Cleaning Your Car Seat for Pesach

As a frum CPST (Child Passenger Safety Technician), I would like to discuss cleaning car seats for Pesach. Many people don't realize that it's *essential* to follow the instructions in the manual to clean your seat. For example, bleach is never allowed. Steam cleaning the straps is never allowed. Hosing down the seat is almost never allowed.

What could go wrong?

Bleach and even saturating the straps with water causes the straps to weaken or change their strength. (Too thick is also bad.) Hosing down the seat usually leaves drops of water inside, which can create rust on the metal parts or mold on the fabrics that goes unseen. Machine washing on a regular or heavy duty cycle can also cause the padding in the cover to disintegrate and the fabric around the slot holes to fray, which is why many car seat brands don’t allow this.

Really?

I know you're all thinking... really? Honestly - this probably won't make much of a difference if someone is bumped at a stop sign. We all get that. But if G-d forbid we are talking about a serious crash, rust or mold or bleached straps can absolutely have an effect. The same goes for the vehicle seatbelts, by the way.

Asking a Rabbi

Many of you may be worrying at this point. I know there are many kids who have their Cheerios in the car on the way to school or the babysitter! I would encourage everyone to ask their rabbi about how much cleaning is actually required. Keep in mind that people are so quick to ask for things like permission not to tovel an electronic appliance, because they are afraid it will break. But almost no one asks about potentially weakening a car seat by cleaning it.

I spoke with Rabbi Sholom Zagelbaum of the Mesivta of Phoenix and Ahavas Torah (shul) in Scottsdale.

He said I could quote him: “According to the strict Halacha, vacuuming is sufficient and one does not even need to wash the car seat at all. If one does want to abide by a Middas Chassidus (pious practice), they should wash the cover and wipe down the straps in mild soap as per the instructions. Anything more than that would not be necessary. Please also be aware that one should not give children food in the car seat over Chol HaMoed, as the car seat surface and cupholders cannot be cleaned and covered to the degree that a high chair tray or table would need to be.”

Practical Advice

So - if you have your manual, follow the instructions in the manual. If you don't have it, you can google to find it, or you can reach out to me and I'll send it to you, or you can follow the below instructions which are ok for every car seat:

- Hand wash the cover or wash on delicate cycle in cold water. Mild detergent can be used. No bleach, Febreze or Oxiclean. If you know that your machine's delicate cycle is more aggressive than hand washing, then just hand wash. (There are a few car seats that allow a regular cycle - again, it’s always best to check your manual.)

- Hang the cover to dry or do up to 20 minutes on cool/air fluff if you need to use the seat before it would be able to air dry.

- The straps, cover, inserts and plastic parts can be wiped down with baby wipes (Pampers wipes etc). You can also make a washcloth damp with a bit of water and sink detergent (Dawn type) and wipe with that.

- If there's "gunk" or a stain, the best way to get rid of it is to wrap a baby wipe around your finger and work at it with your fingernail from underneath.

- For bad cases (vomit etc) these steps should be repeated. Virtually all manufacturers sell the individual car seat parts for replacement if needed. Leaving the seat in the sun helps deodorize.

- Always make sure everything is completely dry before reinstalling.

Oops - I’ve already cleaned it incorrectly

If you're wondering what to do if you've already bleached your seat for a few years, call the manufacturer. They will advise on how to proceed. For example, let's say they crash test a seat with bleached straps, and it fails crash testing after three bleachings. They have that info, but of course they're not going to write that in the manual. They'll just say not to do it. But if you did it once by mistake, that might be ok. But they'd have to be the ones to make that call, as every seat is different.

Call the professionals? Nope.

I would advise not using a professional car detailer for your car seats. These businesses have one goal, and that is to make the seat look new again. They don't care what chemicals they use to achieve that. (No one is going to leave them a good Google review if a seat is left with faded stains!) I've also seen these places attempt to reinstall the seats, which they have no idea how to do. Worst of all, they usually put a damp car seat back on a damp vehicle seat, which leads to mold on the car seat and on the vehicle seat. Not fun.

I would also recommend that if you are using local teens to do your car, you don’t have them do the children’s car seats unless you specifically tell them the instructions. Also make sure that they aren’t using bleach or harsh chemicals on the seatbelts. I know teens are usually just so enthusiastic to get chemicals all over the chometz, but it’s not the best idea in the car.

Do Not Disassemble

Occasionally, there will be a Cheerio or the like caught deep within the seat. It would be inaccessible unless the seat is disassembled. There is NO need halachically to disassemble the seat to get the chometz out, and doing so could be disastrous for safety. Screws on car seats are turned to a certain strength. There’s virtually no way to reassemble a car seat to match the manufacturer’s standards. Only take off the parts that are meant to be taken off.

Chag Kasher V'Sameach! I’m happy to answer any questions.