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tmh
09-29-2009, 09:06 AM
The foam inside the seats on my 18C usually get wet each time we use the boat, from rain and swimming/skiing. I put them in the sun to dry but the idea of dried salt water doesn't appeal to me. Has anyone covered the foam with a waterproof cover to prevent this? I wish I could rinse the foam out to get rid of any salt water but I'm reluctant to get the foam more saturated. I don't know if mildew and mold become an issue. I've also kept the carpets out of the boat to prevent them from getting soaked with salt water. What is recommended for maitenance and long term durability for the interior?
T.M. Hayes

mrfixxall
09-29-2009, 09:09 AM
The foam inside the seats on my 18C usually get wet each time we use the boat, from rain and swimming/skiing. I put them in the sun to dry but the idea of dried salt water doesn't appeal to me. Has anyone covered the foam with a waterproof cover to prevent this? I wish I could rinse the foam out to get rid of any salt water but I'm reluctant to get the foam more saturated. I don't know if mildew and mold become an issue. I've also kept the carpets out of the boat to prevent them from getting soaked with salt water. What is recommended for maitenance and long term durability for the interior?
T.M. Hayes


usually a good apolstry guy that does marine interiors will cover the foam with plastic so this wont happen.

knots2u
09-29-2009, 09:27 AM
All foam that left Bilt-Rite was wrapped in plastic, even the bucket seats. Maybe someone replaced the foam at some point but didn't wrap it, or worse yet maybe the cushions aren't Bilt-Rite! :eek:

Wrap the foam & make sure you have drain holes in the bottom of the cushions and back bottom of buckets.
Occasionally hose the carpet with fresh water, hang to dry.

What year is your boat?

VetteLT193
09-29-2009, 09:31 AM
rinse them out well then let them dry. be VERY careful to leave the foam exposed in the sun. it will get destroyed quickly by UV. after they dry, wrap them in plastic and put them back together.

Or get that new foam that doesn't absorb water and drill some holes in the seat bottom.... do you ever see Ship Shape TV on sunshine network? They had an episode that covered this exact issue.

Morgan's Cloud
09-29-2009, 11:45 AM
If you should ever have to get new cushions done seriously consider using what my upholstery gal calls 'Dri-fast foam' ...
You can pull it out of the water and it holds virtually nothing .... When covered with upholstery it has a nice quality feel to it , not squooshy like cheap low density foams .

Dr. David Fleming
09-29-2009, 02:53 PM
Water soaked foam is very heavy and cuts the performance and boat handling. Water weighs over 6lbs per gallon. Keep it covered in the rain because once wet its just about impossible to dry.

Dr. d

tmh
09-29-2009, 04:47 PM
My 18c is from 2003. It looks like there was a plastic covering the foam at one time but it certainly hasn't been watertight for some time. I'm fairly confident my interior is original and it is actually in very nice shape. I don't think the previous owner got the interior wet like I do. I'll look into the cost of a closed cell type foam as I know it used to be fairly expensive years ago.

On a related subject, I just replaced the driver's seat bracket with one from Garelick as suggested by some of you. I have 15 small cuts on my knuckles and a bruise on my forearm getting to the 4 nuts under the floor, and I spent $95 for the bracket.

On Saturday I'm hoping to take the boat east of Ft Myers, Fl on the Alva river. The river apparently goes for miles and miles with minimal no wake zones and no speed limits.
T.M. Hayes

knots2u
09-29-2009, 05:42 PM
2003 was after Bilt-Rite was supplying interiors to Donzi. I am surprised that after only 6 years the plastic is trashed! In the past few years there have been significant improvements to the dry fast foams and I encourage you to use it. Use the original piece of foam as a template and see if the upholstery supply shop will cut it to size for you, also make sure you have drain holes in the bottom of the cushions. Good Luck!

DONZI
09-29-2009, 06:31 PM
I installed this 3 density foam awhile back-
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/conForFoan.php
and it didn't work out so well. It doesn't have the rebound quality needed.Very comfy at 1st then stays flattened.

Tony
09-29-2009, 09:08 PM
If you should ever have to get new cushions done seriously consider using what my upholstery gal calls 'Dri-fast foam' ...
You can pull it out of the water and it holds virtually nothing .... When covered with upholstery it has a nice quality feel to it , not squooshy like cheap low density foams .

When I re-foamed the sunpad cover that p729lws (Dan) graciously gave me, my daughter (a packaging engineer) hooked me up with a piece of DriFast. It is an excellent product and does exactly what Morgan's Cloud describes.

http://www.fabricscentral.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=dri-fast-foam

http://www.scalisemarine.com/foam.htm

:beer:

Morgan's Cloud
09-30-2009, 06:22 AM
Thanks for the endorsement Tony ! :kingme: I think the Dri-fast is also a tad lighter than regular foams.

An additional tip ...... Use breathable webbing on the bottom of the cushions instead of upholstery vinyl (with zippers installed for future maintenance) and not only will water never have anywhere to sit but the cushions constantly breathe.

(My upholstery gal is a whiz .... pity she migrated to Greece )

silverghost
10-01-2009, 12:47 AM
Two years ago I needed to have my speedboat's big aft sunpad recovered. It had aged and the foam was shot.
I bought a new piece of marine plywood for the base & sealed it with sealer, added SS T nuts for the new fasteners, & bought a new thicker urethane foam pad at a foam place for $100.
Since the old foam always became saturated with rain water and weighed a ton I wanted to try to prevent this.
I cut-out the new foam with an electric kitchen knife and shaped it with a belt sander.
Did a nice job ~If I do say so myself!
Next I glued the new foam to the plywood with 3M spray 90 adhesive. Before doing this I drilled a pattern of 1/8" drain weep holes into the plywood. (Also drilled a series of small holes in the fiberglass hatch structure for weep drainage.
Next I covered the foam with heavy clear poly plastic using SS staples.
I delivered this assembly to my interior lady (my girlfriend~ who is going to kill me if she reads this!) who did a super job re-covering it with new marine vinyl & fancy stitching ;covering as original. This only cost me a nice dinner at an Itallian Restaraunt ` What a deal !
What does your interior guy charge?
I bought a big roll of this marine vinyl over the internet that was supposed to be UV protected & mildew resistant & treated !
Two years later I have a strange dark brown stickey liquid goo dripping out of the water weep holes I drilled !
What a mess this stuff is !
It is slowly dripping over everything under the sunpad hatch.
What is this brown gooey stuff ?
Is my $100 foam breaking down already?
Did I use the wrong foam?
Is it the adhesive ?

Also~ Is there any product to prevent mildew from growing on this marine Vinyl ?
The so-called mildew resistant & treated marine vinyl is showing signs of black mildew spots!
You would not believe what this vinyl material cost !
I used Clorox bathroom cleaner with bleech to remove this stuff! Big Job on entire boat's vinyl.
Now I need a good vinyl protectant with a mildew inhibiter~ If there is such a product!
Any ideas here?
Thank's
Brad Hunter
There is no longer any sign of water saturation in the poly covered new foam.
At least that worked!

Morgan's Cloud
10-01-2009, 06:28 AM
Brad ,

The frustration in cleaning mildew easily off of upholstery has surely led all of us to the Clorox bottle at some point , unfortunately , liquid bleach no matter how well flushed off , will always penetrate the stitching .. then it's just a matter of time before everything comes undone.

IMO , when you make the plywood base and the cushion 'one piece' you're asking for trouble.

Even with drain holes etc , it will get and stay wet /or damp.
The brown stuff is more than likely resins or other chemical components of the plywood breaking down with the constant wetness and draining out.

Hope we're not getting too far off topic here ....

S

Dr. David Fleming
10-03-2009, 12:43 PM
Brad,
Friend of mine in Detroit does engineering for auto interiors - shared this thought with me - "not a lot of upholstry does well in the rain." This in mind, Donzi designed the stuff the best they could and usually included with the boat is a mooring cover - for good reason. Now boats by their nature are on the water and wet - UV exposure is also part of the design problem. I would think you would want to duplicate what the factory did and select any changes carefully. Plywood today is mostly indoor because plywood boat building is part of the past - nonwithstanding, marine grade plywood is available from larger national marine lumberyards - any good quality wood is a challenge to obtain as we don't live in a wood literate age - usually antique boat guys have to deal with this.

Any rate this is the foam answer as I remember it - injectable seat foam was developed in the 60's and a patent was issued for it. Auto companies had to purchase from the supplier and it could be injected into molds - limited life as it turn to powder. Patient ran out and a new chemical material was developed which includes the bulk material most Donzi's were built with but it will absorb water. Development of the new water absorbing foam is the latest but it doesn't rebound or feel the same.

Marine grade fabric is thick and protected from UV radiation which is getting worse with the ozone depleation - keep it covered. This material generates an oil which picks up dirt and is difficult to clean without a fairly strong cleaner like "Roll Off" which is sold in MI.

I would think you go fast boaters would be fanatic about keeping dry because of the increase in weight of water soaked upholstry. I usually keep one of those water absorbing packages you hang in the closet at home - hang it in the cabin and it absorbs water and the mildw odor - have to change it often though as it really pulls the water out of the air.

By the way, antique boats were finished in leather with cotton batting and horsehair over wood or metal springs - sometimes the seats were throwable and made of Kapock an old plant material used in lifejackets. Be glad you got the foam - just try to keep it covered and dry.

Dr. d