Hi Guys,

I've been the owner of a fabulous A3 for 6 months now. Over the past few months I have had the heated seat constantly on. The issue I have is that the seat began getting patches or stains (photo). As you can see the stains are getting worse. Has anyone had this issue or know of a cause or remedy? You can make out the heater element so is there a problem with the heater being constantly on? Any advice would be greatly appreciated guys as this has got me stumped. 

Thanks

Welcome to the forum Steve, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch :) 

Well 2 things are coming to my mind. Firstly, drinks or other stuff has been leaked into.the seats which have been absorbed into the seat foam. As the heater elements are on this is allowing the stains to come through due to the heat. 

The other thing I'm wondering is if your a3 has had any diamond bright or other interior protection applied which is reacting with the heat. 

I'm just guessing though and sorry I didn't help more.

Cheers

Steve 

thanks steve. as soon as I noticed the staining I started using a thin seat cushion just in case it was from my work clothes. It did cross my mind though that it may be something reacting to the heat. The car was fully valeted before I bought it so there is a possibility. Thanks for your thoughts steve. You have given me an avenue to explore. Much appreciated. 

Looks like water. It leaves limescale when dries 

Hello Steve,

Sorry to hear of your problem. "Car was fully valeted before I bought it " possibly gives an explanation. Car cleaning solutions can contain quite harsh chemical, and my guess would be that the seat base was soaked and these chemicals were not fully removed when it was cleaned. 

If it were mine, I would be cleaning this again using a Vax type system (and their diluted cleaning solution following instruction) ) whereby the cleaning solution is introduced into the fabric and foam, but then sucked out, taking the contamination with it. It might work, and indeed there is little to lose by giving it a try. Personally, I would not entrust this to your local lance wealding valeters where you risk even more chemicals being left in, but spend a couple of hours yourself doing it. 

If my theory is correct, you will probably find that the backrest is not too bad, since they seldom soak that area, but do so with the seat base. 

Perhaps you could let us know how you get on if you do try it.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Let the seat dry naturally if possible, ( put a cover over it not to get a damp bum) but certainly dont use a setting higher than 1 until it - and more importantly the foam - is fully dry. Days? 

12 hours ago, stevecol said:

thanks steve. as soon as I noticed the staining I started using a thin seat cushion just in case it was from my work clothes. It did cross my mind though that it may be something reacting to the heat. The car was fully valeted before I bought it so there is a possibility. Thanks for your thoughts steve. You have given me an avenue to explore. Much appreciated. 

You're welcome, glad I could help :) 

Gareth raises some very good points too, with regard to the cleaning products. 

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Gareth. You are right, the only affected area is the seat base. I plan on hiring a  rug doctor from Tesco sometime mid January and will post the results. Thank you all for your time guys. 

P.s. I'm guessing that there isn't any concerns with using a wet vac around the heating element in the seat?