Shade Sails – Just How Good Is the Fabric?

June 13th, 2015 · Published to Shade Sails

Who doesn’t want to spend more time outdoors and enjoy sunny days? The thing that everyone should be aware of is that the longer period of time you spend under the sun you expose yourself more to the risk of sunburns and even skin cancer. That is one of the noticeable health issues in Australia.

To combat these issues, one of the most affordable solutions are shade sails. Shade sails are an effective method of protection as they reduce direct contact with harmful factors of the sun, specifically UVR (Ultra Violet Radiation).

Global Shade is one of the pioneers in supplying shade sails and shade structures in Australia with over 25 years of experience; we are capable of tailoring custom or standard shade products with top-class quality. We know just how important the fabric is in the protection of our customers which is why we only use the best fabrics available.

In this article, I’ll shed some light on the types of fabrics used for shade sails to better help you chose when it comes to purchasing time.

HDPE

In short for high density polyethylene is the most common shade cloth fabric. It is a permeable material that provides protection from UVR blocking 80% to 97% of UVA and UVB (rays in the ultraviolet spectrum). Thanks to that porous nature of the fabric, heat is allowed to escape through so the overall temperature underneath the sail is lowered by 10 to 30 degrees. Also, its cost is the least expensive of the shade structure fabrics and it weighs in the range of 190 to 500 grams per square meter. Due to scientific breakthroughs, this fabric was developed to the fire-resistant. It is important to mention that although it’s not waterproof it will block a certain percentage of rain. These fabrics have a lifespan of approximately 15 years and the same amount of years guarantee against degradation due to UV exposure.

Global Shade offers a range of preferable shade cloth fabrics such as Rainbow Z16, Monotec370 Series, Alnet Extra block and NAIZIL PS680.

PVC Fabric

PVC provides much-needed weather protection for the shade sail. In order to gain flexibility, plasticizers are added in the mix making it easy to handle and install. The difference between PVC fabrics is considered trough weight and grades of tensile strength and tear strength. In addition, the topcoats of acrylic and PVDF (polyvinyl-idene-fluoride) are used on fabric to help material to stay clean, though periodic cleaning may still be needed in some cases.PVC fabrics usually have a 10-15 year life span though some structures can last for 20 years. PVC fabrics have a 5, 7, 10, 12 or 15 year pro-rated guarantee. The white or cream colour is used for maximum heat reflectivity of 85%. Also, each individual PVC fabric will be tested for flame retardants.

At Global Shade, our preferred waterproof PVC fabrics include Ferrari 502 and GL1000.

Conclusion

With this, we conclude our exploration of fabrics used in shade structures. If you’d like to know more about shade cloth fabrics used from shade sails, I recommend you read the Fabric section of this PDF released by STA. For more information on the fabrics we use here at Global Shade, visit our Fabrics page.

Global Shade manufactures shade sails using only the best fabrics, if you are in need of this type of protection; make us your number one choice.

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