Fabric graphics industry helps print awning fabric
Compiled by Juli Case
We have a customer who wants a vinyl awning fabric with a leopard or tiger stripe, and it has to be suitable for outdoors. Any idea who makes this material?
We couldn’t find a supplier who stocked a vinyl awning fabric with these particular prints; apparently most awning customers aren’t quite as adventurous as yours. If it were an indoor awning, you might be able to get by with using a fabric produced for another application, such as an upholstery material. Unfortunately, that’s not going to work for an outdoor awning. If your customer is a corporate account and will be putting up a large number of awnings, perhaps nationwide, then you could probably find a fabric supplier willing to work with you on developing a fabric. Minimums vary, but probably would be in the thousands of yards. If, however, your customer only needs one awning, your best bet is to work with someone in the fabric graphics industry to print just the yardage you need. For information:
