Fabric for rooftops

Durable fabric for roof tents, pop-up roofs and similar fabric constructions.

Make your own roof tent or pop up roof? ESVO has the highest quality fabrics for your roof top. If you want to make it yourself, there is an enormous choice. We only offer fabric qualities of AAA brands like Ten Cate and Sattler. Below you will find some explanation/advice as to which fabric is best suited for which application. Important: we also have all clothing accessories; from mosquito netting and zips to press studs and sewing thread. Click here for our huge range of these accessories. See below.

The best fabric for a roof top or rooftop tent.

In the past, heavy cotton tent cloth was always used for a rooftop tent. The famous cotton tent cloth 'KS-202' was always the fabric of choice for roof tents or pop up roofs but since the innovations in this field, specifically aimed at this use, the accents have also shifted to polyester or a polyester/cotton blend. Nevertheless, because of its natural and breathable properties, cotton still remains a popular fabric. Below you will find more information about the fabrics.

Cotton tent canvas for a rooftop tent or a pop up roof.

The advantages of cotton tentcloth are especially apparent in the indoor climate of your roof tent. Even with higher temperature differences between the inside and outside of the tent, the cotton yarn reliably prevents the formation of condensation on the tent walls. In case of heat, the temperature difference between cotton and polyester* can be as much as 7-8 degrees C. A lesser point for cotton is its susceptibility to mould. Although our tent cloth is treated against rot and mould, your roof tent or rooftop tent should ALWAYS be folded up/closed in a dry place. If not, 'the weather' will beat into the cotton fabric. *Our polyester fabric from Sattler is micro porous, and therefore does NOT give the temperature differences to that extent. For these reasons, we have deliberately NOT included our best-selling tent fabric, Ten Cate All-Season, in this fabric overview. The Sattler polyester 5AD is therefore the better fabric for these applications. This has been our explicit choice. By the way, please see the specific product information on this cloth and within our various cotton fabrics.

Polyester tent canvas for a pop up roof or rooftop tent.

Polyester tentcloth does not absorb moisture, is significantly more insensitive to moulds than cotton and is relatively lightweight. Polyester stretches less than nylon, which means that you do not have to re-tension the tent as often when it rains. In cold weather, the fabric is somewhat stiffer than cotton and therefore less easy to fold. Due to the waterproof coating on the inside of the fabric, the tent does not breathe. This is more than compensated for by the mosquito net. See also the highly distinguishing features of the polyester fabric Sattler 5AD, including durability and waterproofness.

Polyester/cotton tent cloth as roof rafter or roof tent cloth.

The polyester/cotton blend for tent fabric is also called technical cotton (TC). TC is a blend of 65% polyester and 35% cotton. The advantages are that it is lighter, absorbs less moisture and dries faster than cotton. To make TC tent cloth 100% waterproof, it has a waterproof polyurethane (PU) coating on the inside. Unfortunately, the roof tent does not breathe any more. Breathable TC (BTC) is a special product. BTC is impregnated TC with a water repellent agent, which partly retains the breathability. See the properties within the specific fabrics.

Ripstop nylon tent cloth for a roof tent or a pop-up roof.

Although we, as Europe's market leader in tent cloth, carry a huge range of nylon ripstop, we do not recommend this fabric for a rooftop tent or similar construction. The reason is the thickness (thinness), the strength, the durability and the high temperatures in the tent. For these reasons it is much better to make a choice out of the fabrics mentioned above, so you are sure that you have the right fabric when you want to make a roof tent or a rooftop tent yourself.

Accessories needed to make it yourself.

ESVO has a huge range of construction supplies needed in addition to the desired roof top fabric. We have sewing thread for watertight seams and stitching, press studs in various designs, zips from the world brands YKK and Optilon, mosquito and midge netting, etc. In short: think it over and ESVO has the stuff for you to make your roof tent or sunroof yourself.