vettebuyer6369

Ive heard different suggestions for cleaning original mid year seat belts; some seem a little harsh. I'm concerned with taking out the crispness of the belts as Ive seen some that are too "soft." Id also like to clean the labels that are a little dingy, but I dont want to hurt the 53 year old original tags.

What's the safe way people clean these up?

Gary's '66

I have used a product called Folex for cleaning many types of materials. I've never cleaned my seat belts so, this just a suggestion based on things that I have cleaned in the past.

Gary

65tripleblack

Call Charlie Santorelli at Seatbelt Sity. Maybe he'll help you.

59BlueSilver

I just cleaned mine. I tried using the usual upholstery & carpet cleaners to remove the stains, mostly coffee, but they just didn't do the job. Yesterday I removed them from the car, sprayed them with simple green, then immersed them in a tub of very soapy (Tide) water. Let them sat for a couple of hours, brushed them with a stiff brush, rinsed & dried in the sun. They look brand new!

lawdawg

^^
ive always soaked in hot water with woolite. then brush with a stiff bristle brush, brushing out the buckle itself if possible, the stretch out nice and straight and let dry in sunshine on a towel. You will be suprised at the results.

Post some before and after pics bossman

gbvette62

I like the idea of Tide, or some other mild detergent designed for use with fabrics. I don't think I would use anything too strong, for fear of effecting the integrity of the webbing and/or stitching.

vettebuyer6369

I just soaked them in a bucket of water/tide mix and lightly brushed them completely with new toothbrushes. Rinsed them out and now drying, inside rather than baking in the sun.

We shall see.

L72copo

Did mine in the dish washer. Had to wait until she (wife) left for the day. Also didn't use the dry cycle.

Don

AZDoug

They come out nice and clean and new looking, other than wear from use.

Doug

Sal.

I had my belts out because I was installing carpeting. I put the bright blue belts in the kitchen sink and scrubbed them with a brush you use to clean your hands and dish washing detergent (Dawn). They came out great. It's best to do it when your wife isn't home.

Mike Geary

For general cleaning: Woolite soak

For rust: Whink (sparingly)

For spot stain removal: Folex, a miracle spot remover

I minimize brushing to avoid fuzzing up the surface.

Hang to dry with some weight attached to the end, e.g. a spring clamp.

Mike Geary

do your baseball caps at the same time!

C.W.C.

I have a different perspective. I own a dry cleaning business and I have dry cleaned some pretty badly stained belts and they clean beautifully removing any oil and grease stains without making them limp or fuzzy as scrubbing methods do.
You do have to remove the hardware (the cloth tags can stay on-just remove the metal) prior to cleaning and then resew after. If any forum member would like to try this method contact me and I will dry clean them for you for FREE.
You remove the hardware before sending them to me and you pay the postage for both ways. (after all it is free) Rust stains can also be removed but but may have some risk to color depending on the severity of staining.
A shoe repair shop can easily resew the metal hardware after they are cleaned. Chuck 708 738 six-five six-five ---Please, no calls after 8 PM C.S.T. ---

vettebuyer6369

They came out nice. The stitching is blue again, they kept their structure, the labels look better. I was shocked at how much dirt wound up in the bucket. Add the new buckles I picked up at Bloomington and looks good.

HeyMark

Just finished our bright blue '66 original belts; came out great and look as new! Removed them from car and cleaned with Resolv carpet cleaner. Soaked belts with cleaner and gently brushed them both sides, then thoroughly rinsed. Do not brush the Irving Air Chute tags, that fabric is too fragile.

C-1 Generation 2

If my memory serves me correctly I used Ajax dish washing liquid in warm water and let it soak overnight and then rinsed. That was on a 79 Z28 with light blue seat belts and they look like new.

Roger Walling

One note on used seat belts.
If you notice small bits of fuzz around the shoulder area that can be picked off with tweezers, discard the belts.

The bits of cloth are from the shirt that a person was wearing during an accident where the belt was stretched and tore off the bits from the shirt.

New belts are recommended.