All car parts require regular cleaning. Seat belts are no exception as they are made with a material that tends to accumulate dirt. However, washing car seat belts with a high-pressure washer is not advisable and must be avoided to protect the seat belt webbings. If you want to keep your car in good condition, it helps to know all the dos and don’ts.
Let us get in the details as to why you should not wash seat belts with a pressure washer.
Why You Should Never Wash Seat Belts with a Pressure Washer
The first and most important reason why you should never wash seat belts with a pressure washer is safety. Car seat belts basically have a responsibility to save our lives by holding our bodies in case of a road emergency like a collision, and if we treat seat belts in a way that could harm them, we are basically jeopardizing our safety.
Evident from its name, very high pressure of water is used to wash out things with pressure washers, while it is a great technique to wash the exterior of your car, using it on seat belts is dangerous.
Washing seat belts with high pressure can cause several damages to the seat belt webbings. The seat belt material gets oversaturated and the safety belt webbings lose out on their most important properties: firmness, and flexibility.
If you keep using a pressure wash to clean seat belts, the material will get weak and start falling apart or worst it can break in case of a car accident.
What Are Safety Belt Webbings Made Of?
If you are wondering why seat belt webbings get damaged because of pressure washers, you need to understand what the seat belt webbings are made of. Most seat belt webbings are made of nylon or polyester. Both materials are really resistant and durable.
Polyester webbings are good for more strength and little stretch. On the other hand, Nylon webbings are better to take in external factors, for instance, they are resistant to rot, mold and mildew. That said, nylon webbings tend to stretch a little with time.
Nevertheless, both polyester and nylon are great materials but they are not supposed to be pressure washed. All seat belt webbings are designed for spot cleaning and light cleaning.
How Does Pressure Washing Destroy Seat Belt Webbings?
Even though the seat belt webbing fibres are really resilient and are designed to hold a lot of force, they aren’t resistant to direct high water pressure. This is because water from a high-pressure washer (especially from a close distance) goes between nylon or polyester fibres and stretches them, the force can also split the seat material and ultimately reduce their durability, flexibility, and holding firmness.
How to Clean Car Seat Belts
To clean car seat belts, use the following seat belt cleaning tools:
- Degreaser
- Sponge or brush
- Microfiber cloth
Follow this process to clear dirty car seat belts safely:
- Pull out the seat belt all the way and lock it with a clip
- Spray the car seat belt with a degreaser
- Then scrub it with a sponge or a brush
- Wipe the seat belt off with a clean microfiber towel
- Lastly, apply a fabric protectant on the car seat belts
Moreover, you can also steam clean your car seat belts at low heat, if you have a steam cleaner. Despite the many steam car wash advantages and disadvantages, the method is gaining popularity in the UAE. This is because the process is much more effective and has a sterilising effect than the traditional car wash.
This is the only way to clean car seat belts properly. Trying a pressure washer on car seat belts will make the process easier and quicker but it would only harm the seat belts and harm the seat belt webbing material. Therefore, never compromise on your safety and don’t wash seat belts with a pressure washer. Instead, use the cleaning tools mentioned above to safely clean seat belts.
That is all about why it is not safe pressure washing car seats. Always pay special attention when it comes to keeping your car clean.
On a completely different note, if your car gives a lot of mechanical problems and a big amount of your savings goes into fixing expenses, it may be because of your vehicle’s age. Buying a used car for sale in the UAE seems like a sensible option in this scenario.
Stay tuned to UAE’s top auto blog for more on car DIY solutions, car repair tips and much more.
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