Buying Square or Triangle Shade Sails in Spain online or from the garden centre?

Square and Triangle Shade Sails have been available in Spain for only 3-4 years, there are many quality levels. What should you look for when buying a Shade Sail in Spain?

Shade Sails have been manufactured commercially for approximately 20 years. The original manufacturers were based in Australia and most production of standard Shade sails has now been moved to Countries such as China, Vietnam and Korea. Whilst most of the larger players in the market for Shade Cloth fabrication control their quality and product manufacture, sadly there are many manufacturers jumping on the ‘band wagon’ and are manufacturing sub-standard Shade Sails that will not provide a long term solution.

Even the largest manufacturer of Shade Sails has moved their production to China, but the biggest difference is that it is their manufacturing facility and the control of the product is assured. Cheap disposable Shade sails are available in most online Garden Furniture stores, garden centers and hardware stores, and are priced very cheaply, these come with many problems that are not, at first apparent.

1. With cheap Shade Sails the stitching is generally not very good quality and when tensioning the Shade Sail the stitching can pull which will allow the material to tear. This is even more apparent when the Shade Sail is put under load from the wind, poor quality stitching will fail under load causing the material to rip and be rendered useless.

Poor quality manufacturing methods will also mean that corners will be cut when it comes to the stitching. It requires a thread to be completely UV stable to enable it to withstand high levels of sun exposure.

2. With so many companies now seeing that the market is growing for Shade Sails it is obvious that most will try to copy what has taken years of product testing and placement to perfect and in most cases produce a Shade Sail that is lacking the history of testing and actually being installed. This is the main problem with many of the standard Shade sails now being marketed.

The shade cloth is the main part of the structure and with manufacturing techniques being perfected all the time by the largest manufacturers the bulk producers of cheap Shade sails do not follow suit and continue to manufacture using dated machinery and specifications. The sun is getting stronger year by year and to produce a material that will rot, fade and breakdown due to the higher UV levels is sadly common place. If you purchase a blue Shade Sail you want that Shade sail to stay that colour, most of the cheaper Shade sails will fade to white within weeks of being exposed to the sun.

If a client invests in a Shade Sail to protect his/her home, possessions and family then it is bad practice to install a Shade Sail that will turn to dust after 1 season or less.

3. The main structural element of a Shade sail is the webbing that should run around the perimeter (some of the cheaper Shade Sails do not even have this), it is the job of the webbing to put tension into the perimeter cantenary curve. Again in the production of Cheap Shade sails this will not be UV stable and is subject to rotting and turning to dust especially where the D-ring is connected to the Shade Sail. This is the main part of the whole structure that needs to be able to stand up to high pressure and tension and is also the main reason that cheap Shade Sails are a false economy.

Why would you buy a nice looking product that when left out in the sun will rot, fade and breakdown? Do you then buy another quality Shade sail to protect your cheap purchase? I do not think this is the ideal situation for anyone.

4. Guarantees are always given and most are quoted as being ‘Manufacturers 10 years warranty against UV damage’. At first glance this seems that when you buy the Shade Sail you are getting a product that will last forever, think again!

Firstly you will be buying from a store, not the manufacturer, this means that when your Shade sail rots or fails due to sub-standard quality you will have to contact the manufacturer directly…..nearly all the cheap shade sails have no address of the manufacturer due to the importer buying a batch of production and rebranding it to there own catchy name e.g. Shade4u or ShadeMax. So you are left with a rotten Shade Sail that cannot be used and very little chance of getting your replacement as promised. A very good friend of mine always uses the term “Buy Cheap Buy Twice” – it is a very good phrase for this kind of practice.

Coolashade Shade Sails in Spain are the leading installers and sellers of Shade Sails in Spain. Using only the very best quality manufacturer of Shade Sails in the world. All installations are undertaken by professional installers and all materials and connections are to the highest quality. Coolashade Shade Sails in Spain install in the whole of Spain and Europe.

Coolashade manufacture purpose-made Shade Sails using the highest quality grade Shade Cloth available and their installation service is professional and guaranteed. Why buy ‘standard’ when you can purchase quality Coolashade shade sails which will last much, much longer than standard shade sails. Contact us now for further details.