Are Your Clothes Really Protecting You from the Sun’s UV Rays?
Discover just little protection your everyday clothes offer, and learn how you can protect yourself today.
Read Time: 7 minutes
Equatorsun's clothes will protect you.
Introduction
Have you ever wondered if your everyday clothes are actually protecting you from the sun’s harmful UV radiation? The classic saying of “cover up in the sun”, makes us naturally think that because our clothes are covering us, it means that they are protecting us too. But no, the truth is that they’re not providing you with the protection you actually think you’re getting. Research shows that normal clothes can allow up to 20% of UV rays to be absorbed into the skin; leaving your skin exposed to premature ageing and skin cancer. This is why investing in specially designed sun-protective clothing is crucial for skin health and longevity.
How UV Rays Affect the Skin and Why Sun Protection Matters
To understand the importance of sun protection, you need to understand the devastating impact that UV rays have on the skin. UV rays are made up of UVA and UVB rays.
- UVA rays: penetrate deep into the skin; cause premature ageing
- UVB rays: creates what is known as ‘sun burn’; significant cause of skin cancer
Even on cloudy days, up to 80% of UV rays are still penetrating through the clouds and onto your skin, increasing your cumulative dosage of UV radiation. The resulting effect of long-term exposure, if you aren’t properly protected, is a heightened risk of skin cancer and ageing. This is why it is so important to protect yourself from skin damage with the right protection everyday .
The Limitations of Regular Clothing in Sun Protection
Your cotton shirt or even most swimsuits can have a UPF rating of 5. Yes, you read that right. Would you even consider a sun cream with an SPF rating of less than 30? Probably not (hopefully). To put that into perspective, whilst you are out in the sun with the UV rays pouring down on you like lasers, your cotton t-shirt is letting through 20% of the rays. A person with fair skin can be sun burnt in as little as 10-20 minutes with only UPF 5 rated clothing on.
The situation worsens when you factor in additional variations in clothing. The following factors further decrease the UPF of normal clothing:
- Clothing gets wet
- Light-coloured
- Loosely woven
- Thin fabric
- Washing the clothes
- Ageing
To put it simply, the swimsuit that you thought was protecting you from the sun isn’t actually protecting you as much as you thought even when it was dry, but when it gets wet, it protects you even less!
What Makes Sun-Protective Clothing Different?
UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) measures how much UV radiation that a fabric blocks. A UPF rating of UPF50+ is considered the highest rating, blocking at least 98% of UVA and UVB rays. Whereas any rating below UPF30, which is most normal clothes, is not considered protective.
UPF depends on several factors:
- UV treatment: clothes treated with chemical UV absorbers offer higher UPF
- Weave density: tighter weaves offer higher UPF
- Fabric type: synthetic materials offer higher UPF
- Colour: darker colours offer higher UPF
- Thickness: thicker fabrics offer higher UPF
- Stretch: stretching lowers UPF
- Moisture content: moisture lowers UPF
- Condition: wear and tear lowers UPF
Purpose-made sun-protective clothing optimises the above factors to provide the complete protection against the sun. Made with durability in mind and specially designed fabrics woven carefully to act as a barrier against the sun for years into the future. No need to apply sun cream under your clothes, when you can put on UV-blocking clothes that will finally allow you to relax in the sun knowing you are protected.
How to Choose the Right Sun-Protective Clothing
With the incoming research and growing concern for sun safety, we expect the choices for UV-protective clothing to expand exponentially. But right now, there is limited choice.
Look for garments with a UPF rating of at least 30 or higher with fast-drying capabilities. Importantly, look for clothes that offer a greater degree of protection by having long-sleeves or a high neck collar. A particular favourite, and a reason we make a lot of our clothing from it, is to blend Lycra into the material mix as it offers fantastic comfort through its exceptional stretching quality whilst still remaining highly protective.Why Sun-Protective Clothing Is a Smart Investment
Ultimately, the best investment you can make is your health. If you start to protect yourself today, you will see a reduction in skin ageing and better skin health over the years to come. More importantly, if you protect yourself today, you may just save yourself from skin cancer. Your health is worth the investment – start protecting it today.