I was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer recently and my dermatologist recommended that I stay out of the sun to reduce the risks of recurring melanoma. Although I may decide to sail at night on a passage or two, it is not practical with my lifestyle to stay out of the sun 100% of the time. This made me think about alternative options like covering up while in the sun.

So, then I started to wonder about the sun penetrating clothing and it made me wonder, Can You Get Sunburn Through Your Clothes? I found out that yes, you can get sunburned through certain types of clothing including t-shirts, light colored clothing and lightly woven fabrics, but other types of clothing can block the 100% of the sun’s rays. One sunburn every two years can triple your risk of developing melanoma (the deadliest form of) skin cancer.

How Much Does Being on the Water or in the Sand (Beach) Increase Your Exposure to the Sun?

Most of us know that being on or around the water can increase your risk of sunburn, but did you know either the beach or the water can increase your exposure by 25%? Did you also know that one sunburn every two years can triple your risk of melanoma skin cancer (and melanoma can be deadly). Every year 100,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the US. Whether you are sailing on weekend for leisure, active in regattas or competitions or living full-time and cruising, skin protection is a must for all sailors. The threat of skin cancer is elevated by being outdoors during the peak daytime hours and by the suns rays reflecting off the water surrounding your boat.

A Sexy Tan Makes You Look Old and Wrinkled at a Younger Age

Ok. If you are like I used to be, you are thinking that skin cancer is still quite rare and it only kills about 10,000 Americans each year so your odds of death from skin cancer is low and you won’t be one of the unlucky ones even though you had lots of sunburn as a child and you continue to tan all summer long. UV from the sun not only causes skin cancer, it causes premature wrinkles, brown spots on your skin and can make you look much older than you really are. So many women (and men) are paying for fancy skin creams and Botox treatments to make them look younger, yet not doing anything to prevent the one of the main things that is causing them to wrinkle up in the first place. ffffffff

Cover Up

Wearing clothes to cover up bare skin is a good practice that many sailors do, but not all clothes are created equal to stop sunburn. I used to think that wearing a long sleeve t-shirt was all I needed to protect myself from the sun, but I didn’t know that dangerous UV rays can penetrate most shirts – especially t-shirts. Covering up is better than not covering up, but knowing which types of clothes to cover up with can really reduce the amount of dangerous UV rays getting through to your skin.

Did You Know There is a Rating System for Clothes?

Just like sunscreen is rated by SPF, clothes also have a rating system. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and is the time is takes for skin to redden by exposure to the sun. A 15 SPF allows a person 15 times the protection VS not wearing any sunscreen.

Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF)

Clothes are rated by UPF. UPF stands for Ultaviolet Protection Factor which measures how much of the suns UV rays are absorbed by the clothing, thus stopping it from penetrating through to your skin. A shirt with a UPF factor of 50 means that 1/50^th of the sun’s rays will penetrate through to your skin and offers significant protection. In other words, only 2% of the suns UV rays will penetrate through to your skin.

Tightly Woven and Synthetic Fabrics Work Better

Clothes with tighter weaves provide more sunburn protection than those with looser knits. Synthetic fabrics work better than cotton t-shirts. Clothes made from nylon, lycra, and acrylic not only breath well and wick moisture away from your skin keeping you cooler, but also help to protect you from the sun.

Dark Colors Provide More Protection From Sunburn

When it comes to colors, dark colored fabrics block more of the harmful rays of the sun that does light colored ones.

A denim shirt may block all of the suns damaging rays, while a light-colored t-shirt may provide very little protection. One test you can do is to hold up a dark piece of clothing up to a light. Notice how much light passes through. Now hold up a light-colored shirt made of the same fabric. More light passes through the light-colored shirt than the dark colored one. Imagine the source is the sun and you will clearly see which piece of clothing provides better protection.

Interestingly, most people wear light colored clothes in the summer time because they are much cooler and absorb less heat from the sun.

Wear Layers of Clothing for More Sun Protection

One way around wearing dark colors is to wear layers. You can wear two pieces of clothing which double the risk of getting sunburn through your clothes. Women may choose to wear a light wrap over their swimsuit or rash guard swim shirt. Wear a dark colored rash guard for extra protection in the water, but cover it with a light colored wrap when out of the water. The light colors absorb less radiant heat and keep your cooler.

Old or Stretched Out Clothes Offer Less Protection from Sunburn

As clothes age, they fade and stretch out. Clothes that stretch can provide a fraction of the protection from the sun that newer clothes which have tighter weaves. It makes complete sense. Think of vertical blinds in your house. If you remove every other blind, more light is going to come through. Stretching out clothes has the same effect.

Stay Dry for Maximum Protection

If you are going to wear clothing (like a rash guard) while swimming, choose clothes that are made for the water. Clothes that are dry provide more protection from harmful UV rays than wet ones. Wet clothes have the tendency to stretch, which in turns opens up the holes in the fabric and allows more UV through. You may choose a navy blue rash guard with a UPF of 50 plus for going in the water VS one that is rated at 30, knowing the rating will change when wet. A wet t-shirt only provides the protection of around 3 UPF – not much protection.

Look For The Seal of Approval

The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Approval can be found on a large variety of clothes made for the sun and water. To have the seal of approval, a UPF rating of 30 and above is required. Good protection is rated at 30 UPF to 49 UPF. Great sun Protection is rated with a UPF of 50 plus. A UPF of 50 plus blocks 98% of dangerous UV rays.

The UPF May Not Last Forever

Keep in mind that as clothes age, the can lose their effectiveness to block the sun’s rays. Even sun protective clothing can lose its effectiveness to block the UV if it stretches. It can also lose its effectiveness if it wears out or after being washed frequently or just from being old. If you are spending a lot of time in the sun, then you need to think about buying new clothes on a regular basis. If you are like my wife, then I’m sure buying new clothes won’t be an issue.

Did You Know You Can Protect Your Clothes by Washing With This Product?

Yes, it is true. Laundry additives like Sunguard can be added to your cloths. Add one package to a load of wash. The company claims that it protects each garment to 30 UPF and is good for up to 20 washes. We did not find any reviews on this product. It costs around $50 for a pack of twelve, one-ounce treatments.

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Other Ways to Prevent Sunburn

Using clothes with UPF protection is something that every sailor and boater should consider. Other things that need to be on your mandatory list for sun protection is:

• Sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. Consider the sport types that don’t easily wear off during normal activities. Wearing a daily moisturizer with sunscreen
• Wearing a wide brimmed hat. Wide brimmed hats are now cool (because I have to wear them)!
• Wearing a rash guard when swimming
• Enjoy water sports in the morning and late afternoon
• Stay out of the sun from 10am to 2PM
• Wear lip balm with sunscreen
• Wear a buff for face and neck protection
• Wear long sleeves
• Don’t forget to use sunscreen on your feet
• Wear UV blocking sunglasses (you can get melanoma in your eyes)

Will my sunscreen kill the reef?

I used to think this was just a bunch of fluff to get me to pay a lot for sun screen. In doing more research, I found that certain chemicals found in some popular (and effective) sunscreens have also been found to kill and bleach the reefs. The main chemical thought to be really bad for the choral and found in popular suncreens is Oxybenzone.

Good news. There a many new brands of sunscreen that are reef friendly. If interested, I’ll do a post about them and maybe even product reviews.