Marine upholstery fabric choices

I'm starting down the road of re-upholstering my boats interior cushons.

The issue at hand is what material to use.

The application is all indoors. two settes, and the helm seat.

The interior of the boat is dry of course, but we do boat in a very rainy enviroment. We also have dogs and keeping them off the furniture is not a viable option.

What I want is something durable. I do not want a dog claw to ruin my hard work. I also want some spill resistance. It's not like we spill stuff on the cushons, I just would not like a small spill to ruin a cushon.

What would you use? Vinyl or fabric? Which material? Cost is not really an issue but a fabric that is fairly to work with is. I have even considered leather because of its durability, but gosh the stuff is plenty tough to work with, and it has no elastic properties at all.

Sunbrella now has a broader line of fabrics including stuff more suitable for interior furniture. I know a couple of people who are very happy with it.

One word......Scotchguard........and take the time to spray the
upholstery with several coats and let it dry between coats.
I used this on my yacht upholsteryfor many years and never had a stain that didn't sponge off.
Dogs are something else, all I can think off is to go for a flatter material without raised stitching that would catch on their claws. I guess it also depends on whether you have Great Danes or Chihuahuas.

go to Sailrite - Fabric, Canvas, and Sewing Machines Since 1969

they offer everything you need. knowledge, materials, machines.

Awesome site. Seriously.

Sunbrella. Preferably in a color near matching the dogs' hair color if they are shedders.

To clean use Woolite.

Then add 303.

If your dogs are big
scratchers, all bets are off.

Oh,...and a small beater bar vacuum.

Works for our yellow lab.

Hmmm

Lots of people like Sunbrella


Here's a couple of photos of my interior now
As you can see the seats are vinyl.
The salon cushons are in really good shape. The helm seat needs re-done, and the pilothouse cushons are starting to crack a bit as well.






Here's a photo of the Sunbrella sheer curtains

I was thinking of using this fabric


Sailrite - Fabric, Canvas, and Sewing Machines Since 1969

How long have the current coverings lasted? If you like what you have is there good reason to go with something different? Maybe it`s time for a change/redecorate, but if not, worth considering.

BruceK said:

How long have the current coverings lasted? If you like what you have is there good reason to go with something different? Maybe it`s time for a change/redecorate, but if not, worth considering.

Click to expand...

The boat is 16 years old and the cushions are OEM.

I was thinking of doing the pilothouse cushons this fall/winter and deciding on the salon later since the cushions there are in good shape.

The helm seat really needs re-upholstery.

I would use a Sunbrella fabric. They make lots of furniture grade fabrics now. The last very well, are easy to sew and are softer than the exterior canvas grade.

A timely thread.
We are in the process of choosing a new interior upholster fabric too. Our present cushion covering is less than 10 yrs old. We had it professionally sewn but ordered the fabric on line. It is navy blue and it very quickly became evident that it was not tolerant of sunlight. Ours has been the boat with the curtains drawn since that realization, and now, with fading being the only defect, we will be replacing it this winter. I don't know how you can guarantee that the fabric will not fade, other than by choosing a much lighter colour, so that may be what we do.

That is why I like Sunbrella, it is solution dyed and doesn't fade.

I switched from vinyl to ultra leather and love it. I don't know how it would hold up to dogs though.

My 2005 Catalina 400 has the OEM Ultra Leather cushions. They were off white and held up amazingly well. We are beginning to think about replacing the fabric in our North Pacific (won't be soon) and my wife keeps mentioning how much she likes the ultra leather in the Catalina. It is cool in the summer and not cold in the winter. Cleans well and has stood up to all the abuse I can give it.

koliver said:

A timely thread.
We are in the process of choosing a new interior upholster fabric too. Our present cushion covering is less than 10 yrs old. We had it professionally sewn but ordered the fabric on line. It is navy blue and it very quickly became evident that it was not tolerant of sunlight. Ours has been the boat with the curtains drawn since that realization, and now, with fading being the only defect, we will be replacing it this winter. I don't know how you can guarantee that the fabric will not fade, other than by choosing a much lighter colour, so that may be what we do.

