DIY Cleaning of Interior Upholstery/Cushions?

[rardiH36]

The interior upholstery and cushions on my 1980 Hunter C36 are in very good condition. A PreviousOwner probably spent (much more recently than 1980) big $'s for nice open weave type fabric and custom sewing/fitting by a professional. Unzipping a few of the cushions reveals that the polyester batting is still snow-white. There is no sign of mold/mildew on the batting or the foam cushions. The foam is still firm and the cushions are not sagging at all. The boat is located in San Francisco, so high humidity is not an issue.Certainly all is worth rejuvenating rather than replace. So its time for a good cleaning. Although the upholstery is not discolored, nor are there any stains on the fabric, The cushions have a slight musty odor. And because of unavoidable dirt/dust depositing over the years, the fabric no longer has a "clean" visual appearance or feel.What is the normal method of cleaning good condition interior upholstery on boats?My initial thought, which has worked well through the years on many of my cars, is to wait for a hot dry day with low humidity. I'll take the cushions home from the and scrub-brush the fabric (still on the foam) with water/upholstery shampoo. Then suck as dry as possible with my wet-dry vac. Then wash again but this time with H2O only. Suck again with the vac. Then let dry in the hot sun long enough that I am sure that there is no moisture left in foam.Another thought is to actually go out and buy (or rent) an upholstery cleaning machine.Thanks in advance for your suggestions.Regards,rardi

 

[Ross]

Rardi, the methods you discribe are the methods used by the machines.

I recently rented a carpet shampooing machine. The results were pleasing the few places that I couldn't do with the machine I did with a spray bottle, scrub brush and a wet-dry vac. The resultsa were the same but my method was slower.

 

[Patrick S/V Shangra-La]

Took mine off the foam

they have vinal bottoms. Washed them with laundry soap and warm water in the driive way, then wrinsed with fresh water twice. Let them dry in the sun and put them back on the foam. They were clean and the foam stayed dry, and they had a good smell to them.

 

[rardiH36]

No Vinyl Backing on My Fabric

Patrick and Ross:Unlike your fabric, the fabric on my boat does not have vinyl backing between it and the foam cushions. The fabric is "rubberized" on the backside, but its permeable .. I can blow air through it.Yes, as you comment, I am concerned about how much H2O the foam rubber will absorb ... and whether even a day or two in the sun will dry/evaporate it out completely. However one of my goals also was get the foam cleaned as well; to remove mold and mildew spores and odors that have permeated in over time. Still need to come up with a solution to this. But this morning I've experimented with the very small seat and back cushions that are from the navigation chair. Unzipped the fabric covers and washed them by hand. (The wash water was really dirty!) The cushions I've soaked in a very dilute solution of non-foaming fabric detergent and bleach. Then I compressed the solution out of the foam. Then rinsed with H2O. Put everything out on the back deck to dry. We'll see... not dry yet.If the result looks like it will cause shrinkage problems on the much larger salon cushions, then I'm now leaning towards renting a professional "steam" type of machine that is designed to inject a rather small controlled amount of cleaning action into the fabric and batting underneath, but not enough to soak too far into the the foam rubber, and then it immediately sucks it out again.

 

[Marcia]

Can they be removed?

Why not just removed them from the foam inserts? I took mine off the V berth cushions, ran them through a gentle washing machine cycle and put them back on while still damp. They didn't shrink and they smelled great. If your cushions have buttons holding them in the middle, just snip the thread and resew them on with dental floss and a BIG needle after you wash them. If you don't want to remove them you can buy spray upholstery cleaners in the supermarkets, but I don't care for the sticky residue they seem to leave.

 

[Stephen K]

Took mine off the foam also...

and ran the covers 2 times on a gentle cycle, then air dried and the covers did not shrink.Regarding the foam, when I bought my boat, the foam was really dirty and permeated with a diesel smell. Get a very large plastic trash can or a "kiddie pool" that they sell at Wallmart. Fill it with water and add bleach. Soak the cushions thouroughly. I put mine over my deck railing to drain and air dry...took approx 2 days, but the result was fantastic. By the way, no need to rinse the cushions with water as the bleach will dissapate with the air drying.

 

[rardiH36]

Thanks Marcia & Stephen as Well

Marcia & Stephen:Thanks also for your inputs. As both of you conveyed, I also did not observe any shrinkage following my experimental wash yesterday of the small nav seat cover and cushion. The rest of the fabric covers will come off the cushions and go into the washing machine as you suggest.Stephen, thanks for conveying that soaking the foam cushions in water/bleech was successful for you. I'll do that. The San Francisco area forecast is for hot dry weather starting about Wednesday. Should be perfect conditions for the covers and foam to dry out quickly using an environmentally responsible energy source.regards,rardi