Deodorant melted into car seat, please help.

September 5, 2007 2:42 PM

I left a stick of speed stick deodorant on the seat of my car's seat, and the heat of the sun melted it into the seat's fabric. How should I get it out? It's melted into a lump that's stuck in the seat, and I can kind of scrape some of it off, but not all of it. My car also smells great.
posted by apathy0o0 to grab bag (9 comments total)

Honestly no certain idea, but the Goo Gone stuff has worked miracles on stuff I was sure wasn't coming out of other places. I'd test it using a small amount of Goo Gone on a small portion of the lump.
posted by WCityMike at 2:45 PM on September 5, 2007

Try ice, then chip it off. Works for wax, which I imagine is similar.
posted by acoutu at 2:46 PM on September 5, 2007

I seem to remember a way to remove wax from clothing is to lay newspaper (or maybe kitchen roll) over the stain and iron it - the iron melts the wax and the paper absorbs it. Could you do something similar with an iron or hairdrier and something absorbant?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:34 PM on September 5, 2007

I would remove as much as possible by scraping.
Then lay a towel over the spot (more layers=more absorbency) then hold a hot iron on the spot.
Watch carefully that you do not overheat the seat material.
Allow the spot to cool and repeat with a clean towel.
After you have removed as much as possible this way, use a steam cleaner on the surface of the upholstery.
You will never get it all out, but the smell will fade eventually.
posted by Seamus at 4:10 PM on September 5, 2007

I'd buy another speed stick and test various methods of getting it off of a cheap towel first. Car seats are expensive and you don't want to use a method that grinds it in further. One of the many fine cleaning products out there will probably take it up.
posted by TeatimeGrommit at 4:28 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

Is the fabric removable and washable?
posted by randomstriker at 5:44 PM on September 5, 2007

Sadly, it isn't, being the front passenger bucket seat. I'll try the scraping and ironing and report back.
posted by apathy0o0 at 6:50 PM on September 5, 2007

Hot car plus shop vac?
posted by mrbugsentry at 7:38 PM on September 5, 2007

If ironing it into a paper towel doesn't work, try freezing it by turning a can of canned-air upside down, then scraping the frozen area with a stiff brush to turn it into dust which you can then vacuum up.
posted by Myself at 4:55 AM on September 6, 2007 [1 favorite]