Question 1

Does it matter whether I use "MARINE" grade upholstery vinyl? 
Is Marine vinyl actually different from Automobile upholstery vinyl?

Accepted Answer

The short answer is YES. It makes a difference!  
For example a 30oz Marine Vinyl like Omnova's Capitano™ has UV, Mold, Mildew, and Bacterial Protectant, milled into the stratum, which Automobile vinyl does not have.  Furthermore, Marine Vinyl has all of the FADE Resistance that Auto Vinyl is made with.

Manufacturers like Nautolex®, Mobern®, Naugahyde®, Omnova®, Nassimi® Spradling®, Sunbrella® brand (which matches their canvas colors) all make vinyls specially formulated to last on  a boat. Sunbrella's Horizon protects against "Pinking" (a mold related problem)  If they have a 5 year warranty then it it will require that we use New Foam and plastic boards (not old wood). If it will stand up to 5 years in Florida Sun, then, it ought to last much longer on Chickamauga Lake under a covered Slip.

Furthermore CLC&U uses Tenara Lifetime Thread for all of their upholstery. That;s the stuff they use to sew bulletproof vests. We use the smallest needle possible and the longest stitch, so are to avoid "Postage-Stamp" tearing, over the years.   All of these little extras add up to a much better finished product for the life of your boat!

Nautolex® is a registered trademark of OMNOVA Solutions, Inc. 
Capitano™ is a trademark of OMNOVA Solutions, Inc.
sample warranty Omnova, Nautalex, Capitano:

Question 2

Can You Find and Exact Match For My Boat Seat Upholstery Vinyl?

Accepted Answer

Well... that depends. What's it worth to ya? Boat manufacturers make proprietary arrangements with Vinyl Upholstery makers.  That means that the vinyls used by OEM boat builders are not strictly available on the open market.  THAT SAID, sometimes you can come close.

If the boat is less than 5 years old, then the boat builder might have stock in your exact vinyl. If the boat is older or if they do not hold any more stock that is an exact match,  There are two more options.  Boat makers sell their roll ends to dealers that handle only "close-outs" and "over-runs".  (You might even find a replacement dashboard part for the one that's cracked, while you're at it.)

Not only roll-goods but also OEM Captain's chairs can sometimes be found. I recently found a brand new Captain's chair for a Chaparral.  It was about $895. That is about what we would charge, because the chair was complicated and we don't have their pattern as a starting point... BUT, we were able to just install the new seat and move on to our next custom project; no real savings in money but it put us 2 or 3 days  ahead on the next project.

The second option if the boat manufacturer cannot help you is tricky. Marine Upholstery Vinyls have three main characteristics that people mean, when they ask, "Can you match my boat's upholstery vinyl?"  or "Can we get an exact match for my boat seats?" Those three characteristics are COLOR, GRAIN and SHEEN. Color is self-evident.  Grain is pretty obvious too. Grain is the "skin texture" of the vinyl you want for your boat.  Sheen is less obvious to most people shopping for Marine Grade Upholstery Vinyl to match their boat.  This has to do with whether the coated fabric maker made the surface "matte" or left it with a high-gloss finish. Of course there there are infinite vinyl sheens, colors, and grains made for boat interiors, and there are other subtle factors. Shoppers don't generally think of the surface thickness of the original vinyl.  (30oz is typical for marine vinyl) If the original vinyl had a 1/4" foam layer on the back, that can be added by your upholsterer. If you find the right pattern without FB on the SKU number, you have solved your problem.

There is, however, another way to go... Sometimes the boat owner can find an online partslist for the make, model and year of their particular boat.  That list might tell the vinyl manufacturer and even the color and/or pattern of the vinyl that was used on the boat originally.  THIS WILL STILL BE A PROPRIETARY VINYL, However, it greatly narrows down the job if you can know who made the vinyl.  They might have taken a shortcut and you might find the right color and sheen... even though the grain is smoother or bumpier.  That might be close enough if you're reasonable.

The probable choices are narrowed down when you can find the vinyl maker's name because sometimes the vinyl coated upholstery industries make things a little easier on themselves.  Sometimes Spradling, Nautalex, Morbern, Nassimi, or Naugahyde seem to use an existing "stock" color with a different grain or give a different sheen to make the run unique. SOMETIMES, two out of three ain't bad and we can help you quickly.  So don't be sad! (you remember the song) These are the experiences when an upholstery shop tries to find an exact match for your boat by just sorting through all of their samples.

That said, if the boatowner is a real stickler for an exact match, these minor difference can be enough to put some people off.   That drove one boatowner we recently did work for to spend 15 hours searching until he found the exact match he wanted.  This writer has personally spent 4 hours on just "searching". At $75.00 per hour, that's $300 spent while we found a match, there is no guarantee.

All that said, HERE is the number one reason NOT to spend even one hour trying match your exact upholstery vinyl of a boat seat:  The only reason for finding an exact match is because you only intend to do SOME of the upholstered parts at this time.  Guess what? the same vinyl might no longer be available when the other upholstered parts wear out, too.  SO the long hard search only serves to wax you into the corner when the rest of the seat or back parts need to be recovered!

CLC&U recommends that you spend very little time on what can prove to be a fruitless search.  A close match is usually the best choice, once you consider what you are really saying when you ask, " Can you find an exact upholstery vinyl to match the rest of my boat?"

Question 3

How best to maintain Marine Upholstery Vinyl textiles?

Accepted Answer

This is an example of the care recommendations from two of the top marine canvas makers. Omnova and Sunbrella.  The PDF discusses cleaning both sides. They don't expect that pieces that are upholstered and stapled down. So it is clear that they expect that sometimes upholstery vinyl might be used as a loose cover, snapped into place. Who knew?

Question 4

What are the Best Practices in Marine Upholstery?  and what kinds of things do the Product Guides specify?

Accepted Answer

Find on page Sunbrella's New Horizon Marine Vinyl Textile product guide with recommendations like thread size, needle gauge, and stitch length for longest lasting Marine Upholstery...

Question 5

What can I do about MILDEW on my white boat seats?

Accepted Answer

Mildew is a perennial problem on boats. As such, there are a few good old fashioned answers... which contradict themselves.

The first good old fashioned answer is "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" (more about this later) the contradiction is that... if we are asking the question, we are already behind the 8-ball!  The mildew has already set in. OFTEN this comes up when a person buys a new boat, so... "no shame" in having this problem.

The second good answer is "don't use bleach!" This is important because bleach hastens the decomposition of polyester thread leading to seam failure. We have all seen seam failure of boat cushions. The contradiction comes from products like "Star Brite®" Mildew Stain Remover... it DOES remove mildew stains because it's main ingredients are Sodium Hypochlorite and Sodium Hydroxide (aka Bleach and Lye).  Guess what  Bleach and Lye do to Polyester?

What do we recommend? Iosso (that's a capital "i")  Iosso Mold and Mildew Stain Remover.  We carry it at the shop and you can find it elsewhere, I imagine.

Iosso is a dry grainy powder.  It comes with a scoop.  Half a scoop in a pint of warm water in a spray bottle.  Shake until the blue goes away.  Spray on. Agitate lightly with a brush. Wait 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse with clean water.  Et Viola!

REGARDING "an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure":
We reccomend and use Tenara thread on our upholstery. It is a lifetime thread.  It costs about times as much as Polyester thread.  We ask a modest $5 fee to help transfer that cost to the boatowner because it is well worth ten times that.

references:
servicethread.com/blog/materials-science-for-industrial-threads-and-yarns-polyester-and-nylon

youtu.be/3y1SroNxHNY

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions

Does it matter whether I use "MARINE" grade upholstery vinyl? Is Marine vinyl actually different from Automobile upholstery vinyl?

Can You Find and Exact Match For My Boat Seat Upholstery Vinyl?

How best to maintain Marine Upholstery Vinyl textiles?

What are the Best Practices in Marine Upholstery? and what kinds of things do the Product Guides specify?

What can I do about MILDEW on my white boat seats?

For Fastest Response
TEXT

(423) 780-9600

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions

Does it matter whether I use "MARINE" grade upholstery vinyl? Is Marine vinyl actually different from Automobile upholstery vinyl?

Can You Find and Exact Match For My Boat Seat Upholstery Vinyl?

How best to maintain Marine Upholstery Vinyl textiles?

What are the Best Practices in Marine Upholstery? and what kinds of things do the Product Guides specify?

What can I do about MILDEW on my white boat seats?

For Fastest Response TEXT (423) 780-9600

For Fastest Response
TEXT

(423) 780-9600