Washing upholstery

[MagicalArmchair]

Mirage is a 2001 J and J Bav 40, and has this sort of upholstery. It looks like it has never been washed and could do with a winter spruce up.



My options are:

• Remortgage the dog and get it all dry cleaned.
• Put it on a cool, handwash cycle in the washing machine and risk it will shrink.
• Wash it in the bath with cool water.

What have others done with the same kind of upholstery?

[JEN-et-ROSS]

Yep.. We've done it. I guess like ours your covers are 'zipped' on? We unzipped them and washed them in the washing machine, a delicates wash and light spin.
  So far so good, the real issue was getting them back on to their oddly shaped innards, the two nightmares were the two aft cabin roughly triangular ones with the odd appendages. It took two of us ages to position the covers without creases and folds....
Would we do it again?? Err, probably not.

[MagicalArmchair]

Yep.. We've done it. I guess like ours your covers are 'zipped' on? We unzipped them and washed them in the washing machine, a delicates wash and light spin.
  So far so good, the real issue was getting them back on to their oddly shaped innards, the two nightmares were the two aft cabin roughly triangular ones with the odd appendages. It took two of us ages to position the covers without creases and folds....
Would we do it again?? Err, probably not.

Yup, all zipped in. Any tips for a first timer? And yup, I suggest this will be a one time thing for us! I had my last boat for ten years and I didn't do it ever on hers (just banged them outside with a bit of wood after I had been doing sanding inside )

[JEN-et-ROSS]

The only tip I can give is that we found getting the 'pointy ends' of the mattress cushions in first saved much bad language and less twists and folds.
Still don't think I'd do it again........
(just thought, lubricate the zips as ours were prone to jamming after washing and could potentially burst if forced.)

[Salty]

We washed ours too, and fully agree with Jen et Ross. Getting the covers back on was like doing several rounds with a professional wrestler, and the zips all needed lubrication. Also there were lots of loose ends of threads from the way the covers were made and sewn and all headed for the zip tracks. Its not an easy task, but a lot less expensive than buying new covers. Suggest you do them one area at a time, then you know what you are letting yourself in for !!

[MagicalArmchair]

Thank you both, you lubricate the zips with silicone lube?

[symphony2]

Yes, sprayed mine, although one was seized solid with salt so be careful when unzipping them as they are relatively fragile.

[sy_Anniina]

A hint on wrestling the covers back: we always fit the covers  back immediatelly after spin and let dry in-situ. May prevent some shrinking and quite easy to fit.

However, our covers were re-manufactured (to old foams) by the yard upholsteter once we bought our boat.

BR
Tommi
s/y Anniina

[catlotion]

I washed the original covers on my 2006 30 Cruiser recently - the base cushions look to be made of a similar material.  Cool wash, line dried and they came up pretty good.   As others say, it's a pain getting them back in but well worth the effort.

[Yngmar]

They don't shrink. We washed ours a couple times now (liveaboards, so get lots of use). 30° machine wash. Also re-dyed them once in the washing machine.

The backrests are easy, two zippered compartments with foam, soft side facing the human. Only problem is, they didn't do the neatest job of cleaning up the fabric inside and lots of strings will come out. Bit messy, can be trimmed down a bit with scissors though.

The seat bottoms are more difficult, as there is a batten inside. This batten is held by loops of white string and a plastic bar. A knitting needle is extremely helpful in taking them out (hook the white string, pull it off the brown plastic bar, then remove the plastic bar). Also in putting them back in, where you must poke the white string through the foam the other way and re-insert the plastic bar to tension the batten. The batten itself is glued into the fabric (in a pocket) and this was a huge pain to remove. Gentle warming with a hairdryer softened the glue enough to wrestle the battens out, but several of them were already broken (before removal) and we just left them out on the saloon cushions, which makes putting the cushion back together much easier, but it no longer has that indentation near the front. Would be easy to replace the battens, it's just a plastic stick.

If the zippers are seized, use some fast release penetrant and patience to work them lose and after washing a bit of silicone oil to keep them from seizing up again.

Putting the foam back in before the covers are completely dry keeps them from getting wrinkles.

