Just bought a boat and was messing with the cushions. My eyes went crazy afterwards and I'm thinking that I need to clean and kill any mold or mildew. I can remove the covers and wash them. Any suggestions for a sanitizing product that won't harm foam from 1984? The foam is in good condition and am confident it will hold up to a good wash.
How to clean the foam in cushions
- Thread starter twdevore
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We stuffed ours down in the bathtub with some soap and a lil bleach. Squeezed them a few times, then rinsed and squeezed a few more times, then left them to air dry. Biggest fear was putting the covers in the washing machine, afraid they would self destruct. They didnt. Boy, looked (and smelled) like a new boat.
I have used starbrite on my vinyl cockpit cushions that I thought for sure I would have to replace, and it worked awesome, I mean they look almost new. Today I just finished spraying an old bimini I got from a gentleman on this forum, and it looks way better after just one application.
OMG
I took the covers off
and what a real ***** to get back on never do that again now I take them onto the dock and with a brush wash them down with a water aand bleach mix and rinse really good and than leave them out in the sun for very long time maybe even a few days to dry.
Nick
I took the covers off
and what a real ***** to get back on never do that again now I take them onto the dock and with a brush wash them down with a water aand bleach mix and rinse really good and than leave them out in the sun for very long time maybe even a few days to dry.Nick
I took the covers off
Nick
I like Seadaddler's suggestion, because with some variation, it is similar to mine. This is what I have done with good success. Do it on a hot summer day (or hot summer several days) because foam holds a lot of moisture that take a long time to dry out:
> Depending on the actual fabric covering the cushions, take them off;
> Go to Home Depot or your local pool supply store and buy a few gallons of swimming pool chlorine;
> dilute the chlorine with H2O in a plastic 35 gallon garbage can;
> put the cushions in (probably only a two/three will fit at a time);
> let them soak for a while;
> remove and hose down
> do the best you can to wring out the wet;
> do the rinse/wring routine several times;
> let dry in the sun (probably will take a couple of days) to get fully dry.
Do all this on concrete or other surface you don't care about (not on your living room carpet) as the bleach will ... well "bleach". I have a swimming pool so I am able to dump the cushions in the pool to rinse. The process did dual duty ... cleaned the cushions and chlorinated the pool!
If your upholstery fabric is in good shape and is synthetic, the fabric won't shrink. You probably can simply wash them in a washing machine. Use cold water to be safe.
And yes, depending on how tight the fit, putting the upholstery back on the cushions takes time and a lot of patience.
I will be trying all the above. Mild bleach will be the most important ingredient I think. The bag and vacuum is a great idea. The berth cushions are pretty good size though, not sure they'll fit in a tub or a bag...will need to come up with something else. I've read some other forums and people have mentioned covers shrinking and not being able to easily stuff them back inside. One suggestion is to wrap the foam in plastic to help the cover slide over and the pull it out before closing the covers back.
Improvise .... Just Suck it!.....Plastic trash bag and a vacuum cleaner. Ever seen thoughs late night vacuum bag commercials.....I took the covers off
Nick
If you could lay a piece of plastic sheets over the cushion before slipping into the covers, it'll prevent sweat/wet from getting to the foam. My stock cushion came with that thin plastic sheets inside. Foam is still good after 10 years.
Easy to stuff the foam back into the cover
Just wrap the foam with thin plastic drop sheet, tape all the seams with masking tape. Use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air. The foam will shrink. Now you can stuff the foam back in with the vacuum cleaner attached. Once you align all the corners, just remove the vacuum cleaner and peel / tear off the plastic drop sheet.I took the covers off
Nick
Re: Easy to stuff the foam back into the cover
Go to your dry cleaners and get shirt bags for smaller cushions and overcoat bags for the big ones...shouldn't need the vacuum, they'll slide in pretty easy.
Go to your dry cleaners and get shirt bags for smaller cushions and overcoat bags for the big ones...shouldn't need the vacuum, they'll slide in pretty easy.
Raritan's KO sprayed on and worked into the foam and set out in the sun to dry. We put it in a garden sprayer and soaked them good. Works great, no caustic chemicals really kills the smell. Sent my covers to the dry cleaners as it said to dry clean only. They came back stain free and smelling great.
I suppose you could use the bathtub for larger cushions. I'm guessing the batting will be more comfortable than a permanent plastic covering for the foam.
I used the Borax and kiddie pool-- the good thing with Borax is that it is supposed to inhibit future growth and the smell isn't toxic. It is a laundry detergen booster so you can wash the covers in it too. From what I researched, bleach works best on nonporous surfaces. If I were doing it all over again, I would also wrap the foam in plastic after they are thoroughly dry and before bagging them back up. It's one final barrier just in case some of the mold survives, and also a smell barrier as the foam willl never really smell 'new' again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2GV0bB2rM
Go to this link and see how its easy to put the foam back in cushion covers after
cleaning. Used this technique and worked great.
Go to this link and see how its easy to put the foam back in cushion covers after
cleaning. Used this technique and worked great.
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