How to Choose the Right Hammock Color
Most people pick a hammock color the way they'd pick a cushion — whatever looks good. That's a perfectly fine way to do it, and if your hammock is going somewhere open, like a lawn or a poolside, stop reading and buy the one you like.
But if it's going somewhere harder, color turns out to be the easiest maintenance decision you'll ever make, and it's one you can only make before you own the hammock.
Where the hammock is going matters more than what you like
Most hammocks end up under trees, and a hammock under a tree catches everything the tree drops on it. Leaves, twigs, berries, bird droppings — all of it collects in the bed and stays there.
Our hammocks are woven from polyester rope, and polyester itself won't rot, mold or mildew. But the debris landing on it is organic. Once that starts breaking down in the weave it molds, and that mold stains the rope underneath.
So for a challenging spot — under trees, near a bird feeder, anywhere shaded and damp — a darker color like mocha or tan will hide the marks of a hard season far better than a light one.
The case for white
There's a flip side. Polyester takes bleach well, and white rope is the one color you can bleach without worrying about fading it. Spray it with an ordinary bathroom mold and mildew remover, rinse it thoroughly, dry it in the sun, and it comes back looking new in a way a colored hammock won't.
So the real choice is this: a darker hammock hides a hard season, a white one cleans up from it. Pick based on how much maintenance you actually plan to do, not how much you intend to.
Then think about the view
With the practical part settled, the rest is taste — and taste is a legitimate reason to choose. A backyard hammock gets looked at far more often than it gets lain in. It's part of the view from your kitchen window every day of the summer, so it's doing a job even when nobody's in it.
A few things worth considering:
- Bright tropical colors — Caribbean blue, sunny yellow, tropical orange — read as a hammock from fifty feet away and lift a plain green yard.
- Earthy tones — olive, forest green, terracotta — settle into planting rather than standing out from it.
- Neutrals — cream, white, natural — suit a minimalist deck or patio where a bright color would fight the furniture.
If you want the hammock to be a feature, go bright. If you want it to disappear into the garden, go earthy. Either is right.
One more option for a really hard spot
If the location is genuinely brutal — heavy tree cover, constant droppings — there's a third answer that isn't about color at all. A Mayan hammock closes up on itself when nobody's in it, so it collects far less of what falls. No flat surface, nothing to land on. We've compared the two styles in Mayan vs Spreader Bar Hammock.
Related reading
- How to Care For, Clean & Store Your Hammock For Winter
- Mayan vs Spreader Bar Hammock: Which Should You Buy?
- How to Hang a Hammock Between Two Trees
- Shop Jumbo Caribbean hammocks