Where to Get Cushions Made on Hilton Head

Replacement cushions are made at an upholstery workroom, not bought off a shelf, because almost nothing on a real sofa, window seat, boat or porch is a standard size. Palmetto's Hilton Head workroom at 106 Arrow Rd #25A cuts foam and makes cushions to measure, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. You can walk in with a cushion.

This is the most under-explained service in the trade. People live with dead cushions for years because they assume the only options are buying new furniture or a full reupholstery, and neither is true.

What gets made

Seat and back cushions for sofas and chairs. Either new foam inside your existing covers, which is the quickest and most common job, or new covers and new foam together.

Window seat and bench cushions. Built-in seating is almost never a standard size, and the opening is often not square. These are made from measurements taken on site or from a template.

Banquette and built-in dining cushions. Long runs, usually sectioned.

Outdoor and porch cushions. Different foam entirely, and different fabric.

Boat cushions. Cockpit, helm, berth, sun pad and cabin. Different again, and usually templated on the boat.

Headboards, bolsters, pet beds and odd shapes. Round, wedge, L-shaped, bullnose. If it can be measured it can be made.

Foam is the whole decision

Everything else about a cushion follows from the foam, and this is where most off-the-shelf cushions fail.

Density is durability. Measured in pounds per cubic foot. Standard residential seat foam at 1.8 lb holds its shape for roughly 7 to 10 years. Step up to 2.8 lb and you are closer to 15. Below 1.8 lb in a seat that gets daily use, you can notice the difference inside a couple of years. The step up costs little and changes how the piece feels for a decade.

ILD is firmness, and it is a different number. Seat cushions generally sit firm. Back cushions sit softer, usually wrapped in Dacron or a down blend to fill the cover corners and take the hardness off the edge. A cushion can be high density and soft, or low density and firm.

Anything that gets damp needs reticulated open-cell foam. Often sold as dry-fast foam. Its cell structure lets water pass straight through and air move, so the cushion dries from the inside instead of holding water and growing mildew. On this coast that covers more than people expect: boats, pool and patio furniture, screened porches, sun rooms, and anything in a second home that sits closed and unconditioned for months.

Putting standard foam in any of those is the single most common and most expensive cushion mistake made here.

The cover question

Three routes, and the right one depends on what you have.

Keep your covers. If the covers are sound and still zip, new foam goes straight in. Fastest and cheapest route.

New covers, your choice of fabric. When the covers are faded, shrunk or torn. We can work from the old cover as a pattern.

New covers from customer's own material. You supply the fabric. Talk to us before ordering so we can confirm yardage and check pattern repeat, because a pattern that has to line up across a run of cushions uses noticeably more than people estimate.

What we need from you

For a straightforward replacement, bring the old cushion in. Even a collapsed one. It is the best template there is, it settles every question about shape, thickness and seam detail at once, and it removes any chance of a measuring error.

If the cushion cannot be moved, or it is built in, we need: length at the front edge and the back edge, depth at both ends and the centre, thickness, and photographs straight on plus from each side. For anything built in or curved, we would rather come and template it.

For boats, we template on board. Hull curves do not transfer from a tape measure.

How long it takes

Foam-only work on standard shapes is quick, often same day at the Hilton Head workroom if you bring the cushion in and the foam is in stock. New covers depend on fabric lead time, which is the part nobody controls. Stocked performance fabrics ship in days, cut-order designer fabrics can take weeks on their own.

Larger jobs, a full set of outdoor furniture or a boat interior, are scheduled rather than walked in.

Where to go

• Hilton Head Island, 106 Arrow Rd #25A. Workroom and showroom, Mon to Fri, 10am to 4pm. Walk in with a cushion.
• Charleston, 4365 Dorchester Rd #106, North Charleston. By appointment.
• Myrtle Beach, 720 Main St. By appointment.

We also pick up and deliver across South Carolina, coastal Georgia and into North Carolina, which matters for built-in seating and anything too large to move yourself.

Request an estimate or call 843 785 4002. Full scope on our custom cushion replacement page. Boat cushions sit under marine upholstery, and if the whole piece needs doing rather than the cushions, that is furniture reupholstery.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get replacement cushions made on Hilton Head?

At an upholstery workroom that cuts foam and sews to measure. Palmetto's Hilton Head workroom is at 106 Arrow Rd #25A, open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, and you can walk in with a cushion.

Can I get new foam without replacing the covers?

Yes, and it is the most common cushion job there is. If the covers are sound and still zip, new foam goes straight into them. It is far quicker and smaller than reupholstering the piece.

What foam should I use for outdoor or porch cushions?

Reticulated open-cell foam, often called dry-fast foam. Water passes straight through it and air moves, so the cushion dries from the inside. Standard foam holds water and grows mildew where you cannot see it.

What foam density should sofa cushions be?

At least 1.8 lb per cubic foot, which is the residential baseline. For daily use, 2.5 to 2.8 lb holds its shape considerably longer. Below 1.8 lb a seat cushion can flatten within a couple of years.

Can you make cushions for a built-in window seat or banquette?

Yes. Built-in seating is almost never a standard size and the opening is often not square, so these are made from measurements taken on site or from a template rather than from a catalogue size.

What do you need to make a replacement cushion?

The old cushion is ideal, even a collapsed one, because it answers every question about shape, thickness and seam detail. If it cannot be moved, we need front and back edge lengths, depth at both ends and the centre, thickness, and photographs from the front and both sides.

How quickly can cushions be made?

Foam-only work on standard shapes is quick and often same day at the Hilton Head workroom if the foam is in stock. New covers depend on fabric lead time, which ranges from days for stocked goods to weeks for cut-order fabric.

David Quintanilla is co-owner of Palmetto Upholstery & Fabric, with workrooms in Hilton Head Island, North Charleston and Myrtle Beach.