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Keith

We'll be at the Ganges Marina docks on Monday afternoon. Our Sunbrella interior cushions have held up very well, call and come have a look.

We have ultra suede in our Navigator's pilot house. This fabric cleans easily, is comfy to sit on and dog hair vacuums off easily! I am a big fan.

"The interior of the boat is dry of course, but we do boat in a very rainy enviroment. We also have dogs and keeping them off the furniture is not a viable option.

What I want is something durable. I do not want a dog claw to ruin my hard work. I also want some spill resistance. It's not like we spill stuff on the cushons, I just would not like a small spill to ruin a cushon."


What ever you chose create it as removable cover s so the can be washed.

Even just a sit down with a sea water wet bathing suit needs to be washed out.

twistedtree said:

Sunbrella now has a broader line of fabrics including stuff more suitable for interior furniture. I know a couple of people who are very happy with it.

Click to expand...

Sunbrella is a sponsor of Ship Shape TV. They are constantly on the show doing projects on boats. They make hundreds of different fabrics, not just boat canvas. I would look no further than Sunbrella.

They have an extensive website and they have designers. I don't know if they offer personal design services or not but I'm sure they could refer you to someone local who can give you professional design options and do the work if you're not planning on doing it yourself.

koliver said:

A timely thread.
We are in the process of choosing a new interior upholster fabric too. Our present cushion covering is less than 10 yrs old. We had it professionally sewn but ordered the fabric on line. It is navy blue and it very quickly became evident that it was not tolerant of sunlight. Ours has been the boat with the curtains drawn since that realization, and now, with fading being the only defect, we will be replacing it this winter. I don't know how you can guarantee that the fabric will not fade, other than by choosing a much lighter colour, so that may be what we do.

Click to expand...

Sunbrella guarantees many of their fabrics against fading. On a recent episode of Ship Shape TV they showed a jar of samples that had been soaking in bleach for weeks.

As mentioned above, Scotch Guard creates spill resistance. You can buy it in a spray can and apply it yourself. I bought some chairs for my home and paid the extra $50 for Scotch Guard. I looked through the warehouse door and could see the guy spraying them with a garden sprayer.

They have held up well for over ten years.

Back to the boat, a fabric with a pattern rather than a solid color will minimize the appearance of any spills or damage from the dogs. Or even dog hair.

There are three choices from my perspective. They are Sunbrella, Ultrasuede and Ultra Leather. Sunbrella makes some very nice fabrics. I have had Sunbrella in my sailboat for 15 years and the chushions still look as good as new. I have Ultrasuede on the power boat because I wanted a more "plush" feel. They are still in near perfect condition after 7 years.

We used Sunbrella and Sunbrella type upholstery fabrics extensively throughout our Hatteras 56MY. Ann loved it and it answered all of the OP's issues, though admittedly we didn't have to worry about dog destruction, but some places like the salon and aft deck furniture took a lot of heavy use.

We just got our interior cushions replaced last spring. We went for a very heavy denim, off white, made in USA. The upholsterer who did them helped us a lot with the fabric choice. At first we were looking at something similar online where we got a sample. When the guy show us the difference between the online sample and a true heavy high quality denim we were amazed, no comparison possible. He did the cushion in a way we can remove the fabric to wash them in case of something wrong and on his advice we added 303 to protect them. Very happy of the work done.

L

My 2006 Nordic Tug 32+ left the factory with Ultra Leather Brisa settees and pilot seats. Rated at 300,000 "double rubs" (a measurement of durability), the material started to wear after about 6 years. After 9 years, the polyurethane material was worn thin, particularly at seams and high use areas, to the point that the base rayon/nylon material was showing. I replaced the cushions with Naugahyde's Nauga Soft Doeskin, durable to 1,000,000 + double rubs. With my Sailrite sewing machine, and Nauga Soft material from Sailrite, I recovered my cushions for about $250 in materials (my labor was free, a Winter project). I've got about 4 years use on the Nauga Soft, and still looks new. Pictures show worn Ultra Leather, and recovered settee and pilot seat.

what_barnacles said:

go to Sailrite - Fabric, Canvas, and Sewing Machines Since 1969

they offer everything you need. knowledge, materials, machines.

