Tonneau cover material

[DavidJ]

Getting my man in Spain to fit a new tonneau cover he says

“Do you want the new cover in the same acrylic as the original or would you prefer a lighter material like Stamoid light?”

Anybody had any experience of Stamoid light?

 

[Hurricane]

Not heard of it before so I've just looked it up.
Made by Serge Ferrari so it should be good.
Just checked the price and it is about middle of the road.
It seems to be supplied in several variants - Light, Edge and Smart etc. - not looked at the Serge Ferrari website yet but it might have more information.
If you go for it, I would be interested in hearing what you think about it.
Perhaps start by getting a sample.

 

[Seastoke]

Not heard of it before so I've just looked it up.
Made by Serge Ferrari so it should be good.
Just checked the price and it is about middle of the road.
It seems to be supplied in several variants - Light, Edge and Smart etc. - not looked at the Serge Ferrari website yet but it might have more information.
If you go for it, I would be interested in hearing what you think about it.
Perhaps start by getting a sample.

I can see another thread coming , no through your needle.

 

[Easticks28]

I've been very happy with Sunbrella. However be absolutely certain, whatever you choose to insist on UV resistant thread !
Don't ask me how I know.

 

[DavidJ]

I've been very happy with Sunbrella. However be absolutely certain, whatever you choose to insist on UV resistant thread !
Don't ask me how I know.

Must admit my Sunbrella is about 10 years old and may even do another season. The lightweight-ness is no advantage to me so sticking to what does for me I think.
Thanks for replies even seastoke’s

 

[Hurricane]

I've been very happy with Sunbrella. However be absolutely certain, whatever you choose to insist on UV resistant thread !
Don't ask me how I know.

Not sure that I absolutely agree - especially in the strong Med sun.
Thread can be VERY expensive and I'm not sure it is worth the extra cost.
Yes, thread IS important but when you look at the big picture, by the time a good average thread has deteriorated, any good fabric will have shrunk.
I'm not saying buy a cheap thread - just a good bonded polyester will probably last the life of the fabric.

For me, it has been more important to learn how to make replacement covers myself.
I can then replace every 5 or 6 years at very little cost.

And, believe me, I have made my mistakes with cheap materials.

 

[Easticks28]

Not sure that I absolutely agree - especially in the strong Med sun.
Thread can be VERY expensive and I'm not sure it is worth the extra cost.
Yes, thread IS important but when you look at the big picture, by the time a good average thread has deteriorated, any good fabric will have shrunk.
I'm not saying buy a cheap thread - just a good bonded polyester will probably last the life of the fabric.

For me, it has been more important to learn how to make replacement covers myself.
I can then replace every 5 or 6 years at very little cost.

And, believe me, I have made my mistakes with cheap materials.

I have had numerous 'restitching' over the last three/ four years in the Norfolk Broads sun. The extra cost would have been more than covered bythe spend on repairs had I known about it....

 

[Greg2]

We are having new window covers made and the guy doing them offered the option of Stamoid. We have decided to go with it on the basis that being lighter it might be a bit easier to handle and stow. We will see how it turns out.

 

[EugeneR]

I've been very happy with Sunbrella. However be absolutely certain, whatever you choose to insist on UV resistant thread !
Don't ask me how I know.

Strong +1 here.

Sunbrella will last almost forever but not your non-UV stitching.

Our UK canopies and winter covers were 19 year old Sunbrella and still in very good condition... due to patio magic and restitiching with UV resistant thread.

 

[DAW]

Sunseeker supplied winter and summer cockpit covers with my Predator 57. Winter covers are the usual heavy "camper" style made from black Sunbrella with clear acrylic window panels. Summer covers are for the sunpads and seats only, leaving the cockpit area open, and made from a light grey Stamoid.

After two seasons of use in the Med sun, both sets are wearing at about the same rate so I would have no concerns about durability of Stamoid relative to Sunbrella. I expected the Sunbrella to wear better because it feels more heavy duty, but the reality is that it seems to be suffering slightly more UV degradation than the Stamoid.

Plus points for Stamoid ... light, easy to put on and take off, less bulky and so much easier to stow. Downsides are you need to take a bit more care not to drag over anything sharp, and when you fold and stow the covers you need to try to avoid sharp creases ... they don't "drop out" as easily as they do with Sunbrella.

The light grey colour marks easily, but this would be the same with grey Sunbrella ... it cleans up well with. There is another P57 in the marina which has summer covers in black Stamoid. Although this looks good, they seem to get incredibly hot to touch in the sun ... much worse than the grey and worse than black Sunbrella.

 

[Hurricane]

Our UK canopies and winter covers were 19 year old Sunbrella and still in very good condition... due to patio magic and restitiching with UV resistant thread.

Is that 19 years without any shrinkage?
Do your covers have any window panels?
In my experience, there isn't a material that won't shrink in the strong sunshine - especially the strong Med sun.

 

[EugeneR]

Is that 19 years without any shrinkage?
Do your covers have any window panels?
In my experience, there isn't a material that won't shrink in the strong sunshine - especially the strong Med sun.

