Sunbrella quality?

[trevorl]

Hi all,


We've just had a sailmaker tell us he's seen a big decline in the quality of Sunbrella lately, but another one didn't think so.
Anybody out there heard the same thing, or know anything about it?


Cheers,
Trev

[dfelsent]

The most recent sunbrella I bought ( to make my new stack packs) had a slub in it. I was very surprised.
Sunbury mills has been going through a lot of offshoring and cost cutting over the past decade. Not the best for the consumers.

[trevorl]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a slub?

[GordMay]

A ‘slub’ is a type of yarn that's thickened in random areas of a finished fabric. Some yarns can be spun at increasing and decreasing levels of tension, and would be described as 'slubby'.
Slubs may be produced deliberately, by varying spinning tension, with the intention of giving the fabric an organic, textured, tactile aesthetic effect. In this case, slubbing is not a defect, but a feature.
Glen Raven offers some deliberately slubbed (upholstery?) ‘Sunbrella’ fabrics.
ie: Sunbrella® Performance Slub Tweed ➥ https://www.potterybarn.com/products...eed/undefined/

[trevorl]

Thanks!
Always learning something new..

[JPA Cate]

"Sunbrella" is basically acrylic canvas which is highly uv tolerant. The individual threads are quite short, which is why it has low chafe resistant.

Good luck, mate.

[kayakerChuck]

Canvas pro here.

I've noticed a decline in quality of most of my supplies, starting with the pandemic. The tolerances are wider than they were. My theory is the old guy, who knew where to kick the machine, is no longer working and the replacements haven't learned the tricks yet.

I've not noticed Sunbrella having more slubs than in the past. In the past, the fabricator would usually work around these. With a tight supply, it's harder to justify scrapping Sunbrella panels for strictly cosmetic reasons unless it matters to the customer.

Cosmetics are important to most of my customers, so I'm now ordering 50 to 100% more fabric than I need for a particular job. My guess is that out of tolerance binding, snaps, etc costs me about 30% more time.

I'm appalled at what I now need to charge.

[trevorl]

Originally Posted by kayakerChuck

Canvas pro here.

I've noticed a decline in quality of most of my supplies, starting with the pandemic. The tolerances are wider than they were. My theory is the old guy, who knew where to kick the machine, is no longer working and the replacements haven't learned the tricks yet.

I've not noticed Sunbrella having more slubs than in the past. In the past, the fabricator would usually work around these. With a tight supply, it's harder to justify scrapping Sunbrella panels for strictly cosmetic reasons unless it matters to the customer.

Cosmetics are important to most of my customers, so I'm now ordering 50 to 100% more fabric than I need for a particular job. My guess is that out of tolerance binding, snaps, etc costs me about 30% more time.

I'm appalled at what I now need to charge.

Thanks,


I guess we'll order some and see what we get...
New cockpit cushions are on the agenda.

[sailorboy1]

I think it matter what you buy. I have some navy blue from 4 years ago and some from last years. The stuff I got last is definitely heavier material. So I feel there is more to it than saying "sunbella"

[JPA Cate]

^^^^Yes, and there are other manufacturers of acrylic canvas, which works just as well as Sunbrella, but it's hard to find out where it is made. The German fabric does seem as good as, and the dark red dye lasting as well as brand named Sunbrella.

Ann

[trevorl]

My wife has been shopping around, there's a (locally made?) brand here in NZ, Dixon's, which several sailmaker/upholsterers say is as good as Sunbrella. It's a wee bit cheaper and has a 7 year warranty, thinking about that instead.
The trouble is it takes a couple of years to find out if you made the right decision...

[JPA Cate]

Gosh, trevorl, I'd guess that the Kiwis have the capability to weave it as well as elsewhere in the world, and nice to support their economy, too. You might want to go actually see it and feel it and see if it seems as thick and well woven as Sunbrella brand, and if it is, I'd go for theirs.

If your concern is possible slubs, consider that people have to look closely to see them, and you may be able to not use the slubby part. When it is used for sun shades, or uv protection on sails or on sailbags, or weather cloths or even cushions, one never looks closely at them again, once the item is in use, ime. I make them as well as I can, then the job's done, till it requires a patch or something.

Unlike kayakerChuck, I'm just an amateur, but I have done almost all the canvas work for our last two boats.

Ann

[CarlF]

Originally Posted by trevorl

My wife has been shopping around, there's a (locally made?) brand here in NZ, Dixon's, w

By any chance is "Dixon" really "Dickson"? They are part of Glen Raven the maker of Sunbrella. It was a French company that merged with Glen Raven in 1998.

All companies go through difficult periods and the recent supply shortages made any such periods much worse. Here's an interesting press release where Glen Raven are investing in new equipment. Maybe the new equipment produces slightly different cloth than the old? And they were starting up a new production facility in France (there's also one in China). Again, the different production faciltiers may make slightly different fabrics.

The good news is that Glen Raven doesn't seem to have been bought out by a private equity company like so many other suppliers to the marine market. The private equity people always try to cut costs to increase their investment reutrn - usually with compromises in product quality. Glen Raven still seems to be independent.

https://pressroom.sunbrella.com/news...expansion-plan

[trevorl]

I suspect you are correct, I want sure about the local production bit.
I've seen comments online from a couple of sailmakers saying they really rate Dickson, and one my wife talked to here said he thought it was just as good as Sunbrella, so it looks like that's what we will go with, I'll let you know how it looks..

[GordMay]

Glen Raven Announces Next Phase of $250 Million Capacity Expansion Plan
Including:
A new spun-yarn plant co-located with Glen Raven’s existing Norlina, North Carolina, facility to increase production output by more than double current amounts with approximately 315,000 additional square feet.
The initial phase of Glen Raven’s multi-phase expansion plan included new yarn spinning capabilities, new and upgraded weaving equipment and other capacity enhancements to support its customers and the increased demand for Sunbrella, Dickson® and other Glen Raven fabrics.
➥ https://www.glenraven.com/glen-raven...ity-expansion/

National Spinning Co. last week (reported November 20, 2021) acquired the open-end yarn spinning and package dyeing operations of Glen Raven Mills Inc.
Glen Raven is keeping its ring-spinning operations.
Glen Raven sold the two plants as a way of pulling out of the business of making and dyeing certain synthetic yarns.
Glen Raven will now focus on the fabric-making side of its business.
➥ https://greensboro.com/glen-raven-se...1650e677c.html
➥ https://wwd.com/feature/article-1186852-1719866/