Hi, Doug, and List,

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
We just covered a memory foam matress last summer. The customer
requested an upolstery fabric though. I'm curious why you are going after
Sunbrella? In the years we have been in the business I can't recall any
customer wanting Sunbrella for interior cushions. Sometimes for cockpit
cushions for obvious reasons but is standard marine grade Sunbrella.

Doug
s/v Callista


We thought we wanted something like a Sunbrella interior fabric, for
protective purposes. However, they're too thick, and don't give enough.
We're going with the closest we can find to the Tempur-Pedic covers, which
are a 75/25 cotton/poly blend (mostly for stretchy purposes) thin terry.

TP used to use a Gore-Tex cover, but got complaints that it didn't transmit
heat well enough. That's another reason we're not going to use the SB after
all - as lovely as it is, we don't think it would serve that foam well. We
believe the standard upholstery fabrics would present the same challenges.

However, perhaps you can weigh in on whether there should be some interior
(on the surface of the foam) scrim - and also whether a mesh bottom is
needed. We're thinking in terms of having VentAir under the bedding - we
almost bought a boat (High Time, the one which failed on survey with no
allowance for the results) from the local rep, who's also a broker, and
developed a nice relationship with him. So, we think breathability will be
well addressed, but without some barrier (like the Gore-Tex, or the
originally planned Sunbrella Interior) fabric, wonder if we'd best do the
belt and suspenders route, particularly since this will be a tropical
application.

Thanks for any acquired wisdom you may share :{))

L8R

Skip and Lydia, inching our way to completion of refit

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Comments below.

Doug
s/v CAllista

"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach sez use my name at earthlink dot fishcatcher
(net) - with apologies for the spamtrap wrote in message
...
Hi, Doug, and List,

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
We just covered a memory foam matress last summer. The customer
requested an upolstery fabric though. I'm curious why you are going after
Sunbrella? In the years we have been in the business I can't recall any
customer wanting Sunbrella for interior cushions. Sometimes for cockpit
cushions for obvious reasons but is standard marine grade Sunbrella.

Doug
s/v Callista


We thought we wanted something like a Sunbrella interior fabric, for
protective purposes. However, they're too thick, and don't give enough.
We're going with the closest we can find to the Tempur-Pedic covers, which
are a 75/25 cotton/poly blend (mostly for stretchy purposes) thin terry.

We covered our v-berth cushions with ticking. The same sort of stuff
used on regular matresses and pillows. That has worked for years. We also
have a matress pad for some additional comfort.

TP used to use a Gore-Tex cover, but got complaints that it didn't
transmit
heat well enough. That's another reason we're not going to use the SB
after
all - as lovely as it is, we don't think it would serve that foam well.
We
believe the standard upholstery fabrics would present the same challenges.

Gore-Tex does seem a strange choice for an interior cushion. Not sure
what you mean about challenges with upolstery material. .

However, perhaps you can weigh in on whether there should be some interior
(on the surface of the foam) scrim - and also whether a mesh bottom is
needed.

We generally make the bottoms out of Textilene mesh.

We're thinking in terms of having VentAir under the bedding - we

We have something similar under all our cushions in sleeping quarters.
Works very well.

almost bought a boat (High Time, the one which failed on survey with no
allowance for the results) from the local rep, who's also a broker, and
developed a nice relationship with him. So, we think breathability will
be
well addressed, but without some barrier (like the Gore-Tex, or the
originally planned Sunbrella Interior) fabric, wonder if we'd best do the
belt and suspenders route, particularly since this will be a tropical
application.

Gore-Tex does breathe. That is one of its strengths so it wouldn't make a
very
good vapor barrier.

Thanks for any acquired wisdom you may share :{))

L8R

Skip and Lydia, inching our way to completion of refit

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Hi, Doug, and group,
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
We thought we wanted something like a Sunbrella interior fabric, for
protective purposes. However, they're too thick, and don't give enough.
We're going with the closest we can find to the Tempur-Pedic covers,
which
are a 75/25 cotton/poly blend (mostly for stretchy purposes) thin terry.

We covered our v-berth cushions with ticking. The same sort of stuff
used on regular matresses and pillows. That has worked for years. We also
have a matress pad for some additional comfort.

Our upholstery guy advocated that, too - but if it's the same stuff, we
think it's beyond ugly (basically miniature awning stripe material). As (at
least from him), it's about as expensive as the Sunbrella interior stuff,
that made it even more unattractive :{))


TP used to use a Gore-Tex cover, but got complaints that it didn't
transmit
heat well enough. That's another reason we're not going to use the SB
after
all - as lovely as it is, we don't think it would serve that foam well.
We
believe the standard upholstery fabrics would present the same
challenges.

Gore-Tex does seem a strange choice for an interior cushion. Not sure
what you mean about challenges with upolstery material. .

Challenges in that it would not adequately pass heat (visco-elastic foam
relies on body heat to deform to suit) and that it would be too stiff (not
adequately deform to allow full depression on pressure points).

As to Gore-Tex, it's not cushions, it's mattresses. What attracted us was
the thought that a splash (sorta inevitable from time to time in a sea
state) would not go through, but that body moisture and other natural
humidity would pass readily, keeping the foam fresh.

For our interior seating, we'd expect to do standard upholstery material,
whether Sunbrella interior or other. The attractiveness to SB is the stain
and water resistance (see above).

However, perhaps you can weigh in on whether there should be some
interior
(on the surface of the foam) scrim - and also whether a mesh bottom is
needed.

We generally make the bottoms out of Textilene mesh.

That's what we're anticipating, as well and ...

We're thinking in terms of having VentAir under the bedding - we

We have something similar under all our cushions in sleeping quarters.
Works very well.

.... Combined with the firm mesh underlayment, we expect the foam to stay
fresh in nearly any conditions other than swamping with sea water.

Gore-Tex does breathe. That is one of its strengths so it wouldn't make a
very
good vapor barrier.

Well, yes - but we're not looking for a vapor barrier, but rather, a
moisture (well, liquid) barrier. In any event, GT sells only to
manufacturers, so we're unlikely to make our covers from that, any way.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Skip & Group:

"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach sez use my name at earthlink dot fishcatcher
(net) - with apologies for the spamtrap wrote in message
...
Hi, Doug, and group,
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
We thought we wanted something like a Sunbrella interior fabric, for
protective purposes. However, they're too thick, and don't give
enough.
We're going with the closest we can find to the Tempur-Pedic covers,
which
are a 75/25 cotton/poly blend (mostly for stretchy purposes) thin
terry.

We covered our v-berth cushions with ticking. The same sort of stuff
used on regular matresses and pillows. That has worked for years. We also
have a matress pad for some additional comfort.

Our upholstery guy advocated that, too - but if it's the same stuff, we
think it's beyond ugly (basically miniature awning stripe material). As
(at
least from him), it's about as expensive as the Sunbrella interior stuff,
that made it even more unattractive :{))

It does look like a mini awning stripe material. But you have to understand
how we use it. Our sleeping cushions are rarely exposed to the naked eye
just like your bed at home. They are made up with a fitted mattress pad
and fitted sheets and topped off with a top sheet (in summer) or a duvet
containing a down comforter (in cool weather). It is synthetic so it does
not mildew and is pretty soft. It costs less than a third per yard than
Sunbrella and is 63" wide so goes farther as well.


TP used to use a Gore-Tex cover, but got complaints that it didn't
transmit
heat well enough. That's another reason we're not going to use the SB
after
all - as lovely as it is, we don't think it would serve that foam well.
We
believe the standard upholstery fabrics would present the same
challenges.

Gore-Tex does seem a strange choice for an interior cushion. Not sure
what you mean about challenges with upolstery material. .

Challenges in that it would not adequately pass heat (visco-elastic foam
relies on body heat to deform to suit) and that it would be too stiff (not
adequately deform to allow full depression on pressure points).

Just checked with the Goddess Of Canvas and I was mistaken. The
memory foam matress we did was covered with a Jersey Knit material
It was a synthetic (acrylic she thinks) So it does not mildew.

As to Gore-Tex, it's not cushions, it's mattresses. What attracted us was
the thought that a splash (sorta inevitable from time to time in a sea
state) would not go through, but that body moisture and other natural
humidity would pass readily, keeping the foam fresh.

We have no direct expreience with this approach. The G-Of-C doesn't
think you would be happy with the result though.

For our interior seating, we'd expect to do standard upholstery material,
whether Sunbrella interior or other. The attractiveness to SB is the
stain
and water resistance (see above).

The upolstery material we use is stain and water resistant and available in
hundreds of styles. We've had ours for 5 years and have no stains yet. Only
blemish is when a guest broke a bottle of clear fingernail polish and it
spilled
on one of the cushions.

However, perhaps you can weigh in on whether there should be some
interior
(on the surface of the foam) scrim - and also whether a mesh bottom is
needed.

We generally make the bottoms out of Textilene mesh.

That's what we're anticipating, as well and ...

We're thinking in terms of having VentAir under the bedding - we

We have something similar under all our cushions in sleeping quarters.
Works very well.

... Combined with the firm mesh underlayment, we expect the foam to stay
fresh in nearly any conditions other than swamping with sea water.

That is our experience. If our 43' boat gets swamped then the cushions
are the least of our worries!

Gore-Tex does breathe. That is one of its strengths so it wouldn't make a
very
good vapor barrier.

Well, yes - but we're not looking for a vapor barrier, but rather, a
moisture (well, liquid) barrier. In any event, GT sells only to
manufacturers, so we're unlikely to make our covers from that, any way.

That was a comment from the G-Of-C. She was wondering where you
would get some. We are manufacturers but have never had any use for it.
Not sure if they would sell in the small quantities we might use anyway.
We use GoreTex thread on a regular basis but that's a different situation.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Here we are again :{))

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
Skip & Group:

(bedding covers discussion):

It does look like a mini awning stripe material. But you have to
understand
how we use it. Our sleeping cushions are rarely exposed to the naked eye
just like your bed at home. They are made up with a fitted mattress pad
and fitted sheets and topped off with a top sheet (in summer) or a duvet
containing a down comforter (in cool weather). It is synthetic so it does
not mildew and is pretty soft. It costs less than a third per yard than
Sunbrella and is 63" wide so goes farther as well.

Interesting. My guy claims his is similar in price (and the roll he's got
looks like 63, but I didn't measure it). Point taken on visibility.
There's gotta be some same-material/different-pattern alternative, though!
Any suggestions?

As to us, we're planning on making custom sheets from flat stock (can't find
any roll stock of 400TPI), and sleeping with a loose lightweight cover or if
it proves too cool, a down comforter/duvet-covered over a loose sheet. The
Vee will be easier, as there's a place to tuck to, but our cabin's
configuration won't work for that. We thought a bit about a bed-in-a-bag
solution, but figured that the less barrier to our body heat the better for
a visco-elastic bed.

Just checked with the Goddess Of Canvas and I was mistaken. The
memory foam matress we did was covered with a Jersey Knit material
It was a synthetic (acrylic she thinks) So it does not mildew.

Do you have a source? Or, are you saying the mattress arrived with the
manufacturer's cover, and you put something else over it?

As to Gore-Tex, it's not cushions, it's mattresses. What attracted us
was
the thought that a splash (sorta inevitable from time to time in a sea
state) would not go through, but that body moisture and other natural
humidity would pass readily, keeping the foam fresh.

We have no direct expreience with this approach. The G-Of-C doesn't
think you would be happy with the result though.

Turns out to be a moot point (see below)...

For our interior seating, we'd expect to do standard upholstery
material,
whether Sunbrella interior or other. The attractiveness to SB is the
stain
and water resistance (see above).

The upolstery material we use is stain and water resistant and available
in
hundreds of styles. We've had ours for 5 years and have no stains yet.
Only
blemish is when a guest broke a bottle of clear fingernail polish and it
spilled
on one of the cushions.

Hm. I'd thought that you were the source who twigged me to memory-file the
Sunbrella interior stuff. What do you use?

moisture (well, liquid) barrier. In any event, GT sells only to
manufacturers, so we're unlikely to make our covers from that, any way.

That was a comment from the G-Of-C. She was wondering where you
would get some. We are manufacturers but have never had any use for it.
Not sure if they would sell in the small quantities we might use anyway.
We use GoreTex thread on a regular basis but that's a different situation.


Indeed. We gave up on finding any - and also on the concept, as 1) the
manufacturer of the "real thing" quit using it (perhaps due to expense, but
at least nominally because of performance issues) and 2) the stuff is so
ungodly expensive that 1) above clinched it.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Send me a message directly, the group has probably gotten tired
of this Some final in-the-group comments below though:

Doug
s/v Callista

"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach sez use my name at earthlink dot fishcatcher
(net) - with apologies for the spamtrap wrote in message
...
Here we are again :{))

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
Skip & Group:

(bedding covers discussion):

It does look like a mini awning stripe material. But you have to
understand
how we use it. Our sleeping cushions are rarely exposed to the naked eye
just like your bed at home. They are made up with a fitted mattress pad
and fitted sheets and topped off with a top sheet (in summer) or a duvet
containing a down comforter (in cool weather). It is synthetic so it does
not mildew and is pretty soft. It costs less than a third per yard than
Sunbrella and is 63" wide so goes farther as well.

Interesting. My guy claims his is similar in price (and the roll he's got
looks like 63, but I didn't measure it). Point taken on visibility.
There's gotta be some same-material/different-pattern alternative, though!
Any suggestions?

Sounds like you need a new guy Our experience is that the synthetic
ticking is always the blue/white strip kind of thing. Others are available
with little butterflys etc but are 100% cotton. We can get you some if
you decide to go that way.

As to us, we're planning on making custom sheets from flat stock (can't
find
any roll stock of 400TPI),

We buy regular flat sheets at the store and fabricate them.

and sleeping with a loose lightweight cover or if
it proves too cool, a down comforter/duvet-covered over a loose sheet.
The
Vee will be easier, as there's a place to tuck to, but our cabin's
configuration won't work for that. We thought a bit about a bed-in-a-bag
solution, but figured that the less barrier to our body heat the better
for
a visco-elastic bed.

Just checked with the Goddess Of Canvas and I was mistaken. The
memory foam matress we did was covered with a Jersey Knit material
It was a synthetic (acrylic she thinks) So it does not mildew.

Do you have a source? Or, are you saying the mattress arrived with the
manufacturer's cover, and you put something else over it?

Jersey Knit can be bought at any fabric store. The matress we did came
with a cover but was never installed. The customer provided the Jersey
Knit which they bought at JoAnn Fabrics or some such place.

As to Gore-Tex, it's not cushions, it's mattresses. What attracted us
was
the thought that a splash (sorta inevitable from time to time in a sea
state) would not go through, but that body moisture and other natural
humidity would pass readily, keeping the foam fresh.

We have no direct expreience with this approach. The G-Of-C doesn't
think you would be happy with the result though.

Turns out to be a moot point (see below)...

For our interior seating, we'd expect to do standard upholstery
material,
whether Sunbrella interior or other. The attractiveness to SB is the
stain
and water resistance (see above).

The upolstery material we use is stain and water resistant and available
in
hundreds of styles. We've had ours for 5 years and have no stains yet.
Only
blemish is when a guest broke a bottle of clear fingernail polish and it
spilled
on one of the cushions.

Hm. I'd thought that you were the source who twigged me to memory-file
the
Sunbrella interior stuff. What do you use?

I think I may have answered some questions about interior Sunbrella, but
I can't recall ever actually using any for a customer. For upolstery
material contact Douglass Industries in Egg Harbor, NJ. They have a huge
selection of upolstery fabric.

moisture (well, liquid) barrier. In any event, GT sells only to
manufacturers, so we're unlikely to make our covers from that, any way.

That was a comment from the G-Of-C. She was wondering where you
would get some. We are manufacturers but have never had any use for it.
Not sure if they would sell in the small quantities we might use anyway.
We use GoreTex thread on a regular basis but that's a different
situation.


Indeed. We gave up on finding any - and also on the concept, as 1) the
manufacturer of the "real thing" quit using it (perhaps due to expense,
but
at least nominally because of performance issues) and 2) the stuff is so
ungodly expensive that 1) above clinched it.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Well, after all that, it appears we're going to be using a knit terry
velour. No give in the SB stuff, which would negate a large portion of the
benefit of the bed.

FWIW, having now slept aboard for about 3 weeks from getting the beds, I can
say it's totally awesome. My shoulder, which has yet another operation in
front of it, is entirely without pain when I get up, as contrasted with
anything else I've slept on since my operation.

