Impossible to Remove Stain/Mark on White Seats

[kishkaru]

I got my Model Y with white seats just over a month ago. Somehow I was able to stain/mark the front passenger seat with something. From the color, it looks like it could be dye from jeans but not certain. I did not put anything other than passengers on the front seat, so it should not be from cargo. I also don't have any pets. Unfortunately I didn't notice these stains until likely a few days after the event, when I was working at the front passenger side to clean the floor mats.

I researched and tried nearly every solution from this forum for cleaning the white seats, and had no luck. None of these solutions even made a little bit of change.

From least to most abrasive:

1) Dawn dish soap
2) Baby wipes
3) 91% IPA
4) Diluted and concentrated degreaser
5) Magic eraser

I thought the white seats were supposed to be easy to clean? As I understand, there's some kind of coating on the seat which is supposed to make it resistant to permanent dye transfer of the PU leather. I hear of folks who don't even think about the white seats, have pets, etc. that haven't stained the seats, claiming easy clean with just dish soap. And yet here I am within 1 month of ownership I managed to stain it.

From the Model Y owners manual ("Cleaning the Interior", page 171):

Polyurethane Seats

Wipe spills as soon as possible using a soft cloth
moistened with warm water and non-detergent soap.
Wipe gently in a circular motion. After cleaning, allow
the seats to air dry.
Be careful with dyes, such as from clothing or denim,
that come into contact with the seats. Dyes can diffuse
into the seat material over time and cause staining.

CAUTION: Aftermarket, non-Tesla seat covers may
inhibit the sensitivity of seat sensors and may
cause staining or damage

Cautions for Interior Cleaning

CAUTION: Using solvents (including alcohol),
bleach, citrus, naphtha, or silicone-based products
or additives on interior components can cause
damage.

When I took my vehicle to the Tesla Service Center (for unrelated reasons), I asked the Service Advisor to try to clean it off with whatever they use at the shop. Apparently they use a high-quality upholstery cleaner that works well. Unfortunately that did not work at all in my case, and they tried a few other solutions as well.

I was told by the Service Advisor that at this point the only solution is to replace the front passenger seat assembly, the entire thing including power electronics. Unfortunately, they don't have a way to replace just the seating areas. The cost for this for the front passenger white seat is $1870 (seat assembly) + $68.25 (labor) for a total of $1938.25.

I don't want to pay nearly $2k to replace a seat assembly for a brand new vehicle. If you have any other ideas of things I can try, please let me know!

 

[2101Guy]

I’d try a local auto upholstery/convertible top type place. If they can’t clean it, they can certainly replace the actual seat cover.

less drastic: find a leather repair type place. Pretty sure they can use white airbrushing paint that should result in an invisible repair.
Or, try yourself for cheap

 

[ArizonaJon]

I use Cadillac Boot & Shoe Care. This is a cleaner and polish. Note this is on a Bolt EV with "leather" seating. Removes the black stain from pants.

 

[kishkaru]

I forgot to add the images to the initial post:

Closeup of some of the marks:

 

[kishkaru]

I’d try a local auto upholstery/convertible top type place. If they can’t clean it, they can certainly replace the actual seat cover.

less drastic: find a leather repair type place. Pretty sure they can use white airbrushing paint that should result in an invisible repair.
Or, try yourself for cheap

Thanks, I wasn't aware of the ability to airbrush paint. The big ? is whether it works for PU (synthetic) leather.
The other ? is whether the color will match. In my case, since the stains/marks are scattered throughout, the entire bottom section of the seat may need to be re-painted, which would make it stand out compared to the rest of the seat, or other seats. But maybe there's a specific one made for the Tesla white.

 

[kishkaru]

I use Cadillac Boot & Shoe Care. This is a cleaner and polish. Note this is on a Bolt EV with "leather" seating. Removes the black stain from pants.

Also a great idea. Unfortunately, I've used this kind of leather conditioner before on shoes/boots, and while it works great, it usually permanently darkens the leather. Usually not an issue on shoes as you use the conditioner on both, but on a single white seats it will stick out. In your case, do you have black seats on your Bolt EV, or did you use the conditioner on all seats to even it out?

 

[jeffbco]

Find out who your high-end (Porsche, etc.) dealers use for leather / seat "fixes" and contact them. They deal with this all the time and are magicians.

 

[ArizonaJon]

Also a great idea. Unfortunately, I've used this kind of leather conditioner before on shoes/boots, and while it works great, it usually permanently darkens the leather. Usually not an issue on shoes as you use the conditioner on both, but on a single white seats it will stick out. In your case, do you have black seats on your Bolt EV, or did you use the conditioner on all seats to even it out?

I have dual color seats - a very light gray, almost white and a dark gray. I use it on the light gray. There is no darking. It matches the areas that did not need cleaning. Note the seat are not real leather in either the Bolt or the Tesla. Mercedes calls it Pleather.

 

[GeorgeC1]

Find out who your high-end (Porsche, etc.) dealers use for leather / seat "fixes" and contact them. They deal with this all the time and are magicians.

