[hserus]

Hi, I tried faux leather and then fabric seat covers for my honda amaze, but both are painful for two reasons -

1. Somehow ruin the back support shape of the car seat (which is already not too optimal thanks to fixed headrests, but was at least contoured to fit the driver's back)

2. Causes "heat" on longer drives so that I get rather painful boils in the you-know-where, makes it painful to drive for long periods, even if I stay hydrated.

Are there any reasonable alternatives? Yes, I could buy some sort of seat shampoo and periodically clean my regular seats but they're a rather light gray color and are very likely to pick up dirt quite fast.

[IshaanIan]

What car have you got? Perforated faux leather seats might do the trick since they help the seats breathe better thus preventing all that heating up that you are talking about. If the car is not too fancy, you could also look into having the seats modified a bit to offer better support and bolstering

[deep_bang]

How about just a layer of those wooden beeds that you get in accessory shops? They let enough air and ventilation and is quite inexpensive to buy and try.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by hserus

Hi, I tried faux leather and then fabric seat covers for my honda amaze, but both are painful for two reasons -

1. Somehow ruin the back support shape of the car seat (which is already not too optimal thanks to fixed headrests, but was at least contoured to fit the driver's back)

2. Causes "heat" on longer drives so that I get rather painful boils in the you-know-where, makes it painful to drive for long periods, even if I stay hydrated.

Are there any reasonable alternatives? Yes, I could buy some sort of seat shampoo and periodically clean my regular seats but they're a rather light gray color and are very likely to pick up dirt quite fast.

I bought regular non perforated seat covers and they've held up well. around 4.5k or so IIRC from GP road. They've taken a couple of road trips and it has been rather comfortable. Surprised you had problems you know where!

Originally Posted by deep_bang

How about just a layer of those wooden beeds that you get in accessory shops? They let enough air and ventilation and is quite inexpensive to buy and try.

Those are utter crap - I tried one and it moves under my considerable weight, so you need to plan well how to enter your car. Maybe I bought the cheapest stuff - but thats what I found on GP road. I couldn't figure out how to use it without the damn thing moving/getting dislodged when i am sitting.

[hserus]

Yeah the beads slip around a little and don't offer a comfortable seat.

Mine are non perforated and a pretty decent grade of faux leather, but still - maybe it is just the way my body is.

Tried fabric seat covers in my old ritz and they were ok but looked ugly as hell.

Maybe just a turkish towel under my seat would do I guess.

ps: For that those asked, Honda Amaze S MT. Thanks all.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by hserus

Hi, I tried faux leather and then fabric seat covers for my honda amaze, but both are painful for two reasons

Why do you want seat covers then? I don't believe in the 'protect forever, but never use' school of thought. The seats are made for your comfort. If there's anything that takes away from that, it's not worth it.

As you might have guessed, none of my cars have seat covers.

Seat cleaning is cheap too. Just do it once in 3 - 6 months and you're all set.

[Sherlocked]

We have been using our WagonR which is about to complete 10 years without any seat covers right from day 1. Yes, regular cleaning has helped here and even the fabric has hold itself quite good.
I fail to understand why people put seat covers, especially fabric seat covers over the stock fabric ones. That too, right after taking delivery and some of them don't care about the color or design either.
Seat covers sometimes also make the sitting position high and most of the people notice this only after the installation. I once sat in a WagonR with art leather covers and the sitting position was so high that the steering wheel was interfering with my view of the instrument cluster which was highly annoying.
And art leather seat covers gets so irritatingly warm during summers that I feel they are not really made for our climatic conditions.
Why not use the stock covers first and when they gets torn or in a beyond cleanable conditions then only think about seat covers.

[hserus]

GTO and Sherlocked, I would love to, but two young kids mean rather more than normal amounts of mess in a car, especially when one is a toddler. Spilled juice, occasional 'diaper escapes', sick kid puking in the car, etc tends to occur at times, and some of those things tend to defy being 100% cleaned up. So, whether or not I hate seat covers (which I do) I guess I am stuck with them.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by hserus

GTO and Sherlocked, I would love to, but two young kids mean rather more than normal amounts of mess in a car, especially when one is a toddler. Spilled juice, occasional 'diaper escapes', sick kid puking in the car, etc tends to occur at times, and some of those things tend to defy being 100% cleaned up. So, whether or not I hate seat covers (which I do) I guess I am stuck with them.

