Windshield Shades

[Pampero]

I am looking to get a windshield shade and I will like to get your opinion. 

So far the best option is the Magnet Shade because in my opinion is the best fit and without to make any holes.

The only think I will complaint is the price. $599.00 is a to step for what I am getting, and this is my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own.

Sunbrella UV Cost about $30 @ yard, magnets are about $12 each ( https://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=1&scri=21&scri=43&scri=66)

How much a marine canvas can charge to do it?

Inside the packets a 1/8" metal from Home Depot would do it.

It may be a hack job, but I think less expensive than this place.

 

[ncsteve]

Got nothing to lose by trying it except a few buck and some time.  May turn out better than you think. I am all about DIY and saving $$. Let us know if you go this route.

[Dr4Film]

Go for it! Let's us know how it works out.

[Ivan K]

It can be done. My wife made ours when we were on the road in AZ, to avoid all the questions about what happened to our windshield. Once we got home, she made the side window cover as well. It looks professional because she is a professional. We had existing snaps already installed so it had to be custom made to fit anyways.

[Ukulelemark]

We know it was going to be pricy, but we had bought wheel covers by Magna Shade and are very satisfied. We’ve had the vinyl covers and there’s no comparison. So we decided to get the windshield cover. It is so well made,fits perfectly, easy to install and  the magnates are incredibly strong. But the best part is their design and ease of attachment and removal. 
All the best with your decision 
 

[Grampy OG]

I went MagnaShade this year and have kicked my self 100 times for not buying them 6 years ago when I first came across them in Quartzite, AZ. To each his own and of course budgets. I don't have the ability to make something like that. In the past I have had 3 versions of the snap on shades and while they were good I was guaranteed the need to bring a step ladder and oh don't even start me on trying to stretch them on cold days.

Good luck with your venture and do keep us posted. In the meantime if anybody is waffling I can certainly attest to the quality of work and the great support staff back at the warehouse for MagnaShade. 

 

Ken Wilcox

 

 

[Pampero]

4 hours ago, Grampy OG said:

I went MagnaShade this year and have kicked my self 100 times for not buying them 6 years ago when I first came across them in Quartzite, AZ. To each his own and of course budgets. I don't have the ability to make something like that. In the past I have had 3 versions of the snap on shades and while they were good I was guaranteed the need to bring a step ladder and oh don't even start me on trying to stretch them on cold days.

Good luck with your venture and do keep us posted. In the meantime if anybody is waffling I can certainly attest to the quality of work and the great support staff back at the warehouse for MagnaShade. 

 

Ken Wilcox

 

 

Since you have it, I am curious about the sizes of those magnets; they say that the two on the upper corners are bigger and the other 6 (or 8?) are smaller. If you can post the dimensions would be appreciated.

I am concern about colors, a black or darker color will attract more sun heat which it contradicts the purpose of the sunshade?

Edited September 16, 2020 by Pampero

[SteveJ]

I bought the Magna Shade this January and they are great! Easy to take on/off. 77 year's old and I can do it by myself without any help. Is it easier to put up with two people, yes but I wanted to be sure I could do it myself.

Yes, the upper corner magnets are stronger, not much, if any bigger except thicker maybe. Easy to initially install but never get the magnets near each other!! We went with a brown, med color that comes close to matching our coach color. Don't think color makes it any hotter/cooler.

 

[ncjimgr]

Check out RV Quick Shades from Active RV Upholstery (www.activervupholstery.com). They are internal shades that you custom fit to the windshield and side windows. They come in several colors. Easy to put up and take down. I was hired to do a video on them (which we are producing this weekend) and they seem like a good, economical alternative to the other shades mentioned!

Jim G.
2006 Camelot
TST  Rep

[throgmartin]

We used to make these solar screen covers. Actually when we started Stone Vos this was our main product. We made them for 3 years using Textilene 90 as the fabric ( which is an industrial solar screen fabric ) and robust thread. Then Mom & Pop sewing shops started offering them at very low prices using cheap solar screen fabric and cheap thread. I had a choice to match their prices or drop the product line all together. Using cheap materials was not an option. I dropped the product line.

