Making fender socks

If you have a sewing machine and the time and inclination to experiment then make then out of almost any old cloth. Old curtains or sheets for instance. or even old sails. This will give you practice and the old cloth may well last a decent period before being sacrificed.
However I would imagine the sail cover type UV resistant polyester fabric would be best though quite expensive. good luck olewill
 
I haven't made them from scratch, but I have modified one that was too long for Fat Gladys, our short but rotund fender. The thick but stretchy fabric was a bugger to sew.

Pete
 
bigwow said:
Fleece, from local fabric shop.
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+1 I tend to buy via eBay because it's easier than tramping round shops. Be aware that the fabric will fade quite quickly but it's cheap as chips. Make the covers with a simple seam along the side and a tunnel hem top and bottom, thread a bit of cord through top and bottom and pull tight to fit to the fender. Took me less than a day to make covers for all 10 fenders we have on board.
 
A lady we met in Greece makes new ones almost every year from fleece bought at Dunelm Mills. Very snazzy!

In the past we have made them from towelling and fleece but neither lasts anything like as well as the stuff the commercial ones are made from. I don't use their tie-wrap method though, uses too much material for the generous fold that is required and ultimately the whole thing comes undone. I make a hem using hand sewn whipping twine and thread ties at each end.

Before we get the usual comments about socks attracting grit that scratches the gelcoat, I have been using socks for many years and my topsides are pristine. I recently replaced a couple that have been in regular use in Greece, a particularly dusty country, and found no grit or anything other than a very fine dust on the fender itself. Conversely, I have seen horrendous topsides damage on boats that do not use socks.
 
I've used fleece.
It does not last brilliantly if left out in sunlight 24/7, but for us swinging mooring dwellers who only use fenders when visiting places, it's fine.
I didn't find it hard to sew with my beginner machine skills.
 
Fender socks = method of collecting grit from harbor walls to grind your gelcoat.
OK for the marina bound I guess, but I dont see the point.
They dont help keep the UV off either, the fender always goes at the eye anyway.
 
billcowan said:
Fender socks = method of collecting grit from harbor walls to grind your gelcoat.
OK for the marina bound I guess, but I dont see the point.
They dont help keep the UV off either, the fender always goes at the eye anyway.
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See post#7. It just doesn't happen, but even if it did it is little effort to hose the fenders down when cleaning the decks. Just about every superyacht, whose crew's only brief is to keep the boat looking pristine, uses fender socks. I can only recall ever seeing one or two that didn't have them. My fenders, with socks, have been in the Med for well over ten years now, no UV degradation that I can see. Unsocked fenders do far more topsides damage than socked ones.
 
How about using these :)

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