The Best Car Upholstery Cleaners For 2025, Tested By Experts

Mar 01, 2025

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We tested the most popular carpet, fabric, and upholstery cleaners to find out which was the best for your car's interior surfaces. Here's what we found.

This article was updated in November 2024 with new products and information.

Keeping the inside of your vehicle in top condition is essential for its resale value. This means cleaning all possible surfaces like the carpets, trim, and especially the upholstery. Think about everything that's inside your car in a given week: you, your passengers, pets, groceries, and anything you might transport.

Considering its constant use, it's inevitable that your upholstery will get dirty. Let us guide you through the best practices for keeping your interior in tip-top shape, ensuring you'll have enough money for a down payment on that dream car when you can finally sell your van because your kids moved away.

We assembled some of the best car upholstery cleaners for a hands-on test, evaluating them using stained upholstery. We found that each one offers the average car owner the ability to clean their interior with the efficiency of a professional detail shop. While some products work more quickly than others, and some require less elbow grease, all were effective at lifting stains and grime from cloth and vinyl.

To clarify, the products included in this list are designed to be used on vinyl and cloth upholstery, but a few will also clean leather.

In recent years, Chemical Guys has elevated itself to one of the premier automotive-detailing companies on the market. The Nonsense cleaner is odorless, pH balanced, safe on all surfaces (minus infotainment and gauge clusters), and dries with zero residue. The combination of these traits, in tandem with its high-power stain lifting, makes this cleaner arguably the best all-around product on the list.

Look, all these cleaners are great. But do you want to elevate your cleaning? Get yourself a Bissel Little Green upholstery cleaner. This machine, combined with any cleaner listed below, will elevate your cleaning to the next level. The best part of these cleaners is that there is a clean and a dirty side, so you can see the dirty water shooting into the discarded reservoir, which is satisfying on so many levels. Trust us, this little machine is a game changer when used with any cleaner. It's fantastic on pet stains, and perfect for RV and van owners.

For even more cleaning power, opt for the ProHeat version ($134 at Bissell) to keep your cleaning water at a consistently warm temperature.

Car Guys is a fairly new brand to the world of automotive detailing, offering uncompromising quality. Though it claims to be more affordable than competitors, the Super Cleaner checks in as one of the most expensive on this list. However, this premium isn't an arbitrary one. Super Cleaner is both biodegradable and eco-friendly and is safe for cleaning leather as well. With no need to rinse or vacuum, a neutral smell, and no residue left behind, Super Cleaner is truly an all-in-one product.

Check out the Car Guys store on Amazon to see all the company's great car detailing products.

Starting off from humble beginnings with only aluminum-wheel polish, Mothers now offers the car community a comprehensive lineup of detailing products. Mothers Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner offers a gentle, pH-balanced formula that greatly aids in preventing colors from running.

In our sampling of this product, we found a like-new finish and no trace of residue. We should also note that this product works well around the house, so take advantage of its massive 24-ounce capacity.

With "tuff" in its name, we expected great things from this multipurpose cleaner, and it didn't disappoint. Since it's more utilitarian than others in this roundup, we decided to test this product on a large 10-year-old coffee stain on a chair in a staffer's cubicle.

We were shocked to find zero trace of said stain after scrubbing with Tuff Stuff, although we did need a vacuum to assist with the drying process. In addition to cleaning car upholstery and furniture, Tuff Stuff can be used around the house as a bathroom, carpet, and appliance cleaner.

A concentrated shampoo from the vaunted Chemical Guys lineup. Using naturally occurring microbes, Fabric Clean breaks down stains and odors at a microscopic level without using harsh chemicals such as bleach and ammonia, thanks to its eco-friendly biodegradable formula.

After use we found no trace of residue or stains, just the scent of a freshly squeezed lemon.

This complete kit may be all you need to keep your car's upholstery and carpet clean. It comes with Fabric Clean above as well as a secondary spray bottle and a carpet brush drill attachment.

Some people prefer value and quantity over quality. Thankfully, with 3D's carpet and upholstery cleaner, you won't have to make that compromise. The shampoo comes concentrated in a 16-ounce bottle and requires that you dilute it: one part shampoo to 16 parts water. It also means that you aren't buying the water that is typically mixed into cleaning sprays, just the shampoo.

