Kids and leather car interior?

haloheathr

I need some advice... DH and I are buying a new car (a Honda Civic) and we're trying to choose between leather and fabric seats. Which is better when you have kids? I've heard leather is easier to clean up spills, but I'd love to know what you all think since I don't have experience with leather or having little ones in the car. TIA!

Erin0922

Leather is easier to wipe stuff up, but I notice our leather seats "wear" quicker. They crack, rip, etc. Plus they are hot in summer and cold in winter. (We have 2 cars with cloth, one with leather... a messy SS haha)

EmmieB

I prefer fabric, just because of the heat and my penchant for miniskirts.

Either way, I would put a towel under/around the carseat to make it easiest to clean.

Krista123105

We just bought a new Subaru Outback, and we chose dark fabric.  Leather gets scratched with car seats, and we have a Spot Bot for any spills on the fabric.  Plus leather is hot in the summer and cold in the winter, although this concern is more for the adults.

mlf625

I would FOR SURE go leather. ?We traded in my SUV with leather seats for another model with cloth seats just before DS was born and I *hate* the cloth seats. ?Everything stains. ?We're trading it in soon and one of my must-haves is leather seats.

The only thing that's not great about leather is that it gets cold/hot- but you're in CA where the weather is pretty mild, and plus, babies don't ever directly sit on the seats.?

aocain02@yahoo.com

We bought a new car last year and went with leather.  It's easier to clean up.  If you condition the leather regularly it also doesn't wear out, you just have to keep up with it and buy a good leather conditioner.  We will still put something down under the car seat though just to keep the seats protected.

If you are worried about the hot/cold thing, there really isn't anything you can do about the hot seats unless you get a car with a lighter color interior.  For the cold, heated leather seats are the best!!!  I still turn the seat warmer on in the summer when my back's hurting and I have an instant heating pad in the car.  Love it.

Kiki-licioius

We have 2 leathers vehicles and one cloth.  IMO it is much easier to clean the leather seats.  You do have to put the leather conditioner on the seats or else they will crack like the PP mentioned.  I sit on a towel when I wear skirts or shorts and our seats are heated so I don't worry about them being cold in the winter. 

I also agree with the towel under the car seats.  You won't believe some of the things you will find under there. lol

The cloth seats are just cloth lol. When we have a spill or something it sucks because it soaks into the seat.

 

Mrs.Hubbard

I have leather and wouldn't go back to cloth. In 06 I traded in my 95 Acura that had leather seats and they were in perfect condition. In July we just traded our Accord in for another Acura and I have zero worries about the seats. Both my Accord and MDX have seat warmers too!

missa8182

We just bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee with leather seats - at the recommendation of my SIL with a 2 year old. She said they're easy to clean up and, also at her recommendation, we purchased one of the car "mats" that sits under and behind the car seat. Ours is actually made of a sort of harder plastic that has a "lip" around the edges that will catch food crumbs and things once the baby is older. It is also made of one piece that sits under and behind the car seat to keep crumbs and things from going between the seats. Additionally, it keeps the car seat from denting your leather and sits the car seat properly on a nice, even surface.

It's true the leather can be hotter/colder in the summer/winter months but we also sprung for the remote start and figured it'd be a good investment leather seats or not