Waterproofed foldingtents – a popular topic!

Regardless of whether you want to use your gazebo for commercial or private purposes, watertightness is always an issue and, as we think, an important purchase criterion for folding tents! What use is a folding tent if it leaks even in the slightest rain and you are no longer protected from wind and weather. Here are a few tips to keep in mind BEFORE buying a foldable tent.

Advice 1

If possible, look for a “branded product” and not a no-name tent!

A branded product is not called a branded product for nothing, as there is usually a well thought-out “brand” behind it and forms the basis for long-term, high-quality production. The manufacturer and the importers or dealers of the brand make a conscious decision in favor of a brand because they want to develop and service a market over the long term. A poor quality product would only damage the reputation of the brand and thus also the reputation of the tent manufacturer or seller. So when you buy a branded product, you can largely trust that what it says is inside! Branded products are sometimes more expensive than NN products, but this is mostly due to the fact that more know-how and, above all, higher quality materials are used in these products, which ultimately drive the product price up. In the case of NN products, the focus is usually only on keeping the price as low as possible, since you are not “committed” to any brand. It is therefore advisable to invest a little more money, which then pays off and pays off or amortizes in the long term.

Advice 2

Check the product information provided by the manufacturer or importer/dealer for water-resistancy!

Higher quality fabrics are mostly polyester fabrics with a PU-coating. Depending on the design, the water resistance is given in “water-pressure column in mm” and the higher this value, the higher the water resistance of the fabric. This can also be different depending on the colors, since the coating can also turn out differently due to different color pigments etc. Most of the higher quality fabrics also have a “water-repellent coating”. This can be seen very well by the so-called beading effect. If you pour water on the fabric, the water collects like mercury into small water pearls and then runs off the fabric very easily. In the case of non-water-repellent fabrics, the water can collect over the entire area or settle in the fabric, thus increasing the weight of the fabric noticeably and then endangering the frame due to its higher weight. In addition, this accumulation of water can cause the fabric to leak, as the excess water can no longer drain off properly. Therefore, always pay attention to the additional designation “water-repellent” when specifying the fabric quality. Some manufacturers/dealers offer PVC-coated polyester fabrics for their folding tents. These are very handy at first impression and feel thick and heavy, but this is not synonymous with a good quality of material. Over time and with regular use of the pavilions, the PVC coating then turns out to be of poor quality. PVC-coated fabrics are also significantly cheaper to manufacture or purchase than high-quality polyester fabrics with a PU coating and are therefore used especially for low-priced folding pavilions. A reasonable water column for tents should be between at least 1,500 and 4,000 mm. The fabrics that we use for Expotrade products such as expotent folding tents, expdome dome tents or expotable folding tables can be seen here.

Advice 3

Pay attention to the sewing quality on the tent roofs/sidewalls

Here, too, the search for high-quality, waterproof and water-repellent fabrics has proven itself. When sewing the fabrics, there are different seam systems that, depending on the position of the seam on the roof or the side wall, are laid flat on top of one another and sewn, or are folded using a sophisticated folding system such as a rain gutter and then sewn to the side. With the flat seam, the seams of better folding tents are sealed, i.e. provided with a PVC tape that is welded onto the fabric or the seam with hot air. The sealing tape seals the seam, so to speak, and closes the open areas so that they are waterproof or water-repellent. You can also recognize such sealed tent seams by the fact that an approx. 2 – 3 cm wide, transparent tape is attached to the seam. Folding pavilions in the cheaper or cheaper segment are usually not provided with such tapes in order to save costs. The attachment of this tape to the fabric requires a completely separate workstep, which is also carried out by 2 people with careful work – an effort that is normally accepted with branded products, but is largely saved with no-name products. You can see a few examples of sewing quality here.

Advice 4

Flame retardancy of the tent fabric

Mostly paired with the waterproofness of the fabric is the additional function “low flammability”. So if you are thinking of using your pavilion or folding tent indoors as well, e.g. at trade fairs, then flammability is a basic requirement so that you can even set up the exhibition tent. This function is applied to the fabric with an additional coating and can usually be recognized by the fact that the back of the fabric looks rather “milky” and usually differs slightly in color from the outside of the fabric. The designation for the low flammability is usually given as B1 according to DIN 4102-1 or according to EN Standard EN13501-1. Here, too, experience shows that cheaper folding pavilions do without this function for reasons of cost.

Advice 5

Impregnated or coated tent fabric

When choosing the tent, you should also pay attention to whether the fabric used or offered for the tent is “coated” or “impregnated”. Impregnation of the tent fabric usually means that the fabric has only been sprayed on the surface with an impregnation agent. In the first few weeks of using the tent, the water drains off nicely, but with continued duration the impregnation loses its effect and the tent becomes leaky. You can also see the same function in shoes that lose their waterproofness if they are not impregnated regularly. The impregnation is also attacked by UV radiation and loses its protective effect relatively quickly. So if you want a foldable tent to be really waterproof – regardless of whether you use it as a trade fair tent, event tent, exhibition tent, racing tent or simply as a party tent, then you cannot avoid a “coated fabric”. Coated fabrics have the advantage that the coating is applied in a separate work step during fabric production and, so to speak, combines with the mostly woven base material to form a unit. The coating closes the open pores of the polyester fabric and thus also makes it waterproof. Basically, it should be noted that with tent fabrics, the grammage is not necessarily important. Many people think that the heavier the fabric, the better it is. There are also lighter fabrics that are much better than the heavier ones. A PVC-coated polyester fabric is therefore usually heavier than a PU-coated polyester fabric, but the fabric with a PU coating is of higher quality and more sustainable than the PVC coating. When buying a gazebo, it is therefore important to inquire about the quality of the fabric BEFORE buying. Long-term use of your tent is therefore more likely with coated fabrics than with just impregnated goods.

Should you have any questions in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact us at office(at)expotradegroup.com or by calling +43 5576 73600. We will gladly help you with advice and action.