I installed a car seat in the back of my MCS, which has leatherette upholstery. Dummy that I am I didn't get one of those dense foam pads to go under it (didn't even know they existed until recently). I removed the seat to do some detailing and there they were, two 1/4 inch deeps dents about 4 inches long. I thought of applying some gentle heat (like a hot water bottle) to soften the leathertte and just smothing by hand, but I wanted to appeal to the wisdom here before doing anything. Suggestions please.

 

I don't know if it's the same for the leatherette as the leather, but I've always found that those pressure marks eventually disappear with time. You could probably speed it along with some gentle heat like you mentioned, or you could just wait and it'll probably take care of itself.

 

warm iron with a towel under it and press

 

Great idea! Thanks.

Have you tried this yourself?

 

That's really risky on vinyl and I wouldn't try it. I'd call a pro if you're not interested in trying the wait and see method.

 

Park it in the sun with the windows up and the sunshades back. See if that heat helps "reset" the leatherette

 

What is the hurry?

You are probably best to just wait for it to return to shape. Parking it in the sun is a good idea if you want to get the change to happen faster.

Just leave it and if it does not return to normal then you can take further actions.

 

i would just leave it alone. it'll come back eventually... in the next 20yrs.

 

Like others said, wait to see what happens. How long was the seat depressing the vinyl? The longer, the more time it will take for it to snap back.

No way I would use a heated object on vinyl. You are asking for BIG trouble if you do. Proceed at your own peril. [And report back on the damage if you do. ].

 

but you guys are aware that inside the car temps can easily reach 85C...
that's mightly hot to the touch.

with a towel sandwiched between the seat and iron, i think it's safe as
long as you dont use a super high setting.

 

Okay... thanks to everyone. I've calmed down. My fear was that vinyl, unlike leather, would not "snap back". I'll try the "wait and see".

I suppose if it doesn't snap back years from now I can point the dents out to my son and say: "see what I did for your safety!" I am sure he'll appreciate it -- at 22 months he points to every MINI and says "Daddy's car", when he's in the driveway he runs up to the MINI door and says "drive car", and when I put him in his seat he looks at me and says "wheeeeeeeeeeee!".

 

That is so stinkin' cute! Hug that kid of yours for all of us here at NAM!

A future motorist... how wonderful!

 

I think I would wait and see what happens after a few days, the foam should spring back, and it's the foam that is the real problem, not the leatherette. The foam will have memory and should return to it's original shape, pushing the leatherette back with it.

What may help is the foam pad you did not buy in the first place. Even pressure on the seat may help the foam return to it original shape.

Mark

 

I agree that it'll probably just spring back with some time. Anytime I've had dents in the leatherette from something being on the seats, it's gone back fairly quickly.

 

I had the same issue. The dents went away on their own after about a week or so.

 

I've been using one of these in all of my cars since I've been doing the Child Seat thing...Never had car seat dent issues
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Mat-Car-.../dp/B00006JK3R

Plus they're not very expensive!!

As you'll see from the link, depending on the car seat you have, they also make ones that protect the seat back too...

 

yeh, the issue i had with something similar to that was when you place
the child seat the edges pop upwards and it doesnt look all that great
while in use.

i dont use anything under their seats on my dd's...as the seats
have returned to its original form after some time.

 

This is a very helpful link --- thanks!!

 

Just wanted to let you guys know that those mats for under carseats aren't recommended. The carseat manufacturers actually say in the manuals to not put anything under the carseat. They aren't crash tested. The carseat manufacturers test their products on a bench seat just like a regular vehicle. The mat might interfere with properly installing the seat in the vehicle. If you put the carseat in on one of those mats, try this. Install the seat with the mat underneath it. Try pulling the mat out without unbuckling the seatbelt. A lot of them will slide right out. Then check and see how loose the carseat is installed in the vehicle. In an accident, there is no way to tell how the carseat will perform with the after market mat in there.

I have installed many, many carseats in many different vehicles, vinyl, leather, and cloth. Those dents will always come out. I may take a little while, but they will come out. Look at it this way, you know the seat was installed tightly and your little one was safe when he went motoring!

 

The fabric has stretched, has nothing to do with the foam underneath. If the foam has been crushed it will come back but the fabric will not react to the force of the foam.

As suggested, just let it be and see what happens. Because of the nature of man-made fabric it is hard to judge what will happen, but you do not want to heat up the fabric. Leather may react well to heat, but the man-made material will not.