Gritty stuff on my cushion covers - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 05-13-2013, 02:24 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
courtney's Avatar
 
Name: Courtney
Trailer: 1982 13ft Scamp purchased on May 2nd
Georgia
Posts: 303
Gritty stuff on my cushion covers

Washed my 31 year old covers, air dried, and now they have this gritty stuff all over them. More fine than sand and grittier than dirt. What is it? Do they need to be trashed?
courtney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2013, 03:14 PM   #2
Member
 
chse's Avatar
 
Name: Chris
Trailer: 13' Scamp
Pennsylvania
Posts: 95
Registry
I just washed mine from a 2002 scamp. There is a a white powder coating on the inside, maybe flame retardant? Some of it came off and was sticking on the inside of the washer and little on the outside cover. Maybe much more came off on your older cushions? Or could it be from the foam?
chse is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2013, 03:23 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Name: kootenai girl
Trailer: 1976 Trillium 1300
British Columbia
Posts: 1,411
I had the exact same thing happen when I washed my covers from an older trailer. The only thing I could think of was that the actual material was disintegrating. Unfortunately I didn't find a solution but it was quite messy and didn't really improve.
kootenaigirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2013, 04:07 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Name: Ron
Trailer: Trillium 13 ft (green grape)
Ontario
Posts: 442
You might find it,s the old foam disintegrating.
RRJR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2013, 04:09 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Francesca Knowles's Avatar
 
Name: Francesca Knowles
Trailer: '78 Trillium 4500
Jefferson County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Posts: 4,669
Registry
It's likely the (crumbling) remains of a waterproofing that upholsterers used to put on the offside of cushion covers.

Mine did that, too...recommend tossing the covers in the dryer on no-heat "air dry" for awhile to get it all out. Do be sure to clean your lintscreen afterwards- that stuff may be flammable.

Francesca
__________________
.................................
Propane Facts vs. Fiction:. Click here
Tow Limit Calculator: Click here
Francesca Knowles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-13-2013, 04:22 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 2002 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 3,640
Send a message via Yahoo to Darwin Maring
Detoriting Foam?
Darwin Maring is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2013, 03:11 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
courtney's Avatar
 
Name: Courtney
Trailer: 1982 13ft Scamp purchased on May 2nd
Georgia
Posts: 303
Did what Francesca said and fluffed in dryer. Grit STILL on upholstery and also all over my dryer. Giving them another spin in the washer. I'm actually thinking it the vinyl under side of the covers that's deteriorating into this gritty mess. May rip the seams and remove the vinyl, attempt to paint the upholster, and sew in new vinyl panels.
courtney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2013, 03:25 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
It is as mentioned by another poster the actual material disintegrating - the Scamp covers are not 100% natural products - but neither are most other manufactures covers. Most have some Polyester or other synthetic fibers in them.

BTW putting them in the washer and dry will just quicken the process ;-) best to hand wash and hang to dry old upholstery fabrics - even new ones for that matter.
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2013, 03:37 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Francesca Knowles's Avatar
 
Name: Francesca Knowles
Trailer: '78 Trillium 4500
Jefferson County, Washington State, U.S.A.
Posts: 4,669
Registry
Quote:
Originally Posted by courtney View Post
Did what Francesca said and fluffed in dryer. Grit STILL on upholstery and also all over my dryer. Giving them another spin in the washer. I'm actually thinking it the vinyl under side of the covers that's deteriorating into this gritty mess. May rip the seams and remove the vinyl, attempt to paint the upholster, and sew in new vinyl panels.

That's exactly what it is, or was in my case. Dryer didn't get all the loose stuff out, eh? That was the only way I could get rid of the crumbles on mine. The fabric itself was still good enough that I didn't want to throw the covers away, so I just kept tossing untill all the loose stuff was gone.

Wish I had more ideas!

Francesca
__________________
.................................
Propane Facts vs. Fiction:. Click here
Tow Limit Calculator: Click here
Francesca Knowles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-14-2013, 05:04 PM   #10
Member
 
BruceandKaye's Avatar
 
Name: Bruce & Kaye
Trailer: U-Haul 13ct
Georgia
Posts: 35
Registry
Sounds like its the underliner inside the cushion cover. If your cushions are that old, you may look into redoing them. We just bought a memory foam mattress from Walmart online we trimmed it for a fulltime bed, but you could easily cut the foam to fit for new cushions. The cost of a full size 6" mattress was only $129.00 a 4" was 109.00 I think, and twins were even smaller. The cut perfectly with an electric knife & we just traced with a sharpie marker. Good luck!
BruceandKaye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-16-2013, 08:56 AM   #11
Member
 
chse's Avatar
 
Name: Chris
Trailer: 13' Scamp
Pennsylvania
Posts: 95
Registry
I would not use memory foam for the benches- you will literally sink into your seat. Did you try to put them back on and then vacuum and use a fiber roller?
chse is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-16-2013, 09:26 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Bob Miller's Avatar
 
Trailer: Class A Motorhome
Posts: 7,912
We had a set of 25+ y.o. cushon covers dry cleaned, rather than washing them. A little more expensive, but they came out just fine.



Bob Miller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2013, 07:45 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
courtney's Avatar
 
Name: Courtney
Trailer: 1982 13ft Scamp purchased on May 2nd
Georgia
Posts: 303
So...I attempted to wash a couple of pieces of foam in my top load washer WITH an agitator. Dumb dumb dumb. Anyhow, looks like we'll be scrapping all of the old foam and starting new
courtney is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cushion covers Gene Masse General Chat 0 03-15-2012 05:27 PM
Cushion Covers Gene Masse Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 0 02-10-2012 11:47 PM
Route 66 cushion covers jlbails Classified Archives 3 07-20-2011 10:12 PM
Cushion Covers Legacy Posts Modifications, Alterations and Updates 10 07-09-2003 05:39 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:28 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.