They are cleaning top grade real leather. That’s not what Tesla uses.

 

[jeffbco]

They are cleaning top grade real leather. That’s not what Tesla uses.

Doesn't matter - that's what they do as a livelihood...certainly better than I can.

 

[origingalatic]

have you tried magic eraser ? normally I wouldn't recommend it since it's quite abrasive. But since you have tried everything it seems, give that a shot. Start off with a small spot on the side, spray some cleaning solutions or Dr. Bronner soap solutions or detergent like Dawn.

If that failed, try asking advice in Reddit detailing https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/
Bunch of pros and ethus there that maybe able to help you out.

 

[origingalatic]

Doesn't matter - that's what they do as a livelihood...certainly better than I can.

That just sound like off the cuff remark.... Why not try a professional detailer instead ?

 

[JasontheBeaver]

Lots of stab-in-the-dark comments in the thread, I'll clarify some things for you;
First off, if you've tried your list of cleaners, including a magic eraser, then your stains are almost assuredly permanent.
A professional who specializes in re-dying leather will be able to re-dye just the seat bottom and make it look really well, matching the rest of the car. Otherwise an upholstery shop can replace just the material on the bottom without the expense of replacing the entire seat.
I strongly discourage you from trying to paint the seat yourself, total disaster waiting to happen there.

Whether an automotive seat is real leather or vinyl is totally inconsequential to how you clean them because even real leather automotive seats are painted with a polyurethane coating, which makes them behave exactly like your Tesla vinyl seats. Call them faux-leather, vinyl, vegan leather, or whatever other gimmicky marketing words come up next, it's all the same on the surface, polyurethane.
There are a couple of exceptions to this... uncoated leather seats as are found in Ford King Ranch trucks and some other rare models of cars need to be cleaned and treated like raw leather as is found on shoes, purses, etc. How do you know? Just drop some water on the leather, if it changes color, it's untreated. These seats benefit from regular leather conditioning to replace the oils that keep them flexible, they'll also darken the leather somewhat as another poster stated.
The other exception to when its appropriate to use leather conditioner on automotive seats, is when they are perforated natural leather (as was found on the early Tesla X Models), this is because the leather conditioner soaks into those smalls holes and into the edges of the exposed raw leather, replacing oils and keeping them flexible.
Using leather conditioner on any other automotive seat is a complete waste of time and money.

Sadly, as you have discovered, polyurethane is a very durable coating for car seats, but it is not 100% impervious to staining. This is why Optimum invented a ceramic coating for exactly this purpose, to provide an additional barrier against those chemicals/inks/dyes/etc that can stain polyurethane. I know, too late for you now, but it clarifies what's going on and clears up some of the other posts in this thread.

 

[Needsdecaf]

The fabric on the seats is called Ultra Leather. If a professional restoration shop cannot dye / paint it, a professional upholstery shop almost certainly can get this material and make you a new seat cover far cheaper than buying a new seat.

ULTRALEATHER® | ultrafabrics

 

[Birdman325]

Does anyone know if Tesla sells replacement white "covers"? (I am not sure if the white seat is a "cover" over the foam and the mechanicals or whether one would have to replace the entire seat (mechanism and all), but would be curious to know whether one could purchase just the white "cover" for the driver's seat, for example.

 

[elementsdk1]

Maybe try 303 interior cleaner? Not sure if it would matter anymore since you've already tried so many different things.

 

[vinny84]

Does anyone know if Tesla sells replacement white "covers"? (I am not sure if the white seat is a "cover" over the foam and the mechanicals or whether one would have to replace the entire seat (mechanism and all), but would be curious to know whether one could purchase just the white "cover" for the driver's seat, for example.

Tesla doesn’t sell seat covers. They sell the entire seat. One front seat is $1800 plus. Taptes sells white seat covers.

 

[laservet]

I had almost white cream colored seats in my previous vehicle that were claimed to be impervious to stains. But a law of the universe is that if it is white something will stain it. Over a dozen years and the seats had more stains than I could count, and I was fanatical about keeping stuff/people who might stain it away. That's why I went for the black interior on my Y although I really, really love the look of the white.

 

[kishkaru]

Tesla doesn’t sell seat covers. They sell the entire seat. One front seat is $1800 plus. Taptes sells white seat covers.

You're not supposed to use seat covers in Teslas. From page 28 of the Model Y owner's manual "Front and Rear Seats":

Seat Covers

WARNING: Do not use seat covers in Model Y.
Doing so could restrict deployment of the seat-
mounted side air bags if a collision occurs. Also, if
the vehicle is equipped with an occupant
detection system that is used to determine the
status of the passenger front airbag, seat covers
may interfere with this system.

 

[JasontheBeaver]

You're not supposed to use seat covers in Teslas. From page 28 of the Model Y owner's manual "Front and Rear Seats":

They're meaning the original covering on the seat bottom, the original seat cover. Not an aftermarket seat cover.