Did you know the baby car seat your pride and joy sits in is twice as dirty as an average household toilet? No, we’re not kidding!
The findings shocked us when we read about them a few years back, so we thought it was important to remind parents of this disturbing discovery.
Birmingham University in the UK undertook a study into the germs and bacteria present in children’s car seats, making the grim discovery that there were twice the number of germs and bacteria in them compared to an average toilet. Eek!
Scientists took swabs from 20 homes and cars and when they compared the results, found a children’s car seat contains an average of 100 bacteria and fungi per square centimetre compared with 50 per square centimetres on a toilet. The germs they found could lead to dangerous illnesses such as E.coli and Salmonella.
How does a car seat get so dirty?
Baby car seat manufacturer Maxi-Cosi did a survey on car cleanliness, finding that of the 506 parents surveyed: 85% of parents allowed their children to eat in the car, 36% reported that they would likely find three or more food groups stuffed in the seats but only half of the respondents reported cleaning their child’s car seats more than a few times a year.
What about the rest of my car?
A dirty car interior can pose a health hazard to you and your family. We vacuum our cars when we can but chances are, the vacuum isn’t reaching the areas it should or sanitising the interior either.
Studies have found that your cup holder may have 228% more germs than a toilet seat, your boot (a.k.a home of groceries) contains more than 800 bacteria while the gearstick may host around 356 different germs!
It’s important to try and keep your car clean in the first place (always have disinfectant wipes on hand and avoid eating in the car, where possible) but if the damage has been done, it’s a great idea to call in a professional who can get the job done right - E-Dry Carpet Dry Cleaning can help.
Our teams have the expertise to treat car upholstery and children’s car seats, noting that while we do clean baby car seats, we wouldn’t use anti-microbial solutions (which kills the germs and bacteria) until after the baby is 6 months old. We do this mostly because of the theory that some exposure to germs is actually good for children and that from the age of 0 to 6 months a baby is still developing their immune systems. After the baby turns 6 months-old however, the seats can be cleaned using the normal E-Dry dry cleaning process.
Why should I call a professional when I can just wash the cover myself?
Our dry process means it will be only about 2 hours until the seat is dry enough to sit on.We can remove more stains than any other process so you can be confident the job has been done right.Our dry cleaning solutions contain Healthguard™, which continues to kill germs and bacteria for up to 6 months.We can treat the car seat, upholstery and carpet in one visit.E-Dry technicians are professionally trained to international best practice standards so you can be confident they know how to best treat your car interior.Best of all...
You don’t have to do it yourself!
We’re all guilty of it. Life gets hectic and cleaning the car drops to the bottom of the ‘to-do’ list. It’s not a real satisfying job and discovering new lolly wrappers/half chewed teething rusks/fruit remnants in the car a day after you’ve cleaned it is actually kind of soul crushing. Let us help you get the job done to a professional standard so you can wipe the slate clean with a fresh and healthy car interior – give us a call today.
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