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**Ex-Calif** · 17-06-2014, 17:54

I'm off to the upholstery shop on Friday - I hope they have something suitable locally...

**Ex-Calif** · 20-06-2014, 03:20

I think I found the guy - The only upholstery shop in Singapore in google that looked like it might work and it looks like it will.

Mouse fur - There are two types apparently. Plain and foam backed. the first 2 photos are front and back of the foam stuff. Front looks great. Foam is crap for a boat. It's like the lowest quality dish sponge - Won't last a month on a boat. (Notice that's what goes in Jaguar's - nothin' but the best - LOL)

Phot 3 is basically mouse fur - cloth headliner. I didn't get a sense for how thin this is until I fondled it. The best I can describe it is like thick, fuzzy t-shirt material. If applying over bare fiberglass interior I am pretty sure every bump and contour will be highlighted. Also he only has gray.

Also he was actually working a ragtop on the bench with this stuff. He was doing the traditional wire hangers and stretching it like "old cars.." And yes I have seen it in modern cars but suspect they mount it on nice smooth panels and the sub-assy panels are just hung in the car - assembly line and all that. I am not sure what this will look like if applied with contact cement.

BTW - This stuff may not be the mouse fur you all are talking about but this is what he had and I won't be going with it.

My current liner is pretty thick stretchy vinyl - sorry no photo, will try to post one after the weekend.

The last 2 photos are vinyl. Thinner than what I have but I think will cover better that the cloth stuff. He says it works around corners pretty easily.

These are the only 2 colors he has - sorry for the crap photo - and this is what I will go with. I wanted lighter but I will go with the lighter one. It might make me change the interior cabinetry trim plan from light blue to "light milk coffee" - White cabinets, light tan trim, beigey ceiling.

The width is 1.5 M and SGD$30 a meter. Gary's Upholstery (California previous liink) is selling similar stuff for US$24/yd so I am right in the ballpark.

Canibul · 20-06-2014, 03:58

The carpet is typically specified by weight. The mouse fur stuff I found was all either 14 or 15 oz/sq. yard. Gary's Upholstery was one of the more expensive, and least responsive, companies I contacted. I got 15 oz. in a sand color for $10.40 a yard. six foot width.

**Ex-Calif** · 20-06-2014, 04:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canibul

The carpet is typically specified by weight. The mouse fur stuff I found was all either 14 or 15 oz/sq. yard. Gary's Upholstery was one of the more expensive, and least responsive, companies I contacted. I got 15 oz. in a sand color for $10.40 a yard. six foot width.

Good on you!

And sorry to hijack your thread...

I am feeling pretty chuffed, though. I had visions of waiting weeks for a shipment of stuff that I wouldn't know is good or not.

I am not experienced enough to be calibrated to the "weights" of the cloth. Doing this once in my whole life (I hope...)

Canibul · 20-06-2014, 04:47

No worries, I'm also interested in vinyl. I think it looks better when it's done right. We still haven't come up with any better solution for the overhead areas than just painting them, for now. I don't want to screw sheets of plywood up overhead again. We're looking at various options. We had such issues with lack of ventilation between the old vinyl and the fiberglass that I was a bit concerned about that.

I know that I'm going to have to knock little clumps of fiberglass flat with a chisel, and sand other places with a sanding block to get the carpet to lay flat. I think you'll have the same issues with vinyl. A smooth surface is going to reflect light and irregularities, maybe as much or more than the carpet.

one of the things that got my attention about the carpet was that I've seen videos of people putting it up and taking it down, and when they wanted to access something covered by the mouse fur they seemed to be able to peel it off, work behind it, give it a quick re-spray with the 3M adhesive and stick it right back up. I thought that was a good feature. And I am looking at this as a temporary solution, to get us through a year or so until we figure out what we REALLY want to do. Right now, my best bet on that is to find some craftsmen in Central America and give them a bunch of money to re-do it in wood. But not this year.

I don't have any experience with this stuff either. Well, other than I did completely carpet the interiors of two Ford vans back in my surfing days. Please post photos of how it works, especially the application part. I might decide to junk the mouse fur and try vinyl at some point. Or a mix. I thought canvas might be a solution, but it doesn't stretch and conform well. Would look pretty cool, though. Painted canvas.

