Burning through clothes

[cchase]

I see lots of clothes advertising having sun protection, like sunscreen.

What am I missing here? As a caucasian that spends a lot of time outdoors in thin clothes, I've never burned through even wicking jerseys. Do I need clothes with UPF? Is it a gimmick? Do some people burn through clothes and I'm just unaware of it?

 

[dparm]

Having dealt with this sort of thing my whole life:

I wouldn't worry about it. While it is true that you can still get sun damage when it's cloudy and the like, skin cancer is VERY treatable if caught early.

 

[JimPghPA]

There was a news clip on this today. The clothes marketed as providing sun block work, but probably loose protection after a few washes.

Also dark clothes provide a decent level of protection.

And (I do not know what brand) there is a laundry detergent that adds sun block to your clothes, and it also works.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
There was a news clip on this today. The clothes marketed as providing sun block work, but probably loose protection after a few washes.

Also dark clothes provide a decent level of protection.

And (I do not know what brand) there is a laundry detergent that adds sun block to your clothes, and it also works.


This is what made me think of it. I just want to know whether I am getting ultraviolet skin damage and don't know it or whether the fact I'm not burning means the clothes are clearly adequate in the first place, without UPF ratings.

 

[TC]

I'm not sure, but perhaps it's due to good ol' "holes." Knitted/woven fabrics are like a wooden lattice for ivy to grow over -- there's gaps between the threads. One interesting thing to try might be to take an old, threadbare shirt and spread it out on a sunny day and see how much light gets through the weave onto a surface below it. (I haven't tried that, and don't know the answer.) A shirt especially made to close those thread-gaps might be what this is all about. Perhaps even some brand new shirts aren't "sunproof" in that regard, whereas sun-rated garments are especially made to address that. I dunno...ask Mr. Google.

 

[GumbyJarvis]

Funny story, field day in elementary school some 15 years or so ago (Im 20) Kid had a skin tight jersey style/mesh hole shirt on (Time before most schools went to Polo Uniforms) all day in the sun, the next day he comes in covered on his torso with little red dots that were sunburns.

 

[TC]

Originally Posted By: GumbyJarvis
Funny story, field day in elementary school some 15 years or so ago (Im 20) Kid had a skin tight jersey style/mesh hole shirt on (Time before most schools went to Polo Uniforms) all day in the sun, the next day he comes in covered on his torso with little red dots that were sunburns.


SUN MEASLES!

 

[Shannow]

44 years in Oz, and I have only ever been burned once through clothing.

When I was 4, parents bought a newfangled polysomething collared T-Shirt (had the texture of woven fishing line), that I wore all day at a BBQ...I was toasted, dehydrated, and part conscious (pain) on the way home from the BBQ.

Clothes advertising UPF is like margarine advertising "source of Omega 6"...factual, but stupid.

 

[JimPghPA]

There was a House episode where a father and son were in the clynic. The father was scared because he had a red rash on his chest with round white spots. House looks at the kid and and comments on the dad having a few beers and falling asleep, and tells the kid how much he has in change in his pocket, because he figured that the kid put the coins on his dads chest when he was sleeping in the sun.