1986 Cape Dory -Original Cushions Need Cleaning- How To?

[dgsail]

I believe the owners manual recommends dry cleaning the cushions. Has anyone tried anything else since they can be unzipped and the foam removed.

Steam cleaning? Upholstery cleaner?

[Skylark]

We could have different fabric. Keeping that in mind, I washed mine at home on the gentle cycle with warm water. Then hung them dry on their own.

[Cathy Monaghan]

If the zippers have corroded themselves closed, you can use a spray carpet/upholstery cleaner like Woolite or Glamorene. I use Woolite on mine.


Cathy Monaghan
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[mashenden]

If you have the light blue fabric that came on a lot of Cape Dorys, its virtually stain proof. I had soot stains all over my cushions from a cabin fire. I took the covers off, and ran them through the washer a couple of times (industrial size machines at a laundromat) and let them air dry. They looked unbelievably good. 30+ years and still looking good!! (the cushions, not me).

BTW a trick I learned on getting the foam back into the covers is to wrap the foam in thin plastic (like sold in the paint section at hardware stores). Seal them up reasonably well with tape, although this is not as critical as one would initially think. Leave a place (or make a hole) to attach a shop vac. Turning on the shop vac will suck much of the air out, making the cushion a fraction of its original size. Its then an easy task to put the foam back into the covers (before turning off the vac). You may have to turn the vac on and off a few times to get the corners to align up properly, but that's about it.

I left my plastic in there, but the option is to then rip out the plastic.

Trying to do this without the shop vac trick looked a lot like a wrestling match, where I am pretty sure the cushion pinned me down a few times. Not sure - I blacked out