Well, I believed the hype about the white seats so I took my 3 grandkids on a 6 hour road trip and several 30 mile shopping trips. They left two days ago and today I noticed some mess around my seat so I took out the car vac and a wet wash cloth to see if there was any damage and to clean if needed. Wow, what a mess!!! melted M&Ms, gunk in the seams, all kinds of dirt and detritus. What I didn’t not expect was ball point ink. Naive me. It cleaned up pretty well. The Ink was more challenging, but with scrubbing, I got 98% off with just water. All in all, I’m satisfied. It cleaned up well but is not bullet proof. Next time, will be a little more instructive. I’m going to try wipes on the faint residual of the ink. Any other hints?
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The cleaning guide mentions isopropyl alcohol. I also had two different mobile technicians mention to use Windex or any glass cleaner designed for cars (Turtle brands etc.) to clean them up as this is what they use to normal to hard stains. It worked really well for me so far. For very serious stains, they use an interior synthetic fabric cleaner but that's quite strong so use it with extreme care.
Please don't. What's the point to get the white interior then, just to have it covered?
It cleans rather easily and doesn't stain that easy. The driver seats needs a little bit more thorough cleaning (e.g. mild water, Windex etc.) maybe once per month if you wear jeans every day as I do as it leaves a very light blue hue, but it goes off very, very easy.
Super_Popular
Well-Known Member
It was not my choice but the deal was to good. I also wear blue jeans every day and those do stain the seats. So seat covers it is.
Denim stains the seats? Stains as in - wiping with water or windex will not clean the blue dye off the white seats?
Super_Popular
Well-Known Member
From what I have seen and been told yes, jeans can stain the seats. Tesla says they will replace them if that happens but I highly doubt that and if so it will be an up hill battle.
MelaniainLA
Member
Please don't let kids have food and especially pens, markers and crayons in a $100k car. Problem solved.
+1
I know there are parents who will disagree with this but I have this rule in my car for my kid and I've had zero issues. She just knows that if it marks or is edible/drinkable, it's not allowed in my car. Anything else is fine.
My wife has the opposite policy (anything is allowed). The condition of her car makes me cringe. We have a M3 reserved for her and she wants a white interior. I'm not gonna lie. I'm already crying a little bit on the inside for her future 3.
Good to hear they clean well, that’s what I ordered but was sitting in a showroom model this weekend and it was jean stained like crazy.
Grandparents are not parents. BUT lesson learned and will sensitize parents regarding ground rules. Still loads of fun. 
TaoJones
Beyond Driven
If you haven’t seen it in person, the white interior really does look nice.
Water hasn’t done jack for the removal of denim dye transfer stains in the previous grey seats or the current ventilated tan seats. Maybe I wear the wrong jeans. A combination of stonewashed (light blue), black, and properly broken in 501s (over time, dark blue to light blue). Nothing too esoteric.
I don’t own Windex because I have tinted windows, and am not likely to use Invisible Glass on my seats.
What has helped is Bick 4 and some light pressure with a microfiber towel. No need yet or probably ever for Bick 1, which is an aggressive cleaner. Bick 4 is mellow - it’s suitable for Western boots (inside and out), seats, wallets, and leather trim inside the car. Stuff that doesn’t get completely filthy in other words. Grandchildren notwithstanding.
People have a choice when they sit in my car. They can sit with food or drink - in the trunk. Wrapped in Saran Wrap. Accept no substitutes.
Driver’s seat gets replaced soon after 8 months (ordered at 4ish months) due to the wrinkling problem and premature wear.
Hopefully it matches the passenger seat or that one gets replaced as well. Bleh.
Anyway, the treatment from the factory isn’t bad - it just can’t handle denim dye transfer without some periodic upkeep. As for why the ventilated seats don’t hold up as well in general as the previous variants, I have no idea.
Just another thing about which vegans and Model 3 owners for the time being won’t have to worry.
