What is Sunbrella fabric? Solution-dyed acrylic, explained without the chemistry
Sunbrella® is the fabric on most of the better awnings, boat tops and outdoor furniture you have sat on. This is what it is, and why we sew every cushion in it.
The short version
Sunbrella® is a woven fabric made from 100% solution-dyed acrylic. The pigment is added to the liquid acrylic before it is spun into fibre, so the colour runs all the way through every thread. It was developed in 1961 by Glen Raven in the United States as an awning fabric that would not fade, and it is now made in the USA and in France (Sunbrella Europe, Dickson-Constant) for the European market, including the collections we use.
What solution-dyed means in practice
- It does not fade. There is no surface layer of colour for UV to break down. Sunbrella® backs this with a 5-year warranty on fading, weathering and loss of strength for furniture fabric.
- You can bleach it. Mildew and stains come out with a 1:9 bleach solution without touching the colour. See bleach on outdoor cushions.
- It breathes. It is a woven fabric, not a coated one, so it is not clammy to sit on and dries fast.
- It is water-repellent. A finish makes rain bead off. Since 2024 the European range is PFAS-free; see what changed.
- Mildew-resistant. Acrylic is not food for mould. Dirt on the fabric can still be, which is why cleaning matters.
What Sunbrella is not
It is not waterproof in the sealed sense, and it is not meant to be; see waterproof vs water-resistant. It is not cheap: the fabric alone costs more per metre than many complete supermarket cushions. And it is not the only solution-dyed acrylic. There are other brands; Sunbrella is the one with the longest track record and the warranty we are comfortable passing on.
Same colour on the back as on the front. A slightly dry, canvas-like hand. A woven label or selvedge that says Sunbrella. If the pattern is only on one side, it is printed and it is not Sunbrella.
The collections we sew
Our 45×45 cushions use Sunbrella® furniture collections such as Natté, Solids, Lopi, Savane, Heritage, Chartres, Bengali and Majestic: plains, heathers, textures and a few patterns, 158 colours in all. Each product page names the collection and colour. Browse by colour and collection, or read how the fabric compares in Sunbrella vs olefin vs polyester.
Is it worth it?
If you replace cushions every summer, no: the cheap ones are cheaper. If you want the colour you chose to still be that colour in five years and the cushion to survive being forgotten in the rain, yes. The cost-per-summer sum is in cheap vs quality outdoor cushions.
158 Sunbrella® colours in 45×45, filling included, shipped next working day. Browse the collection or ask about made to measure.