Magna Shade is the best solar screen out there. Roger is a friend of mine and we do events together all over the country with him and his family. He makes his like we used to make them using Textilene 90 and a high quality thread. Some people look at products like this, get out a calculator and decide the company is making a killing. I can tell you that the margins on these solar screen products are not that great especially when you consider the overhead ( employees, machines, building, utilities, taxes, etc. ). Actually we have all of the materials and are all set up to make them but the margins are so poor that I wont entertain ever making them again.

I am all for people trying to find ways to save money by taking on DIY projects but I always caution people to use high quality materials. My solar screens for my coach are 15 years old and the fabric is still in excellent shape as is the thread. If you are going to go to the trouble of making something use the best materials you can source. Sunbrella fabric, which used to be the best has been cheapened and some fabric is now manufactured in China. A lot of my buddies in the marine upholstery fabrication business has dropped Sunbrella products all together because of ongoing warranty issues from poor quality. 90 % of the poly thread now days is made in China. I suggest using Textilene fabric ( which is an industrial grade fabric ) and Solarfix thread which is a lifetime thread ( it never breaks down from UV rays or chemicals ).

I offer this advice based on my 43 years as an upholsterer and canvas maker/fabricator.  

[Pampero]

Well, maybe I misrepresented myself, I wasn't planned to do it myself, but find another source for less money.
Couple points, Magnet Shade advertise in their website that they are using Sumbrella UV and not Textilene.

Yes I understand cost of machinery and employees and taxes, but being a business owner for an auto repair shop for 30 years I can tell you who is making a killing or not.

Repairs shops, auto or RV's, in NC, IN and many other places are charging $120 @ hour plus, and they have 1/4 or less of the expenses that I had in NY as per taxes, insurance, electric, workcomp, and me at $105@ per hour still make a decent leaving. My shop was 4400 sq. on a 100 x 100 property and I was paying $24,000.00 @ per year in property taxes, $6,000.00 @ year in electric bills.. I am sure that in Mooresville NC they do not paid 1/8 of my taxes.

I have a quote from a Canvas place here in Long island NY of $300 without the magnets and the extended pole. So, even though I still didn't decide which way to go, I appreciate your info.

[throgmartin]

46 minutes ago, Pampero said:

Well, maybe I misrepresented myself, I wasn't planned to do it myself, but find another source for less money.
Couple points, Magnet Shade advertise in their website that they are using Sumbrella UV and not Textilene.

Yes I understand cost of machinery and employees and taxes, but being a business owner for an auto repair shop for 30 years I can tell you who is making a killing or not.

Repairs shops, auto or RV's, in NC, IN and many other places are charging $120 @ hour plus, and they have 1/4 or less of the expenses that I had in NY as per taxes, insurance, electric, workcomp, and me at $105@ per hour still make a decent leaving. My shop was 4400 sq. on a 100 x 100 property and I was paying $24,000.00 @ per year in property taxes, $6,000.00 @ year in electric bills.. I am sure that in Mooresville NC they do not paid 1/8 of my taxes.

I have a quote from a Canvas place here in Long island NY of $300 without the magnets and the extended pole. So, even though I still didn't decide which way to go, I appreciate your info.

Wow I didn't know he switched fabrics. I haven't seen Roger since February when we did an event together. I wonder if he was forced into using sunbrella fabric because of the pandemic ? Unless Sunbrella came out with an industrial grade fabric.

