Cushion fabric
- Thread starter Lost Parent
- Start date
- Status
When we did the boat in HI back in Dec 2010, I am thinking that the material was in the 20-25 dollar a yard range. We did all new foam as well. Recovering cushions with good material is not cheap. We live on the boat 3-4 months during the winter so we wanted something that you did not mind relaxing on for several hours.
Dennis
Dennis
Just got back from the local quilt shop with the admiral...good quality quilting fabric is running $10-12/yard and UP....
Had a good conversation with the owner's husband who did a lot of boats and cars in a previous life...and agreed to make sure not to forget the the quality and age of the thread...it is as, if not more, important as the fabric and any caning or roping you will use.
Best of luck
Had a good conversation with the owner's husband who did a lot of boats and cars in a previous life...and agreed to make sure not to forget the the quality and age of the thread...it is as, if not more, important as the fabric and any caning or roping you will use.
Best of luck
I gotta agree with Joe... you really have no need for a material that is highly resistant to UV rays or has superior resistance to mildew..... a good quality furniture upholstery is all you should ever need if you take reasonable care of it.
a step up from the couch/chair type fabrics are the automotive fabrics, which can be pricey, but still, not like sunbrella.
the choices are very different between automotive and furniture patterns.
choose any synthetic that you like but make sure they use a premium quality polyester thread when sewing them together....
I would tend to agree with Joe.
On my boat, a PO had re-upolstered (probably new cushions) with standard batting material and an open weave tweed fabric. See picture below. Seemed pretty new when I purchased the boat... but the boat hadn't been used much for several seasons so I really don't know. For sake of just feeling good after the boat purchase, I did remove the fabric covers and put in them in the washing machine. And also soaked the foam/batting cushions in a strong swimming pool chlorine/water mix. (Took a real long time to dry afterwards even when done during a summer heat period.) The picture was taken five years after my purchase. The fabric is not marine grade or moisture proof by any means.
I would venture that if you can keep the interior of the boat dry and the humidity isn't too much of a problem, any good synthetic upholstery fabric could work. Most fabric stores have close-out overstock areas. With some patience you should be able to find something that pleases the eye and is gentle on the bank account. Are you planning to do the sewing yourself?
One thing I do before leaving the boat (particularly if rain is likely) is to tilt up the cushions so free air can flow underneath. This prevents condensation from starting mold.
Attachments
Love the job
Love the job on your cushions and no I won't be doing any of the sewing ..8 left fingers
Love the job on your cushions and no I won't be doing any of the sewing ..8 left fingers
Just bought on line 28 yds of salmon colored twead upholstery matterial on line for 70 bucks no freight ...not bad may have to use a vinyl on the bottom of cushions to make the yardage stretch or do the V berth in diifferent material but cost was right on
Have you priced marine vinyl yet? It's kind of up there in price too. (Don't go for the regular stuff. It doesn't have anti fungal protection.)
Never been to that place.... THE place to go down in the San Diego area is UFO-Upholstery Fabric Outlet Huge warehouse like store...they have EVERYTHING... marine, auto, commercial or home.... sewing supplies, foam, a huge selection of sunbrella, vinyl...etc.
There are two stores one in National City, just south of SD... the other is in Vista... which is east of Oceanside...that'll cut an hour off your drive.
I live in Michigan, so this may not work for you, but I got all my fabrics at an office furniture factory outlet. I'd see if there are any furniture manufacturers in your area then see if they have an outlet.
I live within driving distance of both Hayworth and Herman Miller. I got all the fabrics for our Catalina 27 for $1 a yard (no joke!) The only downside is you can't always find the fabric you want in enough yardage. I ended up doing the v and the dinette seats in a heavy rubber backed velour and the seat backs in a rubber backed blue geometric print. The funny thing was, I had originally bought a different fabric for the seat backs, but I cut it wrong, so I had to go buy more. All total I bought about 45 yards, & it was still under $50!
I live within driving distance of both Hayworth and Herman Miller. I got all the fabrics for our Catalina 27 for $1 a yard (no joke!) The only downside is you can't always find the fabric you want in enough yardage. I ended up doing the v and the dinette seats in a heavy rubber backed velour and the seat backs in a rubber backed blue geometric print. The funny thing was, I had originally bought a different fabric for the seat backs, but I cut it wrong, so I had to go buy more. All total I bought about 45 yards, & it was still under $50!
Attachments
It may depend on your use of your vessel and the relative humidity in your area. Here in the South, I found Sunbrella to be a superb choice. It will probably last as long as you own your boat. Amortize the price over ten years and it not so expensive. The UV protection is no big advantage, but the mildew resistance and the ease of cleaning is invaluable. We had Sunbrella on all of the interior cushions in our prior 1972 Cal-27 T/2 and I beleive they are still in service and in excellent condition after almost 15 years of use. I beleive using standard upholstery fabric is false economy if you plan on keeping your boat a while and likely why you see the need for recovering cushions so often in so many older boats.
I sew sailboat covers and cushions and found Sailrite Sunbrella fabrics and thread the best value. Generally $14.50/yard. While a very stiff/rigid material to work with and not very soft to sleep on, it is durable and can be washed to soften without affecting water resistance. Do not machine dry with heat.
My boat is in the water near Port Canaveral with high temperature and high humidity. The sunbrella I used is not the marine grade, exterior, fabric. The interior of the boat sees high moisture and heat most of the year. It's similar to a car in that regard. Mildew is a definite problem and I paid extra for the fabric with the hope it will last 10-20 yrs. The real cost is in the labot unless you can do it yourself.
You bring up a good point. I think most people see the word Sunbrella and think bimini, dodger, sail cover and such. The fabric you see on those is just one in a large line of fabrics they have that are designed for a number of different uses with a number being upholstery fabrics. It would help if instead of saying I used Sunbrella that we actually said which of their products we use.
Personally we would not want to use the same fabric that we made our exterior canvas mods out of for interior cushions. Most of their interior fabrics are also mildew resistant. We have also used free breathing Phifertex for the cockpit cushions...
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-31-a.html
... on both boats and really like it along with the dryfast foam from the Foam Factory...
http://www.foamdistributing.com/
Sum
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================[/FONT]
Our Endeavour 37
Our MacGregor 26-S Pages
Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida
Mac-Venture Links
In Washington it may not be so much of a concern, but in the South I would not underestimate the damaging effects of UV, even inside the boat. (Unless you have very effective curtains and keep them closed all the time you are off the boat.) I agree, considering the labor involved you should use the best material you can. You don't want to be doing this a second time.
- Status