[Odysseus]

Interesting to read your comments,  I have a few tips for you given to me by an upholster:-

1  putting the covers back on is much easier if you insert the cushion into a "dry cleaning " type plastic bag on the edge going first it will slide into place easily then RIP the plastic bag off, or leave it on.

2  the zips can be cleaned off with white vinegar to get salt off.

3  spray with scotch guard.

I am always amazed how dirty the water is when washing them by hand.

Hope this helps.

Odysseus
Bav 38

[Salty]

Some good tips there Bill and Linda, thanks for passing them on.

[Secret World]

I washed the original covers on my 2006 30 Cruiser recently - the base cushions look to be made of a similar material.  Cool wash, line dried and they came up pretty good.   As others say, it's a pain getting them back in but well worth the effort.

Just did our new-to-us '07 30 Cruiser; unfortunately our settee bases and beds are a very light beige colour so looked filthy. Machine wash on gentle/cold, and rack dry, and they came out looking almost new. Had many threads jamming the zipper as has been noted, and I had someone pinch the material closed in front of where I was zippering--at any moment I thought the zippers would burst... and one did, but because when I was unzipping on to pull the foam out, I put too much stress on the zipper and it broke off the plastic clip that stops the zipper from backing all the way out. With 20 minutes of effort I was able to thread the zipper back on correctly. Note, I have the same settee backs as this picture and although they are zippered, those decorative buttons are stitched through the foam to the back, so you cannot remove the covers.

[catlotion]

... Note, I have the same settee backs as this picture and although they are zippered, those decorative buttons are stitched through the foam to the back, so you cannot remove the covers.

mine are the same but you can remove the buttons by pushing the retaining 'bars' through the foam and carefully through the cover.   Some of mine had small black plastic pieces that go through the foam and hold the thread tight (presumably original) but some were missing. 

I removed all of them and replaced the plastic bits with bits of chopsticks behind the foam instead (the plastic pieces were a bit small).   You can also get plastic discs to do the same job.

[Ronald]

We cleaned ours using a carpet cleaner. Rented it for a day at 15 € a day plus a bottle of schampoo.

Just did it on a sunny day as the vacuum sucks most of the moist out so no need to get the covers of the foam.

Spray the soap on let it sit for a short while and start vacuuming the pillows, then Look at the dirt water collected and think how in earth did they get so dirty 

Ronald

[tckearney]

Mine looked the same as yours if not worse,  I removed them all washed them then dyed them with DYLON Blue they came out looking as new.  That was five years ago and they still look good

[Rampage]

Agree with all the above: we washed the originals about once every 18 months when we lived on board full time.  The zips are fragile but it they die, then you can retrieve the situation quickly by using sail thread and a big needle and sewing the zip opening shut using large stitches.  In slower time, its fairly easy to replace the zips with a domestic sewing machine; any good fabric shop will sell you coil zips by the metre.
We made new upholstery a few years back, as the foam had started to disintegrate.  Rather than try to replicate the shapes of the original foam, we simply used rectangular pieces for the job.  It’s not a task we intend to repeat as it nearly led to marital breakdown but it did save us a small fortune compared to paying someone to do the job.

[Koen Leekens]

Hi,
The white seat covers of my Bavaria 40 Cruiser of 2013 were also discoloured - brown spots- due to humidity.
I sent an Email to Nauti Sattler - manufacturer.
Their reply: Machine wash - cold program is fine.

[seagran]

So good to read all those tips! Thanks a lot. I think I need to wash mine soon as we have spent so much time this year on Board...

[MagicalArmchair]

The zip is still corroded solid  I've tried PlusGas, dabbing it on multiple times - I'll next try some white vinegar I think, unless anyone else has any suggestions? I'm getting to the point I might cut the zip off, and stitch a new one in!

[symphony2]

I seem to remember getting new sliders, then breaking up the old corroded ones and cutting off the end stops, putting the new sliders on, zipping them up and sewing the open ends of the zip together so they did not open up.

[MagicalArmchair]

After leaving it for days with Plusgas penetrating fluid, after working it in with a toothbrush, then using white vinegar, worked it in the same way, then boiling water using a pipet onto the zip, followed by silicon lube, it finally came free with a bit of Mk1 Brute Force!!!...

...that's one cushion of many... dang it...

Thanks for all the help - the moral of the story is, don't give up!