Oat cushions

PabloPicasso

PabloPicasso

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What foam is best for cabin/bed cushions on a sailing yacht?

What meterial is good for the covers?

Should the covers unzip so they can be removed and washed?
 
PabloPicasso said:
What foam is best for cabin/bed cushions on a sailing yacht?

What meterial is good for the covers?

Should the covers unzip so they can be removed and washed?
Click to expand...

I had new cushions made many years ago and found the following useful.

I bought closed cell foam in 2 densities and topped it off with Dacron wrap.
Closed cell prevents it acting like a sponge if you sit down in wet oilies.​
Main layer with high density foam, topped with thiner layer of medium density make it comfortable and still works as a berth for sleeping.​
Dacron wrap provides some lift to round off the cushions and also fills the corners.​

I just looked for a fabric I liked and also had very high wear resistance. Cost of fabric didn't really impact overall cost very much.

Certainly fit covers with zips. Make foam slightly too large ~1", Dacron wrap also pads out sides, corners and rounds off the top.
 
i have just bought 120mm thick cm35m medium density foam from Acefoam.co.uk and cut it to shape. They were the cheapest i found.
At that thickness i may have been better to have chosen thinner, or a softer grade as it is firmer than i expected. Fire retardent too.
 
Mistroma said:
I had new cushions made many years ago and found the following useful.

I bought closed cell foam in 2 densities and topped it off with Dacron wrap.
Closed cell prevents it acting like a sponge if you sit down in wet oilies.​
Main layer with high density foam, topped with thiner layer of medium density make it comfortable and still works as a berth for sleeping.​
Dacron wrap provides some lift to round off the cushions and also fills the corners.​

I just looked for a fabric I liked and also had very high wear resistance. Cost of fabric didn't really impact overall cost very much.

Certainly fit covers with zips. Make foam slightly too large ~1", Dacron wrap also pads out sides, corners and rounds off the top.
Click to expand...

Just a couple of additional points: when Mrs H re-covered all our cushions (after a Hawke House day's course) she (i) used Dacron wrap over the existing foam, but also IIRC then covered the whole with a stockinette material, which I think helps keep the wrap in place and in shape when putting on, and taking off, the covers, and (ii) used Velcro closures sewn into the covers instead of the original zips (concealed at the bottoms and backs of the cushions). Depending on the situation, Velcro can have some advantages over zips, in both construction and use.
 
Last edited:
My little boat is fairly manky but gets a lot of use. One usually ends up standing on cushion/mattress covers if you climb in at a heel. So I did not want expensive cushion covers. Mrs and I made them out of cotton drill cloth. Relatively cheap and tough. I used velcro for closing the gap at the back of the cushion. So fairly easy to remove exposing the foam.
Every winter I wash the covers. Just leave foam out in the sun for a while to air it. I keep them inside through winter.
Cushion covers are made by laying out the cushion on the cloth. Mark out and cut with 1.5cm excess all round. Do top and bottom. Then cut side walls as wide as cushion is thick plus 1.5cms all round. Then sew the panels together inside out so seam is inside when you pull the whole correct way out. Obviously you must leave one long seam open. This is joined by velcro (hook and pile) sewn to the edges so velcro over laps. I also sewed wide velcro patches under neath to attach to similar patches screwed to be bunk base to hold it all in place. The cheap cloth is durable and not son expensive if you make a mistake in cutting and sewing. Plus it does not pain so much if someone makes a mess. ol'will
 
Two ends of the spectrum.
On our Bavaria we used medium density foam, standard upholstery fabric and high quality zips for the closures. Took about a week to make but still going strong 6 years later. Covers removed about once a season for normal wash, line dry and refit.
Hurley 18, quick fix. Plywood bases to cushions, cheap upholstery fabric off eBay held in place with staples. Took a morning to do and when fabric gets too grotty, rip it off and recover. Even less time to do this as plywood already cut to size....
 
We sail a catamaran - the upholstery does not get wet.

:)

Covers - leather - if its good enough for a cow in all weathers - surely it is good enough on a yacht.

Jonathan

edit

I only read this thread as I wondered if Pablo had lost his marbles and was seriously contemplating oat filled cushions as it seemed a very odd place to store breakfast.....
 
Hawke House are very helpful. Blush was a stripped out racer when we bought her. Seats in the main cabin were like church pews with vinyl covered cushions to cope with wet sails. No back/side cushions. I worked out what I wanted (back cushion needed to be tapered for comfort) and HH made them, standard foam with polyester wadding and stockinette. Subsequently they made new mattresses for the V berth. Had a long discussion with them about the type of foam best suited my needs. They also told me to make the new covers slightly too small because they stretch a bit when sat on.

I made the covers for these and recovered the rest with a poly/cotton fabric from Kayospruce. HH covered buttons for some of them. The buttons can be unhooked when washing covers.

Zips - get all plastic including sliders. I bought zip by the metre with as many sliders as needed. If you use stockinette covered foam, don't use velcro, you will struggle to get the covers on.

The vertical cushions are held in place with velcro, using the heavy duty version of the hooks, stuck in place with double sided tape and stapled every few feet.

This was all done at least 15 years ago and still going strong. They get washed every couple of years.

The foam doesn't get washed, too dense to dry. If it gets wet with salt water, however, it is essential to rinse the salt out or it will absorb moisture from the atmosphere all the time.
 
blush2 said:
Hawke House are very helpful.

... If you use stockinette covered foam, don't use velcro, you will struggle to get the covers on. ...
Click to expand...

Agreed about HH - Mrs H enjoyed their course, and found it and the 'goody bag' very useful. (No other connection etc.)

If the covers are made slightly small, for the sensible reason you give, it's always going to be a bit of a struggle to get them on. But I think that relates to the size of the opening rather than to whether the closure is a zip or Velcro. I cannot ask Mrs H at the moment, but I believe HH advised that Velcro could be perfectly successful, and we have had no problem.
 
Hydrozoan said:
Agreed about HH - Mrs H enjoyed their course, and found it and the 'goody bag' very useful. (No other connection etc.)

If the covers are made slightly small, for the sensible reason you give, it's always going to be a bit of a struggle to get them on. But I think that relates to the size of the opening rather than to whether the closure is a zip or Velcro. I cannot ask Mrs H at the moment, but I believe HH advised that Velcro could be perfectly successful, and we have had no problem.
Click to expand...
The zips are full length and the cushion flexes in the middle which makes things easier. The small end cushions are slipstitched closed.
 
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