Cushions

[Magden5]

Anyone know of a site that makes durable cushions? Would double as a couch and bed.
And preferably ones that don’t require a second mortgage!
Thanks so much!
Laura.

 

[Tejon7]

I've been looking for this durable and affordable cushion unicorn as well. So far I've come up empty handed, but here are some ideas:

1) Scavenge cushions from a second-hand sectional sofa. This seems like a long shot, but maybe, if you're really lucky, you could find something in decent shape for a reasonable price and just keep the cushions.

2) Buy discounted outdoor patio cushions. These seem to come in a few standard sizes, usually squares, and aren't crazy expensive. If you wait until fall, there will probably be decent closeout prices.

3) Go custom, but source the foam and covers separately. There are several online stores that will cut custom foam for reasonably cheap. I've dealt with thefoamfactory.com and have only good things to say about them. I plan to order custom sized cushion foam from them when the time comes with their Dacron wrap that supposedly fleshes out the cover and makes cushions a little comfier.

For covers, you can order online from somewhere like coversandall.com (I have no experience with them - just found their website recently), or Etsy. Either option will be fairly expensive and maybe put you into the second mortgage category. The other option is to make them yourself. That's my plan. There are tons of YouTube videos on how to make cushion covers and the consensus seems to be that it's a good beginner-level sewing project.

 

[musigenesis]

I lucked out and found two sections from a brand-new sectional sofa on Craigslist for free, chopped them up and rebuilt them to install in my bus. Here's the spot in my build thread where I started on it. The cushions are nice and firm but I think what really makes it feel like a real piece of furniture are the couch springs.

 

[Simplicity-SKO]

I did a fair amount of research about foam density and firmness (not the same thing).

I then checked locally and then online. Definitely online was better.

The foam was cut to my dimensions and a friend made the fabric slip covers.

PM me and I'll look up the company I bought the foam from.

 

[Danjo-SKO]

When I was a kid I remember my mom sewing the covers for cushions in one of our campers. They turned out great.

I will be sewing my own curtains, so maybe after all that, I’ll be able to do it.

Evwn if you can’t sew, if you understand seam allowances and how to make a closure, then you could cut the parts and get someone who knows how to run the machine to sew them.

BTW, the concept of sewing is apparently so foreign that apple’s autocorrect wants to change it to “seeing”. Oh well.

 

[Mountain Gnome]

I'm dragging my sewing machine with me until I find the right fabric to recover my driver's seat (air-ride :biggrin: ) and the two original bench seats I kept. And maybe even the bed-boards.



I got my machine used. The guy said "buy old Singers because they have all-steel gears." When the Singer family (in the 1970s?) sold out to corporate America, the new execs cheapened it all. Mine's a 1960s model, and it runs like a well-oiled .... ah .... sewing machine.



I made my curtains out of black and navy-blue bedsheets folded in half. They back the factory dark tinted windows, and black them out. I just stitched little pockets for neodymium disk magnets, and hold them in the pockets with safety pins (to remove for the washing machine). Just short runs .... 1" in two directions .... I started by hand, and got 3 stitches in before my fingers cramped and my eyes were fatigued, and I pulled out the Singer. So much better! I was thinking of getting those "emergency" / "space" blankets that are reflective aluminum between two sheets of plastic (you know, the ones they give the kids in the concentration camps on the border) and somehow making double-sided curtains, so they could reflect the sun in the day, the interior lights and radiant heat at night, plus they fully block the interior lights from showing to the outside if I'm stealth boondocking in the city.



Saw some black vinyl with a "rainbow" sparkly effect that changes as you shift perspective or lighting, but then it sold out before I committed to it. It reminded my of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" cover. They have "Pink Floyd" licensed cloth in several styles, as well as "Grateful Dead" in several styles, but the cloth is cheap quality for big $$$. I looked for months for fabric for my old van, never found what I wanted. I hate vinyl, until you spill something.