I get a lot of questions about sewing and fabric since I do canvas work on the side for cruisers. A recurring comment is the "Oh!" when people see our white settee upholstery, especially when they see my mechanic husband sitting on it or pictures of my grandkid toddlers on the boat.
We thought long and hard about choosing white for our cushions. We wanted to lighten up the interior, especially at night, but we are active people and we get dirty fixing things on the boat and we had intentions of having grandkids with jelly fingers visit us. In the end, the desire to lighten up the interior won out.
I purchased a white linen from Sailrite. Before you say it, yes you can get fabric cheaper from other places online. I choose to continue to deal with Sailrite because it's a family owned company that delivers on its promise for excellent customer service. Customer service rules in my book and I am always willing to pay a bit more for something if I can find good customer service.
After sewing the cushions, we treated the fabric with Scotchguard. We also do keep some stretchy lightweight blankets on the bottom cushions if we're working on something to protect them from our dirty clothes and feet. The only stains on the cushions so far are a couple drips of wood stain that got away from a project. We have had spills on the fabric before, but they remained on top of the thread until we were able to blot it up with a towel.
Cleaning the covers has been a delight. I simply throw them in any commercial washer with normal laundry detergent and, if they're very dirty, I add a detergent booster.
Here is the picture of the port side settee right after we did the cushions:
And here is a picture of the same settee after two years of use. The two small stains from the wood stain are visible in the lower left.
While it does definitely require more attention to keeping them clean, it has been without any question, a good decision to go with the white cushions in this fabric. I would say, though, that if you chose a cheaper fabric your results might not be as good.
We thought long and hard about choosing white for our cushions. We wanted to lighten up the interior, especially at night, but we are active people and we get dirty fixing things on the boat and we had intentions of having grandkids with jelly fingers visit us. In the end, the desire to lighten up the interior won out.
I purchased a white linen from Sailrite. Before you say it, yes you can get fabric cheaper from other places online. I choose to continue to deal with Sailrite because it's a family owned company that delivers on its promise for excellent customer service. Customer service rules in my book and I am always willing to pay a bit more for something if I can find good customer service.
After sewing the cushions, we treated the fabric with Scotchguard. We also do keep some stretchy lightweight blankets on the bottom cushions if we're working on something to protect them from our dirty clothes and feet. The only stains on the cushions so far are a couple drips of wood stain that got away from a project. We have had spills on the fabric before, but they remained on top of the thread until we were able to blot it up with a towel.
Cleaning the covers has been a delight. I simply throw them in any commercial washer with normal laundry detergent and, if they're very dirty, I add a detergent booster.
Here is the picture of the port side settee right after we did the cushions:
And here is a picture of the same settee after two years of use. The two small stains from the wood stain are visible in the lower left.
While it does definitely require more attention to keeping them clean, it has been without any question, a good decision to go with the white cushions in this fabric. I would say, though, that if you chose a cheaper fabric your results might not be as good.
2 comments:
Your white is lovely and it will lighten up an otherwise dark salon. Enjoying your blog!
Thanks Suzie! It was a tough decision going with the white but we're definitely glad we did.
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