T&T: Re-upholstering

[Milt Baker]

Steve,

Judy and I have used Ultraleather and Ultrasuede aboard our Grand Banks 42 and Nordhavn 47 for the past 15 years and have found them to be terrific shipmates.  One problem with the Ultraleather is that it's a bit slipperyier than the Ultrasuede, and if the boat is really moving around you tend to slide around on it more.  For that reason, we found it didn't work well for the open helm seat on the GB, though it works perfectly for the Stidd chair on the Nordhavn.  We have not, however, noticed the Ultraleather being uncomfortably sticky in hot weather--and we spent more than a month on the hook in Mallorca last summer with daily highs in the 90s and water temps in the 80s.

Both wear like iron!  We find that cleaning Ultraleather with a damp sponge and a little detergent occasionally, then treating it every few months with Armor All or something similar keeps it looking new and feeling supple.  Ultrasuede and cleans up easily with simple soap and water--or a rental electric upholstrey cleaner if you want to get sophisticated.  If you buy a dark color (which I recommend), it'll probably last you a decade or more--it certainly has for us, even with a Schipperke dog onboard.  We make it a point to buy extra matching Ultrasuede at the time we have the original upholstrey work done because the seats eventually need recovering (and finding matching fabric after the fact is usually impossible), though our seatbacks have never had to be recovered.

Bottom line: both Ultraleather and Ultrasuede may be expensive but in the long run they offer excellent value and I'd use 'em again in a heartbeat--I cannot think of a better choice for a cruising trawler yacht.  If I had to choose one, it would be Ultrasuede, but we have both aboard the Nordhavn (Ultrasuede in the saloon and Ultraleather in the pilot house) and are extremely happy with both.  

--Milt Baker, N47 Bluewater, Barcelona


Steve Sipe wrote:

> We're moving forward with our re-upholstering of the salon & pilothouse,
> and we're looking at material. The choices are dizzying, costs vary to
> over $130/yd. At this point we're leaning toward an ultra-leather
> material, considering ultra-suede as an alternative. I'd welcome any
> input or opinions.