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For interior cushions, it's wise to stick with fabrics that are 100-percent synthetic. These fabrics will offer the best resistance to wear, stain, mildew, and rot. Sunbrella and Roadrunner makes a wide range of interior fabrics that stand up well to boat life. Some of these are textured, and some are patterned. Stay away from using their exterior solid color fabrics for interior use since they tend to show dirt and hair, along with water and sweat stains.
We can personally attest to the extreme durability and long life of the synthetic velvet-type fabrics with pin dots in them. We've had these for years, and the cushions still look great. Many boat manufacturers use these fabrics as a standard choice for cushions.
Sometimes you see boats with real leather cushions. Leather is very durable and looks great, but is very expensive. Aboard our last boat, we had a synthetic leather material called Ultra Leather. This looked and felt wonderful, was absolutely stain-resistant, but failed a little in areas of wear, like behind your legs where it puckered. And then there were a few spots that the cats claws managed to nick. We do know, however, several cruisers who are very pleased with Ultrasuede on their interior cushions.
