Interior upholstery - best material?

[DoubleEnder]

Bumping an old thread which has some interesting reading.
I want new bunk and back cushions for 2 settee berths. Each is about 6'4" long and 24" wide. I currently have textured cream vinyl on 4" foam which is uncomfortable. The foam is too hard for comfortable sleeping and the vinyl is unattractive and slippery, though it is bombproof. I will keep the vinyl cushions for when we do week long regattas with lots of crew.
The boat is a 'classic' old sailing yacht, lots of mahogany furniture, so I'd like something not too dark.

Questions are:
Is it feasible to have say 2" of firm foam with 2" of memory foam on top, to make a more comfortable bed?
Is it a good idea to have the inboard edges of the cushions built up to provide a sort of roll effect? Or does that make for complex design and manufacture of the covers?
What is the best fabric? Everyone rates Alcantara very highly, but I currently have samples of Nova and Sark which are polyester fabrics made by Agua. These are a sort of pile effect and feel quite nice. Also Wemyss, which is a bit more suede like and also 100% polyester, and something called Ecosuede. All of these are about £25 a metre
I don't mind spending a bit of money, but I do want to get it as right as I can. Does anyone have experience of these fabrics? Or should I go for Alcantara itself?

Thank you
Graham

 

[Tranona]

You can get variable density foam and also a good upholsterer will be able to add rolls or profile to suit you. Of course this adds to the cost both labour and materials. Perhaps you need to talk to a "proper" marine upholsterer to get an idea what is possible.

Personally not keen on Alcantara, but prefer Sunbrella fabric. Very hard wearing, comfortable to sit on and a good range of colours.

 

[LittleSister]

Is it feasible to have say 2" of firm foam with 2" of memory foam on top, to make a more comfortable bed?

Not sure that memory foam is really what you need for the basic support & thickness in a cushion, more of a supplement I would have thought.

You can certainly get laminated foams (e.g. a layer of firm foam bonded to a softer layer), as this was one of the options we considered when getting new forepeak berth cushions a couple of years ago. Our problem was that we wanted some give - not too firm - but we didn't want it too soft as the cushions had to be quite thin (because of height restrictions) and didn't want to find ourselves being able to feel the boards below the cushions. Laminate seemed a possibility, but in the end found some decent quality medium density foam that has turned out fine.

It would have been more of a challenge on berths that are used as seats, as there you do need a firm foam for sitting on.