Maintenance & Restoration

DogHaus · 05-02-2011, 06:04 PM

Hi again, today my DH made a new dinette table out of Birch plywood! Thank you forum archives, for that information. The table is so pretty. The previous one had gotten wet and warped and basically disintegrated because of the leaking rear window. Now a lot of the mildew smell is gone and I'm ready to do something about the cushions. The covers and foam on my cushions are in perfect condition. I believe they are the original. blue plaid. PO had the Scamp professionally cleaned, and everything smells like the cleaning chemicals with a hint of mildew. I want to wash the cushion covers. Can I machine wash them? On cold and gentle, and hang to dry?
Also, under the covers the foam is wrapped in plastic sheeting. Very thin, lightweight plastic sheeting. Is this normal? Should I rewrap them before I reinstall the covers? The foam is in perfect condition, no mildew, and I'd like it to stay that way! The spare tire cover also had this same type of thin plastic sheeting underneath it. However in that case water had gotten in and soaked between the sheeting and tire for the bottom 1/3 of the tire and made a bit of a mess of the inside of the tire cover. I'm thinking the plastic sheeting could be a mistake in the cushions, trap moisture.
-Heidi in NH
p.s. I'm still not having great luck searching the forum for topics. Any tips?

Brian Bran · 05-02-2011, 06:20 PM

I really cant offer much advice on washing the upholstery,I know they are machine washable but not sure on what settings.
As far as searching the forums goes,If you click on the "search" option and then scroll down and click on "advanced search" it will help out a lot.After you enter whatever it is you are searching for click on "search titles only" and it will really narrow it down for you.

Greg H · 05-02-2011, 06:23 PM

Yes the gentle cycle is good and dry on low heat.

Joe Z · 05-02-2011, 06:43 PM

The foam is wrapped in plastic to get it back into the cushion cover easier..... If there is no plastic on the sides of the foam it will still breathe and repel condensation moisture. You don't need the plastic but it won't hurt either if someone spills a drink on your cushion.
Joe

Kevin K · 05-02-2011, 06:46 PM

Washing machine- YES use warm water and genital cycle.
I would hang up to dry. NO dryer
As for the the foam cushions, fill up the bath tub with about 5 inches of water put a little soap in the water and place one foam cushion in the tub at a time. Now walk around on top of the cushion to push the dirt out then rinse with clean water. You will need some kind of plastic around the foam to get the foam back into the cushion. We clean ours every other year like this.
GOOD LUCK

Greg H · 05-02-2011, 06:56 PM

The dryer did fine on low heat, I asked my wife because I couldn't remember if she hung them out or used the dryer, she used the dryer but either way will work.