Who's Reupholstered Their Cushions ?

[BadFish]

Here be anudder winter project yo:

I want to reupholster my salon cushions (16 cushions in all). I don't want leather, cause the dog would ruin it. I don't want fabric, cause of the moisture, and I hate it. What ya'll think about vinyl in the salon, eh?

I am particularly awful at sewing and have no experience reupholstering, so this project may lie just outside the boundaries of my unique skillsets.

Who has done this themselves? What does it take?

Who has hired professionals? What does it cost?

Cheers

Bill

[SeaKing]

Sunbrella upholstery grade "fabric"...Bimini's are made from the regular stuff and water won't hurt them. We have and are planning to use again on next project.

Also ultra suede is durable, washable and very "rich" looking better than leather IMHO and much more comfortable to sit or lie on. My wife made all the salon cushion out of that on our last boat, and the current owners are still using them and they are holding up great. When she remade them she first covered the new foam with a thin cover material and made the outer cover removable. When the cushions got dirty and once even got wet and mildewed it was only a matter of unzipping and washing them and then zipping them back on. We used the covers for several seasons and now the new owners are on their second season down to fla and the Bahamas.


Oh and Vinyl, I don't think that would be very good. Sticky and hot in summer. As far as the sewing, It just takes some practice. sewing panels together inside out and putting the little cording strip "between" the panels forming the edge. And putting a zipper down one of the skinny sides to make them removable. As far as paying someone, look around and get prices that may make you want to learn.

Good luck

[BadFish]

Now that you mention it, that ultra suede sounds pretty sweet. How do you think it would hold up to me dog? (he's a middleweight, 50 punder)

Bill

[cabo_sailor]

I redid my with NaugaSoft from Sailrite. The stuff is tuff as nails and not as expensive as ultra suede. It was my first sewing experience but with a little care, it turned out really, really, nice. As to prices, I suspect your looking at multiple thousand $$ to get someone professional to do that many cushions.

Don't get me wrong. Doing it yourself is going to take a while. I spent roughly 4 hours on each cushion.

Good luck,
Rich

edit: Get ahold of a sailrite catalog, or go to their website. For a small fee they will send you samples of whatever fabric you are in need of. They also sell a video showing how to make your own cushion covers.

[Bradley]

Bought ultrasuede from a remnant type shop for about 15 US a yard. Paid 400 US in Curacao to have sewn which included new foam. Think it was about 10 cushions.

I really like the ultrasuede.

[Soft Air]

Sea King thanks for your post, do you have some pictures of the Ultra Swede cushions your wife did?

Thanks in advance,

[Pblais]

Now that you mention it, that ultra suede sounds pretty sweet. How do you think it would hold up to me dog?

We have ultra leather that we had done. It's great for dogs and was a reason we chose it. It's actually great as a commercial grade fabric that can be used in public places with a lot rear ends using it. They measure fabrics toughness in the number of double rubs. You'll find the "ultra" leather and suedes at the highest end of the spectrum. Good stuff is in the 60,000 range and ultra products are more like 200,000. "Ultra" is a trademarked brand name. It's the top end of the top end. You could use this stuff in the mansion too.

We have the Brisa Ultra leather. It also breathes and works well on cushions you sleep on. It feel like glove leather and cleans up with spray cleaner easily! It also has a bias and is very expensive. It means unless you are a pro the waste material is going to cost you a lot of money. A pro can cut fabric with less waste. We found a great deal at $70 /yard. The retail is well over $100 / yd. Acceptable fabrics would start about $30 / yard. With a good fabric you won't do this again. Get something you really like is my best advice.

The high quality Glen Raven Mills fabrics are a best bargain. We did our last boat in a woven pattern material used on high end outdoor furniture. It is exceptionally tough and you can get it for about $35 / yard. It's made from the solution dyed yarns used in the outdoor stuff but woven into nice textured patterns. It is tough as nails too.

