How to Clean an Infant Carseat

Have you ever wondered how in the world to clean that tiny baby’s carseat? Maybe you just bought it and want to clean it before the first use. Maybe your baby has used it for a long time and now it’s filled with crumbs and who knows what else.

Even though the carseat is made of plastic, material, Styrofoam, and metal, it’s really not hard to get it all clean. While there are many brands of these carseats, they are generally made the same way.

First of all, start with the straps. Unlatch all the straps on the front. Turn it over and unlatch the straps on the back as in the pictures below. This is where they all hook together to keep everything in place.

Next, take off the sun shade. There should be a button to unhook the shade from the carseat. Once you do that, remove the shade from the velcro holding it in place. Then, take the plastic strip out of the sun shade.

Then, take off any extra padding in the seat or on the straps. Then the carseat material is next. Many of them have elastic straps hidden underneath. Mine has a strap with a metal hook that goes under the handlebar.

There are also plastic pieces that slide under the grooves of the carseat to hold the material in place. So loosen all of those around the outside.

Once all of that has been done, you should be able to pull the material free from the plastic frame. Your carseat will now look like a skeleton version of the original. 😂

Once you’ve gotten to this stage, you can wash all the material parts in the washing machine and dry them in the dryer. You can also vacuum, spray, and wipe the rest of the carseat as needed.

After everything is finished, go backwards through these steps to get your carseat ready to use again.

Make sure to put the straps through the same holes on the material and the seat so they line up. It should be a 5 point harness again, with straps over each shoulder, each hip, and between their legs. The shoulder straps should come right below the top of their shoulder. The chest clip should be over their ribs, not on their belly.

Bonus tip: instead of carrying the heavy carseat by the top of the handle, reach your arm through the handle and grab the base of the handle with your hand. Then you can carry the whole seat against your side and it distributes the weight better.