Awesome site. Seriously.

Click to expand...

Second to this. My wife redid our salon and pilot cushions this past winter. Sunbrella upholstery fabric with 303 protectant lasts a long time. She swears by Sailrite's instructional videos for project ideas.
Regards,
Gary

Ours was redone with Ultraleather from a company called Tapis. Very nice stuff, but it is slick, meaning your butt slides around. Shop that recommended it and installed it, said that he had installed same material on his house couch, 6 years ago and it is still going strong. He also has 3 Labs, and the dogs use it as well.

Thanks guys!!

I'll be dong the work myself, using my Sailrite ultrafeed sewing machine. I made my own cockpit canvas, and drapes, and they came out great, so this will be the next project.

The project will be done in either a Sunbrella upholstery fabric, or a vinyl type fabric. Even after all the comments I am still undecided on which.

Wet cleanup, and dog hair vacuming up would probably be easier with a vinyl, and I REALLY like the recomendations of the Naugasoft and ultraleather.

Another thing that is swaying me towards vinyl, vs the fabrics is the elacticity of Vinyl. Something tells me that it might be a bit easier to work with, but since I've not done a project with stretching any material I could be off base with that one.

My big concern is durability, but I'm suspecting that Bayliner did not use the most expensive premium grade of vinyl as a OEM, and it has held up for a long time.

I am not here to to tell anyone what to use. I want to get more information out to help other readers make good decisions.

Ultra leather/suede is a urathane product. It is expensive. It has the best stain resistance. It feels like leather and your bare skin won't stick to it like vinyl does. It can be cleaned with aceton if necessary.

Sunbrella last longer than anything else. It's not soft like ultra leather/suede and it stains easier than vinyl but after that it pretty much superior.

Naugahyde is high quality vinyl.

Which of these three materials you choose will depend on your desired out come or budget. In fact I am using all three materials on my current boat.

ksanders said:

................... Another thing that is swaying me towards vinyl, vs the fabrics is the elacticity of Vinyl. Something tells me that it might be a bit easier to work with, but since I've not done a project with stretching any material I could be off base with that one.

My big concern is durability, but I'm suspecting that Bayliner did not use the most expensive premium grade of vinyl as a OEM, and it has held up for a long time.

Click to expand...

Here's a reason not to use vinyl if you're doing it yourself: With fabric, if you make a mistake you can pull the stitching out and re-sew the piece. Not so with vinyl. You'll have a row of holes in each piece. Another potential issue with vinyl is that bare skin tends to stick to it. If you wear shorts or go topless, you may end up sitting on a towel.

I have a friend with a Bayliner sport cruiser and his vinyl has not held up, it turned black. He sprayed it with white vinyl paint but it turned black again. Not all black, just spotted like mold bot it won't come off.

+1 for Sunbrella upholstery fabric
Sunbrella comes treated so no need to retreat until you wash it.
Caution 303 protectant in NOT meant for fabrics and will actualky remove water repellancy.
Use 303 Fabric Guard...recommended by Sunbrella.
I posted a Sunbrella care & cleaning file in the Library section w tips on using 303 FG

Went with Sunbrella fabric in our interior refit. The non porous vinyls, Naugahyde, etc. all look great, but were a non-starter for us. Sticking to the upholstery when it's warm doesn't work.

The Sunbrella fabric has worn like iron and is completely comfortable. Looks great. Gets a lot of hard use from rambunctious, wet, sweaty gkids.

If I was in a more moderate summer climate, I'd probably would have gone with non-porous for appearance.