Fabric for saloon seats?

Tim Good

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Can anyone recommend a good place to buy quality fabric if I am to redo all my saloon covers? I want to get good quality stuff given that I don't want to go through this process for at least another 10 years.
 
Upholstery fabric suppliers offer a wide range of fabrics, but I got mine at a sensible price from the fabric warehouse near Winchester. Caravan upholstery material is also worth looking at and avoids the 'Marine' price tag.

Point North website is also worth a visit for advice and materials.
 
The fabric on my cushions is Micro Eco, a material originally produced in holland if memory correct,for mattress covers for elderly people, it has a velvety valure suedey outer texture in various colours and designs and a waterproof inner linning. It is warm and not plasticky spilled liquids can be wiped off leaving it feeling dry. It also machine washes well. All my cushions were covered with it when i bought boat 10yrs ago and have not degraded despite been machine washed every winter. A few yrs ago i reinstated one of the quarter berths havng a 6ft cushion made, got same pattern but because another company took over the manufacture the colours were slightly lighter and more vivid. Not cheap at aprox £30-35 pm2.
Cant remember where i got it from. Possibly Toomer & Hayter.
Edit. I have googled this material but can not find anything on it now. Maybe its name has changed or its out of production.
 
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We redid our cushions with material from a company called Toomer and Hayter. They probably have a website. They exhibit at London Boatshow. Can't remember how the price compared, but the quality has proved good.
 
We used a non-marine fabric from a discount warehouse. It worked fine.
We just did the nav table seat in waterproof fabric. That was from Hawk House nr Gosport if they are still going?
 
I bought mine from Toomer and Hayter

Buy a big spool of thread at the same time

Dont forget zips and buttons if you want them.


I found fabric warehouses although good for curtain fabric did not really cater so much for upholstery.
 
Suggest you look at Sunbrella fabrics available from Kayospruce. If you are having your covers made professionally a good upholsterer will be able to explain the different types of fabrics. 10 years is nothing in the life of good fabric such as I suggested.
 
I contacted both Toomer & Hayter and Hawke House for samples in the colour range I was interested in. Then using the fabric, I then sorced the identical fabric I liked from a wholesaler selling end of rolls on eBay. Paid about 25% of the marine price - even after buying about 50% too much fabric.
 
We redid our cushions with material from a company called Toomer and Hayter. They probably have a website. They exhibit at London Boatshow. Can't remember how the price compared, but the quality has proved good.

Another vote for Toomer & Hayter - a wide range of specialist marine and other furnishing fabrics, prices, where products comparable, with Dunelm. They also made up the replacements from the originals for a fair price.
I ended up replacing cushions, with graded foam and memory foam inserts. (memory foam for bunk cushions).
Getting the complete cushions out to Athens was a more difficult operation - but negotiated with some confusion with BA (perhaps I shouldn't have invoked Willie Walsh).
 
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