leather seats

[mrsmag]

We just bought a car with leather seats. The salesman told us we should get one of those mats for underneath the seat. I had always read that you shouldn't do that because it could compromise safety. But on another message board several ladies said they recommended doing it and even a CPS tech did. Thoughts?

[Splash]

I use a towel under my car seats. Just a towel. If I need to prop of the seat at the bight, I roll the towel some. Otherwise I just leave it as is, or sometimes fold it over.
Something thin and pliable (like a towel) won't hurt. But something thick or hard can.
I would just use a regular old towel.

E

[mrsmag]

rolled up or just flat? :)

[Splash]

oh, flat. Unless you need it to use in the seat bight to make the angle a bit better. Otherwise, just flat.

[shilo]

i used rubbermaid shelf liner on my leather. it is the rubbery stuff that comes on rolls meant for lining kitchen drawers or putting under your throw rugs to keep them from slipping. you can get it at target or a drugstore. i have read in several places (including carseatdata.org) that this is safe to use. when we switched over from the infant seat to the convertible, i checked underneath and the leather was doing just fine, protected by the liner.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[o_mom]

Depends on what carseat you have - My Britax seats have yet to leave a permanent mark. The Cosco Scenera, OTOH, has left what looks to be permanent dents in the leather (it's been 2 months now and they are still there). It has much sharper edges on the bottom than Britax, so I will be finding something before I use it in there again.

I wonder if a piece of leather would work for this? It would not be compressible and would be tough enough not to tear. An upholstry shop might have some leather scraps to sell you cheap that you could just cut to size.

[pampamz]

I use a bathtowel folded in half once. It also is a great way to catch icky crumbs etc. Whenever we move the seats I just take the towel and give it a shake. Voila -- clean!

[mom2acrew]

I agree shelf liner or a super thin (cheap motel type ;) towel is fine. Some techs may disagree but we have discussed this at length and I think it is a bit of a liability issue so SK coalitions stay away from it. There have been rumors of self liner melting to seats or getting wet and leaving stains on the seats....personally I have never seen this. I guess it is probably a good idea to check your seats often?

FWIW I have leather too but only since Feb my WZ or Husky have yet to do any damage.