Maybe I should just airbrush tropical scenes all over the interior. Wyland whales?

colemj · 20-06-2014, 05:09

The Nautolex "mouse fur" in our boat is very thick - much more so than you describe. It is similar to one of those fleece blankets. It hides bumps and inconsistencies very well - which was the whole reason the boat manufacturer used it. I don't know what it was stuck on with, but it pulls off and goes back on relatively easily. It actually resticks lightly to the surface and lays back down like it was never pulled off, but if you wanted it more permanent, you would need to respray it with glue. Ours was probably spray glue since the glue residue looks very thin and even.

Mark

Canibul · 20-06-2014, 05:33

The stuff I ordered is called Ozite and it looks a lot thicker than what Dan is finding in S'pore. This is the same exact stuff Airstream uses in some of it's travel trailers, if you're familiar with those. It comes in several colors, and in both a pattern and non pattern. I went with the sand color, and the non pattern.

Tried to upload the photo from the data sheet but getting error message about the forum site.

Maybe the link will work:
http://www.ozite.com/dfiles/Marine-H...dliner2014.pdf

they have several other marine products on that site.

**Ex-Calif** · 20-06-2014, 05:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canibul

<snip>
I don't want to screw sheets of plywood up overhead again. We're looking at various options. We had such issues with lack of ventilation between the old vinyl and the fiberglass that I was a bit concerned about that.

I know that I'm going to have to knock little clumps of fiberglass flat with a chisel, and sand other places with a sanding block to get the carpet to lay flat. I think you'll have the same issues with vinyl.

<snip>

they seemed to be able to peel it off, work behind it, give it a quick re-spray with the 3M adhesive and stick it right back up.

I think I may have the advantage that my boat was done this way originally. There are 4 vinyl covered panels that screw in to the ceiling but most of the areas is glued on. I am hoping it is "really" pretty smooth under the glued on bits.

I have peeled a couple of squares off and in the past peeled edges to get at stancion nuts etc.

I am hoping to peel the rest off in complete pieces so I have at least a rough template and more importanlty can measure how much I really need.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canibul

I don't have any experience with this stuff either. Well, other than I did completely carpet the interiors of two Ford vans back in my surfing days.

BTDT - 2 inch shag covers a lot of errors - LOL...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canibul

Please post photos of how it works, especially the application part. I might decide to junk the mouse fur and try vinyl at some point.

Install may be a while yet but I surely will. If you've seen my other refit posts I have gotten quite carried away.

Full rewire and new cabinetry may go first. Gonna be a lot of wood dust in there for a while...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canibul

I thought canvas might be a solution, but it doesn't stretch and conform well. Would look pretty cool, though. Painted canvas.

Maybe I should just airbrush tropical scenes all over the interior. Wyland whales?

Careful - Your hippiness is way showing -

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemj

The Nautolex "mouse fur" in our boat is very thick - much more so than you describe. It is similar to one of those fleece blankets.

Yeah - I totally think it's different stuff - Unobtanium in Singapore.

I like the idea of being able to run a Dettol Sponge over the vinyl but I also get canibuls point about lack of breathability...

Canibul · 20-06-2014, 06:03

I did see some images of vinyl headliner with a little hole pattern, like perforated. Forget where I saw it. Short term hippie memory loss.

Blue Crab · 20-06-2014, 06:22

The first project I did was get rid of the 1976 headliner, paint the bare glass white, and rebed the fittings. I don't mind the "industrial" look. Added new sunbrella curtains, et voila, almost a new boat. Been staring at it over the winter and the only change I might make now is to add insulation in some fairly neat way.

Good luck with that ugly project. Better you than me!

Canibul · 20-06-2014, 06:29

After removing two 30 year old marine heads and the holding tank and hoses...this isn't nearly so ugly looking.

Cheechako · 20-06-2014, 09:06

AVOID anything foam backed. The foam will become granules/particles within about 7-8 years... especially in hot climates. It's a real mess. Don't ask how I know!