Steam-cleaning boat upholstery

[Babylon]

Boat upholstery needs a jolly good clean (sweat, puke, pee, snot, seawater, tears, tea, milk, boaty ming, whatever) but is permanently sewn into the foam substrate so cannot be removed and washed.

Would it be a good idea to get hold of a steam-cleaner, and what sort/make should I be looking for (which can then do the car upholstery as well!)?

 

[Gwylan]

Boat upholstery needs a jolly good clean (sweat, puke, pee, snot, seawater, tears, tea, milk, boaty ming, whatever) but is permanently sewn into the foam substrate so cannot be removed and washed.

Would it be a good idea to get hold of a steam-cleaner, and what sort/make should I be looking for (which can then do the car upholstery as well!)?

Have a look at the Rug Doctor, rentable from BBC. Less aggressive than steam, but might be less effective too.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Agree with Gwylan, you would be better off with an extraction hoover rather than a steam cleaner, it would be more effective.

That said, it could be possible to take the upholstery to a trimmer and ask if you can add some zippers?

 

[Cardo]

Be careful with a steam cleaner. We steam cleaned all the upholstery on our boat when we bought it (previous owner wasn't exactly Mr Clean) and it left marks all over. It looks like the steam actually melted some of the material? I guess it depends on the type of upholstery, but forewarned is forearmed!