watch if needed.
3. clean the base of the carseat thuroughly. A good garden hose works nice to get all the crud out of there.
4. take the pain staking time to put the car seat back together.

Hello. I also have a Britax Marathon & have had issues with spills, etc... We have actually put the cover in the washing machine & did not have a problem with it fitting afterward. It is tricky, per my husband, to remove & replace the cover but washing it has worked for us. Good luck! :)

I also have a Britax Marathon and if you machine wash the seat in cold water on gentle cycle, then hang it to dry (or machine dry it halfway on low then let it air dry the rest of the way) it will not harm the cover at all. It's the heat drying that does the damage, not cold water washing. I had a smoothie spill and decided to try washing it this way and it worked great. I used Oxy Clean spray on the smoothie spots and a few other stains and it came out much better than I expected!

Another thing I would check is to make sure you got anything that fell/dripped into the "legs" of the seat (on the right and left side under the cover). I never knew there were big hollow holes in there and some of my daughters milk leaked into one side and went rancid. It took me FOREVER to find that was where the smell came from. As for the straps, I just used a clorox wet wipe on them and then "rinsed" with a wet washcloth and it seems to have gotten most of the crud off. Good luck!

I would wash it in the washer and dryer. I've washed all of mine (they can't expect that you wouldn't wash it give it urine/throw up and all the other things kids do to it). You could call Britax and find out about ordering a new cover but why would washing it hurt anything except remove nasty fire protective chemicals...?

I think I'm more interested in hearing others thoughts, as I was going through the same frustration the other day and wondering what to do, because our car seat (we have the Marathon too) is disgustingly stinky.

Contrary to the manufacturer's recommendation, I threw the cover in the washer on cold, and put it in the dryer, too. It came out fine and smelled much better.

But the question now is what to do with the foam liner underneath and the straps???

just buy a new cover...and then DON't allow food or drinks in the car! I don't (once in a while, I will allow water or a non-crumbly snack), and ours is 3.5 years old...no smell!

Nature's Miracle is an enzyme cleaner... it basically "eats" up anything organic. It has worked really well for getting rid of the spit up smell on car seats and any where else in the car. I have never had it damage anything I have used it on. You can find it at the pet store and we originally got it when a neighboring tom cat got in our house and sprayed the walls and carpet! Ugh that was nasty. This stuff is great and has never failed me. I think you could even use it diluted as a wash solution if you choose to hand wash as some have suggested. Good for spot treating carpets too. :-)
Happy Cleaning!

Hi - I'm another mom that washes it in the washing machine. I have the denim cover. I wash in warm water, regular cycle (I have an HE machine). I dry it on delicate for a bit in the dryer, than hang it up for the final dry. I do this about 3 times a year. No problems with the cover. Hope that helps.

I have two Britax seats. I have taken the covers off of both of them, thrown them through the washer, and the dryer, and then put them back on. It worked great. I've done this multiple times even, and the covers seem to withstand it pretty danged well.

My guess is that Britax suggests hand washing because really frequent machine washings will wear out the covers more quickly, but it seems to me that a thorough cleaning every 6 months or so isn't going to wear out the covers more quickly than the lifespan of the seat. (And replacement covers are also available.)

I have also taken the foam pads, and hand washed them out, and then left them to dry in the sun. (Last summer.) That also worked just fine.

The straps i have no good techniques - we just wipe ours off with a baby wipe or a sponge.

See if any of your friends has a carpet cleaning machine with an upholstry attachment; or, you can buy a small upholstery cleaning machine for less than $100 and have it handy for lots of other cleaning projects.

If you've used Crud Cutter, you might want to consider a spray on rug cleanser, one that specifies helping eliminate pet odors. Urine is urine - right?
YOu could also would consider putting the entire car seat in the bath tub for a good soak / scrub.

I have washed my Britax carseat cover quite a few times and the straps with no problem. I did air dry them. We just hosed down/soaked the other layers and let them air dry.

I have also washed and dried my Britax Marathon cover. They come out great. I would say just be careful not to overdry it and wash on cold gentle cycle. I don't think you need to go and spend the money to buy a new carseat cover. good luck