Woven or non-woven weed membrane: which cloth you need
Updated: October 2026
You have two products in two tabs, both called weed membrane, and one is a black woven tape while the other is a felt. Woven or non-woven weed membrane is a construction choice, not a heavier version of the same roll. Woven polypropylene is the usual covered garden sheet, and it can fray. Non-woven geotextile is the felt a fitter specifies under a base. A printed 150 g/m² does not tell you which you are holding. Prices read on 16 October 2026 are on the [weed membrane comparison](/hub/weed-control/weed-membrane-150g). The Products Compared editorial team did not classify a sample in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have two products in two tabs, both called weed membrane, and one is a black woven tape while the other is a felt. Woven or non-woven weed membrane is a construction choice, not a heavier version of the same roll.
You have two products in two tabs, both called weed membrane, and one is a black woven tape while the other is a felt. Woven or non-woven weed membrane is a construction choice, not a heavier version of the same roll. Woven polypropylene is the usual covered garden sheet, and it can fray. Non-woven geotextile is the felt a fitter specifies under a base. A printed 150 g/m² does not tell you which you are holding. Prices read on 16 October 2026 are on the weed membrane comparison. The Products Compared editorial team did not classify a sample in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Material line | Stated weight | Cut edge | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Velway Velway 2 m × 5 m with 30 pegs | Woven polypropylene named | Not printed | Reviews describe fraying | 7.0 | about £10.54 | View offer |
 GardenGloss GardenGloss 150 gsm, 25 m × 1 m | Fleece on spec, weave unnamed | 150 g/m² | Not a fibre test | 8.3 | about £34.99 | View offer | |
| Best value |  GardenGloss GardenGloss 150 gsm, 10 m × 2 m | Fleece on spec, weave unnamed | 150 g/m² | Not a fibre test | 8.2 | about £25.99 | View offer |
On this page
Two cloths under one name
Woven garden membrane is slit tape, usually polypropylene. You can often see the grid. It is sold under bark or gravel, with a claim that water passes. Which? describes woven tape, including Mypex and Groundtex, as fraying at the cut, and non-woven as cutting more cleanly. That was their trial, not a test of these ASINs. Both types blocked a lot of seed in that short trial.
Non-woven geotextile is needle-punched felt. Cotterill describes it for filtration and drainage, and woven slit-film for tensile strength. One line of that trade language calls woven geotextiles generally impermeable. That is too blunt for a garden cloth sold as permeable. Do not import it onto these listings. The word woven is not one behaviour.
A solid plastic sheet is a third thing. It blocks water as well as light. It is not a substitute for either cloth if the bed or the path has to drain. If you only need to smother a pile of rubble for a fortnight, that is a different job, and it is not what these membranes are for.
What a covered bed usually gets
A mulched border usually gets black woven polypropylene, pegged, then covered with bark. UK reviews on Velway, iropro, and the shared Vivo pool describe frayed edges when the cut is left bare. That matches the woven-tape problem Which? describes. It does not prove what Vivo is made of.
The listings that name a woven cloth are Velway (2 m × 5 m, £10.54, 30 pegs), LCGOD (1 m × 10 m, £13.99), iropro (3 m × 10 m, £23.48), YOUNTHYE (3 m × 10 m, £27.99, 10 pins), and Ram (title 2 m × 10 m, £8.99). Ram's item form also says Powder, which does not describe a fabric. None of those five prints 150 g/m². Hy-Tex Covertex shows that a woven can be specified at 100 g/m² with published tensile figures. The grams are not the weave.
RHS Weedban is a lighter spunbond, a horticultural fleece, not this woven tape and not a drive geotextile. It can be the right covered cloth for a border and still sit far under 150 gsm. If your job is bark on a bed and the listing says woven, you are in the usual amazon.co.uk case, provided you cover the cuts. The checks on weight and width are on the 150 gsm weed membrane buying guide.
What a fitter specifies under a base
Under artificial grass, specialist notes call for a non-woven geotextile, not a garden roll from a 150 gsm search. NeoGrass describes a non-woven laid before the sub-base, with an optional second layer under the turf, and a warning if a dog urinates on a layer directly under the grass. The Horticultural Trades Association note also calls for non-woven under MOT Type 1 and again under the grass. That is their method, not a rating of these ASINs.
