Suggestions for securing cushions; factory solution is a joke.

[Leprechaun84]

Hi,

Took delivery of a brand new 2014 27FB International Signature last week and have spent several days setting it up and working out a few kinks. My girlfriend and I absolutely love the new trailer but, as I imagine isn't news on this forum, build quality could be improved.

One thing that I'm miffed about is the Velcro strips used to fasten all our Flint fabric cushions to the benches. The bond between the two pieces of Velcro is so strong, and the bond between staples and wood so weak, that when lifting a cushion the Velcro and staples are ripped from the bench... I thought perhaps I had been too forceful when removing the cushion but we quickly discovered that no mater how carefully you try to work the two pieces of Velcro apart as you lift a cushion the staples will pull out of the bench. All four cushions that are secured via Velcro have this problem.

The few staples that were used were haphazardly shot into the Velcro (very sloppy job), I'm sure putting a larger quantity around the perimeter of the Velcro strips would help, but given how poorly staples worked originally I'm hesitant to double down on that method.

Does anyone have any suggestions with regards to securing cushions? Should I find staples with serrations and or glue the Velcro down before stapling? Is there a better method?

I know it's a pretty innocuous problem, but figured I'd petition for some wisdom.

Cheers,

Stephen

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun84

Hi,

One thing that I'm miffed about is the Velcro strips used to fasten all our Flint fabric cushions to the benches. The bond between the two pieces of Velcro is so strong, and the bond between staples and wood so weak, that when lifting a cushion the Velcro and staples are ripped from the bench... I thought perhaps I had been too forceful when removing the cushion but we quickly discovered that no mater how carefully you try to work the two pieces of Velcro apart as you lift a cushion the staples will pull out of the bench. All four cushions that are secured via Velcro have this problem.

This is a common problem and has been going on for years. I had the dealer fix mine under warranty while it was in the shop for other work. They just added more staples.

Over time the bond between the two pieces of velcro will weaken and this becomes less of a problem.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun84

Does anyone have any suggestions with regards to securing cushions? Should I find staples with serrations and or glue the Velcro down before stapling? Is there a better method?

Could try removing the Velcro from the wood, and orient it the opposite direction, so that instead of the hooks and loops making contact along the whole length, they only make contact where the horizontal and vertical velcro strips meet. That way, the contact surface between the velcro and the wood is much larger than the contact surface between the hook strip and the loop strip.

[BAB]

Same issue on my trailer. Fortunately, I have never used the "conversion" from dinette to bed. Since I use the heavy duty velcro to secure almost everything on my walls, I learned that if I just take a table knife and slide it between the two layers it separates much more easily. I also have a metal yardstick if it's a deep dive.

[samb]

I had the same problem until I "fixed it". My first fix was to grab a nail with vice grips, heat it up with a torch, and then destroy about half the hooks with the hot nail. Since then I use a bit more finesse and use small scissors to trim a portion of the hooks. Cut and test until you like it.
Sam

[Leprechaun84]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, really appreciate it. Going to consider reducing the surface area of the Velcro through changing the orientation and perhaps trimming the loops, in combination with more effective staples and perhaps contact cement.

First night in the trailer will be this Saturday, I'll have plenty of time to contemplate solutions to this issue.

Cheers,

Stephen

[richinny]

can you connect the velcro off center to reduce the contact area?

[switz]

If the staples do not pullout because the velcro is sewn in place, the threads holding the velcro will fail in short order due to the stress when pulling the cushion loose.

Another great opportunity to refresh the Navy vocabulary.....

[jenner 515]

As I am currently taking out rivets... Why not glue the back of the Velcro and then rivet the corners and maybe two places in the center?

I've been surprised to see how well rivets can hold in some applications. My experience with staples so that they are a pain in the butt and generally useless where there is vertical stress.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[Keith Gantt]

I used a small beed of superglue around the edges to hold Velcro . After a couple of days to be sure glue had cured we now slide our hand between Velcro to break bond of hook and loop. This has worked excellent as we make both dinette and Groucho every night.


The Streaming Gantt's on Airstream Forums