Best shade sails and canopies to upstage any garden brolly in 2024

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If you’re looking to up your outdoor entertaining game this spring and summer, guests will be seriously impressed with a thoughtfully positioned shade sail overhead.

Not nearly as popular as the garden parasol, this is a product that’s all too often overlooked. But it comes with a wealth of benefits, not least the absence of an intruding garden brolly pole, which can interrupt your sightline when you’re deep in conversation.

Another win for the shade sail is that you can easily cover areas of your garden or patio space, making sure the kids stay protected from the sun, or creating a cool area with a hammock, hanging egg chair or bistro set where you can relax, safe from those harmful rays.

Typically rectangle, triangle or square in shape, most shade sails are made from a tough polyethylene fabric, which gives you excellent UV protection, and offer water-resistance and weatherproof qualities, too. Breathability is also a factor – you want to feel sheltered from the sun but also comfortable underneath.

Just like garden brollies, these canopies come in a whole range of sizes, styles and budgets, so we’ve rounded up the 10 best shade sails to suit your outdoor space – and wallet.

How we tested the best sail shades

We tried a range of shade sails in different shapes and sizes on our patio space, looking for durability, quality of finish, weather resistance, ease of use and, importantly, whether the sail gave us adequate cover from the sun. We weighed up affordability with great design, looking for the best value and quality combined.

The best shade sails for 2024 are: