My experience was the same as Dan's though I think it is important to stress
not to put the thing in the dryer. 

As for washing the foam pad you step on it a lot with soapy water inside.
Then the problem is getting the soap out as the foam holds about 1 ton of
water, especially the foam pad that is inside the cover over the engine
compartment. 

The only way to get the soap/water out of the foam pad inners was to put two
giant pieces of plywoods down in the driveway with the foam in between and
then drive on the plywoods. Squeezes all the water out fast; otherwise good
luck, and the soap stays inside.

--Derek

At 09:27 AM 3/8/96 -0600, you wrote:
>On  8 Mar 96, Harry Yates wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone.  As we are getting the van ready ready for camping 
>> season, my wife asked if we should wash our top bunk cushions.  Since 
>> the inside of the cushions are lined with a foam-type material, I was 
>> wondering if washing would be wise.
>
>we bought our '87 from a smoker   :(
>thoroughly washed everything in the van, including the *covers* but 
>not the foam itself.
>
>on our '87, it has that greyish, checked/striped velourish stuff.  
>the covers unzip off the foam pads and wash up VERY well.  warm water 
>with a mild detergent.  i think i air-dried them instead of tumble 
>dry.  anyway. they did not seem to shrink or fade.  installing the 
>covers over the foam is a bit like wrestling a drunk bear but they do 
>go back on.
>
>i don't know about the foam itself... do dry cleaning places do that?
>
>-dan
>
>
____________________________________
Derek Drew                              New York, NY
drew@interport.net
DerekDrew@aol.com (backup; rarely checked)
'90 Syncro Westfalia... 
...seen off-road at http://www.teleport.com/~des/vw/drew/index.html