No Sew DIY Backseat Cover to Keep Your Car So Fresh and So Clean

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If your life is anything like mine and you have furbabies and/or children, you spend a lot of time in your car. And after a while, especially in 100+ degree summer months like we’re currently experiencing in Texas, your car can begin to smell like a fast food joint or gym locker room.  Yuck! But thanks to Yankee Candle’s® on-the-go fragrances and my no sew DIY backseat cover, I’m here to share how I manage to keep my car so fresh and so clean, clean. 

Yes, you read that right, a no sew DIY backseat cover. I’m all about simplicity and function. Unfortunately I have not found a budget friendly backseat cover that will stay put and do what it’s meant to do, protect my seats from overall mess and the ever dreaded dog hair.

It’s because of this that I’ve decided to make my own, washable, budget friendly version. Here’s what you’ll need.

Supplies:

iron
measuring tape (if you don’t drive a 4-door Honda Civic)
scissors
white pencil/chalk
fusible bonding web
fabric ribbon
twin flat sheet or your fabric of choice (yardage will depend on your backseat measurements)

Instructions:

Please use caution and follow instructions VERY carefully.

If you have a 4-door Honda Civic, I’ve found that a twin flat sheet is the perfect size for this project.   If you drive anything else however, feel free to test this theory out on your backseat, but if it falls short, then measure your backseat’s width from window to window, along with the height and depth of the backseat itself to know how much fabric you’ll need.  I promise, measuring is the hardest part of the project.  Once you’ve figured that out and purchased your fabric* accordingly, the rest is a breeze.  

*Once you have your fabric, go ahead and pre wash it to make sure you won’t experience any surprise shrinkage, and most importantly, to see if the color bleeds.  If it bleeds, you may want to choose another option, to keep it from bleeding on your backseat during any spills.

Now clean out your car, or at least the backseat, so that you can properly lay the fabric down to mark where you’ll need to place your ties.  For me that meant laying down the twin flat sheet as you would on the bed, with the large hem being tucked under the headrests.

Once I ensured the placement properly covered all of the backseat, I took my white pencil and marked the edges of each headrest on the sheet so that I would know where to attach my ties.

Since I’m doing this for my dogs, I’m allowing the draping to fall to the floor, because they take turns moving from the backseat to the floor.  If however you’re looking for a kid friendly cover** or prefer a hammock cover*** for your furbabies, you’ll need to add a few extra steps here.

**For a kid friendly cover, take this opportunity to properly lay your fabric over the entire seat so that you can cut slits for seatbelt holes and seatbelt straps. Make sure all seat belts and buckles come through and are easy to access.

***For a hammock backseat cover, take this opportunity to mark the bottom of the sheet, with the edges of the front seat headrests, so you can attach ties there too.  Then attach them the same way the backseat headrest ties are attached below.

To begin, cut your ribbon into 6, 12″ (inch) pieces – to allow 2 ties per headrest, turn the iron to the setting indicated on the fusible bonding web packaging, and lay out the marked section of the flat sheet on the ironing board.

Then cut 2″ sections of the fusible bonding web – fold them in half, and place them over the marked areas.

Next, lay about 1″ of your 12″ ribbon over it, and iron on as directed on the fusible bonding web package.

Do this again 5 more times until ties are securely fastened and head out to your car to tie the ties behind each headrest.  Once tied, begin straightening and tucking in the rest of the sheet to ensure complete coverage.****

****If you think you’ll need extra protection from spills or wet/muddy furbabies, feel free to stick a puppy pad or something similar on the seat before you put the cover on.

Even if you don’t have pets or kids, you can easily use this solution to protect your seats during moves or when transporting any dirty, messy items.

And if you double your materials, you can easily make two backseat covers so you don’t have to wait for one to come out of the wash.

Check out the quick YouTube tutorial here and feel free to comment and share away!

Top that with one of Yankee Candle’s® on-the-go fragrances from the Auto Fragrance and Air Care sections of your neighborhood Walmart and voilà, you’ve not only cut down your car cleaning time, but you’ve created a super easy way to transition your car to a grown up approved travel space.

Here’s my YouTube video on how I ended up writing this post.  Feel free to comment and share away on this one too. 

If you haven’t tried them yet, Yankee Candle’s® Smart Scent™ Vent Clip and Car Jar® Ultimate fragrances, at under $5, are wonderful odor-neutralizing additions to any small spaces.  I know I love the fact that I can get the vent clip to fasten securely to my dash vents and have the fragrance released as air flows through, or hang the Car Jar® from my rearview mirror and enjoy its natural essential oils.

My personal favs are the island blend of Pink Sands™ and the masculine undertones in MidSummer’s Night®. 

Which are your favs and how do you manage to keep your car so fresh and so clean?

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Rocio Chavez

Digital Content Creator & Multimedia Designer at Your Sassy Self

I'm a Mexican-American, Sassy, Bilingual, Professional Woman with a passion for life long learning, sharing, and living my best life. I'm the founder and digital content creator for Your Sassy Self and work full time as a Multimedia Designer. Let's connect and see how we can change the world...or at least change our perspective of it. 😉

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