I have prayed for years for a better fabric than Sh*tbrella. It has no wear resistant strength, shrinks & loses it water repellant quickly. Oh, what joy to buying Scotch Guard to reapply waterproofing to stop having rain drip thru your bimini.
In 1990, I started using a synthetic material. I first saw window coverings on a big yacht using a synthetic fabric. My latest bimini is a synthetic awning material. It's a laminate product non-stretch. You can see the non-rip threading pattern used.
Rather then redoing sunbrella every 4 years, I now get 7+ years with the synthetic. An example of this is the different choices of polyester, which is one of the most popular fabric choices. The polyester material is available with an acrylic coating, vinyl laminate, or PVC coating. The best feature is non-stretch & completely waterproof. There's nothing worse than seeing a sagged out sunbrella bimini with all the stretch lines showing. It really takes away from the overall look of the boat. Make sure you ask for the non-stretch type.
CR