So we’ve explored the different types of foam and layers techniques you can use to redo the insides of boat cushions and mattresses, but what about the outside? Let me just throw it out there, removing our tight Sunbrella cushions covers from the foam, layers and poly fill is a royal PITA. After Tate helped me fight the magical Green Foam into the current covers, he no longer questioned me why I want to make slip covers for our cushions.
I’ve heard and read this is a good idea, plus common sense tells me once we start cruising the covers will be subjected to salt, water, sunscreen, sweat, oil, possibly fish guts and who knows what else! I need a nice fabric that is easier to remove, wash and re-cover. It also needs to be stain/sweat/mildew resistant, feel cool in the heat and nice on sunburnt skin.
Once again I’ve been doing research and all signs lead to something called “Ultrasuede fabric Ambiance“:
Made with 100% recycled ultra-microfiber
Ideal for upholstery, wallcovering and a host of other applications
Superior performance for fashion accessories, footwear, consumer electronics and more
Soft, plush suede hand
Soothing to the touch in any climate
Excellent colorfastness
Resists sagging, crocking, pilling and shrinking
Highlyabrasion-resistant—exceeds 200,000 Wyzenbeek double rubs
Optional antimicrobial treatments available to resist microbes, bacteria, mold and mildew
Spot-cleanable and washable
Apparently this is Ultrasuede fabric is the stuff to get. It’s supposed to be rugged, cool, breathable, stain resistant, mildew resistant, washable, feels great on the skin and in general is very nice looking. Perfect. So how much does it cost? Oh just about $80 per yard (36 x 55″). YIKES!
Yeah… NO way. However we rarely pay full price for anything and I’ve found many places online offering the durable Ambiance line for much much less. Can you stomach $22/yard? I think we can seeing how that’s about the same price as the soft Sunbrella we were looking at. But now the bigger question, what color? When buying things on sale you can’t be too picky.
Below are the colors I’ve found, but can’t decide which one would look the best.
This is about the color of our interior with the current cushions, the curtains I made in the Sailcloth Sand Color, and the table with the Pearl Color that will be on all countertops:
I’m leaning towards a lighter color such as the Chamois but I worry about staining. I also like the Lichen color.
So, any opinions out there? What color would you pick and why? If not the Ultrasuede fabric then what do you recommend? Tate is color blind, so I need help!
21 comments
January 28, 2013 at 11:36 am
Stone………..not too light to show marks, not too dark to be dull.
Hope you are on the mend Dani.
January 30, 2013 at 9:18 am
I am feeling much better Martin, rest and Ibprofen.
Thanks!
January 28, 2013 at 11:36 am
I would think about making sunbrella slip covers for when actually sailing, to keep the ultra suede nice for when in port. Some sailors also recommend a light cotton slip cover for the tropics. takes away the worry about sweat stains.
January 30, 2013 at 9:20 am
I hear conflicting things about cotton on boats. Some say Cotton has no place aboard, only Poly and synthetic fibers. I don’t have much experience with it out at sea so that’s yet to be seen.
The covers we have are currently sunbrella and in great shape. Since I can find the ultrasuede at a discount but only have a limited quantity I think we’ll spring to make slip covers out of it. Time will tell how it holds up.
January 28, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I think Stone, Lichen, or Doe. You wanted to brighten up the interior. Colors that won’t show stains (like Graphite or Slate Blue) will not brighten anything; they’ll make it every bit as dark as it is, or darker. Also, I would avoid the Sand, Wheat, and Bisque, because even when they’re clean, they would look dirty. Doe will be the brightest, but if that just seems too much of a risk, and if you’re even worried that Lichen will show too much, then Stone may work for you.
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about stains. Yes, they will happen, but you’re really going for the comfort of it, anyway. You can bring some color-safe bleach to try to minimize any incidental damage for your 3 year voyage, and maybe consider professional cleaning when you get home to restore them to like-new when you move back on land and Sundowner becomes your weekender, instead of your full-time home. IF Sundowner ever stops being your full-time home!
January 30, 2013 at 9:18 am
Yes Elliot! I definitely want to brighten up the interior and am willing to live with some stains or discoloration I suppose. All of this stuff doesn’t really matter in the big picture, it’s just items to focus energy on now since we can’t leave yet.
I like the idea of avoiding the Sandy yellow colors. For so long I stayed around these colors because they are “safe” but it ends up being a drab brown mess. I think we’ll be more daring. I mean why not?
January 28, 2013 at 12:37 pm
I love ultrasuede and have thought many times that having it on the boat would be glorious. We have two loveseats done in ultrasuede at our house and I’ve never had anything so easy to keep looking good. It cleans up beautifully. I’d stay with the lighter colors because you have a lot of dark wood inside the boat and it brightens up the place. It’s hard to tell actual color on the computer, but whatever blends with your countertops, I’d say. If they are warm, stay warm, if they are cool, stay cool, you know? It’s hard to keep the interior of a boat from being visually ‘overly exciting’, so staying in the same color family will be the best choice. I wouldn’t worry about staining because that’s one reason you are choosing the ultrasuede – it’s easy to keep clean.
