September 19, 2026

Should You Replace Outdoor Cushion Covers or the Whole Cushion?

A new cover on flattened or damp foam will look baggy and sit badly. Replace the whole cushion unless the foam still springs back, is dry all the way through, and has no odor.

The squeeze test and the smell test

You can check a pad the same way we do when one arrives as a pattern.

Press the center. Heel of your hand, five seconds, lift. It should come back on its own. A dent that stays is dead foam, and a new cover will look slack over it.
Press the underside. Seats fail from the bottom, where rain sits against the frame.
Smell it dry. Musty or sour in the core is mildew in the foam. Washing the cover does not reach it.
Pinch a corner. Yellow dust means the foam is crumbling. It will keep dusting inside a new cover.

If it passes all four, you could recover it. Most outdoor pads that have lived a few seasons do not.

Why the foam fails while the fabric still looks decent

Every cover we sew is solution-dyed Sunbrella acrylic. The color is in the fiber, so a cover can look fine long after the fill has given up. Sitting packs the cells down. Once they stay packed, the pad never gets its height back. That is why we measure the frame, not the old cushion. Open-cell foam drains, but a pad stacked in a deck box or left in a chair well after rain stays wet in the middle. That is how you get odor. How to dry a pad that is still worth keeping is in whether you can leave Sunbrella cushions out in the rain.

Old foam is usually wrapped. When the wrap splits, the foam prints through the cover and breaks at the edges. Mice, mildew, and a pad that never dries are the same verdict. Replace the fill, not just the cloth.

What this workroom actually builds

We do not sell empty covers to zip over your old pads. We sew a finished cushion on the custom form: boxed cover with a hidden zipper, polyurethane or reticulated foam, and batting on seats. The zipper is how we build the cushion, not a way to reuse old foam. Waterfall pads are sewn closed, because a zipper in a waterfall seam is a weak point. Batting softens the edge and stops the foam printing through the fabric. Construction notes are on the FAQ page.

The three fills on the custom form

Pick the fill by how the piece actually lives, not by the fabric name.

Polyester fiber is softer and it flattens sooner. It suits backs and pillows more than seats, and it holds water instead of draining it.
Polyurethane foam is the right call for almost every patio seat. It is open-cell, so water drains through rather than sitting in a closed core.
Reticulated foam drains faster still. It is the fill for rain, pools, and boats.

A Deep Seat Cushion Set and a Chaise Lounge Cushion ship with polyurethane foam wrapped in batting. Uncovered pool and boat work is reticulated foam on a custom order.

Send the old cushion as a pattern. Do not reuse the foam.

For an unusual shape, mailing the old cushion is the most reliable way to work. We pattern from it and allow for the fact that the foam has compressed. Ask us for the address before you ship anything. Odd shapes can start on the quote form.

We still cut new fill. The old pad is a template, not a core.

If the frame is a common size, start with a finished cushion

If your dining chairs are a regular square, start with a Dining Chair Seat Pad rather than recovering the old ones. Deep seating takes the two-piece set. A chaise takes the lounge pad. If the size is not listed, use the custom form and measure the frame.