The Things Behind The Popularity Of Sunscreen Clothes This Year

This summer, the high temperature weather continued in many parts of the country, and the temperature in some areas reached above 40 degrees Celsius. Under the scorching sun, the sales of sunscreen clothing soared.

What is the sunscreen efficacy of sunscreen clothes? What is the future trend of this rapidly growing market? The reporter of "Xinhua Viewpoint" conducted a survey.

On July 6, tourists walked on Qianmen Street in Beijing. Photographed by Ju Huanzong, reporter of Xinhua News Agency

　　 "Sunscreen clothes are too hot this year"

"My face and neck are all sunburnt and red and painful when I ride an electric bicycle to work and walk at the grassroots level every day." Mr. Li, a public servant in Binzhou, Shandong, paid attention to "physical sunscreen" for the first time this year, and bought a 199 yuan brand sunscreen clothing.

Not long ago, Ms. Wang, an executive of a technology company in Shanghai, bought sunscreen clothes for the whole family. "This year, sunscreen clothes are too hot. Many people are wearing them on bicycles and on foot. Some girls wrap themselves up tightly. My husband, who used not to use sunscreen, also said he would buy a sunscreen."

This summer, the high temperature has had a significant impact on the lives of ordinary people. In addition to heatstroke prevention and heatstroke prevention, the media and medical experts repeatedly remind people to pay attention to sunscreen. The market of sunscreen clothing, which was originally dominated by outdoor workers and young women, has rapidly expanded to the whole population. The reporter saw that many takeaway boys were equipped with sunscreen sleeves, masks and sunscreen clothes at their own expense.

JD data shows that the sales of sunscreen clothes have increased by more than 50% month on month recently; Tmall data shows that during the "June 18" period this year, the turnover of new sunscreen products in clothing category increased by 180% year on year. According to the prospectus data of outdoor brand "Jiaoxia", the market size of sunscreen clothing will increase from 45.9 billion yuan in 2016 to 61.1 billion yuan in 2021, and will exceed 70 billion yuan in 2023.

Yao Peng, senior communication director of Anta Group, said that the overall online sales of sunscreen clothing category in the sports shoes and clothing industry this summer had a double-digit growth. A salesperson of an outdoor brand in Beijing Contemporary Mall told the reporter that young women were the majority of people who bought sunscreen clothes in previous years. From the sales situation this year, men, elderly people and children also increased, and some sizes were sold out.

　　 Can sunscreen clothes protect against sun?

On social media, the topic of whether sun protection clothing is "black technology" or "sun protection anxiety" continues to be hot. Some people say that the clothes are too stuffy; Some people say that ordinary clothes are as sunscreen; Some people also said that it was really effective, and the sunscreen clothes had obvious color difference with the uncovered skin.

So, what is the sunscreen efficacy of sunscreen clothes? What is the basic technical principle?

Experts said that we should first understand the concept of UVA and UPF. "The ultraviolet ray reaching the ground is mainly the ultraviolet ray with long wave black spot effect (UVA for short), which is the main reason for sunburn." Yang Lin, director of the new material research and development department of Shandong Textile Research Institute, introduced. "UPF is the UV protection index, indicating the material's UV protection ability," said Gong Yan, a professor at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.

According to the current national standard of China, Evaluation of Textiles' UV Protection Performance, when the UPF of the sample is greater than 40 and the UVA transmittance is less than 5%, it can be called "UV protection product".

Gong Yan said that if UPF40 is marked on the label of the sunscreen clothes, it means that 1/40 of the ultraviolet rays can pass through the sunscreen clothes. The industry generally believes that the UPF value of 50 is the highest level of protection, and beyond this value, there will be no stronger protection effect.

Yang Lin said that sunscreen clothing can absorb, reflect and scatter ultraviolet rays, reduce the penetration of ultraviolet rays to clothing, and play a role in sunscreen, mainly through the use of anti ultraviolet additives, anti ultraviolet fibers or enhancing the fabric density in the fabric.

"From the material of the fabric, polyester fiber, nylon, polypropylene and some specially treated natural fibers have good UV resistance." Gong Yan introduced. Yang Lin said that the washing times would affect the sunscreen performance of some sunscreen clothes. It is suggested that the recommended washing times or the recommended use time be marked on the products.

　　 Don't blindly worship "big brands" and "high prices"

With the rapid growth of the market, some advertisements of sunscreen clothing have been playing a "technology card", and the price has also risen. In Tianyan Search, the reporter searched for patents with the keyword of "sunscreen clothing" and found 158 valid patents, including 87 patents in the category of "design". On a shopping platform, the reporter found two sunscreen clothes with a price of more than 2000 yuan and asked the customer service whether high-end technology was used for such pricing. Only vague responses such as "we have high cost performance", "new luxury" and "selection quality" were received.

"The sun will quickly change color under the sun" "sunscreen made of xylitol" "heat dissipation in one second, upper body cooling in an instant" "effectively avoid more than 20 mosquitoes, and the mosquito avoidance rate reaches 97.06%"... How do you understand these seemingly "fancy" functions? In this regard, Yang Lin said that adding photosensitive discoloration, cool touch or mosquito repellent materials can endow textiles with discoloration, cool touch and mosquito repellent functions to a certain extent, but the evaluation of their performance still needs to be based on relevant standards.

Industry insiders believe that sunscreen clothes focus on sunscreen. On this basis, there will be more products that meet the aesthetic needs of consumers, plus wind, rain and other functional needs, as well as lighter, breathable and comfortable fabrics in the future. Consumers do not need to blindly worship big brands and high prices. Brands should also squeeze more marketing water and more scientific and technological content.

The moisture absorption and air permeability of sunscreen clothes are relatively poor, and long-term wearing may lead to skin problems such as prickly heat and eczema in hot and humid environments. This problem is being gradually solved through technological progress. Gong Yan said that some brands have adopted new fiber materials and textile technologies, such as blending polyester fiber with spandex, or using nanotechnology to make the clothing surface appear microporous structure, so as to improve air permeability.

Yang Lin said that high-tech sunscreen clothing such as thermal and wet comfortable sunscreen clothing based on nano materials, intelligent sunscreen clothing based on intelligent electronic textiles that can monitor physiological parameters, and temperature and humidity responsive sunscreen clothing based on shape memory materials are expected to enter people's lives. Gong Yan said that the increasing awareness of sustainable development will promote the development of the sunscreen clothing market in a more environmentally friendly direction, which may be made of recycled fibers or use biodegradable ingredients.

"Consumers need to be reminded that sunscreen clothing is only one of the auxiliary means of sunscreen, and other sunscreen measures such as the use of sunscreen, sunshade caps, sunglasses, etc. are also important. In an environment with strong sunlight, a variety of sunscreen methods should be combined to enhance the protection effect." Gong Yan said. (Yang Wen and Zhai Xiang from Xinhua News Agency's "Xinhua Perspective")