Deep dark skin might look great but the dangers behind it can be daunting. It’s scientifically proven that exposure to sun’s UV rays can cause skin cancer. People have relied on sunscreens as a primary form of protection from sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Sunscreens are effective, but the best option to fully protect your skin is to associate them with sun protective clothing.
Sun protective clothing is an easy and safe way to protect our skin from sun. The UV protective value of clothing is measured in vitro by the UV protection factor (UPF), which conveys a fabric's ability to prevent the transmission of UV light. Although all clothing disrupt UV radiation to some extent, but the fabric that does the best job carries Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) value which ranges from 15 to 50+. In other words, the higher the UPF number of the fabric, the better shield it would provide to the skin. UPF measures a fabric's effectiveness against both ultraviolet A (UVA) and UVB light. A SPF in a sunscreen is limited only to measure the UVB rays. UPF is subjective to qualities such as fabric type, thickness of the weave, color and the method in which the material is worn. Generally, the UPF is higher on dark colors fabric and with undergone shrinkage treatment.
Sun protective clothing is designed to serve some basic purposes like absorbing, reflecting, or scattering some or all sun rays. In order to meet all these needs, the protective clothing is made with highly protective fabrics. The demand for highly protective clothing is higher in case of children, people with fair skin, people working in elevated areas or on reflective surfaces, or people who are more sensitive to sun rays. Normally people with dark skin rarely get sunburn on skin covered by clothing.
Many skin experts feel that sun protective clothes offer a wider shield as compared to applying sunscreens for the simple fact that people apply a very thin layer of lotion giving way to sunlight radiations. They even forget to reapply the lotion later. When ultraviolet radiation and textiles interact the energy of UV rays changes. UV radiation is converted to heat, a transformation that renders most rays harmless.
New fabrics are also welcomed in the market that provide protective shield to the skin from harmful UV rays. One such example is Nylon made from BASF fibers. It has titanium dioxide particles dispersed within its fibers allowing for combined UVA/UVB protection. Besides these useful clothing options, there is another alternative available. A number of photo protective laundry additives that act as sunscreens or optical brightening agents have been created to reduce UV rays transmission. These OBAs, appearance-enhancers for white fabrics, also boost disruption of UV radiation.
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