For over a year, my husband and I looked everywhere for replacement saloon and cockpit pillows. Ideally, we needed to find indoor/outdoor pillow covers. While sailing around the Mediterranean we didn’t come across soft furnishing stores often. Usually our priority was to find groceries, water, wine and beer! (Skip the explanations and go straight to the shop to buy some lovely nautical indoor/outdoor pillows: Etsy.com/shop/SailingBritican)
When we purchased our sailboat, Britican, we inherited blue pillows that match our blue sofa providing no contrast
Up in the cockpit the blue pillows stood out a bit more as our seat cushions are grey and the hull is white, however they’re down right boring (pictured below).
The boring pillows we acquired when we purchased the boat
Furthermore, they’re old, crusty and pre-owned! Nothing spruces up an area more than new pillow covers.
They can make a dull room, patio or boat cockpit come to life
Anyway… every time we found an IKEA, or housewares store, on the mainland we’d desperately search for indoor/outdoor pillow covers with a bit of flare.
Every attempt was futile – we couldn’t find anything that sparked our interest
In May, my daughter, Sienna, and I left my husband on the boat in Greece (to oversee our boat refit – watch ‘What happens when a boat undergoes a refit’) and went to the States to visit family. While Sienna played with her cousins, my mom and I went out to lunch and just happened to have a nose around a fabric store.
Originally we were looking for fabric to make protective head scarves or hats but when we walked in the store, my eye’s instantly diverted to the indoor/outdoor fabric showcasing navy blue anchors.
I screeched with delight, “that fabric would be perfect for my cockpit pillows!”
The indoor/outdoor pillow case fabric I found. We also sell adjustable nautical belts at our store.
(View our full nautical pillow case range on Etsy.com/shop/SailingBritican – another window will pop open)
After sweet-talking my mom into creating some prototypes she spent the hours leading up to my departure making pillow covers for me. And once I saw them mom and I knew we had to offer them in the Sailing Britican store (in addition to our lovely blend of spices, nautical sailing belts, t-shirts, sarongs, jewellery and more).
We did some research, found the fabric online and then found the same anchor pattern in aquamarine and sand colors. Furthermore, we discovered some other solids and patterns made from the same quality indoor/outdoor material.
The anchor pillow cases suit our sofa and cockpit perfectly
Currently I have the navy blue anchor pillow cases on the boat. I absolutely love them. When the weather is nice, I put a couple in my cockpit and when it’s not the pillows get lined up on our salon sofa. Every other pillow is an anchor pillow intermixed with a solid blue pillow.
And the design is more than just an anchor! In the background of the pillow you’ll find light sketch drawings of boats and boat items like compasses. At first glance you’d think the pillow showcases an anchor only, but upon closer inspection you’ll notice the lovely detail.
Our stock is limited, so when it’s gone, it’s gone forever
But we’ll be adding new pillows covers to the range as and when we find new designs!
Hubby and I have now enjoyed the pillows in our cockpit for over a year and they still look new. The material is strong and durable yet very comfortable. A few times I’ve napped in the cockpit with my head and face on the pillow and fell into a deep comfortable slumber.
(Buy some pillow cases now: Etsy.com/shop/SailingBritican)
Unlike some outdoor fabrics that are hard and abrasive, these are lovely to rest upon
The fabric is a medium weight and 100% spun polyester. The pattern is screen printed and has a stain and water resistant finish.
But it’s not just the material that’s important, the thread is a key component to buying durable long-lasting pillows – especially if you’re going to put these on a boat, in an outdoor porch or patio. We did loads of research and found nylon thread to ensure that they pillows stay together just as long as the fabric lasts!
The pillow covers are sewn with durable, sun & sea resistant nylon thread
And based on my experience, there are two more things that make or break a good outdoor pillow and they are the enclosure and the cleaning routine.
Let me start with the best nautical outdoor pillow covers enclosures you can find…
Previous to replacing our old pillow covers with our new nautical pillow covers, the old covers had a zipper. A few of our zippers corroded closed and a couple wouldn’t unzip due to the filling breaking down and getting in the zipper teeth! What a pain. Furthermore, taking the inserts out wasn’t easy when the zipper jammed half way across the pillow.
Our nautical pillow covers don’t have a zip
They have been ingeniously created like an envelop allowing easy stuffing and unstuffing of the pillow insert (See picture of my daughter holding the pillow below).
When my daughter gets seasick and misses the bucket I simply pull off the pillow cover with one little tug, throw it in our washing basket and once it’s washed the mess is gone quickly.
(View the pillow cases on Etsy.com/shop/SailingBritican – another window will pop open)
With smaller mishaps – perhaps a drop of beer or wine, I often just take a cold rag, wet it and add a bit of soap. With a quick rub the foreign substance is gone in a jiffy.
The pillow covers are washing-machine friendly however the manufacture recommends that you air-dry them rather than using a dryer.
So, choose one Nautical Sailing Britican Pillow Cover or for a discount get a set of two. And of course, you’re welcome to buy as many sets as you’d like. On Britican we have six but the next time I have family come visit us I’ll be asking for a few more.
(View the pillow cases on Etsy.com/shop/SailingBritican – another window will pop open)
So visit the store to see the full range and place your order today before we run out of our stock!
About the Sailing Britican Store
In 2013, Kim Brown and her husband Simon sold the company, house, car and all their possessions and said ‘screw-it’ to the rat race. They decided to instead go in search for an alternative life upon the seas. Their mission was to find more fulfillment in life, get back to nature, eat good food and truly enjoy family life. The Brown’s put their money into a sailboat, learned how to become homeschoolers and took their, at the time 3 ½ year old daughter, on what has already become a trip of a lifetime. The Brown’s have not retired. They, like most people need to make an income so the family is providing free educational information about selling up and sailing away in addition to sourcing and selling nautical items in their online shop. If you’re happy with the abundance of free information provided on SailingBritican.com and know someone that would value one of the items for sale in their shop, please support their cause! If one family can say no to the rat race, find more fulfillment and earn an income, perhaps many more can do the same. Visit the Sailing Britican Shop.