There’s no doubt that Britain loves its choccie - with approximately 115,643 tonnes of chocolate sold every year here and as many as 95% of Brits saying they eat chocolate. If you’re someone who has to have chocolate on hand, no matter where you are, then the chances are that you’re eating chocolate in your car - and are likely allowing your passengers to eat chocolate in the car too!
Dropped chocolate, which has been sat on, or has simply melted due to the temperature in the car, is a sticky nightmare if your car has fabric upholstery. It is one very good reason why parents often opt for leather upholstery treated with a stain protector! Chocolate contains certain oils and fats that can embed themselves in the material, making it difficult to remove and leaving your seats prone to staining. The best way to clean up a chocolate stain is to act as quickly as you can and remove it soon after its occurs.
How do I get chocolate of my car upholstery?
If you’ve ever had that sinking feeling when exiting your car, seeing a gooey brown splodge on your seat, you’ll have learnt that a little piece of dropped choccie goes an awfully long way on car upholstery, so what’s the best way to get it out?
- As soon as you spot it, act - don’t leave it to deal with until later
- Don’t rub at it with a tissue or cloth - you’ll just push it further into the fabric fibres
- Once you’re at home, run in and get some ice; put the ice on the chocolate stain to harden the choccie and stop it spreading
- Wait until the chocolate has hardened, then use your windscreen ice-scraper to scrape the hardened chocolate off your seat
- Be gentle, you don’t want to damage the upholstery fabric
- Don’t use a brush to sweep up the chocolate scraping, you’ll just spread the chocolate dust around your car
- Hoover up the chocolate scrapings with your car vac or use the extension on your home vacuum cleaner
- Wet a cloth and pop some washing-up liquid on it
- Dab it on the stain left by the chocolate, but don’t scrub at it
- Keep dabbing and then blot the stain with a dry cloth
- Keep doing this until the stain has disappeared
- After all this - be super careful next time you reach for a sweet treat in the car!
How can I keep chocolate from melting in my car?
If you’re a real chocoholic then you may want to choose your next car based on whether it has a chilled glove-box or centre console! Just think, no more melted choccie, no more stained seats, just cool, delicious chocolate; whenever you want it! It’s a tempting thought for those of us who love chocolate, but it’s all about keeping the car as cool as possible so that the chocolate doesn’t melt. You also need to be aware that if you’re eating chocolate in the car, little pieces may fall off and fall into the crevices of the upholstery - so you may not even know about it until it’s too late!
Buy a new or used car with Swansway
Perhaps you need to consider another car if you’re a chocoholic - one that’s a bit easier to clean! We have plenty of new and used cars available that have a range of features to help prevent melted chocolate becoming a cleaning nightmare, such as leather seats, air-con and climate control. Our team are on-hand to help you decide on the best car for you - whether you’re looking for a car only for yourself or for your family and little ones, our selection will leave you spoilt for choice. If you’re unsure what you're looking for or would like more information about one of the vehicles you see on our website, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our team and we’d be happy to help you.