How Long for Car Seats to Dry After Shampooing

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A few months ago, my friend had a bad experience with one local washing service, they didn't dry his car seats enough. It's wintertime, so he thought it's not their fault, but it is. In this article, I'm going to explain to you how to dry car seats in winter, the quick and easy way to do it correctly (no sun needed).

To dry car seats in Winter, start your car and turn on the AC to the highest temperature together with your windows opened just a little bit for moisture to go out of the car. Mostly, car seats will dry out in 3-5 hours.

In this article, I'm going to assume that you have just washed your car seats, and they are very wet. If your seats aren't wet a lot (you forgot to close your windows on a rainy day, etc.), the procedure is the same, but it's much shorter.

Consequences of Undried Car Seats

Before I go straight to the point, I'll have to explain to you what could happen if you leave your car seats wet.

There are several things that may happen:

You can get wet – it may sound funny, but sitting in a wet seat just before a date with your bae isn't a good idea. You'll look like you just peed in your pants.
Car interior can have the smell of moisture – you know that awful smell of some dirty old room without light, well, your car could smell similar if you don't dry the seats.
Mold can occur in your seats – it's unhealthy for everybody riding in your car.

There are many other bad things that may happen, but these are the most important ones, with the greatest impact on your life and on your car.

Is Winter Time Bad For Seat Drying?

For sure, the Winter season isn't the best time to wash and dry your car seats comparing to other seasons. Even if it's not the best season, it doesn't mean that it's bad for your car seats.

The biggest problem with the winter season is that there is no enough sun to dry things out. Also, snow and rains are common occurrences.

With a lot of snow and rains, the air is very moist, which makes seats hard to dry out.

If you're not in rush with your seat washing, I suggest you wait sunnier days, March is already a much better option.

However, if you really had to wash your seats in the winter season, or your seats got really wet somehow (rain, snow, etc.), just follow the steps in this article and you will dry your seats out successfully.

What Time Of The Day Is The Best?

This is a very simple question, and I'll be short. I think that the best time is around 10 in the morning.

It's not too early, but still, there is enough time to dry your seats out before night falls and the air becomes humid.

Hopefully, there will be some sun, which will make things faster.

How To Dry Car Seats – Step by Step

Well, you have reached the main point of this article, don't forget any of the steps below.

Before the steps, there is one thing to mention, if it's a sunny day, the best is to do these steps outside in fresh air.

However, if it's snowing or raining, park your car in a garage or some other covered area. Let's see the steps:

1. Take The Towel

Use your towel to soak up as much moisture as possible. Toweling off some moisture will speed up the whole process, also, use your weight to lean on the towel to soak even more moisture.

2. Start The Vehicle

We need your car running to turn the heating on. Before the car starts heating, the engine must be warmed to operating temperature.

3. Open The Windows For at Least 2 Inches

Opening the windows is a crucial step here. It will help all the humidity get out of the car. If you don't open car windows, moisture will stay in a car which will make the whole procedure much longer.

4. Turn The Air Condition On

Now, turn the heating on to the highest temperature available. Keep your air condition ON. Also, choose the highest fan speed.

5. Wait Few Hours

Now, give your car seats time to dry out completely. It's important not to turn off your vehicle too soon. If you washed your car seats, and the cloth is very wet, leave your car working for about 5-6 hours. If the cloth isn't wet a lot, 2-3 hours shall be enough.

6. Check If Seats Are Dry

After waiting a few hours, it's time for you to check if the seats are dry. The easiest way to do this is just to lay your hand on the seat and wait a few seconds. If you feel any humidity, your car seats need more time.

Well, that's it, your cloth car seats should be completely dry. There is also one great bonus tip, depending on the car equipment you have.

BONUS TIP: Seat Heating Option

This is a bonus to speed up the time, if your car has seat heating, be sure to turn the seat heating option on.

Some of the cars have only front seat heating, but some of them have both front and rear seat heating, which is great for this procedure.

Is This Method Expensive?

Well, this method isn't the cheapest option. The cheapest way to dry out your car seats is on a sunny day. Just open all the doors, and leave your car open all day long. The sun will dry out the seats.

However, the cost of this method is very low, the only thing you are going to spend is a little time and a few liters of gas.

Your engine shouldn't consume more than 3-5 liters of gas while the seats are drying. So, the cost of this method is $1-$5.

PRO TIP: Dry Car Seats Even Quicker

If you want to dry out car seats even quicker, you should consider buying yourself an air blower. Especially if you're doing plenty of deep cleaning, and every minute is important to you.

This XPOWER P-230AT (check the price on Amazon now) is one of the best out there on the market. It will improve the drying time a lot.

It has 3 speeds and 4 angle positions, so you can put it almost everywhere.

Just put it inside the car, adjust the angle and choose the desired speed and, together with all the steps above, it'll dry the car interior much quicker.

Now you have clean dry seats!

Well, now you know how to dry out your car seats during the winter season, even without a single sunray.

Again, if you have a choice, wait for spring to come and then clean your car seats. But if you want to have clean car seats immediately, for whatever purpose (own satisfaction, car show, date, car selling, etc.), this is the way you will dry out your seats successfully.

Have you ever had problems with drying your car seats? Let's talk about it. Just leave a comment with your experience, this might help some people not to repeat the same mistakes.

Related:

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5 Best Cordless Drills for Car Detailers (Under $200)
How To Clean Dirty Cloth Car Seats: ULTIMATE GUIDE

How Long for Car Seats to Dry After Shampooing

Source: https://cardetailingplanet.com/dry-car-seats-winter/