dubcaps

I searched and came up empty handed. The seatbelts on my 3rd gen are rather disgusting and i was wondering the best way to get them looking new again, whether it be taking them off or leaving them on. Also for future reference how would i take them off, and what cleaners are recommended? Thanks for the help.
-stephen

DamonB

i have never found a nice solution either. What I have done in the past is sit outside the car with the seatbelt extended all the way (put a c-clamp or something on it to keep it from retracting) and liberally soak it with upholstery cleaner. I mean dripping wet. Then lots of elbow grease with a nylon scrub brush and a thorough rinse in cool water.

It is a PITA, but works. If anybody has "seat belt cleaner in a can" please chime in!

dubulup

How do the seatbelts get so freakin' dirty???

Wankelguy

I took the belts out of my RX3 and soaked them in a bucket with dishsoap and hot water, then scrubbed them a bit with a nylon bristled brush. They came out real nice and clean. It was quite a bit of work, but sometimes there just isn't an easy way to do things right.

dubcaps

i have no idea how they got so dirty, they were like that when i got the car.
-stephen

DomFD3S

Seatbelts get dirty because of the oils from your hands. Because of the oil and the constant exposure to the sun/heat (when your car is parked), your seatbelts can look pretty gross.

One solution that may work (no guarantees, but this is what I would try), would be to use the Oxi-Clean stuff. Just rub some of it on there or you may want to put some of it in a spray bottle and saturate the area. Then use a towel and wipe off.

Icemark

You do not want to clean seatbelts as any water contact will weaken them. Adding soaps to the mix makes it even worse.

If the belts are bad dirty, replace them.

Cleaning them will only weaken them in the event of an accident.

DomFD3S

Well, the material used in seatbelts is a nylon based fabric. I don't think that it would be weakened that badly (although I could be wrong). But I would think that it is similar to cleaning a backpack.

Although I do agree, if your seatbelts are really dirty, just replace them.

RonKMiller

Nah, only if you use a solvent. Woolite and water is OK.
I would stay away from the Oxi-clean.

Icemark

The difference is when the backpack straps fail, the back pack falls off and might hit the back of your foot, VS when the seat belts fail you fly out of the windshield.

If the material is as strong as people think then why does both Mazda and the US government suggest replacing the belts after any accident above 25 MPH.

I know I trust clean new belts… can you say the same for old dirty and then cleaned belts??

And besides fat and oils, the next most common additive to soaps is Lye... something that anyone who has seen Fight Club, knows is a very highly caustic agent.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

From what I've read on the web, normal light/weak soaps are fine to use on seat belts.

However, there are many products out there that advertise "seat belt safe" or are specially designed for seat belts:

http://www.goodspeedmotoring.com/sub...egory=Cleaners

IMO, if you have the money, just replace the seat belts. If you don't, just make sure to use a cleaner on them that is advertised to be used on them.

Happy cleaning!

DamonB

OEM seatbelts are made from synthetic fibers, a gentle cleaner will not harm them in any way. It is recommended that seat belts be replaced after a collision because since these belts are synthetic the fibers literally melt due to the enormous stress placed on them in a collision (generates heat). Ounce this has ocurred the seatbelt is of course weakened.

Take a walk through a junk yard sometime and inspect the belts of cars that were in frontal collisions. You'll find you can identify the size of the person in the car due to the marks on the belt.

Pete_89T2

iTrader: (4)

Reviving an ancient thread... The FD I recently picked up came with a pretty grungy drivers side belt, so I was searching the forum for safe cleaning methods. Came up with nothing, and concluded that there's really no safe method out there that would clean the belts to my satisfaction without possibly compromising their strength, so I started looking into new belts from Mazda (a very expensive solution) and then looking for shops that do post-accident seat belt restoration services.

Hit google and quickly found these guys that can re-web your belts for about $75 each belt + shipping: https://www.safetyrestore.com/#center_column

For that price you can pick from a list of standard colors, or get them color matched to your Mazda OEM color. You ship them your belts, and they say they will turn them around and ship them back to you with all new webbing in 24 hours.

Haven't used the service yet, so I can't vouch for this particular shop. But I'm sure there are lots of other shops that do the same thing, so it would be worth shopping around if you have grungy belts.

DC5Daniel

iTrader: (10)

I believe Dale Clark and some others recently posted they had good experience with this business. I think it's good value for money at $75.

yurcivicsux

just clean them, don't over think it.