Washing Britax Boulevard Carseat Cover?

MisN

Anyone had success washing their Britax Boulevard Car Seat Cover?  Any tips?

PayolaCrayola

i have the cow print one and its so easy to take off! i washed it and dried it normally and it was fine...no fading or anything!

meg1974

Mine says to hand wash and line dry it, but when it had throw up on it the other day I was worried hand washing wouldn't get it clean enough. I put it in the washing machine on the delicate cycle, and it was fine.

I dried it in the sun, and it dried within about an hour. It takes a lot longer than that to dry if you don't put it in the sun. 

melissa0726

LalaMama81:

You need to read your manual. My Britax Marathon manual says it must be hand washed and line dried - no machine washing or drying. 

Mine says handwash in cold water w/ mild soap - I usually use my dish soap or a little bac-out.

Lay flat or hang to dry.

You cannot submerse any part of the harness or straps in water, sponge clean only.  

Yes, this.  The cover is very easy to remove while the straps stay in place.  I throw mine in the half full bathtub and wash it by hand with a little dish soap.  Then I drain the tub and press down on the cover to squeeze out as much water as I can.   Don't twist it, you don't want it to lose its shape.  Then I hang it over the shower rod to drip dry.  

Five_letter

Drying on medium heat melted mine. Air dry from here on out. 

mesmom2011

LalaMama81:

meg1974:

Mine says to hand wash and line dry it, but when it had throw up on it the other day I was worried hand washing wouldn't get it clean enough. I put it in the washing machine on the delicate cycle, and it was fine. I dried it in the sun, and it dried within about an hour. It takes a lot longer than that to dry if you don't put it in the sun.nbsp;

How do you know it's fine? Britax doesn't have the rule because they are worried about fading. It's a safety issue. It's silly to think you can't hand wash vomit out of something, sure it's gross, but in well.

How is it a safety issue to wash the carseat cover?  I'd love to see some facts to support this. . .

 OP - My DD gets carsick.  We choose to keep her rear-facing even though that means that we sometimes have vomit to deal with. . . I have washed and dried her cover several times and it still looks and fits great. 

SuperCuteBenz

I am a CPST, and I have always machine washed my covers. I only wash them on cold/delicate with a gently detergent. No fabric softeners, etc. I always hang dry them.

I believe Britax says to hand wash (as does Dorel) because some covers won't withstand the machine. My SIL washed her Dorel cover in the wash and it literally fell apart. If you call Britax and tell them that you machine washed it, and it fell apart, they won't cover it.  Like I said, my oldest Britax seat cover is 4 years old, and has always been machine washed. It looks perfect still.

Danielle4303

I did and it was fine....LO had an accident during potty training, so it needed to be done!! lol

I took it off, removed foam and threw it in cold cycle. (line dry)

Good as new and no smell

SuperCuteBenz

LalaMama81:

SuperCuteBenz:

I am a CPST, and I have always machine washed my covers. I only wash them on cold/delicate with a gently detergent. No fabric softeners, etc. I always hang dry them.

I believe Britax says to hand wash (as does Dorel) because some covers won't withstand the machine. My SIL washed her Dorel cover in the wash and it literally fell apart. If you call Britax and tell them that you machine washed it, and it fell apart, they won't cover it.  Like I said, my oldest Britax seat cover is 4 years old, and has always been machine washed. It looks perfect still.

Do you think most CPSTs ignore this part of the Britax manual and machine was wash their covers or tell others it's okay? I'm genuinely curious what the common thought amongst the CPSTs is.  

Yes. Unless you have a child that never eats, drinks or has an accident in the car, you will have to wash it at some point. I have tried hand washing Britax covers and it sucks for lack of a better word. It is impossible to get clean by hand washing only. 

The biggest concern with machine washing, is that you don't want to reduce the effectiveness of the flame retardants. So, no fabric softener, bleach, etc. I literally use maybe a tablespoon of detergent, wash on delicate, always cold water and always hang to dry. I would not advise machine drying at all.