They say successful businesses start by identifying a problem and finding a way to solve it. For this small business, that problem is sticky car seats.
Young children are required by law to ride in car seats, but given their propensity to spill snacks, drinks, and generally make a mess, those car seats can often become dirty and sticky.
Seat Spa, an Owensboro, Kentucky, business, will clean them for you, per The Owensboro Times. Founded by Kaelyn Arblaster, a stay-at-home mother, and her husband, who enjoys detailing cars, Seat Spa offered the couple a flexible side hustle where they could spend time together and make money while their two children slept.
How it works
Seat Spa picks up car seats in the evening, inspects them for damage, and disassembles them. Then, they use diluted vinegar, air compressors, and brushes to remove dirt, crumbs, and, if present, potentially dangerous substances like mold (which can occur if milk or food is spilled into the cracks). Seats are reassembled and returned in the morning.
It’s a service that one Redditor — whose son vomited blue slushie on his car seats — said they’d pay “an inordinate amount of money” to receive.
So, naturally, there are others:
Niche cleaning services…
… work because they provide a service that most people can’t or don’t want to do.
That applies to forensic and crime scene cleaners, of course, but also those that specialize in rugs and fabrics, pools, chimneys, air ducts and vents, and natural disasters where there may have been fires or flooding damage.
But car seat cleaners are tapping into a specific demographic: busy parents who don’t have time to deep clean their own car seats even if they want to. And that’s a ripe market: