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

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Morgan 461 #2
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