Hi! As heatwave scorches Europe, the second problem I’m a little afraid of (especially as someone without any melanin in my skin) is the sun. I’ve seen someone mentioning a sun shirt but trying to find real information online is very confusing, especially with EU in mind ( I see US has something called UPF) and if you are not looking for ads. Maybe someone knows something about it?
Clothing with a UPF rating just means its level of protection has been measured; it doesn’t necessarily imply unrated clothing doesn’t protect also. That is to say, I don’t think sun protective clothing has any high-tech coatings or other special sauce the way waterproof/breathable clothing does.
Just wear something made of synthetic fiber and/or with a dense weave, colored a dark color, and that covers as much skin as possible. And most importantly, a wide-brimmed hat.
Sources:
Just wear something made of synthetic fiber and/or with a dense weave, colored a dark color
Why dark colors? All of my sun clothes are as light of a color as I can possibly find so they reflect the sun instead of absorbing it.
From what I understand, the dyes used in dark colors tend to be less transparent to the wavelength of UV light, and thus absorb some of the UV instead of letting it through. As a side effect, that also makes them heat up more, but the skin is technically more protected (assuming a like-for-like garment, as it’s likely that a thick white shirt will still be more protective than a thin black one).
Looking into it again for this comment, it appear that all color dyes offer some UV protective effect in clothing, and the more intense the color, the more protective it can be (though still varies by the specific color itself). There’s a more in-depth explanation of how that works in this scientific article, under section 6.6.2. I’ll put it in a spoiler for convenience.
How Dye blocks UV
The UVR protecting ability of the dye sources depends upon absorption characteristics of the functional group present in the chemical structure. Sankaran et al. reported that the UVR protection ability of cotton fabrics was effectively improved when dyed with vegetable and animal dyes from madder, indigo and cochineal [79]. Some direct, reactive and vat dyes with darker shade are capable of giving a UPF of greater than 50 due to the nature of dye-fibre bonds. Multiple studies investigated that the potential role of few natural dyes like curcumin and onion skin dye on fibre or fabric by providing UV protective characteristics. The combinational effect of dyes and UV absorbers together on fabric can also reduce the transmission of UVR. The dye shades substantially increase the UPF value of bleached cloth when compared with non-bleached fabric [43,46,74]. Although, light colours reflect solar radiation more efficiently than dark ones but part of the radiation penetrates more easily through the fabric. Since the dye’s absorption bands extend to UVR, all types of dye function as UV absorbers (280–400 nm). The capacity of dyes to raise a fabric’s UPF depends on the extinction coefficient. Another experimental result revealed that the colour depth and dye concentration are the most essential factors influencing the UV protection property of cotton knitted fabrics. Therefore, the UVR blocking ability of textiles are enhanced with increase in ingredient concentration with either a dye or pigment or a delustering agents or other additives [80,81].
But the construction of clothing (how dense or thick the weave is, or if it’s treated with something to give it a UPF rating) and what it’s made of appears to matter more for UV blocking overall than the color does. Cotton, linen and rayon appear to offer less protection than wool, polyester, or nylon (synthetics feel kinda gross to wear in hot weather though, IMO). A blend can help make-up for that, though then there’s the problem of microplastics every time you wash them, so personally I still stick with natural fibers.
The structure of the cloth in UV clothes is designed to be opaque to light while being cool, breathable and quick drying. I’ve never gotten a sunburn under my blue jeans and I’m sure they have a quite high UPF, but they are not sun gear in my opinion.
Billions of people live in climates where they regularly get more sun and heat than this heat wave.
Look into tropical fashions. Maybe a kurta would work for you.
Heat and UV are correlated but weakly. It’s entirely possible that an early spring day with cool temperature and light breeze has a higher UV levels than a cloudy day with 35°.
You don’t need specific SPF clothing to get protection.
This has a good discussion about spf clothing. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-sun-protection-clothing/
My personal preference is to seek shade and wear sunscreen when it’s intolerably warm, rather than to add tight weave clothing, but to each their own.
i thought UV rays generally are strongest when the sun is directly overhead, like at noon in june (in the northern hemisphere)
Sun hoodies are made of a poly blend that is white, reflects a lot of sun, and is rated to keep you from getting burned through clothes which can happen with regular cotton or linen if you’re in the full sun all day. I’ve worn them all day in full sun and never get burned or even tanned on my shoulders.
Amazon and Alibaba sell them for like 20-50 euros. I like getting ones with thumb holes, a hood, and is at least 1-2 sizes too big because they are better when they drape and let the air in, and they are hard to remove when soaked in sweat.
They’ll be rated like UPF 50+ which just indicates high resistance. You want higher than 30+ at least.
The brand I’ve used for the last few years also makes them with a hood that has a built in lower face cover / balaclava. This is much warmer but very handy at keeping off the sun. I don’t use that kind, but I’ll use a high UPF white Buff neck gaiter to go over my lower face or forehead to hold the hood on. YMMV.
I’ll also use a wide brimmed floppy hat that will at least cover my upper face and nose, and I’ll wear sunscreen to an all day sun event on my hands and face. Otherwise I burn fast and it’s very unhealthy for skin aging and cancer risk.
The fact they they are white actually detracts from the UV-proofness. Light colours block the least UV.
this is the brand i get here in the states. I am in New Mexico, we get our fair share of sun and heat. These shirts are thin, and relatively cool. They are upf 50 i believe.
While looking to see if they mention what those shirts are made of (doesn’t seem like they mention it anywhere, unless I’m missing it), I did notice one of the pictures says it’s treated to be water resistant, which unfortunately could mean they’ve been coated with a PFAS containing repellent, which from what this test showed, appears to come off and potentially contaminate the environment somewhat :(
Could be they use something else, but I think PFAS containing stuff is still the most common.
Here is the garment tag from one of my shirts:
I am not a fan of the water repellent nature of them. But other than that they are the best sun shirts I have found otherwise.
I have an REI Sahara sun hoodie along with some Columbia omnishade vented fishing shirts and vented sunblocking pants from Ex Officio: They’re all effective and have kept me safe in 100F+ heat indexes from Vegas to New Orleans at the height of summer.
Straw hats help and cold wet towels are good too (especially in dry heat).
You can wet your clothes too, but that also reduces how much they shield you from UV.
You want to find lighter color (more reflective) long sleeve shorts with buttons and vents. Vents on your back help a lot for air flow. Either they’re called Sun Shirts or Fishing Shirts. The UPF rating isn’t going to change much between brands and really doesn’t matter as much as it doesn’t equate to the US SPF that we use for sunscreen all that much anyway.
You can get a good idea as to what to look for at websites like Bass Pro Shop, Academy, Scheels, and similar.
Here’s one my father uses on the regular https://www.basspro.com/p/world-wide-sportsman-ultimate-angler-long-sleeve-button-down-shirt-for-men
However, there’s Magellan brand ones at academy he also uses.
Keep in mind your neck will still get sunburned, as well your upper knees if you wear shorts. Plus your hands. And ears. You can wear a cowboy hat, or a large brimmed hat, or one with a drape over the back neck. But you’ll have to wear sunscreen on your hands, at least. And feet if you’re wearing sandals.
And that’s all they really do. Prevent you from using sunscreen all over. They’ll be hot like any article of clothing, but they’ll also save your skin like most articles of clothing as well. And get better air flow.
I personally use a hooded, loose fitting sun shirt made of nylon, but it has no vents and gets hotter. It’s better than just wearing a long sleeve shirt, though. I should buy a real sun shirt with better ventilation, but they’re kind of expensive.
Haven’t got one yet but have been thinking of getting a rash vest, it’s more for surfing/water sports though. Not sure what the material is like for daily wear. They usually have SPF ratings though so it would work for that.
I love me some sun hoodies! Obviously great for hot sun on a hot dry day. But also they seem to help with mosquitoes.
When it gets cold at night, a sun hoodie is better than nothing to help you stay warm. They work well as a thermal underlayer too.
Don’t know if they sell in the EU, but Columbia’s PFG sun gear is good. Neck gaiters and a hat if you want face protection. Wear it all the time for fishing in the sun.
