Re: [Paddlewise] Seat cover

Doug,

I have an idea you may want to try on your seat.

Go to an upholstery shop or yardage store that sells upholstery fabric and
look for a good durable vinyl or synthetic leather for furniture, the
automotive kind is best since it will have UV stabilizers and be designed
for tough use.  Ask for the best automotive or out door type they have.

Some of the thicker ones will often be like a thin layer of tough foam,
making them more soft and flexible and easier to work (but perhaps a bit
less durable), though the stiffness of the fabric will not matter because of
the application method I will describe below, though it will affect how soft
the finished seat feels.  Make your selection based on the surface texture,
color, etc. that you want on the seat.

Get the best quality they have, since you do not need much, the price
difference will not be significant.  You likely can get a big enough scrap
or remnant at little or no cost.  The better quality stuff will be be much
easier to work with and be more durable.

Cut the piece approximately the shape to cover your seat with generous
margins.  After making sure your seat in free of dust, fuzz, oils, etc..
paint both the seat and the back of the fabric with contact cement (not
rubber cement) and let them dry at least two hours  (over night works best).
It is important that the cement be completely dry so you can handle it, if
it is sticky or tacky it will not work.

You then have to heat the vinyl, cement side up, under a UV type heat lamp.
This is the only tricky part: knowing how hot to get the fabric, you want it
as warm as possible and heated as evenly as possible, without over heating
it, blistering the fabric and damaging the cement.  Supposedly the UV light
"activates" the dry cement, and the heat of course softens the vinyl.  When
I lived in so. California I recovered my cracked vinyl dashboard on my car
this way but I just laid the fabric out in the hot sun.  Lloyd, you would
have to use the heat lamp living in the PNW.

You then take the heated vinyl and stretch it over the seat starting at one
point, and working  your way across it, stretching it to the shape as you
go.  The heated glue will of course make an instant bond as soon as it makes
contact with the glue on the seat.  You want to keep the wrinkles out of it
as it makes contact as you go across the seat.

It in not as hard as you might imagine since the cement on both the seat and
the vinyl will be dry enough to handle.  Wash and dry your hands before you
do this so you minimize the contamination to the heated glue from your
hands.

You could do a "dry" run of this without the glue to practice handling the
softened vinyl and the seat, though I find that the sticking of the glue
actually helps you stretch it and keep the wrinkles out.

This could also be done with leather or any other stretchy material.  I do
not know how the leather would hold up to sea water but if you use silicone
treated leather it probably would hold up fine, with occasional retreating,
and would make a very comfortable seat.  Cordura does not stretch enough to
make the shape, though a friend of mine cut and sewed it to shape and then
glued it on, of course with seams across the face of it.  It was too itchy
for a seat as far as I am concerned, and would likely cause raw skin during
prolonged use if wearing shorts or a bathing suit like you might in a warm
climate.

The vinyl is durable, water proof, will not retain water, is relatively
inexpensive, and there is a wide variety of colors and texture available.
Covering a seat this way really looks great, and is actually fun to do.

Peter

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