For craftsmanship in outdoor furniture, Billy’s of Queensland is up there with the best - and it is using materials like Sunbrella fabrics that have helped make them an industry leader.
“We use Sunbrella for everything from outdoor cushions and chair slings to premier items like our Sola Side Arm Umbrella,” say company founder, Will Ramsay.
It’s a combination of features that makes Sunbrella so impressive. For a start, these fabrics have extremely high UV resistance and excellent colour retention, the result of a unique ‘Solution Dye’ process in which colour is introduced as the fibre itself is manufactured, so it becomes an integral part of each and every strand. This contrasts with the common yet inferior practice of dying the yarn after it has been made.
Will is equally impressed with the soil and stain resistant finishes that contribute to the longer lasting good looks of these fabrics. “Another key feature is water resistance - and Sunbrella performs really well here and, unlike so many others, this brand offers great resistance to mould.”
“Easy maintenance is another important consideration and with Sunbrella it couldn’t be easier, you can even use bleach without damage.”
Many fabrics look good when they are new but few stand the test of time. It’s not only fading and failure to perform that can be a problem, but a decline in the integrity of the fabric that leads to sagging and rippling. Sunbrella retains its tension and consequently shape.
On the subject of good looks, the range is extensive. Will can offer his customers a contemporary or classic look with a huge variety of colours, patterns and stripes.
Sunbrella brand fabrics are manufactured and marketed by Glen Raven Custom Fabrics, LLC, a subsidiary of Glen Raven Inc., based in Glen Raven, North Carolina (USA). Sunbrella is a market leader in performance fabrics for awnings, marine applications and casual furniture.
