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Hi,

We have a swift signature 2003 (swift challenger 530 pretty much) - which I love ... that is apart from the upholstery. The cushions are all squared off with no rounded smooth shapes. It is quite a dark green and has a lot of sun fading to the tops. I think that the whole feel of the van could be changed if the cushions and upholstery were changed. Has anyone done this ?? Can anyone recommend anywhere or offer any tips for what to consider and ideas of how to keep costs 'reasonable'. It is worth mentioning that I am not a dab hand with sewing so that is NOT an option. Many Thanks

Pam

http://www.foam.co.uk/

http://www.caravanfurnishings.co.uk/

We changed the cushions in our 94 Coachman because they were not comfortable to sleep on you could feel the springs they were the original cushions so you would expect this. The upholstery was not worn at all though. We bought a set from Ebay form a 2003 caravan we payed £160 for them which was a bargain so we thought. We travelled 50 miles to get them and the seller was the most ignorant person I have ever met. We picked them up got them home to find that a dog must have slept on them and more. There was an awful smell on them but they were in good condition other than the smell and one or two marks that we aere aware of so we hired a Rugdoctor and cleaned them. They came up great but we still get this smell from them. We have used various upholstery cleaners and even tipped a bottle of perfume over the cushion but still get the smell. It isn't a strong smell but we know it is there.

I wish now that we had kept the original ones.

If you decide to change them then please be carefull if you buy second hand or better still it's worth paying the extra for new ones. Very expensive though.

If anyone knows a way to get rid of smells from upholstery I would be very grateful.

You can get rid of a lot of smell from things by putting them into a closed room with an electric dehumidifier running, and a bowl with some essential oil in, in the same room.  The smell from the oil seems to be drawn into anything in the room, and the 'old' smells drawn out of things like duvets, pillows, and (presumably) caravan seat cushions.

We realised this after my MIL's flat suffered a flood from the stoptap in the flat above, and a dehumidifier was used in all the rooms whilst she was away.  When she got back she noticed the smell of her bedding, curtains, and even some clothes in an open drawer was now that of the essential oil she'd had in one of those burner things.

I can certainly support the suggestion to try www.foam.co.uk they did some seat refilling for us on our old van, the speed & quality of the service along with the standard of workmanship was unbelievable. We sent the overs off in a box on a Tuesday morning, the sets were back in our van by Thursday of the same week.

They offer a service to do your whole caravan on their website along with use of a free pitch on their own site while you wait so it'll be well worth looking into & it'll be interesting to hear how you get on. We'll certainly use them again if the need arises.

BB

ANother vote for Tockfield ( www.foam.co.uk).

And another, we've now had 2 trips to the van with our newly stuffed Tockfield cushions and I haven't got backache once!  Delighted with them, I'd recommend them with no hesitation whatsoever.

Ali

Quote: Originally posted by blitey on 09/3/2010

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For anyone interested i have just put a few pics in my Gallery to look at.

Andy

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