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Fabric Color Change Over Time

Vikingstaff

Vikingstaff

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Our bow filler seat has sat as a chair in our lake house guest bedroom pretty much since the boat was new. We tried it out on our first 1-2 trips, but just really didn’t need it, and preferred having access to our bow and port doors.

We thought we would take it out and give it another try because we wanted to make a little room in the guest bedroom for a rocking chair. We were surprised at how much our boat fabric color has changed with exposure over the last 8 years. I guess not really “surprised” as much as we simply hadn’t noticed the color change.

With it being so slow and gradual (then the boat being in storage 7 months per year), and our seats otherwise kept pretty clean and looking nice, we hadn’t noticed the change over time. Even with covering our boat after every use, it just gets a lot of sunshine for the 4 months of use it sees up here in Michigan.

I took a picture just to show everyone. We still love the way our boat looks. Just interesting how much impact time and slow exposure to sun over time has on colors.

Would you describe our current seat color as more of a taupe compared to its original tan color?

IMG_6508.jpeg
 
Aside from that, the seating look really good for being 8 years old.

We periodically clean it down with Dawn dish soap and water. Keep some reasonable limits on what can be brought on the boat to avoid stains. After 8 years it looks very nice. It simply has faded a bit due to the sun.
 
Jack M said:
Isnt fade covered under warranty ?
Fabric is the seats .
"Deck covering and fabric due to excessive fading, peeling, or cracking. BENNINGTON shall be solely responsible for determining what qualifies as “excessive” pursuant to industry standard. This warranty shall include replacement materials and or labor."

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Sounds like it could be potentially. I wasn’t posting from that perspective or even really even thinking about that; as the seats otherwise are so good looking.

I just thought it surprising and interesting how faded they had become given the care they receive, and how we cover the boat religiously when not in use. For those that don’t cover, given that we always do when not using ours, I figured it would be a glimpse into what Mother Nature and summer sun does over time…even if ever so slowly.

Of course I was also thinking it was a testament to how well the Semtex fabric holds up since you can see on the left and right how good of condition the seats are otherwise in.
 
I think subconsciously, Vikingstaff is more concerned about the potential damage that may result from his boat being in the hands of his dealer while such repairs are being done.

Personally, I like the faded color!
 
A couple friends on FB were saying the same thing when I posted it there.

My father in law joked that it looks like something a designer would do intentionally. I kinda got a chuckle out of that. We could put the bow filler seat in and it’ll be our contrast/statement piece - a “pop” of brown. Just experimenting a bit before fashion season. :p
Michiman said:
Personally, I like the faded color!
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Or better yet, I can put the seat in, and when company asks about the color differentiation I will just give them a dead pan look and ask “what are you talking about?” Ha, ha.
 
FYI: Overall seat condition going into our 8th summer with the boat is very good aside from the fading. We do have a few house rules regarding sunscreen use on the boat, and a couple minor food and drink limitations. That said, we live at our lake house and host friends and family nearly every weekend. The boat gets A LOT of use all summer.

IMG_6552.jpegIMG_6553.jpegIMG_6555.jpegIMG_6554.jpeg
 
Put the bow seat in full sun until the fading "catches up".

It might look funny sitting in your yard all summer.

Or take it tanning...

Beautiful boat by the way!
 
kaydano said:
Put the bow seat in full sun until the fading "catches up".

It might look funny sitting in your yard all summer.

Or take it tanning...

Beautiful boat by the way!
Click to expand...
Thanks! Considering we don’t need it for boat use at all, it’s now going to be a seat in the garage next to my work out area. I could use something a little more comfy in there. lol

Thanks about the boat. We like it too!
 
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