Airstream, Latex, Dacron, Memory Foam and My Back
One of the design goals for the new look of the trailer was a lower line, sleeker cushions. The original Airstream foam is 5″ thick polyester foam. When we initial refreshed the trailer in 2001, we just used the old foam as patterns- that is we took the foam pieces to the local House of Foam (not kidding, that is really its name) and said “Make new ones…just like this.” That worked out OK. Not great just OK. I guess they did not have the quality control that Airstream did but those cushions never fit quite as well as the the original ones did. So this time, I decided that I wanted to take a new approach.
- I wanted a lower line. Not 5″, I wanted a sleek modern look.
- I wanted the cushions to wrap around the curve of the trailer so we could snuggle into the corner. I just love doing that.
- I did not want to give up any comfort.
- I wanted something that would last a bit longer, the cushions we had replaced in 2001 were already starting to get hard in places.
I talked to my trusty, neighborhood architect buddies at GreenMeadow Architects who suggested Latex Foam from an online reseller Absolute Comfort. Mark brought over a 4″ latex cushion that had been wrapped in Dacron batting and I sat on that for awhile. It seemed comfortable enough but would not bend, and I really needed it to bend. The folks at Absolute Comfort assured me that there was not difference in sleeping between 4″ and 3″ so I bought Medium-Firm weight 3″ Latex Foam. I mentioned in an earlier post how that was not quite how it worked.
However, it really does wrap beautifully, as you can see in this picture of the cut foam dry-fitted onto the banquette in sleep mode. Even after I added the Dacron to both sides, and covered each cushion with a muslin cover, then a final slip cover they still wrapped nicely.
So the problem started the first night…well, it was damn hard to sleep on.
Really, hard. I think I actually had bruises. After a week both Chris and I agreed that this was not going to work and we needed some extra cush. However, we had dropped some serious money on the latex so we weren’t going to start again. Thanks again to Mark, who suggested the memory toppers from Target. We have slept on these and they most definitely do the trick. They also keep the flexibilty that I wanted in the foam, which I would have lost had I gone to the 4″ Latex. So, I guess this is one of those situations where I muddled through and came out with the right answer. Thanks also to my friend Mark!
If you are interested in how we cut the latex cushion like that, I used a Rival electric knife – works like a dream. I’ve started a odd tools I like to use page and have added that to it.
Hi,
Just saw this post and I am about to redo our gaucho couches. We have 2 Overlanders, a 66 and a 68. From your picture, it looks like you converted your couch to a super comfy banquet/couch. Is that the original gaucho?
How did you do this? I love how this looks. I am sure it is comfortable. Also, on the foam, did you cut your memory toppers the size and shape of the 4″ foam you had cut? Did you adhere the memory topper to the foam. Did you end up with 3″ or 4″ latex foam? Do you have final pictures? This is the first time I have read your blog so I am gonna look around. Thanks for any help! Becky
Hi Becky!
Lots of questions! We actually did not have the original cushions for our side Gaucho (which is the original one, rebuilt a few times). So i cut the 3″ foam to fit the plywood exactly. Now we did find out that 3″ foam is not exactly comfortable, but when I added the memoory foam (1.5″ from Target) that did the trick. I did remove the dacron batting that I had originally put on the 3″ foam and glued the memory foam on the top of the 3″ foam, then wrapped the whole thing in muslin and tacked it closed. That has worked very well. The end banquette was created from Ikea parts and birch plywood. I am so happy with that banquette! It’s really make the trailer more useable both at home as a guest house and on the road. I wish I had done that years before!
Let me know if you have more questions!
leslie