How to Clean Cabin Cushions?

[Rick]

HI, all. I have an '88 H28.5 with the dark blue cloth cushions in the cabin. They've never been cleaned. I'm looking for suggestions as to the best way to clean them. I'm thinking or renting a carpet extractor from the local supermarket and using it and some Upholstery Cleaner to extract them...preferably on a nice warm, sunny day so they can dry out in the open air.Any comments/ideas?

 

[MikeH]

I cleaned mine

right after we bought our boat. Granted, it is a 1998 260, but the cabin cushion material is very similar to what I've seen used in older boats.We removed the dark blue cushion covers from the foam pads and zipped them back up, emtpy. We put them 2-3 at a time into our clothes washer, cold water wash, delicate cycle, with an extra rinse. We used about a 2/3 cap of a standard clothes washing detergent.While those washed, I took the foam cushions into the tub and washed them by hand, wrung them out and then took them to the back yard where I hosed them down repeatedly.After a few hours in the warm sun and 75 F degree weather they were dry again.When the cushion covers were done in the machine I put them back on the dry foam cushions and put them back in the sun to dry. A couple of days later I bought some fabric protector spray at a local store and treated the top sides of the cushions, where spills could occur.They smell and feel like brand new. Hope that helps!MikeH

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Or dry clean

Take the covers off the foam and have them drycleaned for around $20 each. They look and smell much better. I do mine every other year.

 

[RichH]

Vacuum pump the foam too!

Besides cleaning the covers. Put the foam into a plastic bag, stick in the hose from a vacuum cleaner and suck the foam down into a small little knot .... will change the air inside foam rubber. If the foam has become mildewed or smells like it has, add some paraformaldehyde crystals after the first pump down, remove the vac. hose and seal the bag with the vacuum and crystals .... will KILL all the mildew. Then suck down a few times after a day or two to clear the gas.the gas that comes off paraformaldehyde crystals is quite toxic so be sure to use it OUTSIDE and be sure to pump it out of the foam. 

 

[Steve O.]

dry clean

I took mine to a dry cleaner but he advised me not to remove the covers from the foam.

 

[Rich]

Commercial washer at laundromat

As Mike mentioned you can wash them yourself rather than dryclean, but I don't recommend doing it in your home machine because some common machines (such as Kenmore) have a tendency to pull and tear heavy things like cushion covers. The large machines you find at laundromats that rotate without a center post are very safe and will do the job well. Use cold water and dry on air only to avoid shrinkage. My suggestion for the foam, if you can afford it, would be to discard the original and replace it with the new generation of "memory foam" type foam which places like Walmart are selling as mattresses. I also think it would help to cover the foam with long thin plastic bags such as drycleaner's bags before putting it back in the covers, because that keeps them from absorbing water when people with bathing suits sit down on them, which adds to the mildew farm...

 

[Chris I.]

I just cleaned mine....

Hi,I just cleaned the cushions on my 1987 Catalina 22.I bought some Woolite at the grocery store along with a bottle of Febreeze. I took the covers off the cushions and washed them on the gentle cycle in my home washing machine using the Woolite. I washed them one at a time so they wouldn't beat each other up.Once they were spun dry, I put them back on the cushions. I did not dry them in the dryer. Before zipping them up, I sprayed the foam with the Febreeze stuff. The Febreeze I bought had some kind of antimicrobial stuff in it. I kept them in the house for a few days after washing them so they could dry completely.I finished up by spraying them a few days later with a treatment of that 303 Fabric Treatment you can buy. It has an odor while it's drying but once it dries you can't smell it at all.This process worked like a million bucks. I'm sure my cushions had never been washed and they looked remarkable when I was done.Chris I.Clearwater, FL

 

[Mike4116]

did it myself

Every season we, my wife and I, use our trusty Bissel home steam machine and do it ourselves. It helps it you do it on a nice hot dry day outside so that they dry quickly and completely. Follow up with good spray protectant such as a 3M product. During the season we spritz with Fabreze just to maintain that nice fresh scent. Also if your boat sits in the water for weeks at a time in hot weather scattering fabric softener sheets about the cabin freshens everything nicely. There are lots of solutions to a fresh cabin from solar vents to dessicant packs.Talk to your fellow boaters in your area and see what they use. Good luck.