How to maintain your Shade7 outdoor umbrella

How to maintain your outdoor umbrella:

1. Don’t leave your umbrella open in excessive winds or when not being used. Close the umbrella and firmly apply the strap around the middle of the umbrella holding the arms firmly against the umbrella mast.
2. To ensure your umbrella fabric and frame stays looking good for the maximum number of years, its recommended that you protect the umbrella with a cover bag when not in use. This reduces wear and tear on the fabric caused by pollution, dust, salt spray, pollen, birds, wind and excessive exposure to the sun. This will greatly extend the life of the umbrella fabric and also reduce wear and tear on the frame.
3. It is beneficial to periodically wash your umbrella using fresh water from a hose, especially in coastal environments. This will help to remove salt residue, dirt and keep the umbrella frame and fabric clean. If required you may want to give the full umbrella a wash with warm soapy water to remove any build up of dirt or grime.
4. When the umbrella will be transported, stored or closed for extended periods of time, it is best to pull out and fold the acrylic canvas canopy as shown in the Riviera umbrella manual. This will prolong the new look of the canvas and reduce the risk of marks on the fabric from getting pinched in between umbrella the aluminium frame.
5. Each year as summer approaches it would be a good idea to give the umbrella a quick visual check over to ensure that all bolts are tight and secure and that nothing has become loose. Check that the spigot bolts, ground fixing bolts, barrel bolts (that connect the arms together), and canopy screws all appear tight.
6. If you have a Shade7 Riviera or a Shademakers Sola cantilever umbrella; then it would be a good idea to spray CRC on the stainless steel cable that runs inside the umbrella every few years, especially in coastal environments. The best way to do this is to remove the mast cap from the top of the umbrella mast. Then while another person slowly opens the umbrella, spray a small amount of CRC on the cable every 10-20cm as it moves over the top pulley. You can also put some CRC on the other end of the cable by getting up inside the umbrella canopy while the umbrella is closed and the cable end is exposed. The CRC will spread along the cable if you open and close it a few times.
7. We have found that you can greatly improve the appearance of a very old Shade7 umbrella by using a car interior protectant like CRC Liquid Armour or an equivalent. We recommend that you use an old rag to apply a small amount of protectant to all of the aluminium and nylon parts. Just be careful not to get any protectant on the umbrella fabric!
8. When you open your umbrella to use it, we recommend that you open it until the fabric is firm and taut. This way the umbrella is at its strongest and will receive less wear. If the fabric canopy is loose then it will flap and move in the wind causing unnecessary wear and tear on the frame and fabric. However, do not over wind the umbrella as this will put unnecessary strain on the umbrella components.

Click the following link to learn more about how to clean your outdoor umbrella fabric.