If you find yourself staring at a car seat ridden with vomit, welcome to parenthood! You’re not alone. It happens to all of us who have offspring and while it might be one of the less glamorous moments of child rearing, it’s not completely the end of the world (we know it feels like the end of the world, but trust us, you can do this!).
You have two options when faced with a car vomit extraction situation: DIY or hire a car vomit cleaning service. Because we are the baby gear experts (and because most of us here at BabyQuip are parents ourselves), we have some experience with cleaning up this particular kind of mess; we are the grime fighters after all! So we’ve outlined a step-by-step guide to help you successfully clean up after a car vomit situation. It may not be fun. It may not be easy. But if you follow this guide, you’ll get ‘er done. May the odds be ever in your vomit cleaning favor!
Step 1: Time is of the essence!
The most important piece of advice we can pass along is…time is of the essence when it comes to car vomit clean up. The sooner you clean up, the less likely the vomit will soak deeply into fabrics/materials, into cracks and crevices, and the harder it will be to minimize the dreaded vomit smell. So, start the clean up process as soon as possible after the event
Step 2: Grab some gloves and plastic bags.
If you have some disposable gloves available, throw them on. It will make the cleaning process more bearable. You’ll also want some plastic bags handy to throw away the icky stuff. Good old grocery store bags will work just fine.
Step 3: Review your car seat’s manual.
It’s imperative that you know how to properly clean your child’s car seat. You’ll want to know what products you can and can’t use and if you can machine wash. Make sure you review the manufacturer manual before you get started.
PRO TIP: Can’t find your manual? Google the name and style of your car seat and you’ll be able to find a PDF version on the manufacturer’s website.
Step 4: Remove the solids.
Use paper towels, wipes, or even a spatula to scrape off and remove as much of the solids as possible BEFORE you start using any cleaning products. This is important to ensure you’re preventing the yucky stuff from soaking into the fabrics. You’ll probably want to remove the solids from the fabrics first, then remove the fabric from the car seat shell and then remove any solids from the car seat shell, plastic, and foam that may have gone through the fabrics.
At this point, remove the crotch buckle if your car seat permits it to be removed. You’ll want to try and get as much vomit out of the crevices of this part as possible! Spend some extra time around the chest clips as well. There are lots of tiny cracks and crevices for the yucky stuff to settle.
HINT: Using Q-Tips, toothbrushes and soft bristle brushes will help remove debris from these tiny cracks and crevices as well as gently remove stains or hard to clean areas.
Step 5: Use air!
Once you’ve gotten as much of the wet and chunky material out of the car seat, grab some sort of cold air blowing device (this could be a blow dryer on the cold setting, an air compressor, or even a leaf blower!). Turn the car seat upside down and blow out any remaining debris. Gravity is your friend! Make sure to do this outside or with a towel under the car seat for easy clean up.
Related articles:
- What to Clean When Your Child is Sick
- 12 Tips to Properly Buckle Your Child into a Car Seat
- How to Keep a Clean Car with Kids: 7 Simple Tips
Step 6: Hand wash with a gentle soap and warm water.
Take a microfiber towel and hand treat the entire car seat with a mild, gentle soap and warm water. This will remove germs, any other invisible yucky stuff, and will help remove some of the smell. You can repeat this a few times for even deeper cleaning. Make sure to do a final wipe down with a clean microfiber towel and plain, warm water to remove excess soap as well!
PS: Even if you think the vomit only got on one isolated part of the car seat, clean the entire seat at this time. Vomit particles are invisible and can easily go everywhere!
Step 7: Enzyme treatment time!
Do you suffer from phantom vomit smell? If you know, you know! Phantom vomit smell is the lingering and distinct smell of vomit even after multiple and thorough cleanings. It’s like the smell never actually goes away even though the vomit itself is gone!
Well, we’ve got a secret for you: ENZYME CLEANER. Parents everywhere can rejoice because “phantom vomit smell” has no chance against enzyme cleaner! Make sure to use one that is safe and nontoxic. And feel free to repeat this step as many times as necessary.
PS: This is also an excellent product to use on any other bodily fluid accidents that babies, toddlers, and kids are known for!
Step 8: Let the sunshine in.
Sun is a natural odor reducing agent. So go ahead and place your car seat in the sunshine for a bit. Take care not to leave it out in the sun for too long or let it get too hot. This will prevent any sun damage. But definitely take advantage of this natural deodorizer!
Step 9: REPEAT!
If after you’ve completed steps 1 through 8, there is still vomit smell or actual vomit lingering on the car seat, go ahead and repeat the steps again. We promise that it will get clean and shiny with a little extra time and elbow grease.
