Tackling the upholstery... staple question

[AirTool]

....and was surprised to find "Not For Marine Applications" printed on the box when they got here. Does anyone know why they say this? I'm assuming they mean "underwater" applications........? It seems odd though. One side of the box says "stainless steel" and the other side says "not for marine applications". Why would they say that?

You might check them with a magnet to see how much iron is in there also. If a magnet will pull on them slightly, that means iron and iron means iron oxide.

If truly "stainless steel" , they may be a stainless that is not resistance to seawater....chloride corrosion. For instance, we avoid 304 SS for offshore stainless tubing. I worked on a beach-side plant in Dubai one time, and the client told us 304 would decay from the outside in because of the moist salt air.

They need to be monel or something chloride resistant.

[SoldTheBayliner]

Huh. They do stick ever so slightly to a magnet. So there is some iron content... what's up with making a 'stainless steel' staple that isn't truly stainless steel? Should I be worried that these will rust? I live in the high desert...relative humidity is in the single digits all year, and obviously no salt water.

[gride]

A local yacht brokerage here quoted me $3500 whole boat redone all labor, no curvy graphics, but not one solid color either.

[AirTool]

Huh. They do stick ever so slightly to a magnet. So there is some iron content... what's up with making a 'stainless steel' staple that isn't truly stainless steel? Should I be worried that these will rust? I live in the high desert...relative humidity is in the single digits all year, and obviously no salt water.

If they stay wet (water commonly under the coushion), they'll corrode.

I'd prefer the monel as others have done. I have noticed my factory staples aren't as shiny as they should be...not sure what they are made of. search monel on this site and maybe the web for staples.

[SoldTheBayliner]

Thanks for the info... Amazon has the T50 Monel "rustproof" staples. Ordered those. I thought 'stainless' was 'stainless'. Who knew. The Monel ones are pricy(er)...$20 for 1000. Peace of mind though.

[SoldTheBayliner]

Finally got to stapling... pleasantly surprised with the process. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be at all. Used the Harbor Freight stapler set at pretty low PSI after a few trials. Wound up at 35 or 40 on the pressure regulator at the compressor. Started at 60 and had to back way off. Did the install out in the sun, which provided plenty of stretch. It's going to look sweet! Got two seats done in probably 40 minutes. 4 hands helped a lot. No longer worried about finishing this project before the water warms up...

[SoldTheBayliner]

Finally, some pictures. These are the OLD vinyl. Didn't take any good pictures of the damage, but it had sat uncovered for a few years... vinyl on the rear deck and seat bottoms was pretty rigid and very faded. There were some tears, etc.

These are stills from this video:

That video was put up when it was for sale and they never took it down. I think they avoided any direct shots of the bad vinyl on purpose

[SoldTheBayliner]

So we bought this:


My wife took the old seats apart with a seam ripper and used the pieces of vinyl as a pattern for cutting new pieces. In process:


Finished Skin:


We looked at a ton of pictures and liked the newer interiors with the front part of the seats a different color, so we went with that look. For the sundeck we decided to match the pattern of the bimini. Looks very cool with the bimini, and straight lines are easier to deal with than curved lines.


A couple of the whole package. You can sort of see the bimini in the last pic.


Total cost was about $450. Seat backs/side panels are on the agenda for next year. We'll probably carry that stripe down from the rear deck on that seat back, and maybe redo the middle rear seat in that same blue to carry the stripe theme... that dark blue is hot in the sun though.

It was a good project... I learned a lot (how to spell upholstery is just one example).

[shonuff]

Nice job. It looks great!

[diesel33]

That looks incredible! Nice Job

[SoldTheBayliner]

I have a follow-up question on the vinyl, now that the boat looks better and I actually care about the vinyl looking good...

I need recommendations for a good cleaner/conditioner for the vinyl. I have heard "303" is where it's at... can anyone give me a link or any advice on cleaning/conditioning?

I need a good cleaner first... at the end of summer there was a big forest fire near the lake we were camping at, and the wind shifted...raining little black bits of ash all over the uncovered boat for a night and a day... most of it brushed it off, but the stuff that didn't left a nice coating of charcoal that got rubbed in to the texture on the vinyl a bit... the carpet is a whole other story

[Nordicron]

I have a follow-up question on the vinyl, now that the boat looks better and I actually care about the vinyl looking good...

I need recommendations for a good cleaner/conditioner for the vinyl. I have heard "303" is where it's at... can anyone give me a link or any advice on cleaning/conditioning?

I need a good cleaner first... at the end of summer there was a big forest fire near the lake we were camping at, and the wind shifted...raining little black bits of ash all over the uncovered boat for a night and a day... most of it brushed it off, but the stuff that didn't left a nice coating of charcoal that got rubbed in to the texture on the vinyl a bit... the carpet is a whole other story

For cleaner and protectant there is nothing better than boat bling products!!! Get the vinyl sauce and condition sauce. Hot sauce is also a great wipe down spray as well.

[Chexi]

I hear great things about boat bling, but if you want to try something very inexpensive first, get some Totally Awesome from the dollar store and dilute it 1/3 TA to 2/3 water. Don't let it sit on the vinyl for more than about 15 seconds. After you clean, spray with water and wipe down.

[AU_wake]

I am considering doing my upholstery from "scratch". How would I go about getting the Nautique logo on the seat backs? Or have you not fooled with that yet?

[jonsquatch]

Just about any town should have places that can do embroidery, although it might be harder to find someone who can/will do marine vinyl. They have machines that can load images and then embroider them on the material. If you can't find a place check your local fabric stores. If they can't do it they probably know who can or can put you in touch with a customer who can or maybe even have a class where you can learn to do it.