
To many fabric is fabric is fabric……right? Wrong!
After all if they can sell stretched pants in supermarkets now for just £5, all similar types of fabrics must be cheap…..Again WRONG!
When we at Shade Sail Blinds.com began to develop our stretched conservatory, roof lantern and roof light shade sails, we trailed up to sixty different types of stretched fabrics from across the globe, as we searched for the ideal fabric.
We began our search by focusing on fabrics which gave use the right UV protection “between 80%-90%”, then we looked at fabrics which provided us with just the right of amount of natural daylight to pass through; then we focused in on fabrics with the right balance of robustness but yet with the feeling of luxury, and finally a fabric which enabled our designers to create amazing shapes and designs. We also had on our continence that the fabric had to have excellent life span and where possible “green credentials”. To us these factors where a given.
It took us almost twelve months of research and development before we eventually found a fabric manufacturing and supply partner whom could provide us with the exact product we needed. However, the journey was not a simple one as you can tell, with each month having to dwindle down our fabric short list one by one as we weighed up each fabrics pros and cons. Being part of a tensile architecture design group came with some advantages though, as we utilised their advanced 3D engineering and form-finding software, we were able to evaluate and test each products ability during design. However, after hundreds of design simulations and fabric testing’s we finally homed in on the fabric which we still use to this day. Since then we have supplied over a thousand happy customers with our stretched fabric interior shade sails. However, we also understand that nothing is absolutely perfect, as our initial client designs needed additional tweaking to get the look both they and we envisaged. It can also happen where a rouge batch of fabric can find its way through, which is why we provide a 5-year product replacement guarantee on our fabric.
However, over the past 7-years, we at Shade Sail Blinds have advanced our knowledge of our fabrics performance, how certain colours can require us to add slight twists to our cutting patterns, so they relax correctly when installed, what maximum sizes and potential shapes need to be avoided, and how the glazing option above can affect the fabric if not designed correctly. To be honest, we are actually quite proud of our knowledge and expertise of our fabrics now, and hopefully we can pass this on to you during your bespoke design.
Specialist Designed Stitching
Further to the research and development behind our fabric and customer design capabilities, ran parallel our unique stitch design development. This is because we wanted and needed to provide a robust professional stitched finished, which stretched with the fabric, without effecting the fabric or breaking the seams. To achieve this, we called in and worked with several expert seamstresses to help develop the stich design necessary. We then needed to modify our sowing machines to allow us to create and run the designed stich, a design which is unique to use in the Sail making industry. Additionally, we need to ensure our thread was also as robust as our fabric, as certain threads are damaged by UV and heat. As such we chose to use a specialist sail thread called Tenara, a thread made from the exact same material which Wimbledon Tennis retractable roof is made from, and a thread which is used by all professional marine production firms. These elements are what formed the beginning of our luxury shade sail blinds.
Then there’s the development behind our patented “NO Drill Fixing” the Gekko Grip……but that’s another story for another day.
So, as you can see, not all fabrics are the same, regardless of their appearance.
To find out more about our fabrics, how we can help you and why we take a different approach to all other conservatory sail blind companies, call us on +44 (0)1249 848649 or email us at hello@shadesailblinds.com where our customer service will be glade to assist.