3m Aluminium Wind Up Garden Parasol - Green

This is a big, generous and well made garden umbrella (parasol) for patio tables. It easily provides plenty of shady protection for four diners around my 44" octagonal wooden table. An easy to use crank handle makes it simple to raise and lower the umbrellaThe tilt mechanism is easy to operate (push button) but unless you're tall, you might need a stool to stand on so you can reach it comfortably as it's up high in the canopy of the umbrella. The 45 degree of tilt makes effective shade from the setting sun.The fabric is polyester on eight spokes, good thickness of fabric, well stitched pockets and a securely screwed on cap. The top is vented to allow breezes to flow through to avoid strain on the parasol.The parasol weighs around 6kg. There are two parts to the aluminium pole which screw together neatly.The pole is 44mm diameter, and I did wonder if it would go through the hole in my patio table, but it was fine.It does need a heavy base to secure the bottom of the pole and to keep the umbrella stable - it's quite a big piece of kit, and you wouldn't want a gust of wind lifting the 'sails' as it would take your table for a ride and cause havoc with your plantings, not to mention your lovely cool drinks.I'm really pleased with this new 'brolly. It looks substantial, is a good quality - and at the price represents excellent value for money.My garden umbrellas tend to be left out all year round, and although the canopy does fade a bit with time, they last for years without any care other than making sure they're properly furled after use so they don't take off in a gale.

Had this for two months and so far so good until the cloth started to significantly fade? Given its not that old asked the question to the seller - not an unreasonable request you would think? Here's the response....."It is likely that the material has faded in colour due to the amount of sunlight we have been receiving lately." Can you actually believe that? It would be funny if it wasn't actually true...….too much sun.....be advised!

The box containing the parasol was a bit damaged with the instructions torn and stuffed inside the packaging. The top of the packaging was cruedly taped. That should have caused an alarm bell to ring. On opening, everything seemed fine until I tried to open the parasol using the winding handle. It seemed to struggle and then I noticed that the wheel which the string winds on had come away from the parasol frame. It is rivetted and the rivet had come away cleanly from its fixing point. I am able to repair it and will drill out the rivet and replace it. I can't be bothered with the trouble of returning it. Otherwise, it seems a reasonable parasol. Three stars because of the damage/poor condition.I am editing my review to provide an update since effecting a repair on the damaged part of the parasol. Unfortunately, the wheel which allows for opening and closing the parasol came away from its fitting again. I hadn't noticed this as the parasol was closed. When I tried to open the parasol, the string broke as did one of the arms. I have had non wind parasols last year's, this one a couple of months. A waste of money.

Received at the end of May and I was delighted with this sun shade. It has been in the garden since. I noticed this week that the colour has faded so much it has gone from a beautiful navy blue to a dull airforce blue. As it is a sun shade it should not have changed so drastically. Very dissapointed.Have just thrown this one in the bin... Went to wind it down and one of the arms snapped.

This arrived exceptionally quickly!It is a great size and works easily with the winder.The bonus is being able to tilt it as the sun gets low in the sky.The reason for 4 stars is it arrived just stuffed in it's box, not folded and secured as you expect a new oneto be, as it does have a Velcro tape around to keep it folded like an umbrella.So it was quite wrinkled and had lots of dust marks inside, plus two small holes!However as it was such a good price but a nusience to return we decided to keep it and do the little repairs.

The product is sturdy enough without being too heavy to handle with undue effort. The material in the sail is lightweight and looks like it will be easy to wipe clean. It's easy to wind up, although the labelling seems to be the wrong way round. Because of the light colour, it's worth buying a cover - get one big enough, with a zip and closure cord. Best to lay it down when high winds forecast and not leave it in the base. It has a large shade area and gives effective shade from the sun.

Beautiful parasol in bright bright red! We bought the bigger size and fits over our long garden table perfectly, however we find it too tall, so my husband has cut some off bottom of the pole to shorten the height and now it's perfect for us. It's sturdy and looks so nice!

This was just what was wanted to replace an old wooden one damaged by being blown over in the wind. So far it has been blown over once and there was no damage. Apart from being sturdier it has an excellent wind up and down feature. It is a large size and covers our outside table and the tilt mechanism means it can prolong the period of shade without having to move it.