Upholstery - Faux Suede

[MarkSF]

I had a car with Alcantara interior, which I understand is very similar to Ultrasuede. It was pleasant, tough, hard wearing, and easy to clean. I would have thought it's very well suited to boat interior applications.

[Doug4bass]

Remember.....Ultraleather is also available.


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[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

If it is ultrasuede you are referring to, it is brilliant. Luxurious to touch and sit on, non slippery, stain resistant, extremely hard wearing, easy to wash. The only drawback is the price. I would choose it over leather.

The first lot on our boat had 15 years of use (about 10 of these full time, including a circumnavigation by the previous owners) and was mid blue. No sign of any fading looking at the exposed areas compared to those with no exposure. I chose a lighter colour this time (platinum) and after six months of use have been extremely happy with it.

My experience is just the same.

By the way, Ultrasuede is sometimes called "Alacantra" in Europe -- two brands of the same material (microfiber polyester suede) with the same specification.

My boat was made with acres of Alacantra, and 13 years later still looks fine with zero fading, worn-through parts, or other problems. It will last for years more. It is incredibly hard-wearing.

It is the material of choice for all of the high-end European boats, and worth every penny of its high cost, in my opinion.

[HappyMdRSailor]

With all of our thumbs up and similar experiences with the Ultra Suede = Alacantra... I would only make one real suggestion...

We have two "high wear" areas, and they are a bit "pilled". One is the backside part of a backrest that gets leaned on/slid along in a seaway... The other is the edge of a seat where it's an extra step drop to the sole requiring a sliding off motion...

If we had some type of sacrificial cover on these areas, I could see the interior lasting 2-3x as long... the rest looks perfect...

[zeehag]

make slip covers to help durability factor.

[CAELESTIS]

There are many posts on fabrics. Ultra-suede for 5 yrs, no stains, no wear.

[Randyonr3]

So you get a beter idea of what we're doing..
And to date, the wife and I have done probably in excess of 50 interiors and most have been done on power boats durring the time we owned our business. so its now time to ours again. but we had never done anything in the ultra suede so was asking.
Anyway, the seating will be done with a "bull nose" forward as its very comfortable to sit on and supports the under-leg area.
And the backs, did it on Martin's boat, (celestial sailor).. where the backs are attached by batton sewn into the upper-backside of the back so the seat backs fold up for access to the lockers beneath. The batton is sewn into a pocket and the pocket is laid downward so it hides behind the cushion.. but I'm only making the backs about 10 inchs high but they will be attached about 10 inches above the seat cushion. kind of like an office chair giving support in the proper areas..
Its taken a while drawing the cushions and back support and making the proto-type but they work, very comfortable and accent the interior of the boat.. I was just unasure of the fabric...............
Thanks all for the info provided..............

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

There are many posts on fabrics. Ultra-suede for 5 yrs, no stains, no wear.

I invited myself over for dinner on your boat when you weren't lookin'...

[cruiser_wannabe]

We have a light beige Alacantra- ultra suede since purchasing our boat in 2007. . We have been extremely happy with the fabric and we had plenty of red wine spills, salt water mishaps, and wear.


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[CAELESTIS]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

I invited myself over for dinner on your boat when you weren't lookin'...

Well that explains the missing wine and beer!

[Arthur Garfield]

cruiser_wannabe-- I really like that look ! What do you use for stain/spill removal,cleanup?

Randyonr3- sounds as you have nice design for cushioning- are you able to post drawings/photos ?



All the Best

[bstreep]

We chose Brisa for our new interior. It's not done yet, but thought I'd jump in anyway. It breathes, and in South Texas, that's important for us. It also wears well. You can buy it on fleabay for about 1/3 the cost, if you buy remnants. silverstone is the seller we bought from, and they made sure it was all from the same lot.

[cruiser_wannabe]

We used vinegar diluted with water and that worked re markedly well. Mold was pretty tricky but with some drying out, it all cleared up. We also use a hand vacuum cleaner.


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[Island Time O25]

An update on my friends who upholstered with faux suede. Visited them this weekend. Noticed that the suede was gone and their main cabin cushions were now a very pleasant velour/velvet type of covers. Turns out their suede was not the expensive Ultrasuede version but some cheap knock off which some upholster just gave them for free as left overs from some job. They said that that cheap suede was horrible in keeping every spill soaked in and they just waited for a sale on this velour stuff to replace it. And it looks so much nicer than the old faux suede did. I remember their suede when new and have to say that I like the velour's textured look and feel much better.

I also recall that there is a spray used for any sort of seating furniture cloth which will make the cloth if not spill proof at least spill clean up friendly. May be that's the solution. Years ago an old g/f used to work as a chemist at a company which among other products manufactured such spray (but in industrial applications) which the auto industry uses to cover seats in the cars.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I was looking at redoing my interior with Sunbrella but then saw this blog post about Crypton Fabric that's supposed to be easy to clean up.

Crypton | Wright Away Sails Away

The post shows how it was messed up on purpose to see how it cleans up. Held up well so I'm considering it.

Now it looks like I'll have to look into this Ultrasuede/Alacantra fabrics. So many nice options. Last thing I need is more projects added to my list. ;-)