Not sure about shrinkage - the cockpit covers still fit well and for the flybridge cover, I may not have noticed any shrinkage as I use adjustable poles to "tighten" it. This is UK, not Med - appreciate the difference.

We had the windows replaced the year before last On that, I can recommend the expensive but more durable stuff as well.

 

[Bouba]

I have also been researching materials. My plan is to buy a Sailrite sewing machine and my first job will be making dinghy chaps (it’s the most technically difficult project, but if you don’t do it when you are totally inexperienced, you would not dare tackle it when you know what you’re doing). Anyhow, I also came across Stamoid, someone on the cruisers forum said that it is more abrasive resistant (perfect for a dinghy), but he also said it doesn’t need hemming (perfect for a dinghy with lots of cutouts). Actually, he also said it doesn’t hold as much salt crystals as Sunbrella, so won’t abrade the tubes.
These seem like wonderful qualities, especially the no need to hem. The fact that Stamoid sell edging material does worry me. Anyhow, I was eventually going to ask, also, if anyone has any experience with Stamoid.

 

[Hurricane]

I'm using a lot of the same white PVC that Princess use on their new boats.
My original covers lasted about 10 years.
It is really cheap but you have to buy a whole roll (1500mm x 25m).
I am finding it really easy to work with.
I have developed my own techniques but I'm really quite pleased with the results.

Being PVC, you don't have to finish the edge but it always looks nicer with a bound edge.
This is how I finish the edges using the PVC



And the same pic zoomed in



You can also see from these photos that the PVC has a nice "linen" effect.
Not as good as Sunbrella but way cheaper and much easier to sew.
Note also how good the Sailrite machine is at producing a consistent stitch.

I also use a lot of Venture tape (double sided tape).
Developing techniques using the tape and then sewing through.
These are some examples of a tests that I did for inserting a zip into the PVC fabric.







My view is that if you can make covers of this quality, why worry about them lasting 15 years.
I am also finding it quite therapeutical doing this kind of thing during the winter months - especially during these latest lock down times.

 

[Bouba]

I'm using a lot of the same white PVC that Princess use on their new boats.
My original covers lasted about 10 years.
It is really cheap but you have to buy a whole roll (1500mm x 25m).
I am finding it really easy to work with.
I have developed my own techniques but I'm really quite pleased with the results.

Being PVC, you don't have to finish the edge but it always looks nicer with a bound edge.
This is how I finish the edges using the PVC

View attachment 110232

And the same pic zoomed in

View attachment 110238

You can also see from these photos that the PVC has a nice "linen" effect.
Not as good as Sunbrella but way cheaper and much easier to sew.
Note also how good the Sailrite machine is at producing a consistent stitch.

I also use a lot of Venture tape (double sided tape).
Developing techniques using the tape and then sewing through.
These are some examples of a tests that I did for inserting a zip into the PVC fabric.

View attachment 110240

View attachment 110241

View attachment 110242

My view is that if you can make covers of this quality, why worry about them lasting 15 years.
I am also finding it quite therapeutical doing this kind of thing during the winter months - especially during these latest lock down times.

Superb work, I hope I also find it therapeutic ?

 

[Meagain]

@Hurricane , looks great do you mind sharing what the material is actually called and supplied by and thread being used. I’m looking at redoing my camper covers but want something a lot lighter than the current sunbrella arrangement

 

[wilkinsonsails]

Stamoid is an excellent tough ,light weight easy clean fabric .It lasts around 6to 8 yrs in the UK .
It’s better suited to well supported frames and canopies.
Long flappy movable areas can get distressed after a few years .
We use it for smaller box covers ,window covers and tonneau .
Because it light weight,it needs additional reinforcement In eyelet and fastener positions .

 

[Hurricane]

@Hurricane , looks great do you mind sharing what the material is actually called and supplied by and thread being used. I’m looking at redoing my camper covers but want something a lot lighter than the current sunbrella arrangement

The PVC is the C7456 - see this link
Marine, Sports & Leisure | Lows of Dundee | Industrial Textiles

However, it isn't any lighter than Sunbrella or equivalents.
In the above link, there is some lighte fabric that they show as a boat cover that might be lighter.
If you want something lighter, it might be worth getting a sample of the Stamoid which is the subject of this thread.

Threads, I use this
Bonded Polyester Thread - PT Winchester
The V92 works in the Sailrite but if you are going to use a domestic machine, it might be better to use the V69 size.
The bigger the better though.

 

[sailorman]

Getting my man in Spain to fit a new tonneau cover he says

“Do you want the new cover in the same acrylic as the original or would you prefer a lighter material like Stamoid light?”

Anybody had any experience of Stamoid light?

Mu spray when replaced 2 yrs ago.was made from sea.ax mTerisl.it goes drum tight snd very dursvle todate

 

[sailorman]

Getting my man in Spain to fit a new tonneau cover he says

“Do you want the new cover in the same acrylic as the original or would you prefer a lighter material like Stamoid light?”

Anybody had any experience of Stamoid light?

Ignore my previous it eas weathermax i can be sewn up to be a tight fitslso v durable snd mildew restsnt