The advantage of stayfast over traditional hooding canvas
Before we talk about the advantages of Stayfast, I need to say that both have their place in the world of Land Rovers, so let’s look at the differences between Stayfast and canvas.
Canvas, is a very traditional material made from woven 100% natural cotton, which goes through the process from dyeing, anti rot, anti fungal & waterproofing, all to try and produce a natural canvas that will withstand the rigours of outdoor life, unlike synthetic canvas.
A canvas hood makes a traditional type of hood in look and touch, which attaches to your Landy using ropes to secure and to keep tension. Being a natural material it takes a bit of looking after, particularly when first fitted. It needs to be allowed to shrink to fit but not too much, so for the first few weeks you need to tighten when wet, leave to dry and repeat until a snug fit is achieved. The canvas will naturally fade over time along with a limited life span. However, never leave the hood slack for too long as it will shrink and not tension properly again, so all in all a great product but does have some pitfalls.
Stayfast however is made from bonding two sheets of newly woven Mohair either side of the layer of self- sealing waterproof neoprene; this provides a very stable base for the Mohair. Apart from the quality and stylish modern look, a Stayfast hood has many more advantages over Canvas.
Once fitted, Stayfast hoods don’t shrink, the membrane makes the fabric very stable. They also attach to the body sides with a superior clip channel that locks the hood in place firmly.
Unlike traditional canvas hoods, the stayfast hoods have side and rear zips allowing easy access, and in the summer you can roll the sides and rear up and enjoy the breeze, Stayfast is an OEM material that we used on the 60th Anniversary SVX Defender tops and as such are not constrained by tradition, which means we use larger windows (more light and better visibility all round).In our view the biggest advantages of Stayfast over canvas is that Stayfast doesn’t shrink, doesn’t fade, has a long life, can pressure wash clean and many other advantages, so once it’s fitted you don’t need to worry about it too much.
I Hope this gives you some more insight into these two great materials.
