While shopping for a new outdoor patio set, you may hear the sales associate gleefully declare their products use “Sunbrella Fabric”. Big whoop. Why should you care? After all your primary concern is whether the cushions will clash with your existing décor or not.
But you should care. Sunbrella fabric can greatly increase the life expectancy of your furniture along with being environmentally friendly.
What is it?
Sunbrella is a company name, not the product itself, like Kleenex for tissues. Sunbrella fabric is a 100% solution-dyed acrylic fabric. Because it is dyed completely the fabric is extremely water, fade, mold, mildew, and stain resistant. This makes it ideal for outdoor use, as it has a much longer lifespan than traditional polyester fabrics.
How to clean?
The biggest question with any fabric, especially Sunbrella fabric, is how do you clean it? Even though Sunbrella is extremely durable it can still experience wine stains and muddy boots. But luckily Sunbrella is super easy to clean following these five easy steps!
- Brush off loose dirt.
- Spray on a cleaning solution of water and mild soap.
- Use a soft bristle brush to clean.
- Allow cleaning solution to soak into the fabric.
- Rinse thoroughly until all soap residue is removed.
- Air dry.
And even more convenient, many cushions made with Sunbrella fabric will have zippers so the covers can just be thrown into the washing machine!
How much is it?
Sunbrella usually starts at about $50 CND a yard. But many factors go into the cost of Sunbrella fabric. The biggest factors being the number of colors, patterns, and textures that make up the fabric. Usually, the longer it takes to make a fabric, the more expensive it is. An easy way to think of this is that a solid color fabric will be cheaper than a multicolored zebra pattern fabric.
Luckily Sunbrella uses an easy grading system to tell you which fabrics will cost more. The scale is A to E, with A being your cheaper fabrics and E being your more expensive fabrics. Remember that each grade is the SAME QUALITY of fabric, more expensive fabrics just take longer to make.
Is it environmentally friendly?
If its durability and easy maintenance were not enough to convince you about the benefits of Sunbrella fabric, consider that it is environmentally friendly too! Sunbrella as a company tries extremely hard to reduce the amount of waste used to create the product. Also, because Sunbrella fabrics have a longer lifetime than other fabrics they do not need to be replaced as often which also greatly reduces overall waste.
So next time you are outdoor furniture shopping try looking for that Sunbrella logo. You will not regret it!
