Making cushions...how to stuff them without needing to work out first!

I thought I would add this brief but useful trick for stuffing cushions if you are making your own. It is from our Shasta Blog. I sure wish I had known this trick previously as I remember trying to stuff the foam inside the covers and having such a struggle with it! Hope this helps!

How to outwit foam:

First the foam must be covered with plastic, I used a lawn and leaf garbage bag, then  hooked it up to a sucking machine (vacuum). You turn the vacuum on and it will suck all the air from the foam.

Before:

The beer bottle does a great job of showing you just how much air comes out of that foam!

After:

Then stuff the foam in the cover that you made. Try to make sure the corners are where you want them to be and your cover is in the position you want it in. When ready, start pulling the plastic and the foam will expand to it's original size and fill out the cover. It is best to use thin plastic because once you are done you will have to pull and tug on the plast to get it out. Sheets of thin plastic are also best rather than a bag as it will come out easier.Let me know if you have ever tried this and how it works for you if you do. Hope it helps someone out there!

Le

In the Beginning...

Building a blog is kind of like rebuilding or restoring a vintage travel trailer. Sometimes, the task seems so large that you just don't know where to begin and you're never quite sure where it will end either. As a matter of fact, sometimes you just don't know if it will end. Usually, as I am sure many of you can attest, it never does actually end. Hopefully, it just keeps getting better and better. And when it does, somewhere along the way, we become more and more obsessed with these new "love's" of our lives. The '63 Shasta Airflyte was the first travel trailer we restored for someone else's enjoyment rather than our own. Ah...piece of cake we thought! We have done this kind of stuff before. Yet, until you really get into it you just don't know what you are into until you are knee deep into it! And there is always something new to learn and once you learn it sometimes you get lucky and find an easier way to do that! Sometimes there is no easy way and hence the reason so many call this a labor of love!

 I can't even begin to mention the things that took more time researching how to do than it did to actually do. My saving grace was the information put out there by those of you that either learned it the hard way, the easy way, trial by error, and so on. Wasn't long until I learned that other people had the same questions I did. We were in the same trailer (no pun intended). How to seal windows, stop leaks, fix the furnace, repair the plumbing, make curtains and cushions, replace old flooring, shine up aluminum, repair wiring, pack bearings, hang birch paneling, what kind of paint to use, spray or brush....the list is endless. And whether you are new to this or an old hat I just know you have something to contribute. My hope is that this will be a place we can all come to so we can learn from each other. No one person has all the answers but together we can benefit tremendously! I am sure of that much!

Now, back to the task at hand of building this blog. If we build it they will come. So, if you have any advice to pass on, some neat thing you did that you are proud of or even some mistake you made that you wouldn't mind sharing so others don't do the same just send along an email to ghandi_thedog@yahoo.com. I will be sure and post it. Or if you have a conundrum that you just can't solve ask away in the comments section below and I will get right on finding you an answer or two! I am no expert but I did learn where to look for information and will do my best by you. Kind of like the "Dear Abbey" of Vintage Trailer World!

Someday, all the vintage travel trailers will be back to their old glory. Until then, let's give each other a hand!

In the meantime, if you want to read two of the blogs I am writing, just look at the sidebar and you will find the links. Become a follower by clicking on the follower button and feel free to share this link on facebook!

Thanks for visiting and I look forward to the times ahead!

For now, here is just one visual for why we are trailer nuts!