Stand at the edge of any backyard pool in Brisbane or Perth and you will see the same handful of builds repeated on every deck. Once you understand how pool lounge chairs are constructed, choosing between them stops being guesswork — a sling stretched over aluminium behaves nothing like a cushioned daybed or a solid teak frame.
This guide compares the four constructions you will find in our sun lounge collection — sling, cushion-top, timber and moulded resin — and matches each to the way Australian households actually use them.
Pool lounge chairs: the four constructions at a glance
Ignore colours and brand names for a moment. Underneath, almost every lounge is one of four things: a mesh sling tensioned across a metal frame, a cushion sitting on a frame, a solid timber platform, or a single piece of moulded resin. Each construction fixes one problem and creates another, which is why the right answer depends on your pool, not on the showroom.
| Construction | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Sling (aluminium and mesh) | Lounges that live outside and get sat on wet | Firm surface; mesh likes a fresh-water rinse |
| Cushion-top | Long afternoons, reading, sharing a daybed | Cushions need drying and cover in wet weather |
| Timber (teak) | Styling a space you set up once and leave | Heavier, and you must choose oiled or silver-grey |
| Moulded resin | Family pools, rentals, decks cleared nightly | Simple utilitarian look; limited colour choice |
The moulded resin build is the one buyers overlook. The Eden Sunlounge ($475) is made in Italy from UV-resistant polypropylene resin, reclines into four positions, and folds right over so the lounges stack. With discreet rollers underneath, one person can clear four of them off the deck in minutes — the reason resin dominates busy family pools and holiday rentals.
Sling construction: aluminium frames and textilene mesh
A sling lounge stretches a tight mesh — usually textilene, a coated polyester weave — across an aluminium frame. Water drains straight through, the surface dries in minutes, and the mesh stays cooler against skin than a solid surface in summer. That combination is why sling construction is the default for lounges that live beside the water and get sat on wet.
The Tampa Sunlounge ($699) shows what a well-sorted sling build offers. Its bed sits at a 49cm seat height, so you step off it rather than push yourself up from ground level, and five recline positions run from sitting up through to lying flat. It comes in a charcoal or white frame, both with a light grey Textaline sling.
Buying for two? The Byron Shelby 3-Piece Outdoor Sun Lounge ($708) pairs two fully welded aluminium sling lounges with a Shelby side table in aluminium and tempered glass. Each back adjusts from flat at 30cm to upright at 95cm, so one of you can read while the other sleeps.
Cushion-top construction: the comfortable one with homework
A cushion-top lounge or daybed puts an upholstered cushion on a rigid frame. Nothing else in the range matches it for a long afternoon with a book, and it is the construction that makes an outdoor corner look furnished rather than functional. The trade-off is moisture: a cushion holds water where a sling sheds it.
The New York Daybed ($1,049) is the cushion-top case study — a weather-resistant white aluminium frame with light grey UV-protected cushions and room to sit two people across it. The seat sits 40cm off the ground, close to normal chair height, so getting up is no harder than from a dining chair.
Plan for the wet days up front. Stand cushions on their edge to drain after rain, dry them fully before any long storage, and use a fitted cover from our outdoor furniture covers range between uses. Treat that routine as part of the purchase, not an afterthought.
Timber construction: teak and the silvering decision
Timber lounges are built from solid slats — in our range, hand made plantation teak — and they are the pieces that anchor a space visually. Teak is a tropical hardwood valued for its durability and water resistance, which is why it has been the poolside timber of choice for decades.
The Teak Sunlounge ($1,192) is hand made from 100% FSC certified plantation Indonesian teak, reclines to five positions, and rolls on wheels at one end so you can follow the sun. A sliding shelf on the side holds your drink and saves dragging a side table over.
The one decision timber forces is finish. Left alone, teak ages to a silvery-grey sheen; regular oiling or a sealer holds the golden colour it starts with. Neither answer is wrong, but pick one before you buy, because it sets your maintenance routine for the life of the lounge.
Which construction suits Australian conditions?
Around a chlorinated pool, resin and textilene are the low-stress choices — splash does not bother either, and both clean up with fresh water and a soft brush. Teak copes well near water too; it simply appreciates a rinse if you live within a few kilometres of the coast, where salt air works on everything. Cushions are the outlier: chlorinated water and sunscreen are best rinsed out before they dry in.
Think about winter as well. In Victoria, Tasmania and the cooler southern states, stacking resin lounges and light sling frames make the autumn pack-down painless, while cushion-top pieces need dry storage space for their cushions. In Queensland, where the pool barely closes, a sling or timber lounge that lives outside year-round earns its keep fastest.
Construction is one way to cut the decision; budget is the other. If you would rather see the same range sorted into price bands, our best sun loungers in Australia roundup does exactly that, from everyday resin through to teak daybeds.
Pool lounge chair construction — frequently asked questions
What are most pool lounge chairs made of?
Most pool lounge chairs sold in Australia pair an aluminium frame with a tensioned textilene sling. Moulded UV-resistant resin is the main alternative for stack-and-store pool areas, while teak and cushion-top builds sit at the styling and comfort end of the range.
Do timber sun lounges need to be oiled?
No — teak can be left untreated and will simply age to a silvery-grey sheen without harming the timber. Oiling or sealing is a cosmetic choice: do it regularly to keep the original golden colour, or skip it entirely if you like the grey.
Can cushion-top sun lounges stay outside all year?
The frame can, but the cushions should not sit out through long wet spells. UV-protected outdoor fabrics handle Australian sun well; it is trapped moisture that shortens their life, so drain, dry and cover them between uses, and bring them in over winter in the wetter southern states.
Is a padded sling the same as a cushion-top lounge?
No — a padded sling builds a thin layer of padding into the mesh itself, while a cushion-top lounge carries a separate upholstered cushion on a rigid frame. A padded sling still drains and lives outside like a standard sling, sitting halfway between bare mesh and a cushion for comfort.
Shop the range
Every construction in this guide sits in our Sun Lounges & Bean Bags collection, so you can compare a sling, a cushion-top, a teak build and a stack of resin side by side. We deliver Australia-wide, delivery is free on orders over $100, and most orders are dispatched in 3 to 10 business days.
