Need Yellow boat cover fabric

[timtheboatguy]

I have a customer with a 25' tri-toon that wants a custom cover, bimini top, and boot, and she wants it in yellow. I typically use Aqualon or Harbor Time and niether come in yellow anymore. Was hoping to find something besides Sunbrella. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Tim

[jojo]

Just curious, what have you got against Sunbrella? I think it makes a darn fine cover. And they have a cheaper line, too...Sunbrella Surlast.

[Mike]

I did wwnt gellow sunbrellamdue to cleaning
Yellow is as baskd as white to i used yellow weathermax on my larson. Ive used surlast. But this is alot stonger it feels then surlast and was redily avsilavle at miami.  I used to use surlast for icheap dealer costs.   

[timtheboatguy]

The customer does not want to pay for Sunbrella and Surlast is either 6 or 7.5 oz. I would like at least a 9oz fabric.

[Mojo]

Tim:

Contact MiamiMike and ask him whats available in Recacril. Tell him your looking at R-554 - 60 " which is yellow. Recacril is much cheaper then Sunbrella and is a much better product. The weave ( and yarns ) are superior to Sunbrella. It wont stretch or shrink and has a better finish I think. I love the hand and how it machines too.

Sunbrella used to be the cats meow in marine fabric. It is now a has been. Old technology, cheaper yarns and a weave process that sucks by allowing stretch and shrinkage. They really cheapened it up. I see this stuff constantly and the Sunbrella from the late 90's and early 2000's was awesome. But it is nothing like todays stuff.

Recacril has the same warranty - 5 years. If you want to use a premium fabric check out Sattler. That is what I use on my toppers. That stuff is awesome. Talkoing about an awesome hand and machine capabilities. It sews and creases like a dream. Never had an issue with it. It is manufactured in Sweden using the best yarns available in the world and their weave process is dynamite - no shrinkage or stretching. It is about a dollar more then Recacril but still less then Sunbrella. Sattler and recacril is what is being used in Europe. Recacril BTW is manufactured in Spain using the same weave process as Sattler.

Three of the top commercial awning manufacturers in the USA have dropped Sunbrella from their lines. They now use Recacril or Sattler. People base their opinions of Sunbrella on their reputation from years past. It is NOT the same fabric it used to be which is the reason why so many are dropping their use of it.

Miami Corp is a direct importer of Rec and Sat which means no brokers or middle men to worry about nor counterfeit issues. It goes right from Recacril or Sattler factories to their warehouse. Read my story in the business section of the forum about whats going on in the fabric world. It is a frigging mess.

Chris

[Mike]

o use a lot of recacril also and outdura also  u believe satler make outdura buti really like the weathermax 80 from Miami also heres some good info http://www.weathermaxfabric.com/FAQ.php but don't buy it here ;

they don't want to pay for good fabric 9 estimate your probably going to  need 34 35 yards  and cheap vs good material is about $140 savings is it really worth it to them the material is the minor cost..
id ne around $1700 and I never tell the customer the cost of the fabric vs labor

[regalman190]

I've been using Recacril for cockpit and mooring covers. Handles better and holds up better than Sunbrella. Even though the weight is virtually the same between the two, the Recacril feels stronger than Sunbrella.
Also starting to use Recacril for bimini and enclosure tops. But, it has to be sewn a little different since it does not stretch like Sunbrella.

[timtheboatguy]

Thanks folks! I am getting my account set up with Miam Corp and will look into the Racacril.

[Mojo]

I've been using Recacril for cockpit and mooring covers. Handles better and holds up better than Sunbrella. Even though the weight is virtually the same between the two, the Recacril feels stronger than Sunbrella.
Also starting to use Recacril for bimini and enclosure tops. But, it has to be sewn a little different since it does not stretch like Sunbrella.

More and more marine / canvas people are dropping Sunbrella and going to Recacril or Sattler. So your not alone. But you need to educate your customers as to the reasons why. I had some customers demand Sunbrella and after discussions they wanted the Recacril.

I think Rec and sat is a win/win. I increase my margins and give the customer a superior fabric.

Chris

[raindodger]

I get customers asking for sunbrella sometimes because of the 10 year warranty and sometimes because sunbrella offers a color closer to what they want than any of the others.  Then there is the customers who want it just because its the only name they have heard of when it comes to fabric.  I havent tried recacril yet but have been wanting to.

[Darren Henry]

Then there is the customers who want it just because its the only name they have heard of when it comes to fabric.

That's exactly it ; It's the original synthetic "canvas" and was well marketed. The same way that everyone rides their "skidoo" even if it says Yamaha on the side.   

[Mike]

ya Darren and its a waverunner  >)

ive had a number of people specifically complain how there sunbrella cover shrunk 3 " on  a 24' boats cockpit cover and wgeb they see they look almost the same as the old ive had to no trouble switching them

outdura is a great canvas also I think its made by Satler also Mojo

[Peppy]

Lotta sunbrella hate going on in this thread. I think sunbrella's gone for a poop recently myself, but thats only my opinion. I have no actual facts to back it up. We still sell quite a lot of sunbrella and are slow to change horses to be honest. It's worked for a number of years and customers have (almost always) been more than happy with it.

I had some customers demand Sunbrella and after discussions they wanted the Recacril.

I could make a customer want denim backed vinyl. That doesn't mean they'll be happy with it. I know nothing about Recacril (including how to pronounce it) Anybody know what it's marketed under in Canada?

We've been trying out Tempotest. Only black so far, we want to see how it goes over a few years before we do anything rash. I'm putting it on my boat. It seems thicker/stronger than sunbrella but that's pretty easy to achieve really. Put it through an extra chemical bath and voila! I have stood under a new tempotest top in a driving rain and saw mist coming through the weave. I've stood under a new sunbrella top in the same instance and seen similar things.

I have no site-able facts to back up my statements. Sunbrella phoned me at the shop after a sunbrella bashing thread on here. That gives me hope that they care about the problems. Unless it's in my mind black sunbrella has gotten thicker in the last year. We could switch horses and start selling tempotest or stamoid or denim backed vinyl but it's nice to not have to change their minds when they come in wanting sunbrella.

Mojo- I looked through the Business section and didn't notice any fabric threads in a brief look. How about a link? Or a link to any other resources backing up your claims? To be honest your posts read to me as pretty spammy without any documentation.

[Mike]

o think any breathable fabric in a heavy rain will see mist under it ive seen this here also   and we get some good soakers here in the summer. even my new weathermax 80 breathable canvas I saw this last summer

[Peppy]

That's what I was trying to say mike. It's likely impossible to have a fabric that has every attribute you want with none of the draw backs you don't like. Nothing's perfect, you have to find what works for you and what you like using.

I wonder about your customers complaining about shrinking Sunbrella are right in blaming the fabric. I've seen many tops we've made that appear to have shrunk but its actually the reinforcement that's shrunk. We use rubber waterstop and when you nip it every few inches it fits again. I've seen webbing shrink similarly. And it makes me wonder if they put their top in the washer and dryer.