How to Remove Pet Hair from Microfiber Seats

In this article, you will learn:

Why dog hair can be tricky to remove from microfiber upholstery

The best tools to remove pet hair from your car seats

How you can keep your seats looking great even with pets in the car

As pet owners, we always assume we’ll have some extra messes to take care of. This is true at home, and, if you don’t use a pet carrier when you drive with your pet, it’s true inside your car as well. You might get nose or tongue smears on the glass, mud in the carpet or the occasional accident to clean. One of the most common issues is dog or cat hair on the seats, and, since that hair can come off onto your clothes, or onto the clothes of your passengers, you’ll want to take care of that hair as quickly as possible.

If you have leather or vinyl seats, a quick once-over with a vacuum cleaner should be all it takes, but, if you have microfiber, woven fabric or suede-like seats, those hairs can become entangled in the fibers of your upholstery. You may need a little extra time and care to clean up after your long-haired friend.

Also, while we’re on the topic, you may want to take some extra measures to clean up any pet stains and odors or guard against future messes. We’ll get into that as well.

The right tools for the job

If a vacuum is no match for your pet hair problem, it’s time to break out some type of pet hair removing brush or lint removal device. A traditional lint brush or lint roller with adhesive sheets work great on pet hair, even if the hair has become entangled with your microfiber fabric.

That said, we also recommend using packing or strapping tape. These tapes have even more adhesive power than lint rollers, and you can get tape into the tight nooks, crannies and seams of your car seats, which are tough to reach with a brush or roller. If you have any experience with infant car seats, you know all about nooks and crannies.

For the sake of efficiency, you may find that a lint roller works great on large flat seat panels but tape works better on tougher or tighter spots, so try a combination to see what works best for you, your pet hair and your seat style.

Keep your microfiber from becoming microfurber

Instead of cleaning your seats every time your furry friend goes for a spin with you, consider using a seat cover to keep loose fur off the upholstery in the first place. You can create your own barrier using something like a large sheet or you can purchase a cover specifically designed for pet usage. Many of them are even waterproof and quilted for an extra comfortable ride.

Simply put the seat cover on before you load up your pet and take it out when you’re done. Any hair or mess will go with the cover instead of staying on your seats.

Shed the other messes, too

Odds are, if you drive your pet around, you have some pet-related stains and odors in your car, too. In that case, cleaning up isn’t just about hair removal. That’s only the beginning, and we mean that literally.

Always remove pet hair from the upholstery before doing any other seat cleaning. If you skip the hair removal step and go straight to an upholstery cleaning product, you may matt the hair down and push it even more deeply into the upholstery. So keep things dry and get that pet hair off your seats first.

Once you’ve removed the hair, clean up any stains and odors with a deodorizing upholstery cleaner, like POWER OUT! Upholstery Cleaner, or a multi-surface interior cleaner like Interior 1 or Fresh Clean. All three of these are formulated for fast and effective cleaning and odor removal and are safe to use on all seat fabrics.

To clean your upholstery, spray the cleaning product generously across the entire panel of a freshly vacuumed seat that’s free of pet hair. If you have stains, use a soft brush to work the cleaning product into the surface and break up the stains. Blot the area to remove extra cleaning product.

Once the entire seat panel is stain-free, wipe the seat back and forth with a white cotton towel. Check the towel for soils and fold to a clean side when dirty. Allow plenty of ventilation into the car until the seats are completely dry. Once dry, vacuum the seats again.

Avoid resoiling

One common issue with car upholstery and carpet cleaning is resoiling. Resoiling occurs if you leave behind residues from the cleaning product. These residues can act like a magnet for soils, so you keep getting the same stain over and over again. All residual materials in Turtle Wax interior products are formulated to dry to a powder, which you can quickly vacuum away once your seats are dry, leaving them perfectly clean and free of residues.