ARE SHADE SAILS WATERPROOF?

Shade sails from SBF INTERIORS AND OUTDOOR SOLUTIONS LIMITED are made from a tightly knitted commercial grade shade cloth. Some shade sails are waterproof however they have very different characteristics from shade-cloth sails.

WHAT ARE THE NEW OPTIONS YOU ARE OFFERING THIS SEASON?

This season we’re manufacturing shade sails using 3 Distinct methods. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here is a brief overview of the options.

This is how most professionals do shade sails. Sewn into the hem of the shade sail is a stainless-steel cable. This cable isn’t locked off at any single point. The method of installation is to fit the shade sail, then tension the continuous cable and lock it off with wire rope grips.

Pros: Gives more flexibility to get the shade sail to fit perfectly. Requires less turnbuckles therefore giving a greater area of shade.  

Cons: Requires a greater level of skill to get the shade sail installed. This is typically our most expensive shade sail design.

This method involves locking (or swagging) the internal wire rope at each corner

Pros: Makes installing the shade sail much easier for the installer. All the work is done at our workshop so the installer simply has to hook the shade sail up and tension it with turnbuckles. Pre-swagged corners

Cons: If the cable is not locked off to the exact millimetre there can be some small wrinkling in the shade sail.

This is the easiest type of shade sail to install. A very strong seatbelt-type webbing is stitched to the perimeter of the shade sail and looped around the D-ring at each corner

Pros: This is the easiest type of shade sail for the to fit. The webbing is more supple than the wire-rope and is easier to work with. The webbing is very strong and UV stabilised, so it lasts a long time. This is also the least expensive method of manufacture making this style of shade sail less expensive that the stainless-steel wire rope design.

Cons: Some people simply prefer cable over webbing. Typically, we don’t recommend doing webbing shade sails for sails much over about 36 square metres or where the longest side is greater than 6 metres.