I've always just used lots of soapy water immediately followed by a shop vac to shampoo seats in my car. Sometimes you have to do a couple of lather, rinse, vac & repeats to get it clean. Sometimes you need a Spray 9 or Fantastic or Mean Green type of spray cleaner as well.
I've never tried any of the specialized upholstery-specific stuff. I've always had great results with the above.