Nylon or cotton hammock
Updated: 21 October 2026
You are stuck between a parachute nylon that feels like a carrier bag and a canvas that feels like a proper seat until it stays wet. Nylon or cotton is the whole decision on this page: which cloth for the job you actually have, and where polycotton sits between them. The cloth lines on ten amazon.co.uk hammocks were captured on 19 October 2026. Nobody soaked them in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The hang itself is on [how to hang a hammock](/hub/sun-loungers/hammock/sub/hammock-how-to-hang). The full table is the [hammock comparison](/hub/sun-loungers/hammock).
You are stuck between a parachute nylon that feels like a carrier bag and a canvas that feels like a proper seat until it stays wet.
You are stuck between a parachute nylon that feels like a carrier bag and a canvas that feels like a proper seat until it stays wet. Nylon or cotton is the whole decision on this page: which cloth for the job you actually have, and where polycotton sits between them. The cloth lines on ten amazon.co.uk hammocks were captured on 19 October 2026. Nobody soaked them in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The hang itself is on how to hang a hammock. The full table is the hammock comparison.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Fabric | Packed weight | Suspension | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  ANYOO ANYOO polycotton hammock | Polycotton | 1.68 kg | Straps and steel carabiners | 8.7 | about £26.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  AnorTrek AnorTrek camping hammock | 210T nylon | 590 g | Two 2.5 m loop straps | 8.6 | about £19.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Bramble Bramble canvas hammock | Woven canvas | 750 g | Tree ropes to tie | 7.5 | about £12.99 | View offer |
On this page
When nylon is the right cloth
Choose nylon if you will carry the hammock and let it dry before it goes away. In this set that group is mostly under about 1 kg, with straps: AnorTrek at 590 g, COVACURE at 560 g, the longer Cycayit at 560 g on the item line, Ovyuzhen at 748 g, Glymnis at 820 g, and Travel Bird at 820 g with a net. UK reviews of the AnorTrek and the COVACURE say the cloth dries quickly after rain or wet feet. A cotton bed would still be damp at teatime. The same reviews call the fabric thin. One AnorTrek buyer found it narrower than the photos. One COVACURE review mentions static shock, and a night in a sleeping bag left a cold back. That is the air under the nylon. Simply Hammocks makes the same split: nylon to carry and to dry, cotton for the backyard if you store it indoors. Sleeping in it still needs a tarp and something under you, which is the camping hammock page.
When cotton or canvas is the right cloth
Choose cotton or canvas if you will sit still and bring it in. Bramble is woven canvas, 270 x 150 cm, 750 g, £12.99, stated 150 kg, with ropes rather than loop straps. A UK reviewer at 13 stone and 6 ft 2 in said it held. A long sit made the canvas uncomfortable for one owner, and a hanging rope started to shred. You are buying a garden seat, not a hike. The FORYNXHWIN is the wrong cotton for a tall adult: 190 x 100 cm at £10.99, with nylon ropes. UK reviews call it soft for a child or a light adult and too small above about 170 cm or about 90 kg. The ropes are short when the trees are far apart. The listing prints 50 g, which is not a credible packed weight and is not replaced here with a guess. Bramble’s stated 150 kg is lower than several nylon bullets. This site did not pull on either cloth until it failed.
Polycotton is not a backpack
ANYOO is easy to misread because the title says cotton. The material line is polycotton, a cotton-polyester blend, at 1.68 kg for a 270 x 150 cm bed, with straps and steel carabiners. The review count is the largest here, 4.7 from 25,149, and UK comments describe a thick cloth on trees and on stands. That suits a repeated garden sit. It is also why you leave it out of a rucksack: 1.68 kg is a different walk from a 590 g AnorTrek. Polycotton still hates being forgotten outdoors. Reviewers blame fade on a hammock left out, and the storage bag ripped or was too small. The bullets say you can wash it by hand or machine, with no temperature, so follow the label in the parcel. It is not Bramble’s canvas: you get clips, and a load page that disagrees with itself. Who should skip it is on the best hammock page. Bring it in when it is wet.
What the cloth label does not prove
70-denier and 210T are different label systems. COVACURE and Travel Bird say 70-denier. AnorTrek, Glymnis and the longer Cycayit say 210T. You cannot rank those numbers against each other, and a higher-looking figure is not a seam test. Nylon is not waterproof. A quick dry is not a roof, and none of these boxes includes a tarp. Cotton is not the safe cloth by default: it holds water, and a short cotton with short ropes is a worse adult bed than a thin nylon of the right length. The 2022 recall of Aldi’s Adventuridge hammock with stand, after a head-end seam failed, was a stitching failure, not a fabric-type failure. That model is not here. If you will carry it and dry it, buy nylon with straps and expect a thin feel. If you will sit and take it indoors wet, buy the ANYOO polycotton or the Bramble canvas, not the 190 cm cotton for a tall adult. The hammock buying guide forces the job before the brand.
Common questions
Which cloth for a hike?
Nylon with straps, and a packed weight under about 1 kg. AnorTrek at 590 g and COVACURE at 560 g are the light examples in this set. ANYOO at 1.68 kg is the garden weight. You still need your own tarp if the day turns into a night, because the nylon is not a shelter.
Which cloth for a British garden?
Cotton, canvas or polycotton, taken indoors when it is wet. Bramble’s canvas and ANYOO’s polycotton are the adult lengths here, around 270 x 150 cm. Nylon will also hang in a garden for an afternoon, and it will feel thinner. It wins on drying, not on that long sit.
Is polycotton the same as cotton?
No. ANYOO’s title says cotton and the material line says a cotton-polyester blend. It hangs like a garden bed and weighs 1.68 kg, so it is closer to canvas in use than to a 590 g parachute nylon. It still fades if you leave it out, which is the cotton habit, not the nylon one.
Will nylon soak up rain?
The UK reviews say the AnorTrek and the COVACURE dry quickly. They do not say the cloth is a waterproof roof. You can sit through a light shower and then pack a damp sheet. You should not sleep under rain in the hammock alone and call the fabric the shelter.
Can cotton stay outside all summer?
The reviews say no, if you care about the colour and the cloth. ANYOO owners blame fade on leaving it outside. Bramble’s rope and canvas have their own wear notes. Bring natural cloth in when it is wet, and take straps off the trees when you are done. A summer left up is how both problems start.
Is 70 denier stronger than 210T?
You cannot tell from those two labels. They are different systems, used on different listings here, and neither number is a seam test. Strength you can actually read is the lower load figure on the page, the width of the straps, and what UK reviews say after a season. The labels do not settle it.
Does a heavier hammock mean a safer one?
No. ANYOO is the heaviest at 1.68 kg because the cloth is thick, not because a laboratory proved a higher load. Bramble states 150 kg, which is lower than some nylon bullets, and those bullets disagree with their own specification fields. Weight tells you whether you will carry it. It does not tell you the seam will hold.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these ten listings were read on 19 October 2026. Page updated 21 October 2026.
- Countryside Code: advice for countryside visitors (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Forestry England: the Forest Code (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- General Product Safety Regulations 2005, Great Britain (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- OPSS: Adventuridge portable hammock with stand recall, 2022 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Simply Hammocks: nylon or cotton (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Simply Hammocks: how to hang a hammock (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Camping Sites in Britain: hammock camping (retrieved 19 October 2026)