I Had a Professional Cleaning Service Deep Clean Our Stroller and Car Seat — Here’s How It Went

Let’s call it like it is: car seats and strollers are dirt, grime, and food magnets! Even though I have a weekday cleaning routine for our home, I rarely take the time to give our car seats and stroller a good cleaning. Car seats and strollers have so many different parts, and for safety reasons there are certain cleaning products and methods that are okay to use, and others that ARE NOT. Because of the mental headache of figuring out how to properly clean these products, I’ve just avoided the task altogether.

But like many other products and services that have made parents’ lives a bit easier, there’s a cleaning service out there from BabyQuip that claims it can eliminate the mental and physical (and dare I say emotional!) headache of cleaning car seats and strollers. 

BabyQuip offered to let me try out their cleaning service for free in exchange for a review, and I was eager to sign up! I tried it out, and here’s what I think.

In this article: What is BabyQuip’s Cleaning Service? | How Does It Work? | How Much Does It Cost? | Why I Chose It | The Process | What I Liked and Didn’t Like | What Do Other Buyers Say? | Final Thoughts

BabyQuip is a baby/child equipment rental and marketplace service offering baby gear items in over 900+ cities across the US and Canada. They also have a cleaning service with cleaning professionals that service car seats, strollers, high chairs, and more.

BabyQuip has a team of cleaning experts, called “Quality Providers” who have gone through their training program to learn the steps, products, and tools to properly clean baby gear. When I signed up for our cleaning, I started by entering our address on the BabyQuip website. Based on our location, I was able to choose from “schedule a pickup” or “customer drop off”. They also offer the option of “book a house call” in select locations, as well as “visit us at a local event” where they clean on the spot.

Then I was able to select the date and time when I wanted the items to be picked up from our home. Baby gear is cleaned and returned to you within 48 hours. For families who can’t be without their car seats for that long, BabyQuip also offers an overnight service for an additional fee. I chose a Wednesday night pickup and a Friday night return, before we planned to leave for a weekend trip on a Saturday morning.

Then I was able to give more information about the specific items that we wanted to have cleaned. They offer cleanings of car seats, strollers, double strollers, high chairs, rocker/gliders, and play mats. I chose to have our three car seats and our stroller cleaned. I entered the make and model of each item. They use that information to follow the specific manufacturer guidelines for cleaning. I also chose a cleaning package for each item from their four levels of cleaning services. At that point, I was able to see the name and phone number of the provider who would be available to pick up our items and clean for us.

BabyQuip’s cleaning costs are per item, and have a range depending on the service you select:

• The Basic ($19.99, 30 minutes): Vacuum and wipe down of hard surfaces
• Lotta Love ($39.99, 45 minutes): Vacuum, wipe down hard surfaces, clean and sanitize, light stain treatment (1-3 spots)
• The Works ($59.99, 60 minutes): Vacuum, wipe down hard surfaces, clean and sanitize, moderate stain treatment (several spots, including sunscreen removal)
• BabyQuip Clean ($79.99, 90 minutes): Vacuum, wipe down hard surfaces, clean and sanitize, heavy stain treatment (significant, all-over staining), vomit or potty accident treatment

We chose the BabyQuip Clean level for each of our items, because after a summer of road trips, they needed heavy stain treatment. We also chose “schedule a pickup”, which added on a $60 pickup fee and also includes a dropoff of the cleaned items. You can avoid this fee by choosing “customer drop off”. Items are cleaned within 48 hours, or you can select an overnight cleaning for an additional $24.99. Our total for having 4 items cleaned within 48 hours ($79.99 x 4) and a pickup/dropoff fee ($60) would have been $379.96.

I learned about BabyQuip from an Instagram ad and loved the idea of enlisting a professional to clean our car seats and strollers. After a busy summer of road trips and staring at our filthy car seats and stroller, when BabyQuip offered to let me try out their cleaning service for free in exchange for a review, I jumped at the opportunity! 

We booked and received confirmation of our BabyQuip order two weeks prior to the cleaning. We scheduled the cleaning to coincide with our return to New York City after a summer of traveling. Our order confirmation included a phone number and direct email address for our provider. A few days before our confirmed pick up window, she sent me a text to confirm our address and details for the cleaning and pick up. This was the first time we’d used the BabyQuip cleaning service and it was nice to have direct contact with the provider. She walked us through how to prep for the cleaning, and what to expect for the pickup. 

Our items were picked up on a Wednesday evening, after I took a few “before” photos outside of our apartment. Our car seats all have black covers, but were filled with crumbs. Our stroller is a light tan material, and I was skeptical that it could ever look clean again. 

After the items were cleaned, our provider sent us “after” photos. The car seats looked as clean as when we purchased them, and the stroller seat was completely free of stains!

The BabyQuip website is user-friendly and easy to navigate, but pick-up and delivery services are not available in all locations. The platform connects you with a service provider, but the experience can vary based on who does the cleaning. 

Our provider’s husband picked up the items on Wednesday evening during our pickup window of 5-6pm, and mentioned that he was doing multiple pickups that evening. We expected the items to be returned on Friday between 5-6pm, so that we would have time to install them in our car before the sun set and we left for our weekend trip early the next morning.

On Friday I texted our provider to confirm the delivery time. She responded that she was managing 11 items to be cleaned and dropped off that day. She said it was the busiest day she had ever had with cleanings, as she had accepted a few additional cleanings, including overnight services for multiple items. Our items ended up being returned to us after 9pm. 

Our items were also returned to us slightly damp, so we needed to allow them to dry overnight before we were able to install them the next morning. Our provider disclosed this information to us via text prior to delivery and also provided directions on how to expedite the drying process. 

The BabyQuip website shares customer reviews and feedback. Out of 30,000 customers who left a review on their site, BabyQuip reports that 99% of customers gave their experience a 5 star rating. Based on seeing the cleanliness of our items before and after the cleaning, I would rate the quality of our cleaning to be 5 stars as well. 

The BabyQuip cleaning service is pricey, depending upon the level of cleaning that you choose and the number of items that you have cleaned. We were able to try out this service free of charge, which is why we elected to have all three car seats and our stroller cleaned, and why we selected the highest level of 90-minutes per item cleaning. 

I was very impressed with the attention to detail and the quality of the cleaning of each item. I do not think that I would have been able to achieve the same level of cleanliness if I had attempted to clean the items myself. I could see myself using this service annually to maintain the quality of our car seats and strollers. We used the service as an end-of-summer clean, and it could also work as a fresh start going into a new year, after a long road trip, or as part of spring cleaning. It was really nice to have all three car seats out of the car at the same time, as it allowed me to clean the interior of our car. The seats needed a deep cleaning, too!

I could also definitely see myself using this thorough cleaning service again when moments require a bit of cleaning “panic”, such as their service specifically to clean car seats after vomit or potty accidents. Several years ago my oldest daughter became carsick and her car seat required a thorough cleaning. It took me HOURS to remove all of the fabric pieces from the car seat, research safe and effective cleaning solutions, and then reassemble the car seat again.

When it comes to car seats, safety is my number one priority and I’m grateful for the care and attention to detail shown by our cleaning provider. I had been avoiding cleaning our car seats because of the time and stress involved, and if we hadn’t used this service, it likely just wouldn’t have gotten done. 

A fun final note: BabyQuip providers can provide services at gatherings like parties, playdates, reunions, and private events. Imagine how fun it would be to have a parent meet up and get everyone’s baby gear cleaned at the same time! 

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