The best shade cloth for a patio

The densest fabric Coolaroo publishes, and the only one in this list whose stated purpose is shading people rather than plants. Over a patio that distinction is the whole decision.

Up to 90% UV block, in a knitted tape and monofilament construction, with air flowing through the knit. The 90% is what makes a patio usable in the middle of the afternoon — at garden densities you still squint. The knit is what stops it becoming an oven: a breathable fabric lets hot air escape upward instead of trapping it against your head, which is the failure mode of every solid tarp strung over a seating area.

A 15-year fabric warranty against cracks, splits and tears due to UV degradation. That is the longest published term on any shade fabric on this site, by a wide margin, and it is specifically against the thing that actually kills shade cloth — ultraviolet attacking the polymer rather than mechanical wear.

Sold in 6 x 15 ft, 6 x 50 ft, 6 x 100 ft and 12 x 50 ft. The 12 ft width is the one to buy for a patio: a single piece across the span avoids a seam, and a seam in shade cloth is both the visual flaw and the place tension concentrates.

The density to buy if 90% feels like too much roof, which it genuinely can on a north-facing patio or in a cooler climate.

Up to 70% UV block, breathable, in the same knitted HDPE family as the 90%. Seventy per cent is the figure that keeps a space bright while removing the glare and most of the heat load. Over a patio used mainly in the morning and evening it is often the better call than the densest option.

Sizes run 6 x 15 ft, 6 x 50 ft, 6 x 100 ft and 12 x 50 ft, the same spread as the 90% — so choosing density does not cost you choice of size, which is unusual in this category.

No warranty is published for this line, where the 90% and the 50% Garden Cover both carry 15 years. That gap is why it ranks second rather than first: on a site that judges products on what the manufacturer commits to in writing, a missing term counts against an otherwise identical fabric.

The only shade cloth here sold cut to your dimensions, and the only one publishing a GSM figure. Both matter if your patio is not a tidy rectangle.

180 GSM knitted polyethylene, 75% block rate, up to 95% UV stabilized, cut from 6–24 ft wide by 1–300 ft long. That width range is the feature: a 24 ft span in one piece is not available from anyone else here, and a single piece across an awkward opening beats two panels and a seam every time.

A GSM figure is rare on shade cloth and worth having, because it is the one number that lets you compare cloth weight against the shade sails on this site rather than guessing. GSM and shade percentage explained sets out how the two figures relate.

The trade is the edge, and it is a real one: a cut edge with no taping. Grommets, edge tape and fixings are all a separate purchase, and an untaped knitted edge will run if you tension it hard without reinforcing it first. Budget the hemming work as part of the job, not as an afterthought. Three-year limited warranty.

Included deliberately, because a lot of patios have a vegetable bed or a row of pots along one edge, and 90% over both is the wrong answer for the plants.

Up to 50% UV block, knitted mono/mono HDPE, breathable to air and water — and that water permeability is the point if anything is growing underneath. Rain gets through to the soil instead of being thrown off the edge of the fabric, which under a denser cloth creates a dry zone and a drip line.

The same 15-year fabric warranty against UV cracking as the 90% Sun Protection fabric. Coolaroo backs its lightest and densest fabrics equally, which is a credible signal about the polymer rather than about either density.

Sizes 6 x 15 ft, 6 x 100 ft and 12 x 50 ft. Fifty per cent is not enough shade over seating in a hot climate and we would not recommend it there — this is the pick for a growing area, or for a patio where the brief is taking the edge off rather than making shade.