Car and Driver has a long history of using Meguiar's products. We've grown fond of their exceptional quality, and this carpet and upholstery cleaner holds true to those expectations. Its best features include an ergonomic spray-nozzle design, a pleasant citrus scent, and a dual-action trigger (offering a wide-angle spray for large areas or a precise stream for spot cleaning).

Don't forget the tools! This Chemical Guys Interior Detailing Brush will agitate and release tough stains and debris that has nestled deep into the fibers of your upholstery. If you want the deepest clean possible, clearing the peskiest of stains, you'll need some elbow grease to achieve results. This brush will help get you there.

Color-fastness: Before using a new cleaning product, it is best practice to conduct a color-fastness test. This involves trying the product in an inconspicuous area first to ensure it doesn't cause fabric dye, bleeding, or running.

The Label: All cleaners are different, so you must read the instructions carefully to ensure the best results. Pay close attention to recommended techniques and application methods, and confirm materials are compatible with the cleaner.

Brushes: If applying the product and then wiping it away isn't working, consider purchasing a detail brush. A detail brush will help agitate the cleaner, working up a lather and offering deeper penetration into the target area.

Chemicals: Be aware of any harmful ingredients that might be included in the cleaning solution. These might be hazardous to you along with your upholstery. Not a bad idea to wear gloves during use.

Odor Removal: Some cleaners might have odor removal capabilities, so keep that in mind if you're looking to eliminate unwanted aromas.

Yes, most car upholstery cleaners are safe to use. However, it is important to read the label, paying careful attention to the directions and any warnings. It's also a good move to wear gloves while you're cleaning.

There isn't really a "one size fits all" when it comes to upholstery cleaners. Check the labeling to ensure it's safe for your car's specific fabric type. Also, as always, test it in an inconspicuous area before beginning on a main section.

How regularly you clean the upholstery in your vehicle is a matter of personal preference and how frequently the cabin gets dirty. However, a decent scrubbing every few months should keep your interior looking good as new.

Depending on the source and severity of the odor, a handful of upholstery cleaners do have the ability able to remove or mask unpleasant smells. If you'd prefer a deeper clean to address some serious aromas, we recommend trying the Bissel Little Green along with a cleaner of your choice.

Hearst Autos combines the talent, resources, and expertise of three of the largest, most influential automotive publications in the world. The Gear Team has tested a wide variety of automotive products, parts, accessories, and gear, such as steam cleaners, garage shelving, and floor mats. We get our hands on each and every product we test. Most are purchased; some are supplied by manufacturers.

Hearst Autos doesn't need to game algorithms for traffic or promote lousy products to earn a buck. Instead, we're more concerned with our legacy, our reputation, and the trust that our readers have in Autoweek, Car and Driver, and Road & Track to deliver honest opinions and expert evaluations. Our Picks and recommendations are based on experience and knowledge, not hype.

Visit our Tested & Trusted page to see the very best in automotive gear. Read more about our product testing and evaluation process here.

Max Mortimer is a lifelong car enthusiast who spends his days managing Car and Driver's test data and processes, and evaluating vehicles. Starting at the age of five, he began working on classic muscle from the '60s with his father, which blossomed into his own passion for modifying cars, which include a 500 whp Big Turbo SRT-4 Neon and a FBO Protuned '17 WRX. Not a day goes by that Max doesn't think about owning his dream car, a fifth-gen Viper GTS . . . one day.

Katherine Keeler is Associate Testing Editor at Hearst Autos. By day she evaluates tools for your enjoyment; by night, she Frankensteins her ever-changing fleet of rustbucket oddities back to repair. Her dream is to open a roadside attraction where the public can view, drive, and learn repairs at her emporium of curious cars.

Mason Cordell is the Assistant Testing Editor for Hearst Autos. With a degree in multimedia journalism and a passion for the automotive world, he enjoys driving, wrenching, writing and everything in between. At the age of 22, his garage consisted of a ‘95 Miata, an ‘08 M5, and a 1987 Porsche 944S. Clearly, he has a problem.

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