If you are going to hire someone to do this work make sure it is a marine or canvas upholsterer. All of us are like Doctors, we specialize in certain areas of upholstery. Mine has been marine cushions and canvas work. I would be the last guy you would want doing your furniture or auto upholstery.  The same holds true for furniture and auto guys. You wouldn't want them doing your marine or canvas work. One of my close friends does auto and marine work and he is a master at both. His work is amazing but he is a rarity. Very few in the country specialize in all areas of upholstery. I have another friend who is a master furniture upholsterer. He does my furniture work and I do his canvas work.  A lot of this also has to do with shop setups. Furniture and auto guys have small tables and work stations where in canvas work like what we do we have massive sewing stations and tables along with specialized machines and layout areas.

 

 

[mmartinhouse]

We have the Magna Shade and love it.  Definitely helps to keep the front of the coach cooler.  Easy to take down and put up, and my husband did not want any snaps added to the coach, so this was the way to go.  Had an internal brand that you attached with suction cups and was very difficult to put up with all the cabinetry and shades up front, and were not as effective.  We have had ours for a few years, so cannot remember what the fabric was when purchased, but has held up well.

 

[Pampero]

29 minutes ago, throgmartin said:

Wow I didn't know he switched fabrics. I haven't seen Roger since February when we did an event together. I wonder if he was forced into using sunbrella fabric because of the pandemic ? Unless Sunbrella came out with an industrial grade fabric.

If you are going to hire someone to do this work make sure it is a marine or canvas upholsterer. All of us are like Doctors, we specialize in certain areas of upholstery. Mine has been marine cushions and canvas work. I would be the last guy you would want doing your furniture or auto upholstery.  The same holds true for furniture and auto guys. You wouldn't want them doing your marine or canvas work. One of my close friends does auto and marine work and he is a master at both. His work is amazing but he is a rarity. Very few in the country specialize in all areas of upholstery. I have another friend who is a master furniture upholsterer. He does my furniture work and I do his canvas work.  A lot of this also has to do with shop setups. Furniture and auto guys have small tables and work stations where in canvas work like what we do we have massive sewing stations and tables along with specialized machines and layout areas.

 

 

This is a Marine canvas shop, and actually he show me the Textilene product instead of the Sumbrella, he says he uses it to make same sunshade covers for boats windows and the material has more color options and it is cheaper than the Sumbrella. Yes he has looooong tables, I used him before when I used to be a boater.

[Paul J A]

2 hours ago, throgmartin said:

We used to make these solar screen covers. Actually when we started Stone Vos this was our main product. We made them for 3 years using Textilene 90 as the fabric ( which is an industrial solar screen fabric ) and robust thread. Then Mom & Pop sewing shops started offering them at very low prices using cheap solar screen fabric and cheap thread. I had a choice to match their prices or drop the product line all together. Using cheap materials was not an option. I dropped the product line.

Magna Shade is the best solar screen out there. Roger is a friend of mine and we do events together all over the country with him and his family. He makes his like we used to make them using Textilene 90 and a high quality thread. Some people look at products like this, get out a calculator and decide the company is making a killing. I can tell you that the margins on these solar screen products are not that great especially when you consider the overhead ( employees, machines, building, utilities, taxes, etc. ). Actually we have all of the materials and are all set up to make them but the margins are so poor that I wont entertain ever making them again.

I am all for people trying to find ways to save money by taking on DIY projects but I always caution people to use high quality materials. My solar screens for my coach are 15 years old and the fabric is still in excellent shape as is the thread. If you are going to go to the trouble of making something use the best materials you can source. Sunbrella fabric, which used to be the best has been cheapened and some fabric is now manufactured in China. A lot of my buddies in the marine upholstery fabrication business has dropped Sunbrella products all together because of ongoing warranty issues from poor quality. 90 % of the poly thread now days is made in China. I suggest using Textilene fabric ( which is an industrial grade fabric ) and Solarfix thread which is a lifetime thread ( it never breaks down from UV rays or chemicals ).

I offer this advice based on my 43 years as an upholsterer and canvas maker/fabricator.  

Chris

Could you please elaborate on the portion of your  statement; " canvas maker/fabricator. " 

The "canvas maker" is very intriguing. 

