Clothes instead of sunscreen: How do materials with UPF protection work?

Nature is more inviting than ever in the summer months, but hiking in summer and hot weather naturally comes with its own specific challenges and risks. The most basic equipment therefore includes, in addition to plenty of water, sunscreen, which acts as protection against the harmful effects of UV rays.

But what if we told you that you're highly likely to need to slather on quality SPF in places that are covered by clothing? Or that there is also clothing that is specifically designed to protect you from harmful UV rays in a similar way that sunscreen and its SPF factor does?

Clothing and UV protection

Even ordinary clothing can provide some protection against the harmful effects of UV rays on the skin - but its ability to do so is severely limited. The ability of clothing to protect the skin depends on several factors:

1. The type of material

In general, synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon and spandex have a stronger ability to protect the skin from the sun's rays. This ability is based on the dense structure of these materials, through which UV rays cannot penetrate.

Conversely, natural materials such as cotton or linen usually have a disadvantage in this regard.

2. Material colour

It's natural to reach for lighter colours in summer - they don't absorb as much of the sun's rays and therefore feel fresh compared to darker colours. Paradoxically, this effect is the reason why light-coloured clothing is a worse choice, at least in terms of UV protection. While dark colours can absorb some of the UV rays and thus not transmit them to the skin, light colours do not have this ability, so more of the sun's rays reach the skin.

3. Thickness and density of the material

The materials that block the most UV rays are the ones that you really don't want to wear in summer - thick and tightly woven ones, more suitable for other seasons. For example, we can mention twill or denim.

UPF rating - what is it?

UPF is a standardised rating for assessing the ability of clothing to block UV rays and is very similar in principle to the SPF rating we know from sunscreens. The UPF rating indicates how many ultraviolet rays a material is capable of blocking.

For example, with a UPF rating of 30, we can expect the material to only let through 1 in 30 UV rays, or 3.33% of the radiation. At a UPF rating of 50 we are talking about 1 in 50 UV rays, i.e. 2% of the radiation.

The minimum rating for clothing that is labeled as being able to protect against UV rays is 15. The maximum is 50, with clothing with the ability to block 98% or more of UV rays already collectively referred to as a 50+ rating. Meanwhile, conventional clothing, in terms of UPF rating, is somewhere in the lower single digits.

How do UPF-rated clothes work?

Summarizing all of this, we can see that creating a proper summer material is a complicated task. On the one hand, we want such clothing to be as lightweight as possible, ideally in bright colours and offering the maximum possible level of breathability; on the other hand, the exact opposite works best as a barrier against UV rays.

Fortunately, technology has advanced and even a single material can now offer technical parameters that are seemingly mutually exclusive. In this case, lightness and breathability, with superior UV protection.

Answer named Revolutional™ by Carvico

When it comes to clothing with a high UPF factor, there is one material in our portfolio that excels in this respect: Revolutional™ by Carvico. This synthetic material is built on two patented technologies and offers top functional performance at half the weight of comparable materials, combined with absolutely superior sun protection.

Revolutional™ by Carvico products have the highest possible UPF rating of 50+, which, as we have explained, blocks more than 98% of the sun's rays. Clothing made from this material thus significantly minimizes the risk of sunburn and other unwanted consequences of overexposure to the sun. So you can enjoy your outdoor activities truly without compromise and without worry.

From the Revolutional™ by Carvico material, you will find a set of Demi products in our portfolio that are literally made for intense movement even in the hottest heat. In addition to the aforementioned properties, they dry extremely quickly, are very durable, adapt perfectly to the body and hold their shape for a long time.

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