(Written by John) Sunbrella lasts forever right? Well, as it turns out, not really.
Years ago I had a sail-cover made from sunbrella fabric that was of a questionable age. It ended up ruining the main sail as the SPF from the cover had deteriorated to about that of a window screen.
Luckily the sailmaker (North Sails) stood behind their product. They allowed me to purchase a new sail at their cost after the first sail basically dissolved in 7 years. Despite the fact that it was my old suncover that wrecked the sail. Go North Sails!
I was told by North that if you are in the tropics and you want your sail to last:
1) Dark colors are better than light.
2) Make your sail cover from TWO layers of sunbrella.
3) For maximum protection, paint the sunbrella with acrylic paint.
At first, I was not quite sure about number three. The first two made sense, the last did not.
Here is a picture out of the dodger window with the sunbrella cover on. Note the pinpoints of light coming through it.
Each of those pinpricks is a small hole in your UV protection. The cover looks perfectly fine from the outside. It is only when you hold it up to the sun that you really notice that it isn’t doing what you thought it was. In other words, the cover was no longer protecting my vinyl windows. The cover was only 5 years old.
So, I painted it. I used an acrylic vinyl paint and it adhered beautifully. The small pinpoints of light are gone, and my dodger windows are once again protected.
I also painted the Bimini for the second time. It looks even better than the first time.
Sunbrella canvas is only solution dyed acrylic fibers with a weather resistant coating. Once the weather coating wears off, you can either replace the canvas, or give it a paint job with a roller and a brush.
Will it look perfect? No. Will it protect your sail or your vinyl windows, and keep the rain from dripping through your Bimini onto your head? Absolutely. According to North Sails THE PAINTED SUNBRELLA will work better than the unpainted one.
I have to say, I agree with them.
So, if your canvas is a little tired, and you can see light through it, paint it with exterior grade acrylic paint. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose. It might not look like you just spent $10,000 on all new canvas covers, but you can rest assured that the $100 of paint is protecting your sails, your windows, and even your skin from the UV rays.