Paul A 

[Paul J A]

Has anyone asked waderv.com about making windshield screen with magnets??

Paul A

[throgmartin]

48 minutes ago, Paul A. said:

Chris

Could you please elaborate on the portion of your  statement; " canvas maker/fabricator. " 

The "canvas maker" is very intriguing. 

Paul A 

A canvas maker is a general term for an upholsterer who makes canvas based products such as awnings, slide toppers, etc. It can also include everything from grill covers to equipment covers. But it also extends to other canvas products such as tent's, canopies, bimini's, boat covers, etc. We have a commercial division which does nothing but commercial awning and canopy work. It is much more specialized as we engineer the entire job. We have done everything from simple canopies to extensive ones.  We have done a lot of work for the State of Florida and just finished a job at Orlando Airport and have a historic building pending. Every job is different with many obstacles. I am not crazy about the work as we have to engineer the entire job ourselves and the whole project is time consuming. Thankfully I have an engineer on staff. We send the prints to my buddy who does the frame fabrication and then the frame once done is sent back to our shop and my upholsterer then custom fits the fabric to it. It gets bery involved spec'ing out the fabric loading, frame construction and materials, wind load ratings, etc.

There is a second canvas maker category which requires a " Pit " operation. This canvas work entails massive pieces of canvas or vinyl material such that is used on the sails for boats, huge massive tents and other structures. The stitcher sits in a pit with the machine and the fabric is pulled across the floor as it is sewn. Otherwise, the entire floor is his sewing table. I got a call from an engineering company once who wanted a canopy made for a Marine Corp's sentry station at Gitmo. I spec'ed the job out using our Migliore vinyl which meets military standards and then turned the entire project over to a company that had a pit operation. The canopy was so big that just the vinyl alone weighed over a ton.

I turn big jobs like that down but am still called by engineering companies to consult on thread and fabric spec's. One of the most interesting jobs I have heard of was an onsite sewing of a landfill liner. They moved all the vinyl onto the edge of the open landfill and then a crew sewed all the panels together using specialized thread and a special machine. BIG bucks for that job. 🙂

[miacasa_2000]

To you guys with the magne shades do you have any concerns with wind. Where I winter I can't leave without everything protected , Awnings in, chairs, tables, Etc. all put away.  Winds whip up wild and crazy at anytime.  I have been considering one myself and believe I would prefer outside vs inside type. And what about thievery ?

Roy 2003 Dynasty

[Pampero]

4 minutes ago, miacasa_2000 said:

To you guys with the magne shades do you have any concerns with wind. Where I winter I can't leave without everything protected , Awnings in, chairs, tables, Etc. all put away.  Winds whip up wild and crazy at anytime.  I have been considering one myself and believe I would prefer outside vs inside type. And what about thievery ?

Roy 2003 Dynasty

I will not led the magnet shades permanently, for me is on a campsite where it is 100 degree outside and the windshield is a heat sponge.

Winter I cover the whole coach which is a PITA

[Bob Nodine]

12 hours ago, miacasa_2000 said:

To you guys with the magne shades do you have any concerns with wind. Where I winter I can't leave without everything protected , Awnings in, chairs, tables, Etc. all put away.  Winds whip up wild and crazy at anytime.  I have been considering one myself and believe I would prefer outside vs inside type. And what about thievery ?

Roy 2003 Dynasty

We have had the Magnashades for a long time and purchased them not long after Roger started showing up at rallies and events. They work great but once our front shade was blown off by the wind. Normal wind is not a problem but strong aggressive wind can be.

[throgmartin]

19 hours ago, Pampero said:

This is a Marine canvas shop, and actually he show me the Textilene product instead of the Sumbrella, he says he uses it to make same sunshade covers for boats windows and the material has more color options and it is cheaper than the Sumbrella. Yes he has looooong tables, I used him before when I used to be a boater.

He will do a great job for you. Marine fabricators are very well versed in working with these types of jobs. Hope they come out great for you.