If You Hate Putting on Sun Screen As Much As I Do, Check Out UPF Clothing

Forget greasy sunscreens, now you can wear sun protection clothing! These are basically shirts, pants, hats and bathing suits made from fabrics designed to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays. Instead of SPF like sun screens, these clothes come with a UPF rating – short for ultraviolet protection factor.

Some doctors are saying that UPF clothing is better than sunscreen because it keeps the sun from even touching your skin.

Let's get real here for a second... any clothing could be considered sun-protective if it covers your skin, but that's not enough. A white t-shirt gives you the equivalent of an SPF 4, but a dark, tightly-woven, shirt raises the coverage to 10.

So what about these new special garments? Well, they provide a lot more protection with numbers ranging from 15 to 50 and higher.

How does UPF clothing work? One key is fiber density (thread count) then there are the garments pre-treated with chemicals. Although, chemically treated clothes only last through a specific number of washes.

Did you know you can also create your own UPF clothing? There is a fabric dye called Sun Guard you can buy to take your favorite shirt and make it protective.

Want to find UPF clothing? You can buy it at REI, Athleta.com, Solartex.com and Amazon.com

If you're putting on sun screen or UPF clothing, just make sure you're protecting your skin!