What Are The Different Types of Awning Fabric?

Back in the old days, you had one “choice” of awning fabric: cotton canvas. You could go wild with decorating by using a striped fabric instead of a solid color or by adding a valance along the lower edge of your awning, but that was about it. Not any more, though. Today you have an amazing array of options to choose from.

Here’s a roundup of the different types of awning fabric we recommend:

  • AwnTex®-160 is an open weave fabric that’s beautiful and strong. It is ideal for umbrellas and sunscreens and coordinated chairs or cushions – a great choice for outdoor eating areas. It’s highly resistant to rot and mildew, flame retardant, colorfast, easy to clean and comes in multiple colors.
  • Brite Awn® is a good choice for back-lit awnings. It has a high gloss finish and offers maximum resistance to mold, mildew, wicking, UV light, cold-cracking and tearing. It comes in multiple colors and has a 5-year warranty.
  • BTF Awning fabrics are exceptionally durable, designed for awnings and canopies. The fabric offers exceptional dimensional stability, and it’s water and soil resistant and flame retardant. It is heat sealable and can be used with heat-sealed inset or sewn-in inset fabric, adhesive vinyl, heat transfer, screen printed or hand painted graphics. It comes in numerous colors, with a 10-year warranty (6 years if you’re fabricating rental units).
  • Cooley-Brite® awning fabrics come in numerous bright colors. The fabric comes in both 20-oz. and 16-oz. weights, with either white or eradicable substrate. Warranties are either 8 or 10 years.
  • Eradi-Lite® eradicable awning fabric is designed for back-lit applications. It is a vinyl-laminated, ink-colored fabric with anti-wicking and mildew-resistant polyester scrim and an acrylic topcoat that protects against marking, scratching or discoloration. It’s easy to clean and highly resistant to stains, mildew, pollution, UV light and rot and comes with an 8-year warranty.
  • Ferrari architectural awning fabric has excellent dimensional stability and absorbs up to 97% of the sun’s heat. It is heat sealable and comes in a variety of solid colors as well as stripes.
  • Firesist® awning fabric offers some subtle tweed patterns as well as traditional solid colors. The fabric is strong, colorfast, weather-resistant and meets fire resistance codes.
  • Patio500® is a vinyl laminated 100% polyester awning fabric that resists wicking and crazing. It offers superior resistance to UV light, water and mildew, and its dimensional stability makes it strong and tear-resistant. It comes in multiple solid colors plus duplex options with eggshell or white underside. It is heat sealable and a good choice for sewn-in inset fabric, silk screened, hand painted or appliqued graphics as well as heat transfer films, heat-sealed or sewn-in inset fabric. It does not work well with pressure-sensitive vinyl or for back-let applications. It is flame resistant and has a 5-year warranty.
  • Phifertex awning fabric comes in numerous solid colors, stripes, tweeds and textures created using plain weave, dobby or jacquard patterns. It is strong as well as colorful, making it ideal for umbrellas or breathable awnings.
  • Sunbrella® may be the best-known brand among our recommended fabrics. It is durable, water-repellent and breathable. Sunbrella View filters 93% of the sun’s light and heat, making it an excellent choice for sun screens and roller blinds that improve indoor cooling and protect furnishings, merchandise and people. Sunbrella Plus is a traditional awning fabric that has a urethane undercoating, making it a great choice where water resistance is essential. These fabrics come in myriad solid colors plus stripes and some tweeds, with a 10-year warranty.
  • Weathertyte awning fabric is entirely waterproof. It is resistant to fire, fungus and UV light and comes in two weights with a 5- or 8-year warranty. The textured solid colors are digitally printable.

Choosing among all these awning fabric options can be overwhelming. You’ll be far less frustrated and get exactly the look and performance you need by consulting your local commercial awning expert.

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