You need to examine the foam closely. Good quality closed cell foam lasts longer and may be perfectly fine. It was on our last boat but not on the current boat. We went with a multiple layer foam composite. A layer of 2 inch memory foam on top of a firm foam makes it sit really well. Foam has gotten very expensive too. Closed cell foam has gotten very hard (like a rock firm) these days for some reason.

If you don't sew then this is not a project to be your first one. Getting it exactly right is required as the mistakes a pro makes you don't have to eat. We did all new foam and fabric that was about 12 yards of the good stuff. That 12 yards did not include the bottoms of the cushions. The 12 yards had no pieces wider than 1/2 inch on the short side left over. That's a pro cutting job. We used a cheaper robust fabric on the bottoms that you don't see for all the cushion bottoms. To that list of stuff we added a first class dodger, Bimini, connector, and all new cockpit cushions and foam for $5,500. Cockpit cushions were a texture stamoid with a mesh bottom for drainage.

When you get into cost you also get into labor quality. It's cheaper labor by about 50% (25% of the total) to do a poor job that works. Materials usually will be 50% not marked up. It's why all the estimates you get might be spread out. Look at work samples not just price. Fabric and labor both are usually marked up. With expensive fabric you might negotiate more so work on an itemized estimate.

For fabric the only hard fast rule is the fabric must have no natural fibers of any kind. Look for marine fabrics or outdoor fabrics and you usually do well. You don't have to use Sunbrella dodger canvas below either so don't. You can get really nice looking stuff for down below for an extra $10 to $15 / yard. As with all upholstery spend the most on the best fabric you can afford - it matters.

[Soft Air]

Pblais ALWAYS come with amazing expert information, super thanks again, I will use ultra swede in my CL41 soon

[JusDreaming]

Welcome to Majilite we used the Nytek material and really like it. We have a dog and have absolutley no problems. Diane actually toook the samples and tried to scratch the material with the dogs claws, (to the dismay of the dog).It is much cheaper than Ultra Suede and looks identical. They have a zillion colors and textures If you call them they will send you a sample book and price list. Ours was 31.50 per yard and looks exactly like leather.

[Bradley]

Soft Air,

A couple of months ago, I had a local Cartagena woman make me two new mattressess out of ultrasuede. She did a really nice job and was very prompt. You can get her name from John at Club Nautico. I think it cost 200 US or thereabouts.

I brought the material from the US so I don't know availability in Cartagena.

[Pblais]

I will use ultra swede in my CL41 soon

Check it out on Goggle. They make about 12 different styles and within each of them more variations in texture and colors. You'll find these fabrics on all the top end custom boats. We found a close out through the contractors supplier that was trying to get them to push the material more. Also make sure it's the real stuff. There are a few knockoffs. The leather sheds dog hair better than the Swede. You need to feel the samples too. We got a swatch to abuse with all sorts of tests. That was fun too. Don't be afraid of light colors. Ours is a light cream and you can't really stain it. I would not say that about the cheaper fabrics.

[Soft Air]

Bradley, ,
Thanks a lot for such valuable information, since I am now in Colombia and the boat is at the BVI I will reserach on the phone with the Club Nautico, do you happen to remember by any chance the lady's name?

My research so far shows that Cartagena is an excellent place to find very good priced qualified boat labor but all materials need to be shipped from the US, not a difficult thing for a local like me...the "yacht in transit" label will work beautifully in Cartagena to avoid importation taxes.

[Soft Air]

Bradley, do you have pictures available?

[Soft Air]

Sorry for keep posting in a row but this is important to me and I cannot miss all the expert's valuable advice I can get here.

Please take a look at my current cushions (ugly ones I know) left by my New Mexico PO

I would like UltraSwede leather same color but I am also looking for much thicker cushions, do you guys think by making them thicker I may be making a mistake here?


http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...picture41.html

Thanks

[David M]

I had the cushions reupholstered in my salon a couple years ago. I checked with the local yachtie canvas makers and they all wanted more money than the local auto reupholstery shop wanted. My money went to the lowest bidder. By the way, they did a fantastic job.