I’ve been thinking about what one can do to keep cushions inside a boat from feeling damp while on a passage. Someone looked at Moonrise awhile back and thought the boat had a leak because a cockpit cushion stored against the hull in the salon felt damp to the touch. There is no leak, it had just been splashed with salt water and we needed to take the cover off and wash it. What a pain. I think your idea of slip covers is a good one, and I would want them to be waterproof.
January 30, 2013 at 9:16 am
I have heard it’s a very good material and I’m really happy you have had good experiences with it as well. On Ebay I was able to find some for about $22/yard. That’s a serious discount. I can’t wait to sew the slip covers and try them out!
January 28, 2013 at 12:41 pm
whatever you pick, it’s gotta be light with that interior. The Lichen you mention does look like it could be a fun color. The tans all look the same to me.
January 28, 2013 at 12:46 pm
A light color is best with all that pretty wood! I originally thought “Lichen”, but didn’t know if you wanted a little green or not. If so, that’s my choice … just a hint of color!
January 28, 2013 at 4:44 pm
SAND! Its pretty close to the color we chose. Its neutral enough that you can completely change your color scheme with a splash of color and pattern in small things- like pillows. It will go with warm colors, it will go with cool colors. It will go with anything you want to add in there and since Ultra Suede is not exactly cheap, it makes sense to keep it as neutral as possible so you don’t feel locked into anything.
January 30, 2013 at 9:15 am
Definitely going with a neutral. Can’t wait to get them on the boat and “transform” the space.
January 28, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Wheat /mica /graphite
January 28, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Maybe stone
January 28, 2013 at 5:52 pm
Wheat or chamois. Your interior is very heavy on wood, so get something to lighten up the decor?
January 28, 2013 at 6:11 pm
Well, I’m going to swim against the tide here and recommend something on the darker side. The first cushion covers Lulu made for Siempre Sabado were a really cool tropical print on a background that was very close to ‘wheat’ in your examples. Now, granted, it wasn’t ultra-suede or any other miracle fabric but it was some sort of outdoor upholstery fabric. Within a few months, the areas where we sit all the time started looking pretty dingy and never really were able to get completely clean again. Finally they looked so ugly that we scrapped them and replaced the covers with new ones made out of Sunbrella with a verigated green stripe. When you start living on your boat full-time, you will be sitting in the same places all the time and for much longer periods than you sit in your favorite easy chair at home. Your skin or clothing will not always be pristine. You’ve got to have fabrics that not only resist stains but also don’t show them very much if they do get dirty, and they will.
As far as they darker fabrics contributing to the cave-ness of the interior, that’s unfortunately true. However, because the seats will take much more abuse than almost anything on the boat (down below, at least), I wouldn’t choose the cushion fabric as the spot to brighten things up.
If you look at early entries in our blog, like in 2009, you’ll see our original pineapple fabric. Later entries will show the green Sunbrella. After 2 years of living with the new covers full-time and subjecting them to our sweaty bodies and sometimes not-so-clean clothes, we’re still happy with them. Stains are easily cleaned up and the fabric wears like iron. And we’ve had no complaints with it comfort factor.
Lulu just mentioned that she had just talked to another liveaboard full-time couple today who were really unhappy with their choice of a light-colored fabric for their upholstery. If you go with Sunbrella, you may be able to find a compromise with a lighter colored stripe like we did. Our cushions are dark but not nearly as darl as they’d be if they were solid Erin Green without the stripes.
January 30, 2013 at 9:14 am
It is risky going with a lighter color. One thing about the Ultrasuede they SAY is it’s ability to stay good looking, light dark or whatever. I suppose we’ll see.
Thanks for sharing, truly the advice of actually cruisers is so helpful.
January 28, 2013 at 10:06 pm
We redid all our cushions in ultrasuede before our trip. Great choice – comfortable, tough, great-looking.
I’m with Steve on the color choice. We have an all-teak varnished interior and a contrasting color just won”t lighten it up enough to justify the stain potential. So rather than fight the teak, we decided to “celebrate” it with a traditional look and went with a forest green called emerald. Looks classy, as would a deep blue.
Now, on the cushions — no human was meant to sleep on 4 inches of foam, no matter what kind. We were ably to get 6 inches on the V berths, and that’s okay. But the berth construction in the salon meant going with 4 max. So we ended up with “toppers” –about 1.5 inches of really good foam in a zippered “sack” made of sheet material. We just roll up the topper during the day. The sack means you already have a bottom sheet. One of our toppers got some sort of mildews stain on it, so I replaced it with one of the “tufted toppers” for which you see ads. Luxurious, but very expensive.
Now onto sheets. You can get really good ones from any number of RV supply places that are 30″ wide. Bottom fitted sheet and top sheet is fitted on the bottom end so they never slip off. Fraction of the cost of custom marine sheets. Size is close enough on the V berths that we just tuck in the excess on the bottom, top fits pretty close because of the elastic in the end.
January 30, 2013 at 9:13 am
I like the darkish green, unfortunately it isn’t a color choice for the low cost.
I am definitely going to check out the RV stores for 30″ wide sheets. I had no idea! I figured I’d have to sew a custom one, but I’ll look for these first.
January 29, 2013 at 1:21 pm
I think the Lichen would look great.
January 30, 2013 at 9:12 am
WOW! Thanks so much for the suggestions and advice. We have picked a color and will unveil it when the slip covers are made.
I value everyones input so much