A car drive is the same kind of specification. A woven garden sheet can still be the wrong layer if the fitter asked for felt. Non-woven is not automatically better under decorative gravel on a path you only walk. Path versus car is on the weed membrane under gravel page.
If your paperwork names a product, buy that product. A 4.6-star woven roll does not become the felt because both pages say weed membrane. When the ground will carry vehicles, or the artificial grass is a fitted job with a specified membrane, that is the point a fitter takes over. Pegs and bark on a Saturday bed are not that job.
What these listings actually print
Five listings name a woven cloth: Velway, LCGOD, iropro, YOUNTHYE, and Ram. GardenGloss, on all three sizes, prints 150 g/m² and also says fleece. The weave is not named. Do not classify it as woven or as felt beyond those two words. The shared reviews talk about water sitting. They are not a fibre test.
Vivo, on both the 1 m × 10 m and the 2 m × 50 m listings, leaves the material blank. A bullet says the cloth outperforms woven ground covers. That is a claim, not a fibre. Fraying in the shared review pool looks like the woven-tape problem, and it is still not a basis for calling Vivo non-woven or woven. Leave the material as unstated.
A higher grams-per-square-metre figure does not mean the cloth is woven. GardenGloss is the only stated 150 g/m² in this set, and its construction is the unresolved line. The five that say woven do not print 150 g/m². If you need a felt geotextile, none of these titles is a clean statement that you are buying one, except the fleece word sitting next to a membrane title you should query before you rely on it.
Common questions
What is the difference between woven and non-woven?
Woven membrane is tape, usually polypropylene, in a grid that can fray at a cut. Non-woven geotextile is a felt, needle-punched, and it is the type specified when a job needs separation and drainage under a base. Which? found woven tape frayed and non-woven cut more cleanly in their trial, which was not these ASINs. A solid sheet is neither: it blocks water as well as light.
Which one is in this amazon basket?
Velway, LCGOD, iropro, YOUNTHYE, and Ram name a woven cloth. GardenGloss prints 150 g/m² and also says fleece, so the construction is not settled. Vivo does not name a fibre. None of the ten is a clean non-woven geotextile specification for a drive or for artificial grass. If the listing does not say, do not guess from the star rating.
Why does a woven sheet fray when I cut it?
The cloth is tape, and a cut end unravels. Which? describes that on woven weed membrane generally. UK reviews on Velway, iropro, and the shared Vivo pool describe fraying or hairy edges when the cut is left uncovered. Cover the sheet with bark or stone the same day. A heat gun on an edge appears in one Velway review. It is not a step these listings instruct.
What goes under artificial grass?
Specialist install notes, including NeoGrass and the Horticultural Trades Association, call for a non-woven geotextile with the sub-base, not a garden woven roll chosen because the title says 150 gsm. Some methods add a second layer under the turf and warn about pets. That is their install, not a score for these ASINs. If a fitter named a membrane, use that one.
Is a non-woven geotextile the same as horticultural fleece?
No. Horticultural fleece such as RHS Weedban is a light spunbond for a covered border. A non-woven geotextile for a drive or for artificial grass is specified for separation and drainage under a base, and it is a different product. GardenGloss uses the word fleece in a spec table beside a 150 g/m² membrane title. Treat that as a clash to query, not as proof it is Weedban or a drive felt.
Does a higher gsm mean it is woven?
No. Grams per square metre are a weight, not a weave. In this set the sheets that say woven do not print 150 g/m², and the sheets that print 150 g/m² say fleece in the spec table without naming a weave. A 100 g/m² woven can be a specified cloth with published tensile figures. You still have to read the material line.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 16 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file. Grams per square metre and tensile lines are manufacturer claims, not a weigh or a tensile test run for this page.
- GOV.UK: permeable surfacing of front gardens (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- BSI: BS EN ISO 10319:2024 wide-width tensile test (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Hy-Tex Covertex (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- RHS Plants: Weedban landscape fabric (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- GravelMaster: how to lay weed control membrane (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Pro-Tec: 150 gsm dual-layer landscape fabric (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- NeoGrass: specialist artificial grass weed membrane (retrieved 16 October 2026)