How To Dry Car Seats In Winter?

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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 was wintertime, so he thought it was not their fault, but it was. In this article, I will explain the process I follow to dry car seats in winter.

Key Takeaways:

To dry car seats, the easiest way is to turn on the car, turn the heating to the max with slightly opened windows, and wait for 3-5 hours.
Seat heating can help speed up the process, so turn it on if you have that option.
Dedicated car dryers and blowers can reduce the amount of time needed for seats to dry.

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.

How To Dry Car Seats In Winter – Step-by-Step Guide

Before the steps, there is one thing to mention. On a sunny day, the best thing is to do these steps outside in fresh air. However, park your car in a garage or some other covered area if it’s snowing or raining. Let’s see the steps:

1. Towel Off Moisture From The Seats

Use your microfiber 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 the car, making 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 a 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.

The XPOWER P-230AT is one of the best air blowers 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.

Consequences of Leaving Car Seats Wet

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.

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

Is Winter Time Bad For Drying Wet Car Seats?

For sure, the Winter season isn’t the best time to deep clean car seats compared 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 not enough sun to dry things out. Also, snow and rain are common occurrences.

With a lot of snow and rain, the air is very moist, making seats hard to dry.

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

However, if you had to wash your seats in the winter season or your seats got 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.

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.

If you’d like to deep clean the whole car interior, don’t forget to check my full and detailed guide on that topic.