BONUS TIP: Make a vomit preparation and prevention kit!
Let’s take a step back and see if we can’t avoid this situation all together; or if we can’t avoid it, maybe we can be a bit more prepared so the clean up is a little easier! Why not create a vomit prevention and preparation kit for your car. Especially if you are going for long drives or road trips! And especially if your little one is prone to car sickness or vomiting in the car.
Somethings you may want in your prevention and preparation kit include:
- Dramamine or anti nausea medicine (age appropriate)
- Anti-nausea wristbands are an alternative to medicine
- Ginger ale, ginger snacks or ginger candies
- Plastic bags (a vomit receptacle to put all the yucky, dirty stuff in during clean up)
- Plastic cups (a vomit receptacle)
- Baby wipes
- Extra clothes (for everyone!)
- A roll of paper towels
- Bottled water, Gatorade or Pedialyte
- Bland snacks (table crackers, bananas, applesauce pouches, etc.)
- Hand sanitizer
Having a kit like this will definitely make the car seat vomit clean up process easier and will also make the experience a bit less stressful for all!
Has this entire topic left you exhausted? Don’t worry! There are usually professional car vomit cleaning services that can help you, your vehicle and your child’s car seat recover from a car vomit mishap.
Search your area for a local car vomit cleaning service or auto detailing services to find professionals near you that can come to the rescue! Car vomit cleaning services may be provided by cleaning professionals, carpet cleaning professionals, car detailing companies, or even baby gear cleaning experts like BabyQuip Cleaning.
Car vomit cleaning services that may be located near you (make sure to inquire about cleaning the actual car seat too).
- BabyQuip Cleaning: BabyQuip Cleaning is the only national baby gear cleaning service (and car vomit cleaning service) in over 100 markets in the US and Canada. As the baby gear experts, Quality Providers are trained to clean your car seats, strollers and more! And yes—they will come to the rescue in the event of a vomit disaster. BabyQuip Cleaning will come to you or you can drop off the soiled items. Quality Providers are thoroughly trained on baby gear and provide a 360 degree cleaning service to ensure your item is so fresh and so clean!
- Premier Auto Detailing and Wash: As a smaller mom and pop serving Indiana, Premier Auto Detailing and Wash looks like they are a legit car vomit cleaning service!
- Georgia Clean: Georgia Clean is a disaster and trauma clean up service, but since they are professionally trained to clean up these sorts of situations, they also offer car vomit cleaning services! They serve all of Georgia.
- Spotless First: Spotless First serves the San Francisco and Seattle areas. They offer a variety of auto cleaning services, including car vomit cleaning services! Inquire about the actual car seat to ensure they’ll clean that as part of the process.
- Eco Car Care: Serving south Florida, Eco Car Care is a mobile car cleaning service. They have a variety of cleaning and auto detailing services—and they will come to you!
- Pristine Mobile Detail: Pristine Mobile Detail is located in the San Diego area and serves the surrounding counties. They have a great odor removal service which is a great option for a car vomit cleaning need!
Phew! What a messy topic. We hope we helped ease your car vomit cleaning fears a little. We know it’s icky and not fun, but you can do it. And if you don’t want to? No worries! Hire professionals!
Header image courtesy of Heather Slezak, Certified BabyQuip Cleaning Expert.
Kaylee Garcia is the mama to one sweet boy and one sweet girl, and wife to an awesome husband. Kaylee and her son (he’s only 4!) have completed over 20 trips via air travel (thank you, Alaska Airlines!) on over 40+ airplane rides! They love sharing travel tips with other families since they’ve learned a lot in the last 4 years. Kaylee enjoys spending time with family, researching baby gear, and exploring the Pacific Northwest.
i want to thank you for your work writing this. You have done really very good job. Great work, great site! Thank you!
Great post about this. Im surprised to see someone so educated in the matter.
OMG, I just found this while searching google. My kid threw up EVERYWHERE in his stroller. Bet you’re excited to see my appt come through, lol!!! I REALLY don’t want to clean it up myself. ;)
Thanks for spreading this specific good content on your blog. Who knew there were even such services.
Love all the TIPS!
Ooooof. Vomit is so yuck. My babies never got car sick, thank goodness! Glad to know there are people who will clean the tough stuff for you!
Can’t. Do. Vomit. Smell.
As a mom of 3, we’ve definitely been there and I think I blacked out during the cleaning process. No idea how I got through it.
The Prevention and Preparation kit idea is GENIUS though.
Great tips (which I hope I never need as a parent)! And that to-go kit is a brilliant traveling hack – thank you!
YUCK. Leave it to the pros!