It’s pretty common to see parents of kids who vomit frequently in the car armed with a bottle or canister of scent removal spray. After all, we spend so much time cleaning everything else it’s sometimes tough to justify spending a whole lot of time cleaning one of the places we spend the least amount of time. You spray the right product and the smell goes away. Everyone’s happy!

Every once in a while, it’s good to get in there and really clean up all of the things that didn’t quite get clean when you wiped them down with a rag right after the vomit episode. There are also ways to protect your vehicle and make it so most of the mess can be drug out of the car and banished with a hose. Let’s talk about those first because, frankly, preventing a tough mess in the first place is really the only way things are going to stay somewhat clean.

1. Auto Seat Protector – This handy device will sit under the car seat and make sure any vomit which overflows from the car seat’s undercarriage won’t lie around and keep the seat underneath wet. Yes, some of them will claim to completely protect your car’s interior. For most children this is probably true. Our son overflows ours from time to time.
2. Rubber Floor Mats – These are a must have for many, many situations. We have the heavy-duty grooved rubber mats which cover a wider area than your traditional cloth mats. We use them to pile soiled clothes, diapers, and rags until we can get home. This keeps the soiled cloth from seeping out into the vehicle’s upholstery.
3. Car Seat with a Machine Washable Liner – Not all car seats have this feature. I consider it a must have since children make messes regardless of whether or not there are medical reasons involved. Our He machine does an excellent job of scrubbing our seat’s liner as long as it’s pressed down into the bottom so the water will cover it. You’ll need to wash after you’re in for the day. I’ve yet to find a car seat liner which permits machine drying.

Continue reading →