What Is the Difference Between UPF and SPF? On the other hand, looser-fitting clothes offer better protection than tight-fitting ones because tight-fitting clothes stretch the fabric and expose holes that can allow rays to pass through. Looser weaves often have gaps and holes that let UV rays pass through. They just don’t provide as much as those with a tight weave. Never assume!Īgain, that’s not to say that fabrics with looser weaves don’t provide any UV protection. You could have one black shirt with UPF 15 and another with UPF 30. Tightly knitted or woven fabrics provide better protection than loosely constructed fabrics. It can block UVA and UVB rays, while some fabrics can only block UVA or UVB rays, but not both. As a result, they provide excellent UV protection. Since they are double knits and the fibers are entangled with each other, not as much light can get through. Take fleece and french terry, for example. A flat-knit design has a lower UPF rating than a raised fiber structure. A single knit fabric has a lower rating than a double knit. Unbleached cotton contains natural lignins that act as UV absorbers. That’s because the structure affects how much of the UV rays are blocked. It’s not safe to assume that two black shirts will have the same UPF ratings. So, wearing a light-colored, dyed shirt will provide more protection than a light-colored shirt that hasn’t been dyed. Lighter colors still absorb the sun’s rays, but not to the same extent, so they don’t provide the same level of protection as darker colors.Ĭolored fabrics have better UV protection because of the benzene atoms contained in the dye molecules. If you’re out hiking all day, a black or red shirt will provide more protection than a white shirt. Darker and brighter colors absorb UV rays instead of allowing them through the fabric to your skin. Various colors absorb the sun’s rays differently. How Different Colors Absorb The Sun’s Rays But even a low rating like UPF 10 offers significant protection against ultraviolet rays. The better the UPF rating, the more protection your skin gets. You won’t get better protection than that! Less than 2% of the sun’s UV rays will get to your skin. The protection is beyond excellent if you see a piece of fabric with a 50+ rating. There are three categories of UPF ratings: good, very good, and excellent. That means that a mere 7% of that 7% would actually reach your skin. That second layer will block out an additional 93% of the 7% of UV rays that the first layer of fabric allowed through. The UPF rating would be UPF 50+ because of the second layer of fabric. That means the combined materials have a UPF rating of 30, right? Now, imagine that your second piece of fabric also has a UPF rating of 15. About 7% of those rays can get to your skin. But while it might seem like you’d just add the UPF ratings together, the math is more complicated.Ī piece of fabric with a UPF rating of 15 means that approximately 93% of UV rays are blocked. There are some misconceptions about testing that we’ll demystify in this section.įirst, UV testing is done on a single layer of fabric, meaning that materials with multiple layers will have even better UPF ratings. How UV Testing WorksĪnother important aspect of UV protection in fabrics is understanding how UV testing works. That means that 20 times less radiation exposure reaches the part of your body covered by the material. If you purchase fabric with a UPF 20 rating, only 1/20th of the UV radiation will go through the fabric. It will provide some protection, just not as much. A higher UPF rating will provide more protection, but a lower rating is better than nothing. The UPF rating indicates how much of the sun’s ultraviolet rays (where “UV” comes from) are absorbed by the fabric instead of your skin. Without properly understanding the difference, you’ll get confused about how much protection you’ll get. To start, it’s essential to understand the difference between UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) and UV (ultraviolet) ratings. The Difference Between UPF and UV Ratings Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about UV protection in fabrics. We’re explaining how UV testing is done, how to know the level of protection you’re getting, and how light and dark colors differ in the protection they offer, among other things. Today’s blog is your complete guide to UV protection in fabrics. They don’t absorb all of them, but they provide a great deal of protection against sunburns, cancer, and other issues that exposure to the sun can cause. Many clothing items are made with materials that naturally absorb much of the sun’s rays. Having UV protection in fabrics is a great way to protect your skin from the sun.
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