The Best Fabric, Foam & Zippers for Marine Interior Cushions

Best Fabric for Marine Interior Cushions

There are some qualities you should look for in boat cabin upholstery fabric. Even though it's the interior of your boat, moisture is still present. You'll need a fabric that is mold and mildew resistant. That's why we recommend synthetic fabrics. Stay away from natural fibers like cotton for marine cushions. 

The next step is to decide between a woven canvas upholstery fabric and a vinyl or faux leather material. Here's a quick summary of the characteristics and differences between vinyl or faux leather and woven canvas upholstery fabrics.

Vinyl & Faux Leather Fabrics:

• Higher abrasion resistance than canvas.
• Waterproof/very high water resistance.
• Not breathable; needs to be vented to allow for airflow.
• Heavier-weight fabric; might be harder to sew depending on your sewing machine.
• Only offered in solid colors.

Vinyl has always had a reputation for durability and practicality, but is somewhat lacking in luxury and softness. Faux leather, on the other hand, has always been seen as both durable and luxurious, but at a high cost. However, some vinyl fabrics have recently emerged in the textile world that are not only incredibly durable and abrasion resistant, but also impressively soft, supple and stylish.

EverSoft™ is one of these fabrics. A unique four-way stretch vinyl with an incredibly soft hand, EverSoft is perfect for high-end uses where look and feel are paramount. It flawlessly conforms to corners, curves and contours, and it keeps its shape without sagging or wrinkling. Available in two grain patterns and a wide variety of vibrant colors, EverSoft delivers the best in performance and aesthetics.

The textures and grain patterns of faux leather fabrics mimic the look and feel of real leather. From left to right: EverSoft Pebble, EverSoft Smooth, Morbern Bayside, Nauga Soft, Ultraleather Coast, Ultraleather Summit and Ultrasuede.

Our selection of vinyl and faux leather fabrics has upped the style factor. They are just as high-end and expensive-looking as real leather upholstery fabrics. A benefit of vinyl and faux leather is that, in addition to adding a touch of luxury to your cabin interior, they are nearly waterproof. If your boat cabin often gets damp, you might want to consider choosing from our selection of high-quality vinyl and faux leather upholstery fabrics.

Our Most Popular Vinyl & Faux Leather Fabrics:

• EverSoft™ Pebble and Smooth
• Morbern^® Bayside
• Naugahyde^® Nauga Soft
• Ultraleather^® Coast
• Ultraleather^® Summit

Explore our entire selection of vinyl and faux leather upholstery fabrics for marine interior cushions. Click here.

Our Most Popular Ultra-Microfiber Fabric:

• Ultrasuede^® HP

Check out our selection of Ultrasuede HP in rich, bold colorways. Click here.

Woven Canvas Fabrics:

• Abrasion resistant, but not as durable as vinyl and faux leather.
• Water resistant, but not as much as vinyl and faux leather.
• Breathable; does not need to be vented.
• Most home sewing machines can handle woven upholstery fabrics.
• Available in solids, stripes, geometrics, nautical patterns, florals and more.

If you love colors, patterns and making a statement with your upholstery, you can't go wrong with one of our high-quality woven textiles. Canvas upholstery fabrics are a great choice for marine interior cushions. Not only stylish and durable, our favorite woven upholstery performance fabrics are abrasion resistant, mold and mildew resistant, and solution-dyed. In fact, they're suitable for both interior and exterior marine cushions.

Here is a sampling of some of our favorite woven upholstery fabrics from Outdura, SunRite, Sunbrella and Covington. 

Here's a list of our recommended woven fabric brands for high-quality and stylish marine interior cushions:

Our Most Popular Woven Fabrics:

• Outdura^® Upholstery
• Sunbrella^® Upholstery
• SunRite™
• Covington Outdoor

Explore our entire selection of canvas upholstery fabrics for marine interior cushions. Click here.

Whether you prefer the timeless sophistication of rich vinyl or faux leather solids, or you're looking for a fun and bright pop of color and pattern from a canvas upholstery fabric, you are sure to find what you're looking for within our selection of hundreds of marine interior cushion fabrics.

Best Foam for Marine Interior Cushions

When it comes to foam selection, there is an important question to ask: Are you a liveaboard or occasional boater? If you live on your boat all year or part of the year, you need a foam that can withstand high traffic and everyday use. With a lifespan of up to 12 years, CushionRite^® Premium high density polyurethane foam (2.8 pounds per cubic foot) is the way to go. If you are a liveaboard whose cushions will get wet frequently, you'll need to make sure you choose a high density foam that is also antimicrobial. Wrap the foam in Cushion Wrap Silk Film (#103933) before inserting it into your cushion cover for even more protection.

Our Foam Sample Box (#124215) is a great way to feel and test out CushionRite foam types before buying a whole sheet.

Cushion Wrap Silk Film is a lifesaver for easily inserting your foam into your cushion cover. Wrap the silk film around your foam and then use a vacuum to shrink the foam. The silk film creates an airtight layer, allowing you to vacuum the air out of the foam so it's easy to slip into the cushion cover. Once you remove the vacuum hose, the foam will expand back to normal size and fill out the cushion cover. Because silk film is a waterproof barrier, it's crucial to leave some foam exposed at the zipper plaque to allow for airflow to the foam.

Not a liveaboard? In that case, we recommend an antimicrobial, CushionRite^® Standard medium density polyurethane foam (1.8 pounds per cubic foot) or CushionRite^® Dry Fast Foam for your cabin cushions. You can use high density if you want to, but it's not necessary for occasional boaters. Though it will last much longer than medium density and Dry Fast, it is also more expensive than medium density and does not drain water or breathe as efficiently as Dry Fast.

If you are making mattress cushions, we recommend Dry Fast Foam. Dry Fast has open pores, which allow air to circulate through the foam. This makes for a cool and comfortable mattress. Dry Fast is also antimicrobial.

For more information about foam, read our blog "Selecting the Right Marine Interior Foam" (#300055XHT).

Best Notions for Marine Interior Cushions

For marine interior cushions, we recommend a size #5 continuous, molded tooth zipper chain with a plastic, single pull, non-locking slider. The molded tooth zippers we carry are UV treated and are made with DuPont Delrin^® plastic teeth molded to the fabric tape. They are incredibly strong and practically weatherproof. Should your cabin cushions get wet, molded tooth zippers are corrosion resistant.

Though we gravitate toward non-locking zipper pulls for our marine cushions, you can use a locking pull if you prefer. A locking zipper pull has a locking mechanism in the slider that prevents it from moving on its own. The zipper will only open when the slider is pulled.

For thread, we recommend a Tex 70, UV-treated polyester. Polyester thread is resistant to saltwater and mildew. It's our top recommendation to use on all your boat projects, both inside and out. Use a size #16 needle for woven upholstery fabrics and a size #18 needle for vinyl and faux leather fabrics.

Wrapping Up

Now that you know the best fabric, foam and notions for making marine interior cushions, you're ready to order your supplies and start sewing! Browse the Sailrite^® website to find the materials you need. We keep thousands of products in stock and ready to ship. For project inspiration, check out our library of free how-to videos. Our video tutorials break down the measuring, patterning, assembly and sewing process into easy-to-understand steps. DIY should never be intimidating — we'll show you how easy it is to sew projects for your boat, home, RV and more.

These bright and colorful cabin cushions were made with Sunbrella Dolce Oasis upholstery fabric. Photo courtesy of customer Jim P.

Footnote:
This blog was updated in February 2023 to reflect changes to zipper terminology. It was updated again in June 2024 to introduce new vinyl and faux leather collections and textures, as well as to showcase images from recent cushion projects.