"Prepare a cotton T-shirt for the chimney, the chemical fiber clothing is not breathable." Ms. Lin, a 2-year-old citizen, had a daughter, and when she was preparing clothes for her children's May Day trip to the beach, the elders in the family objected to her choice of quick-drying T-shirt, which proudly displayed "fabric 100% polyester", commonly known as "chemical fiber".
Ms. Lin was not convinced: "'Chemical fiber is not breathable' is an old concept, cotton clothing is not the best choice for outdoor activities, but it is easy to cause colds." ”
Recently, as well as the May Day holiday tickets, air tickets, and accommodation reservations, there are also a variety of clothing, shoes and hats suitable for outdoor activities. How to choose outdoor clothing?
Cotton is not the best choice
At the sports lifestyle brand lululemon Jing An Kerry Centre, there are many clothing designed for outdoor activities, including Hike hiking series, tennis series, golf series, etc., most of which use "functional fabrics". The clerk said that the functional fabric can meet different event occasions, in addition to sweat absorption and quick drying to keep the wearer's skin dry and comfortable, it also has good ductility and is convenient for activities.
In the fast fashion brand Uniqlo Nanjing West Road store, products suitable for outdoor activities such as high sun protection index sunscreen clothing and DRY-EX quick drying clothing are displayed in a prominent position. The clerk said that the sunscreen clothing has sold very well recently, and this year's new model weaves sunscreen fiber into the fabric, not the sunscreen coating, so the breathability and comfort are higher; Some models are also slightly waterproof, making them suitable for rainy or sunny days.
In the Banana Sky Vanke Plaza store, which focuses on the concept of lightweight outdoors, outdoor clothing is also displayed according to the scene. The clerk said that the outdoor environment is relatively complicated, and the functions of different clothing have their own emphasis. For example, medium-intensity outdoor sports such as frisbee and flag football have requirements for the elasticity, breathability, sweat absorption and quick drying of clothing; Hiking, camping and other scenes have diverse environments and changeable weather, so clothing must have waterproof, sunscreen, stain, cold and other functions, and be light and portable.
Interestingly, from the labels of these three brands of outdoor clothing, the fabric of many products is not cotton, but polyester fiber, which is commonly known as "chemical fiber".
Many clothing suitable for outdoor sports is labeled, and the composition is "polyester"
In this regard, Chen Feng, a supplier of clothing raw materials, believes that it is normal, "As far as outdoor activities are concerned, cotton fabrics are not the best choice. He explained, "The traditional concept of cotton fabrics is 'breathable', firstly, because cotton products are relatively soft and suitable for close wear; second, the water absorption performance of cotton products is very good, and the water vapor and a little sweat generated by the heat emitted by the skin will be quickly absorbed by cotton products." ”
However, it is precisely because cotton products absorb water too well that they are not suitable for outdoor activities and strenuous exercise that are easy to sweat. After cotton products absorb water, the weight becomes larger and the drying speed is very slow, which makes the wearing comfort significantly reduced, and wet clothes will quickly reduce the skin temperature, "which is why many parents put towels on their children's backs when they play." On the one hand, it is to absorb sweat, and on the other hand, after removing the sweaty towel, it can prevent the child from catching a cold due to wearing wet clothes. However, for long-term outdoor activities and sports with a large amount of sweat, "cushion towels" are not convenient, so it is more suitable to choose "functional fabric" clothing. And according to existing technology, synthetic fiber clothing can also be skin-friendly.
Chen Feng said that most of the "functional fabrics" are synthetic fibers. According to the functional requirements, fabric research and development institutions through fiber arrangement, combination of different types of fibers, etc., so that the fabric has different characteristics such as lightness, heat conductivity, fast drying, softness, waterproofing, etc., "Taking the quick-drying function as an example, different brands of fabrics have differences, but the general principle is the same, that is, through synthetic fibers to quickly absorb and diffuse the sweat on the skin, and accelerate the evaporation rate by expanding the fiber area as much as possible." ”
There are really sunscreen clothes that will fail if washed
Consumer Ms. Wang found another problem when purchasing sunscreen clothing: some sunscreen clothing indicated on the product label that as the number of washing increased, the sunscreen performance of sunscreen clothing would decrease; There are also sunscreen clothing, with special emphasis on not being afraid of washing and sweat. So, which statement is true?
Some sunscreen clothing suggests that long-term use, stretching, moisture, etc. will affect the protective effect
But there are also sunscreen clothing that claims not to be afraid of water and stretching
Chen Feng said that both statements are correct, "It depends on what material the fabric itself is." "Some sunscreen clothing has a sunscreen effect by adding a sunscreen coating or using fibers with a sunscreen coating. The sun protection effect of this type of sunscreen clothing is closely related to the firmness of the sunscreen coating, if it is not properly washed or too often, it will indeed affect the sunscreen effect, "Of course, even if the number of washes is more, the clothes themselves can still be worn, but the sun protection effect is not ideal." ”
He also gave an example that similar coatings are widely used in sunscreen umbrellas and sunscreen hats, "The same umbrella, why are some umbrellas called 'sunscreen umbrellas', and some are just ordinary 'umbrellas'?" This is because there is no sunscreen coating, the sunscreen effect is not the same - the former uses the coating to block a large number of ultraviolet rays, the latter is just an ordinary blocking effect, invisible ultraviolet rays will still penetrate the umbrella surface. "However, the sun protection effect of different coatings is different, and some coatings are not firm enough, which requires consumers to pay attention to identification when purchasing."
As for those sunscreen clothing that are not afraid of water, they mainly rely on technological progress.
The clerk of Banana said that this year's new sunscreen sportswear is not afraid of sweat and resistant to washing, because it uses the brand's self-developed ultra-lightweight fiber and the "cloud original yarn" with built-in sunscreen factor. This technology first uses fibers similar to cloud cross-section on fibers to increase the angle and area of refractive ultraviolet rays and strengthen the blocking effect; At the same time, the sunscreen factor is increased, so that the sunscreen performance is more stable, and it is resistant to sweat and washing.
However, consumers still have questions: what proof is used for these functions introduced by the merchant?
For clothing that uses "cloud yarn", the clerk provides a report from a third-party testing agency that shows the washing and drying effect of the product after multiple washes, and the detection of ultraviolet blocking effect.
Chen Feng said that the state has unified quality testing standards for clothing with sunscreen, coolness and other functions, consumers can ask for quality inspection reports from merchants or online customer service when purchasing, "It should be noted that these reports are the results of the merchant's own inspection, and can only be used as a reference; But if the business is unable or unwilling to produce a report, the promotion is less credible. "In addition, local regulatory authorities will conduct spot checks on functional clothing from time to time, and consumers can pay attention to the relevant results as a reference when purchasing."
Source: Author: Ren Chong