Which Liner Should I choose?

This is probably the question I have been asked the most since I joined Bradshaws direct and really, there is no right or wrong answer. There are however a lot of factors to consider when choosing a liner and ‘hopefully’ this will make it less confusing.

PondKraft Polyex Liner: This is by far our biggest seller and a great liner, it is made from 2 outer woven Polyethylene layers with a woven core in the middle. The core is what gives it the strength, even if you cut the liner with a pair of scissors it is very difficult to rip (you can see on the picture below, the white core).

With the liner being plastic based they will last for years and they are fully reversible so you can use it on the black or brown side face down. The PondKraft Polyex is 0.35mm in thickness so it is the thinnest in our range, and being plastic it will need to be folded into the corners of the pond when laying it.

PVC: Thicker than the PondKraft Polyex at 0.5mm the PVC is the next grade up in liners we do. This liner again has minimal stretch, however with no inner core running through it, if you dropped a sharp object into the pond a tear can become a quick problem. If this happens you can use the Huttons Gold label Sealer to repair any problem. These liners work out at just over double the cost of a Polyex liner so they have lost popularity in recent years.

EPDMand Firestone: Increasing in popularity recently, these come in 0.75mm, 1.00mm and for Firestone 1.02mm. SealEco EPDM (Greenseal) pond liner is a synthetic rubber membrane, it is extremely strong and durable with stretch in it. People may not have heard of this product and this is the reason they often call asking about butyl, this product though has practically all of the same properties, look and feel. It was developed in 1959 and has been predominantly used in building and civil engineering which means the price is considerably lower than Butyl.

Here is how it’s made by Gordon Low:

During production the EPDM is vulcanised (cured under pressure and heat) creating an elastic, chemically stable product with negligible aging through exposure to UV-radiation, atmosphere, chemicals, earth, water and extremes of temperature. SealEco EPDM pond liner is black in colour. The initials EPDM are derived from its major components of Ethylene, Propylene, Diene monomer and is an M class synthetic rubber. Interestingly Butyl Rubber actually has EPDM in its compound to enhance certain properties.(http://www.gordonlowproducts.co.uk/sealeco-partner.html).

When people ask me which liner to go for, I would always say go for the best one you can afford. That’s not to say that all of the products aren’t good, but the more you pay the easier the liners are to repair and the less chance of something going wrong. In my first pond I used Polyex for 7 years trouble free, this was rehomed and is still going strong.