FAQ
What is the best fabric for seat covers?
Both Cordura Nylon and UV protected Polyester fabric are rated the best overall fabrics and materials for seat covers, combining unparalleled durability, comfort, breathability, and waterproof backing. Bartact uses a high grade foam backing that adds even more comfort, longevity, and fitment. Adding this alone, accounts for twice the cost of materials. UV dyed polyester has a much better color-fastness in the sun compared to nylon. Both Polyester and Nylon Bartact seat covers can last several years. They are very easy to clean with light soap and water, even while still on your seat, and are even machine-washable. Pet hair wipes right off due to the waterproof polyurethane backing on the fabric before the foam. This is what we feel is the best fabric for seat covers.
Polycotton or Duck fabric is also a decent choice for seat covers, although their value is less than half of the Cordura nylon and polyester seat covers mentioned above. The color-fastness of the material can be good, but most of the time, the material has no backing, making it loose. It will slide back and forth over the stock seats, and actually wear out the seats from underneath the cover; often causing more harm than good.
Top Grain leather is also a good choice for durability, but does not breathe as well. It often needs to be taken care of more than fabric, and is not machine-washable. It is also the most expensive material for seat covers.
Another option is vinyl, often referred to as pleather, leatherette, leather-look, etc. Although color-fastness and vibrance are good with vinyl, it can be very cold in winter, and extremely hot to the touch in summer. Breathability is basically nonexistent. It can also be easy to cut or tear at the seams. Vinyl seat covers can look good, since they stretch more easily, but are definitely not recommended if you're looking for comfort, or durability.
Neoprene is the reason Bartact began manufacturing seat covers. Just before Bartact began manufacturing seat covers for the Jeep Wrangler, neoprene was the material of choice for seat covers. They can look great when new, due the good-looking fitment on your seats because of the stretch, but that's where the positives end for neoprene seat covers. Neoprene holds in body heat, which can cause horrible sweating. It also fades very quickly in the sun, and can easily snag since the outer fabric is very thin. Seat heaters do NOT work with neoprene, as the core is basically similar to a thick rubber/foam. Lastly, neoprene seat covers can easily pull apart at the seams, which are just striaght cut, and will deteriorate very badly over time.
Neoprene look seat covers, sometimes called neosupreme, are not a true neoprene. They are more breatheable, because they do not have the waterproof core that neoprene has. They will hold in dirt and pet hair horribly, and it contains arguable the least expensive material on this list.
All-in-all, there are many choices when looking for seat covers. When you're looking for the best fabric for seat covers, Bartact uses the overall highest quality, hands down.
Are expensive seat covers worth it?
We were raised to respect quality over quantity. Although less expensive seat covers are cheaper to make and sell, and sales numbers can be extremely higher, at Bartact, we value our name enough to make sure we only provide top quality seat covers, so they will last you a very long time, while keeping you extremely comfortable. We have even had several customers come back to buy more seat covers when they upgrade to a newer model, and explain that after selling their 5+ year old Bartact seat covers for over 1/2 what they originally paid for them, they also have gotten over $1k extra on their trade-in value due to the fact that the Bartact seat covers completely protected the seats underneath and they still looked brand new after several years and sometimes after 100,000 miles. These people actually MADE money on their seat covers, coming out ahead a few hundred dollars above their original investment. Are expensive seat covers worth it? We think so.
What is the toughest seat cover material?
We always laugh when we see manufacturers say that neoprene is the toughest seat cover material. We believe they say that because they can't hold their sewing tolerances, and need to use a stretchable material to make sure their seat covers fit every time. Please see above if you want to know why neoprene is not the toughest seat cover material. If you think we're wrong, please call us out. We GUARANTEE neoprene is not even close to the top of the list. Don't fall for those gimmicks.
OK, so what is the toughest seat cover material, then? We believe the toughest seat cover material is 1,680d ballistic nylon with a foam backing. Be careful here. Some companies offer ballistic seat covers, but don't use a foam backing. Wave goodbye to your seats underneath if that's the case. They will be rubbed to shreds after some time sliding around. Ballistic nylon that can be very course and bulky, making it uncomfortable, and not very good to use for seat covers. That is why Bartact seat covers are made of 1,000 denier Cordura Nylon and 600 denier UV protected Polyester with polyurethane backing, and a laminated scrim-backed 1/4" foam. This not only allows some give to the fabric, but it also protects your seat underneath. It is also more than tough enough to last several years, and we haven't seen a single company make a longer lasting cover.
What is the best seat cover brand?
. If you search this on the internet, you'll have some fake company direct you to a false list of the best seat cover brands. It just so happens, that all of those brands are all for sale on Amazon. The website creator gets a commission if you click on those links and buys them. That's why only those are on there. That being said; what is the best seat cover brand? We believe Bartact is the best seat cover brand, but we may be a little biased. At least, we continually strive to manufacture the best seat covers available.