Cleaning seat belts???

[SeattleCarGuy]

This might be a dumb question:

What do you guys use to clean up your seatbelts on a car that has sat a long time? Just soap and water and a brush? Thanks

[enio45]

Paul,

i use simple green diluted (or any other cleaner) , hot water and soak the belts in the water for a while (hr or so) ....then light scrub care taken to the tags.....comes out like new......too much soaking takes the dye out of the belts, so check sooner than later. The dye does not completely remove, just lightens up a bit if let in too long.

After cleaning - i hang them (do a light stretch of the material) to dry to get them nice and straight .

[SS427]

I use our dishwasher at the Fire Department using Cascade and they come out beautiful. I use the extra wash, a little extra soap and the heated water cycle.

[SuperNovaSS]

The washing machine works well but can damage the tags depending how worn they are. If the belts are badly faded you can also use RIT dye or something similar. The trick to getting the dye to work is very hot water and vinegar in the mix.


Jason

[SS427]

Annie just dyed a set of belts with RIT and it worked great. Looked brand new. Prior to this I had used upholstery dye but at $1.77 for a box you cannot go wrong.

[bigsixman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: enio45</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Paul,

i use simple green diluted (or any other cleaner) , hot water and soak the belts in the water for a while (hr or so) ....then light scrub care taken to the tags.....comes out like new......too much soaking takes the dye out of the belts, so check sooner than later. The dye does not completely remove, just lightens up a bit if let in too long.

After cleaning - i hang them (do a light stretch of the material) to dry to get them nice and straight .

</div></div>

I do the same as this and it has worked out excellent for me and some others in my neck of the woods.

[Verne_Frantz]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: enio45</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Paul,

i use simple green diluted (or any other cleaner) , hot water and soak the belts in the water for a while (hr or so) ....then light scrub care taken to the tags.....comes out like new......too much soaking takes the dye out of the belts, so check sooner than later. The dye does not completely remove, just lightens up a bit if let in too long.

After cleaning - i hang them (do a light stretch of the material) to dry to get them nice and straight .

</div></div>

I've used a similar technique but I use Dawn dish washing soap and I leave them soak sometimes overnight. I will knead them a bit, then change the soap solution for a second trip if the stains are bad. The Dawn takes care of any grease stains that might be there. It doesn't seem to fade out the colors.

Verne [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[SeattleCarGuy]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Mine are in pretty good shape, just a little bit dingy, but black color is still good and dark and tags are pretty decent as well from April '69.

I will give the Simple Green method a try sometime this week. The dishwasher sounds easier, but the wife would get pretty agitated like when I baked my exhaust manifolds in the oven to burn off any cleaner residue prior to coating with POR-15.

Paul

[Unreal]

I used TSP (Tri Sodium Phosphate) on some dingy stiff ones, and they look brand new. I was going to Rit them, but after cleaning, was unnecessary.

[firstgenaddict]

Oxyclean and scalding hot tap water in a bucket, let them soak for a few hours and rinse. It doesn't take the color out and they come out soft and pliable. No need for agitation or any abrasive scrubbing etc.

You can use plastic polish for polishing the buckle covers.