Exactly. My three year old loves to jump around in the car itself. That means foot prints on the back of seats or on seats.

Art leather has been doing the job with aplomb, requiring just an occasional wipe (which the cleaner does), as opposed to interior cleaning which wasted 2 hours of my time everytime.

[Mortis]

If your fear of staining the original upholstery is the reason you want to opt for seat covers then why dont you give ScotchGard a shot ? It works pretty well and all you need is a proper shampoo of the upholstery every 1-1.5 years.

[miharbe]

Originally Posted by GTO

Why do you want seat covers then? I don't believe in the 'protect forever, but never use' school of thought. The seats are made for your comfort. If there's anything that takes away from that, it's not worth it.

As you might have guessed, none of my cars have seat covers.

Seat cleaning is cheap too. Just do it once in 3 - 6 months and you're all set.

None of my current rides have seat covers. I have a simple belief that the seats are meant for you and not for the next owner. Cleaning every 6 months costs INR 1000 and is a much better option I feel.

Originally Posted by hserus

GTO and Sherlocked, I would love to, but two young kids mean rather more than normal amounts of mess in a car, especially when one is a toddler. Spilled juice, occasional 'diaper escapes', sick kid puking in the car, etc tends to occur at times, and some of those things tend to defy being 100% cleaned up. So, whether or not I hate seat covers (which I do) I guess I am stuck with them.

So you can live with stained seat covers but not stained seats? Why save the seats for a new owner who will probably buy the car at less than 50% of what you got it at while you are "forced" to live with seat covers. As GTO has rightly mentioned cleaning them every 3-6 months really works well. My first kid is 3 years and second one 4 months so I am in a similar scenario.

[hserus]

Phamilyman - jumping around is something my two year old does a lot too.

Mortis - thanks for the scotchgard reco. Sounds well worth a look.

Miharbe - that is an interesting POV to be sure. I am inclined to try it.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by hserus

GTO and Sherlocked, I would love to, but two young kids mean rather more than normal amounts of mess in a car, especially when one is a toddler. Spilled juice, occasional 'diaper escapes', sick kid puking in the car, etc tends to occur at times, and some of those things tend to defy being 100% cleaned up. So, whether or not I hate seat covers (which I do) I guess I am stuck with them.

Totally can relate to this scenario. My 3 year old wants to eat food in the parking lot inside the car sitting in the driver's seat. And he moves from the front seat to the back and walks on the seats when eating his food inside the car. The art leather comes in handy to clean it off without any pains and no staining happens. This means a cleaner looking car the next time you get in to drive. In comparison my parents car had only the stock seat covers which started looking grimy and stained within 6 months of ownership. They too shifted to art leather for a better looking interior. It is all in the perspective. If you have the time and patience to clean the stock seat covers every 3-6 months and dont mind a slightly grimy looking interior until you get the cleaning done, you can stay with the stock covers. Else art leather is the best to maintain a clean looking interior.

If it is only you that is not feeling comfortable on the art leather, as you have pointed out in one of the posts, use a soft towel on the seat during driving. This should protect you and also be easy for cleaning due to your kids!

[sinhead]

Originally Posted by hserus

Are there any reasonable alternatives?

Two of my friends have got seat covers which have Jute on contact areas instead of fabric. Both are happy, and assure that there is no sweat problem at all. The cars are - Wagon R and XUV.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by GTO

I don't believe in the 'protect forever, but never use' school of thought...As you might have guessed, none of my cars have seat covers.

+1 to that. I like the original contour and fabeic. Use it and if it gets damaged then replace it, should be the right policy. I used my Swift with the same fine OE seat fabric for more than eight years and I solfd off the car with the fine OE fabric.