Which foam for interior cushions?

[jephotog]

My boat came without any cushions. While I know sail-rite can provide me with the proper type of foam, it would brake the budget, and actually double the cost of the boat, its a Potter 14. I have found a number of foam for furniture suppliers locally, is there a foam that would be okay in a marine environment? The foam can be dried out every night in the house if need be.

[casioqv]

Originally Posted by jephotog

My boat came without any cushions. While I know sail-rite can provide me with the proper type of foam, it would brake the budget, and actually double the cost of the boat, its a Potter 14. I have found a number of foam for furniture suppliers locally, is there a foam that would be okay in a marine environment? The foam can be dried out every night in the house if need be.

Regular furniture foam will be fine as long as it's inside the cabin, and not left soaking wet. The higher density the foam the longer it will last and the more comfortable it will be, but at a greater cost.

[smackdaddy]

jep - I just went through this whole ordeal for our C27 a few months ago. I made all new interior cushions from scratch - using 4" medium density upholstery foam (1034 was the number I think). So far they're holding up great. You just have to keep them dry from what I understand.

If I had it to do over, I would probably just order them from Catalina - or from a real sailboat upholstery shop that has the templates. I priced, through local upholstery shops, just covering the foam I'd already purchased and cut - and it was going to be several hundred more than what I could have bought the cushions for finished and ready from Catalina. The foam and labor prices will blow you away.

So, in the end, I probably saved 5 or 6 hundred bucks...but man was it a lot of work!

PS - Casio is right about the higher density being better and more expensive.

[TQA]

If you get a closed cell foam the cushions will not absorb water. They can also be used as impromptu flotation devices.

Google FloTex Foam for a supplier. Do not know the cost in the US but it varied hugely in the UK.

[nightowle]

new cushions are an expensive proposition "any way you cut it"
I spent a LOT recovering mine professionally, but used the same foam. Here's an idea: find some cheap used sofas in good condition with 3 or 4 inch foam and recut the foam pieces to the size you need using an electric carving knife. Then do the recover yourself if you can. DO NOT buy a cotton material for the boat. It will absorb odors. Polyester, nylon and synthetic or combo materials are best.

[smackdaddy]

night - that's a good idea on the sofa thing. They make this foam adhesive that I used on ours and it worked really well. You could piece together what you need from various cushions to get the right shape.

Or, you could just put the whole damn sofa down below and make your salon look like your old dorm room.

[Stiche]

Any standard foam will work fine in the interior. You only need closed cell foam where it will be exposed. Just keep moisture out when you're not on board. An inexpensive moisture evaporator will take care of that. I recently had all cushions on my boat replaced by foamorder DOT com. Did a great job on them. I used 4" Duraflex D44 (medium-firm) for seat bottoms, 3" for seat backs. Whether you use them or not, they've got some good information on options and what to choose. Just go through the process of ordering a custom foam cushion and it asks you all sorts of questions.

[jephotog]

Thanks for the advice folks.

Now that i got the okay for using furniture foam I emailed a guy who's boat I raced on this summer. He is a second generation owner of a furniture factory. He quoted me a little over $100 for two pieces of foam cut to fit. I will try to use some fleece drawstring sleeping bags to act as covering. If it works out I will be in a cushiony fleece forepeak for less than $150, which is very price appropriate for the boat. If not I will sew up some covers this winter.