What is sunscreen clothing?

3 min read
What is sunscreen clothing?
arrow  down

What is sunscreen clothing?

Sunscreen clothing is another name for sun protective clothing. 

Other names that are commonly used to describe sun protective clothing include sun protection clothing, uv cut clothing, UPF (ultraviolet protection factor), UVR (ultraviolet radiation), SPF (sun protection factor) clothing.

Sun protective clothing doesn’t literally have sunscreen built into the fabric. UPF is the sun protective rating for fabrics and SPF is the sun protective rating for sunscreen. If clothing is described as having a SPF rating, it is incorrect.

Sun protective clothing utilises fabrics which should materially improve the level of sun protection versus regular clothing. Sun protective clothing utilises fabrics which have a higher weave density, tend to use woven or knitted fabrics, thicker fabrics and darker colours.

UPF stands for ultraviolet protection factor and is the rating system for fabrics

Australia invented the sun protective UPF rating system for clothing in the 1990s.

A regular t-shirt may only have a UPF of 5 (which means that 20% of ultraviolet radiation can penetrate the fabric) whereas a UPF of 50+ means that only up to 2% of ultraviolet radiation can penetrate the fabric.

UPF 50+ is the highest achievable sun protection rating for fabrics.

Dermatologists recommend sun protective clothing and broad brim sun hats as the best way to prevent sunburn, skin ageing and skin cancer.

Solbari Sun Protection offers an award winning range of UPF 50+ sun protective clothing, broad brim sun hats, UPF arm-sleeves and UV block umbrellas.

Solbari is based in Melbourne, Australia and has customers in over 60 countries.

You can find out more about Solbari's certified UPF50+ sun protective range by clicking the blue links below:

Women UPF 50+
Men UPF 50+
Sun Hats UPF 50+
Accessories UPF 50+

Content Disclaimer: This website pro­vides gen­eral infor­ma­tion about med­i­cine, health and related sub­jects. All content and media on the Solbari website is created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice. If the reader or any other per­son has a med­ical con­cern, he or she should seek professional advice.

Further reading...