Best fabric for new berth cushion covers

[Paul D.]

Greetings busy spring sailors,

Reading through the last topic I was wondering what people's fabric preferences are for best interior cushion cover. Sunbrella? Synthetic suede? Mother of Barstool?

If any of you love your newly recovered cusions, please chime in.

Paul
T minus 11 days till we cut shrinkwrap up here in MN/WI

[Dick Barthel]

Paul,

I remember that a few years ago Good Old Boat did an extensive article on recovering berth cushions that included a discussion on foam choices and cover material. I think if you go on GOB website you can find the article and order it.

I'm sure that someone on the board who has actually made their own cushions will join in soon. I'm also very interested in hearing more on this topic.

Dick

[tartansailor]

We replaced all of the cushions in my Airstream, travel trailer and can confidently state that the very substantial incremental cost in ordering the densest foam commercially available was well worth it in terms of sleep comfort. We ordered the 4" cut to dimensions from a large foam house in the Boston Area.

The covers are custom navy blue cotton duck, although am not to sure about cotton on a boat.

You definitely want marine grade plastic zippers.

Under the cushions we have 1" foam carpet underlayment which
keeps the fabric from mildewing and adds some measure of comfort.

FWIW

Dick

[Maine Sail]

We just re-did ours and used Ultra Suede it's very pricey though. I would strongly advise against the use of cotton based, or cotton on a boat unless you want moisture retention & mold. Commercial grade acrylics & polyesters or automotive fabrics work well on boats..
[img]http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/image/96559743.jpg[/img]

[Steve Laume]

I have been toying with the idea of making covers for the covers on our cushions. Has anyone considered this approach? I am keeping the original foam for the time being. I got the covers off and washed them. Thanks to everyone on the board for that advise. The only cushions we have left on Raven are the seats in the main salon. I was thinking about making covers for them that would fit on like a fitted sheet on a home mattress. Instead of elastic I would sew in a draw string. Getting those original covers off and on was not easy. With this arrangement they could stay in place most of the time and I could slip off the top cover and take them home to be washed. There would be no vinal or zippers to mess with and they would be smaller and easier to take home and wash. Two sets could be made if you wanted to change in color, freshness or dry covers during a cruise. It would seem much easier to make this sort of cover fit well with my limited sewing abilities, Steve.

[oldragbaggers]

I have used Sunbrella exterior canvas for the interior (wash it first, it's easier to sew and softer to sit on). It wore like iron, but I probably wouldn't do that again.
I found an entire bolt of Naugahyde Soft on ebay in a chocolate brown color. We used that on our Cabo Rico and it's very very nice because you can just wipe it off and you know it's clean. It can, in very hot weather be a little sweaty though and we just usually sat on a towel when that was the case. I am actually planning on using it again on our 28 since I am a cheapskate and I have a gazillion yards of it left.
I have Sunbrella interior upholstery fabric Dupione Sand for the interior of the 22 and it feels very nice, but after buying it I became somewhat concerned about the light color. It's not terribly expensive through Sailrite, about $18 a yard. And it does feel like it would last and be easy to sew with a standard machine.
For the 28 I am going to put the Naugahyde soft on the settee seats, a tapestry on the faces and the NS for the backs and edges. In the V-berth I will use something more breathable for the sleeping surface of the berth and the NS on the rest. Go with acrylic or some other synthetic. Cotton mildews too easy and holds onto dirt, although is washable. I prefer something with a tight weave and on the heavier side, it wears better. Downside of that is you might need a heavy duty machine to sew it.
To combat that condensation problem, there is a product called Hypervent you can get from Defender to put under the cushions that will take care of the problem. I used a similar product called Dryweave I think, got it from DownWind Marine in San Diego. It worked great!!
After years of jammed zippers, I always make my closures with velcro now. Have used it on the past 3 boats and wouldn't ever go back to zippers.
Just my 2 cents.
Becky

[Cathy Monaghan]

Pick a sturdy fabric. Other than that, choose what you like. Whatever you choose, make sure you (or the upholsterer) treat it with Fabric Guard 303 so that it'll be water, stain and mildew resistant.

[oldragbaggers]

Good tip about the Fabric Guard 303. I had never heard of that one. Since I am in the process of doing new upholstery this would be a great time to treat it.

[Maine Sail]

P.S. 303 was the first thing I did to our brand new Ultra Suede! Cost me $120.00 in 303 but there is NO substitute especially seeing as we have toddlers on board..

[chase]

Or however you spell it works well for us. It keeps the cushions breathing.

Chase

[sgbernd]

I used Sunbrella and don't particularly recommend it. I treated it with 3M mildew resist Scotch Guard to improve the water resistance.

The positive: It has worn ok, shows no problem with mildew or moisture and doesn't fade.

The negative: The: I don't like the feel, food spills ground in (I have 3 kids!) seem really hard to get out, and since it is smooth, any spilt sand or dirt is really annoying. Next round I will try something out of the automotive business.

Steve Bernd

[mahalocd36]

Or however you spell it works well for us. It keeps the cushions breathing.

Chase

Highly recommended at least on the bottom of all cushions.
Lets any moisture out.

[wsonntag]

Here is a web site for upholstery fabric supply - www.fabricsandhome.com

They have a large selection of upholstery fabrics as a considerable discount.

Bill Sonntag
CD31
SURPRISE

[oldragbaggers]

Hi Bill,
Did you use the Sunbrella canvas that you would use for sail covers, etc? Or was it one of the upholstery fabrics.
I am using Sunbrella now for the covers on our 28. (the exterior canvas one) I had used it before on our Bristol, and although stiff at first it wore like iron and we didn't experience the problems with stains that you are describing. I ended up washing it to soften it some. I was going to use Naugahyde soft (I have a whole bolt of it) but used it once before and didn't like the way it tended to make you sweat in hot weather so we changed our mind on that one as we hope to be bound for the tropics in a few years. I didn't really want to use the exterior sunbrella again, but I needed the toast color to go with my tapestry, and for us girls it's all about the "look" you know.

[wsonntag]

Please see my detailed description of cushion replacement that I just posted.

Bill Sonntag