Foam for cockpit cushions

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BelleSerene

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I recently went on a friend's boat and he had some really firm cockpit cushions, made by a sailmaker - firm so they don't 'bottom out' on the cockpit bench when you're sitting on them. The length of the cockpit seat, and 2-3" thick, covered in a water-resistant fabric.

Thought I'd make a couple myself with a sewing machine.

Can anyone recommend what type of foam to use to make these? It's the firmness I'm after, and obviously either being water-resistant or porous: not simply absorbing any water that gets through the fabric.
 
I ordered reconstituted/chip foam from these people to make new seats for my RIB: http://foamscuttosize.co.uk. It is about the firmest and most durable, they use it for pub barstools and the like. I used 4" but you would get away with 2" or maybe even 1" for cockpit cushions. Easy to order cut to size online and not prohibitively expensive. It's not water resistant though, I don't think any foam is, you need to factor that into the covering material.
 
I've made cockpit cushion covers, reusing the foam from some commercially made ones (Plastimo iirc). The foam was not in fact a block of foam as I was expecting but sheets of closed cell foam. It is sold as underlay for laminate flooring or as a packaging material. The cushions are about 25mm thick and have about a dozen sheets of the foam to get to that thickness. As the foam is closed cell it will not absorb water, and it's firm yet reasonably comfortable to sit on. The foam is now on its fifth year (2 years in the Plastimo covers, 3 in the nice stripy denim) and shows no signs of wear. Bonus is that because it doesn't absorb water, the cushions do well as items to fling quickly to a MOB...... Covering is denim, much nicer to sit on than vinyl. Washed once a season to get rid of the accumulated salt and suntan lotion.
As an alternative to lots of sheets of thin foam as described above, you could use a sleeping mat, cut and layered. Again, closed cell foam so no need for waterproof covers.
 
duncan99210 said:
I've made cockpit cushion covers, reusing the foam from some commercially made ones (Plastimo iirc). The foam was not in fact a block of foam as I was expecting but sheets of closed cell foam. It is sold as underlay for laminate flooring or as a packaging material. The cushions are about 25mm thick and have about a dozen sheets of the foam to get to that thickness. As the foam is closed cell it will not absorb water, and it's firm yet reasonably comfortable to sit on. The foam is now on its fifth year (2 years in the Plastimo covers, 3 in the nice stripy denim) and shows no signs of wear. Bonus is that because it doesn't absorb water, the cushions do well as items to fling quickly to a MOB...... Covering is denim, much nicer to sit on than vinyl. Washed once a season to get rid of the accumulated salt and suntan lotion.
As an alternative to lots of sheets of thin foam as described above, you could use a sleeping mat, cut and layered. Again, closed cell foam so no need for waterproof covers.
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Incidentally, and not wishing to derail this discussion, but I have been thinking perhaps closed cell foam may have an application as headliner underlay..

Anyone here tried this ?
 
Thanks to all. Closed cell foam's tempting for the extra-firm feel, but for the sake of waterproofness I'll go with reticulated (EZY - 'easy' Dri) foam, and cover the underside with a porous vinyl coated polyester to let any water drain away fast, and the other 7 sides with a decent Sunbrella fabric. Out comes my daughter's sewing machine...
 
jonjo5 said:
There is some poor advice in this thread. The proper foam for cockpit cushions is "reticulated" foam, no further debate is necessary.

http://www.thefoamshop.co.uk/category/193/RETICULATED--FOAM
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Thanks a lot - I'm running with that. Sunbrella fabric and a porous ('Nautolex') underlining so any water that does get in will drop straight out.

Any recommendations on thickness? I read that the pros recommend no thicker than 2", but it seems to me that thicker will give more support. What am I missing?
 
parsifal said:
Where did those of you who are going to make cushions learn the skills to do it?

Are there courses available?
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Daughter's sewing machine. Wife taught me how to use it, and any number of YouTube tutorials will teach you whatever you want to know. Beyond that, it's just thinking through the design, practising and learning from mistakes.

Same way I learned how to fell trees and make them fall where I want!

Here's my outline plan for the box cushions, although I'm modifying it because our cockpit seats aren't rectangular and don't have corners: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XIIgvJEvCSk

I'm just finishing making a replacement Lifesling cover as the original has degraded badly in sunlight. It's loosely based on this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RlQOWXnmK8k
 
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