This is listed as a percentage out of 100, with a 100% shade factor indicating complete light blockage. Shade fabrics are measured by their shade factor, which is the measure of how much a shade fabric absorbs or reflects invisible light (ultraviolet radiation). Shade cloth is a knitted fabric and this is an important factor in using it to design and manufacture shade sails. UV inhibitors are now added during the manufacture of shade cloth and good shade cloth now generally comes with a multi-year UV degradation warranties. Originally shade fabric, like all fabrics in the outdoors, suffered from UV degradation. Rapid growth in the "shade sail industry" has seen many new businesses and websites offering shade sails and shade structures. A number of Australian shade sail businesses export to other countries. Shade sails have yet to have a significant impact in Europe and South America. Useful versions of shade cloth appeared in the early 1990s especially in Australia and South Africa.įor most of the 1990s there was some confusion about what these new devices should be called however they are now most commonly called shade sails throughout Australia, South Africa and the U.S.A. Modern shade sails came into wider use with the invention of a far more durable and relatively inexpensive fabric called shade cloth. The Colosseum in Rome was shaded with large canvas "sails" pulled into place by Roman sailors.
Ancient Egyptians and later the Greeks and Romans used large pieces of fabric to provide shade.