Re-foaming setee cushions

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Emerald Hunter

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After 20 years use the cushions in the cabin have becone fairly stretched and saggy.
What is the best way to refoam? Ie company or self.
There is some non standard shapes around compression post.
 
Foam is easy to cut to shape. If you’ve got zippered covers on the cushions, buy the right sized foam, cut to shape and place inside covers. However, if the foam has come to end of its life, then the covers probably need replacing..... If so, unless you’re really good with a sewing machine, I’d get someone to do the job. We made new covers for ours a few years back and it rapidly became a “never, ever again“ job.
 
Emerald Hunter said:
After 20 years use the cushions in the cabin have becone fairly stretched and saggy.
What is the best way to refoam? Ie company or self.
There is some non standard shapes around compression post.
Click to expand...
Its not difficult to cut new foam if you have an electric carving knife. .... Its expensive though.
It is necessary to make the foam a little larger than the dimensions of the cover to ensure a good tight fit ( I forget the rule of thumb for the oversize though).

Are you sure the covers are themselves worth the expense and hassle of fitting new foam after 20 years or is it time to blow the cobwebs off the sewing machine and make new ones
 
duncan99210 said:
Foam is easy to cut to shape. If you’ve got zippered covers on the cushions, buy the right sized foam, cut to shape and place inside covers. However, if the foam has come to end of its life, then the covers probably need replacing..... If so, unless you’re really good with a sewing machine, I’d get someone to do the job. We made new covers for ours a few years back and it rapidly became a “never, ever again“ job.
Click to expand...
The difficulty of this job is justification of the astronomical quotes from upholsterers, particularly "marine"ones.
 
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We took our home sofa seat cushions to a local , non marine , company. They are generously sized cushions 26" x 26" x 6"deep . The chief officer says the cost for new foam, fitted , was about £50 per cushion.
 
If you do manage to cut the foam oversize for a tight fit , you'll find it very difficult to get it into the cover.
the trick i found was to stuff the foam into slippery bin bag, stuff foam and bin bag into cover, then pull out bin bag.

Plank
 
VicS said:
Its not difficult to cut new foam if you have an electric carving knife. .... Its expensive though.
It is necessary to make the foam a little larger than the dimensions of the cover to ensure a good tight fit ( I forget the rule of thumb for the oversize though).

Are you sure the covers are themselves worth the expense and hassle of fitting new foam after 20 years or is it time to blow the cobwebs off the sewing machine and make new ones
Click to expand...
?
The covers themselves are on good shspe and no stains(surprising)
Just the squashed foam really..
 
I fitted new foam to our rather tired cushions several years ago, bought foam online and DIY. The fabric was good so not replaced , as said make slightly oversize and wrapped in thin layer of wadding? to reduce wrinkling- the foam supplier will advise. Also managed to source identical fabric for the rear cabin, which had the original fabric... and also DIY.
 
I've bought some foam to do just what you're doing but I think I may have a problem because the original foam inserts are tapered front to back. I may have to slice a thin add-on to match the existing tapered cover ... ...
 
I would try buying some of that high density thin foam and adding into the existing cushions. Try on top first. If you can squeeze it in it should make cushions firmer. I guess really the whole question is what foam can you buy at a decent price. I don't expect you have to do it all at once. have a go. ol'will
 
We replaced the foam on a set of four cushions for a V shaped double berth a while back. All went very easily.

As VicS says, you need to cut the foam slightly oversize so it is under compression in the covers and keeps them wrinkle free. I'm not certain , but if I recall correctly it was about 3/4" extra per 6' foot of length (and pro rata for shorter and longer widths/lengths). You can probably find confirmation or correction of that online.

Most of the foam suppliers will cut to shape if you provide templates, but this will cost extra. To keep costs down we bought online a couple of suitably 'oversized' straight-sided rectangles, then cut out the various shapes (including sides both vertically and horizontally tapered to fit the hull curves) ourselves. We used a combination of sharp Stanley knife and a serrated bread knife for cutting. (I read that an electric carving knife is ideal, but we don't have one.)

As far as we can recall, we didn't use bin bags or other covering to get the foam into the external covers: it took a bit of jiggling and pulling about, but it wasn't that difficult.

The foam you need for seat cushions (and berths that are also seats) is firmer than that for berths not used for seats and for seat backs. The better foam suppliers' websites have information on the appropriate foams for different uses.

Our new foam proved a great improvement on the tired old foam it replaced.

Good luck.
 
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We use foam sourced from caravan breakers. A fraction of the cost of new and guaranteed to be fire retardant.
An electric knife is quick and effective but leaves a jagged finish (which doesn't really matter as it is covered). A sharp carving knife leaves a better finish but requires more skill. Buttoning adds cosmetic value and stops the cover creeping.
(The ones in the foreground are waiting for the appropriate buttons. I found that the button covering service offered here;- was excellent. 10 X NO 45 WIRE LOOP UPHOLSTERY BUTTONS MADE USING YOUR FABRIC/covering service | eBay)
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Emerald Hunter said:
After 20 years use the cushions in the cabin have becone fairly stretched and saggy.
What is the best way to refoam? Ie company or self.
There is some non standard shapes around compression post.
Click to expand...
If you do it yourself get some "dacron" to go around the foam it's like a 25mm soft pan scrub and puffs the fabric makes it all look much more professional.
 
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