I got mine, custom cut (used kraft paper base pattern, with appropriate hull
curvature outboard notations), from foamproducts.net, in Tarpon Springs, FL.
They include shipping anywhere in the US in their prices for their beds, and
include a pillow, to boot.

L8R

Skip, home briefly, and "suffering" on my previously perfect-for-my-back bed
:{))

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
Send me a message directly, the group has probably gotten tired
of this Some final in-the-group comments below though:

Doug
s/v Callista

"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach sez use my name at earthlink dot fishcatcher
(net) - with apologies for the spamtrap wrote in message
...
Here we are again :{))

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
Skip & Group:

(bedding covers discussion):

It does look like a mini awning stripe material. But you have to
understand
how we use it. Our sleeping cushions are rarely exposed to the naked
eye
just like your bed at home. They are made up with a fitted mattress pad

and fitted sheets and topped off with a top sheet (in summer) or a
duvet
containing a down comforter (in cool weather). It is synthetic so it
does
not mildew and is pretty soft. It costs less than a third per yard
than
Sunbrella and is 63" wide so goes farther as well.

Interesting. My guy claims his is similar in price (and the roll he's
got
looks like 63, but I didn't measure it). Point taken on visibility.
There's gotta be some same-material/different-pattern alternative,
though!
Any suggestions?

Sounds like you need a new guy Our experience is that the synthetic
ticking is always the blue/white strip kind of thing. Others are available
with little butterflys etc but are 100% cotton. We can get you some if
you decide to go that way.

As to us, we're planning on making custom sheets from flat stock (can't
find
any roll stock of 400TPI),

We buy regular flat sheets at the store and fabricate them.

and sleeping with a loose lightweight cover or if
it proves too cool, a down comforter/duvet-covered over a loose sheet.
The
Vee will be easier, as there's a place to tuck to, but our cabin's
configuration won't work for that. We thought a bit about a
bed-in-a-bag
solution, but figured that the less barrier to our body heat the better
for
a visco-elastic bed.

Just checked with the Goddess Of Canvas and I was mistaken. The
memory foam matress we did was covered with a Jersey Knit material
It was a synthetic (acrylic she thinks) So it does not mildew.

Do you have a source? Or, are you saying the mattress arrived with the
manufacturer's cover, and you put something else over it?

Jersey Knit can be bought at any fabric store. The matress we did came
with a cover but was never installed. The customer provided the Jersey
Knit which they bought at JoAnn Fabrics or some such place.

As to Gore-Tex, it's not cushions, it's mattresses. What attracted
us
was
the thought that a splash (sorta inevitable from time to time in a
sea
state) would not go through, but that body moisture and other natural
humidity would pass readily, keeping the foam fresh.

We have no direct expreience with this approach. The G-Of-C doesn't
think you would be happy with the result though.

Turns out to be a moot point (see below)...

For our interior seating, we'd expect to do standard upholstery
material,
whether Sunbrella interior or other. The attractiveness to SB is the
stain
and water resistance (see above).

The upolstery material we use is stain and water resistant and
available
in
hundreds of styles. We've had ours for 5 years and have no stains yet.
Only
blemish is when a guest broke a bottle of clear fingernail polish and
it
spilled
on one of the cushions.

Hm. I'd thought that you were the source who twigged me to memory-file
the
Sunbrella interior stuff. What do you use?

I think I may have answered some questions about interior Sunbrella, but
I can't recall ever actually using any for a customer. For upolstery
material contact Douglass Industries in Egg Harbor, NJ. They have a huge
selection of upolstery fabric.

moisture (well, liquid) barrier. In any event, GT sells only to
manufacturers, so we're unlikely to make our covers from that, any
way.

That was a comment from the G-Of-C. She was wondering where you
would get some. We are manufacturers but have never had any use for it.
Not sure if they would sell in the small quantities we might use
anyway.
We use GoreTex thread on a regular basis but that's a different
situation.


Indeed. We gave up on finding any - and also on the concept, as 1) the
manufacturer of the "real thing" quit using it (perhaps due to expense,
but
at least nominally because of performance issues) and 2) the stuff is so
ungodly expensive that 1) above clinched it.

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain