PVC Fabric – Vinyl Coated Polyester

PVC membranes – A polyester base fabric coated with PVC – often have additional protective PVDF fluoropolymer coatings on both sides, which helps protect the surface and also creates a membrane that is easy to clean. This fabric is the most common in tensile architecture with a lifespan exceeding 15 years, and PVC structures typically offers the owner best overall value.

Most PVC fabrics retain their color, quality, and texture for several years, making them more sustainable alternatives to other fabrics.

Vinyl Coated Polyester Fabrics or PVC-PES (Polyvinylchlorid coated polyester fabrics), are strong and durable fabrics, a popular choice in tensile fabric and membrane architecture. The base material comprises of a woven high tenacity polyester base fabric and a flexible plasticised PVC coating is applied to both sides. It is possible to apply coatings or lacquers, for example, dirt repellent surface lacquers, to enhance the performance of these fabrics.

PVC coated fabrics are durable, translucent and waterproof and can withstand extreme environmental conditions, humidity and UV-radiation. These highly functional coated fabrics come in a wide range of colours, light transmissions and tensile strengths. Open-mesh and opaque fabrics are becoming increasingly popular for semi-transparent fabric façade applications. PVC-PES fabrics are the most economic material in tensile fabric and membrane architecture.

PVC-PES’s high flexibility coupled with its excellent resistance to extreme weather conditions and UV-radiation means a useful life phase in excess of 20 years can be expected.

Most PVC fabrics retain their color, quality, and texture for several years, making them more sustainable alternatives to other fabrics.

Characteristics

PVC coated fabrics are highly durable and are used for a variety of permanent and temporary architectural applications. Suitable for roofs, retractable roofs, façades or other tensile structures, for sporting arenas, shopping malls, bus stations and airport terminals.

These fabrics are also used extensively in internal settings, for example building exhibition stands as they are very flexible and suitable for printing.