Washing 26x cushions/covers advice...

[WD]

A bit of concern here on products used to wash - don't want to damage - and drying using a dryer or on clothes line or... concerned about shrinkage and issues resulting...


cheers, Bill

[svscott]

I stripped the covers from all of my interior cushions and washed the foam in a new LARGE garbage can filled with hot water (tankless water heater and garden hose to fill) and a borax/ vinegar mixture per some directions I found online. The mixture is supposed to kill and prevent mold. I did one foam at a time and used my soft bristle deck brush as an agitator. I then bear hugged as much water back into the garbage can as possible and rinsed then with fresh water and bear hugged again. I then set the foam in the sun on a huge blue tarp to dry. It took a couple days of summer sun to get them dried out fully.

The cushion covers, I took to a local laundromat and had them washed in a non agitating commercial front loader. I used a clothes line to dry the covers once they were clean.

The cushions smelled of vinegar for a couple months but they're nice and clean and fresh. Maybe I should've rinsed with more fresh water.

Putting the covers back on the foam is very difficult to get right!

For the exterior cushions, I spot cleaned with simple green and didn't touch the foam.

[NiceAft]

I think it matters what fabric the covers are made of.

If you have original cushions, then the instructions given by SVSCOTT are good. If your covers are Sunbrella or similar product, then that is overkill.

I have never had a mold problem, so I just wipe the cabin cushions with a mild detergent. My black Sunbrella (closed cell foam fillers*) cockpit cushions have never been washed/cleaned; just wiped down (seventeen years). They are stored in the cabin over the winter.

Sunbrella is significantly more expensive than vinyl, but those cushions are seventeen years old and still look good, and feel good. They have payed for themselves, and still going strong.

*Closed cell foam may make a difference instead of open cell foam; I don't know?

[WD]

Hey thanks guys, and yes Ray, the original material. Good to hear about the very very difficult svscott, might influence how much we do...


Cheers

[JaxMacX]

Hi, we put the covers of our interior cushions one at a time in our front load washer (berth and seats). Then we air dried them in the house. Had covers draped over backs of chairs. We didn’t clean our cushions. The material didn’t have any concerning areas for us to clean. So we just aired them on the back covered porch.