Bleaching Upholstery

[courtney]

So excited to pick up our new-to-us 1982 16 ft Scamp tonight!

Do you think I could remove the original ugly upholstery covers off the cushions, bleach all of the color out, and dye them to my liking? Thought it'd be easier and cheaper than remaking them.

[Darwin Maring]

Try one and find out. If there is a pattern maybe just dieing it might work without the bleaching.

[Francesca Knowles]

I doubt that bleaching would evenly remove/fade the color, and a solution strong enough to have a major effect may destroy the fabric.

Dying might be worth a try, though unless there's a cold water dye available for what's likely a synthetic fabric, the heat of a regular dye bath may shrink it.

Francesca

[Bob Miller]

If your fabric doesn't fall apart in the bleaching process it will shortly thereafter.

There are professional auto fabric sprays available. (the real stuff, not what you find at an auto supply store) Call Joe at:
J & J Auto Fabrics Inc.
tell him what you have and he will tell you what will work. These guys are pros.

[bec]

Hi , I done a fair bit of sewing/recovering type work with upholstery fabrics .... have very often prewashed for things like cushions ( just because sometimes the remnants at fabric stores just are not that clean ) they usually wash well in warm or cold - dry cool - bleach or dye does not work on synthetics or blends . But it is sometimes quite amazing how much better even a drab dark colour will look after a washing .

[Bob Miller]

Ya But.... if it's the original 30+ y.o. upholstery it may not even stand up to more than hand washing. Dry cleaning, although more expensive, is usually easier on older fabrics.

[Carol H]

Scamps covers are not cotton so I wouldnt count on them dying very well, if at all and as for bleaching out the colour well as others have said good bet they will fall apart pretty fast during or shortly after such a treatment.

I had pretty good luck washing my old covers in a front loader on the hand wash cycle - more than once actually. Hang them to dry.

Scamp does sell new covers at a very good price when one considers the cost of purchasing all new fabric (of the same grade) and the zippers, thread and piping and not to mention the time to sew.

[Stacy Crotser]

You could also try upholstery paint! Google it and see what you think. We used it on a car my husband was restoring. Worked great for that. Do a small section on the bottom of the cushion to test it first. A least it won't ruin the cushion!

[Bob Miller]

As I mentioned in Post #4, there are cheap (Autosupply store) spray-on dyes that will forever leave color transfer on whatever you are wearing, and there is the good (i.e. expensive) stuff that the pros use.

Been there & done that..

[courtney]

Like the idea of painting it! I'm ultimately shooting for mint green, so I may need to "prime" white first. Have found some good tutorials online, but not sure how it will work on the yarny originals.

[Francesca Knowles]

I used some spray upholstery dye on the fabric part of a mid-60's Ford bench seat. The material's a lot like that in our trailers. The dye didn't penetrate the yarn, and while it looked good for awhile it eventually "wore off" in places subjected to the friction of folks sliding across it. Of course, that was ten years or so ago, and dyes may have improved.

There's also the extremely remote possibility that I didn't prep the surface properly.

Francesca

[Donna D.]

I'm remembering a product used in the 1960s called Marhyde. I think that's how it was spelled. It WAS permanent. It also damaged lungs.. and has since been taken off the market.

Have you considered making slip covers?