Water hasn’t done jack for the removal of denim dye transfer stains in the previous grey seats or the current ventilated tan seats. Maybe I wear the wrong jeans. A combination of stonewashed (light blue), black, and properly broken in 501s (over time, dark blue to light blue). Nothing too esoteric.
I don’t own Windex because I have tinted windows, and am not likely to use Invisible Glass on my seats.
What has helped is Bick 4 and some light pressure with a microfiber towel. No need yet or probably ever for Bick 1, which is an aggressive cleaner. Bick 4 is mellow - it’s suitable for Western boots (inside and out), seats, wallets, and leather trim inside the car. Stuff that doesn’t get completely filthy in other words. Grandchildren notwithstanding.
People have a choice when they sit in my car. They can sit with food or drink - in the trunk. Wrapped in Saran Wrap. Accept no substitutes.
Driver’s seat gets replaced soon after 8 months (ordered at 4ish months) due to the wrinkling problem and premature wear.
Hopefully it matches the passenger seat or that one gets replaced as well. Bleh.
Anyway, the treatment from the factory isn’t bad - it just can’t handle denim dye transfer without some periodic upkeep. As for why the ventilated seats don’t hold up as well in general as the previous variants, I have no idea.
Just another thing about which vegans and Model 3 owners for the time being won’t have to worry.
CameronB
Member
A fellow forum member recommended just regular wet wipes - and that’s what I have used to clean my ultra white seats. Once. In 6 months. That’s right - I wiped down the seats once in half a year. And I wear blue jeans almost single day. And my wife wears blue jeans almost as often too.
The blue jeans staining is way overrated in my experience. I know it can happen. And a passengers jeans caused a small stain on my back seat that prompted me to do the single cleaning described above. But the front seats are still ultra white with no stains after 6 months. Amazing. Maybe some jeans are just more color fast than others.
But in any event, try wet wipes. You may be pleasently surprised at how well they work.
The blue jeans staining is way overrated in my experience. I know it can happen. And a passengers jeans caused a small stain on my back seat that prompted me to do the single cleaning described above. But the front seats are still ultra white with no stains after 6 months. Amazing. Maybe some jeans are just more color fast than others.
But in any event, try wet wipes. You may be pleasently surprised at how well they work.
How hard was it for you to get Tesla to give you a new driver's seat? I am not happy with the condition of my own after only 4 months and maybe 13K miles. I only weigh about 170-175 pounds, am careful not to shift my butt all around and yet the seat cushion has got quite loose and squishy. I haven't yet complained.
Super_Popular
Well-Known Member
I really wanted the black seats so getting nice seat covers will give me what I want and hopefully protect the seats.
TaoJones
Beyond Driven
Well, it would have gone faster had I not followed up their 2-month estimate at 3 months only to find that the seat was not present. A week later after an escalation, it arrived.
Given that the seat wear at 4 months was worse than my previous seat at over 2 years, it wasn't a long or particularly difficult conversation. Although the wrinkling alone would have been enough. They've replaced a bunch of ventilated seats.
Be very careful with your choice of seat covers. Model X front seats have airbags built into the side bolsters and generic seat covers will get in the way of these - there are multiple warnings about this in the user manual. However I have seen a few specific Model X seat covers with cut out flaps to allow the seat airbags to deploy through them. But personally I wouldn't bother with seat covers, especially on a Model X with such nice soft touch synthetic leather.
A number of years ago I went out to eat with a cousin and her 5 year old. They gave the 5 year old some crayons with the kids menu at the restaurant and I didn’t realize it but he brought the crayons into the car and left them there. Of course crayons didn’t last long in the summer in Florida and they melted and made a huge mess.
Next time we went out to eat I asked the kid if he brought crayons back from the restaurant and he said that he thought he did, but he couldn’t remember where he put them. His father and I searched the back of my car for a while and finally found them... only this restaurant had given him colored pencils instead of crayons.
