Although it has been autumn, the ultraviolet intensity of the sun is still very strong, coupled with everyone's daily wear of short clothing, the exposed area of the skin is large, the risk of human body being damaged by ultraviolet rays will increase, and sunscreen clothing has become the choice of many people.
In the face of countless sunscreen clothing styles on the shopping platform, a headache question is in front of you: how to choose sunscreen clothing? Is it really better to be more expensive?
Conclusion first
- When choosing sunscreen clothing, please look for the national standard.
- Cheap sunscreen clothing with national standard is also very good.
- Summer sunscreen clothing is more comfortable to choose light colors.
- It is best to change the sunscreen clothing for 3 years.
- It is best not to use sunscreen clothing as a raincoat.
How sunscreen clothing is protected from the sun
Before choosing a sunscreen clothing that suits you, let's first understand the sun protection principle of sunscreen clothing.
The clothing fabrics worn daily actually have a certain anti-ultraviolet function. Because when ultraviolet rays irradiate the surface of clothing, reflection, scattering and absorption occur, so that the ultraviolet rays that reach the surface of human skin through the fabric will be reduced, and the skin will suffer less ultraviolet damage.
And the same works of sunscreen clothing, only it is made more professional than ordinary clothing.
At present, the realization of UV protection function by sunscreen clothing fabrics generally follows two principles:
1. Shielding principle: enhance the reflection and scattering effect of the fabric on ultraviolet rays, such as coating the inner layer of the fabric, or adding a shielding agent to the fiber of the fabric;
2. Absorption principle: enhance the absorption effect of the fabric on ultraviolet rays, after ultraviolet absorption, the energy is converted into heat energy release or harmless low-energy radiation. For example, when dyeing the fabric, choose a dye that absorbs better ultraviolet rays, or make an anti-ultraviolet absorber coating finishing of the fabric.
Choose sunscreen clothing, just look at this label
In the mainland, the most basic requirement for sunscreen textile products is that they must meet the provisions of the national standard GB/T18830-2009 "Evaluation of Textile UV Protection Performance", that is, "UV-proof textiles must reach UPF>40, UVA transmittance rate <5%, in order to be called UV protection products".
Why these two indicators?
Among them, the ultraviolet protection coefficient (UPF) refers to the ratio of the average effect of ultraviolet radiation calculated when the skin is not protected and the average effect of ultraviolet radiation calculated when the skin has fabric protection, and the larger the UPF value, the better the UV protection performance of the textile.
However, consumers do not have to blindly pursue high UPF value, UPF value up to 50 can achieve high UV protection performance, and then high UPF value is of little significance to improve textile UV protection.
UVA is the longest wavelength part of ultraviolet rays, has strong penetrating power, can reach the dermis layer of the skin, destroy elastic fibers and collagen fibers, the smaller the UVA transmittance, the better the UV protection performance of textiles.
The most direct basis for consumers when purchasing sunscreen clothing is: the product must meet the national standard GB/T18830-2009 "Evaluation of Textile UV Protection Performance" clear mark. The identity content must include the following parts:
The number of the standard, namely GB/T18830-2009
When 40<UPF≤50, it is labeled UPF40+. When UPF>50, it is marked as UPF50+;
With prolonged use and in the event of stretching or moisture, the protection provided by the product may be reduced.
The more expensive the sunscreen, the better?
Should I choose a dark or light color?
At present, the price of sunscreen clothing sold in the market ranges from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan, in fact, from the cost of fabric, design and process to consider the whole situation, more than 100 yuan, and the sunscreen clothing with the above logo can be purchased with confidence, too cheap sunscreen clothing is not recommended to buy.
Some sunscreen clothing is sold at a high price, a large part of which contains factors such as brand premium and design style, and its UV protection function for the skin is not much different when it meets the national standard.
In addition, many friends will struggle with the problem of color.
Thick dark clothing will have better UV protection, because most of the ultraviolet rays will be absorbed by the clothing fabric, and the ultraviolet rays that pass through the fabric to the surface of the skin are greatly reduced. However, in the hot summer, the innate physical sun protection advantages of thick dark clothing have become a disadvantage, such fabrics absorb a large amount of ultraviolet rays will cause the temperature of the clothing itself to rise, making people feel stuffy.
Professional sunscreen clothing can provide enough effective UV protection function, at this time the color and thickness of the clothing is not the most critical UV protection factor, in this case you can choose light-colored light and thin sunscreen clothing to achieve sun protection and comfortable effect.
How long do sunscreen clothing need to be renewed?
The UV protection performance of sunscreen clothing will gradually deteriorate with use, and point 3 of the national standard logo that the aforementioned sunscreen clothing must be equipped with clearly states this point (that is, "long-term use and in the case of stretching or moisture, the protection provided by the product may be reduced").
The main factors affecting the performance of sunscreen clothing are: the length of use, the temperature of the use environment, sweating and soaking, the frequency of washing and daily wear and tear.
For example, long-term exposure to the sun, repeated folding and stretching when wearing clothes, sweat and heat soaking and other conditions will gradually damage the fabric and UV protection coating, and the UV protection performance will be weakened. The washing process will cause the UV protection coating on the surface of the fabric to fall off, resulting in a decrease in the UV protection performance of the fabric. In addition, the fabric of sunscreen clothing is generally thin, and the fabric structure will be loose when worn on the surface, so that the transmittance of ultraviolet rays will increase.
As an ordinary consumer, it is difficult to test the UV protection performance of the fabric before use, but it can still be observed by the naked eye to make a rough judgment, in the case of fading, loosening, light transmission and deformation of the fabric of the sunscreen clothing, consumers should consider changing to new sunscreen clothing.
There are also scientific studies that show that sunscreen clothing used for 3 years will lose 100% of its UV protection performance (that is, it cannot meet the requirements of the aforementioned national standards), and this use time can also be used as a reference for updating sunscreen clothing.
Now there are many sunscreen clothing claims to have waterproof, spill resistance, consumers in light rain weather as a temporary rain clothing is not harmful, generally will not significantly damage the sun protection performance of clothing. However, it is still not recommended to use sunscreen clothing as a raincoat, mainly because the waterproof and spillproof functions of sunscreen clothing cannot reach the function of continuous rainproof; At the same time, clothing with specific protective effects is still recommended to be "exclusively for clothing", so as to maximize the effectiveness of clothing design functions.
In addition to sunscreen clothing, many people choose to wear umbrellas, ice sleeves and other measures to protect against the sun.
Umbrellas can resist direct sunlight well, but they cannot block sunlight reflected or scattered on the ground or other objects; Ice sleeves are mainly used for sun protection on the arms, and it is also a local sun protection. Sunscreen clothing such as sunscreen clothing, umbrellas and ice sleeves are effective sun protection tools, and consumers are recommended to choose the most suitable sun protection measures according to the specific scene.