UV STANDARD 801

Experts recommend clothing as the simplest and safest form of UV protection. But not every textile is UV-safe and particularly light summer clothing does not protect sufficiently. In order to provide consumers with the greatest possible protection, UV STANDARD 801 was developed by independent textile research institutes in Germany (www.hohenstein.de), Austria (www.oeti.biz) and Switzerland (www.testex.com). This stricter process exposes garments to extreme stress, for example heavy stretching, applying moisture or mechanical influences, and determines the lowest protective factor on that basis. This value, the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF), indicates the factor by which the skin’s self-protection time is extended without causing skin redness or sunburn.

The UV STANDARD 801

This certifies safe sun protection even in wet, stretched and used condition of clothing. The certificate is reviewed annually. New fabrics and new colours will also be retested.

Basically, each textile offers a certain amount of UV protection. It is true: the denser the fabric and the darker the fabric, the higher the protection. Except that a heavy, black poncho isn’t everyone’s idea of comfy summer apparel. A dry, white cotton shirt just takes it to a UPF of 10, in wet condition the UPF melts down to 2.

Depending on the colour, fibre and weaving as well as the condition of the garment, the protective effect varies considerably. While a pair of jeans has a high protective factor, it is not a first choice to wear on the beach in summer temperatures. Light summer clothing offers virtually no UV protection due to its thin fabric, often bright colours and permeable weave. In addition, the UV protection of textiles is greatly reduced by moisture, stretching, abrasion and laundry, as the graph shows:

As you can see, create functional textiles, despite light fabrics and bright colors, significantly more. But not all functional textiles keep what they promise. For example, some products have a UPF of 200 and above. However, if their products are tested in wet or stretched condition instead of just in unused ones, the value sometimes drops dramatically. The test process and consistently good results are important.

The Australian-New Zealand standard AS/NZ is the oldest standard developed. It checks after the Melbourne solar spectrum on January 1st. The test is not carried out under conditions of use, only on the new textile in factory condition.

The European standard EN 13758-1:2007-03 is based on the American standard AATCC TM 183-2000 under the solar spectrum of Albuquerque. The test is not carried out under conditions of use, only on the new textile in factory condition.

The CE mark states that the product on which it is attached meets the requirements of all European Community guidelines applicable to this product. The CE mark is not, first and foremost, a consumer label. It initially serves as an “EU passport” for this product. This means that this product may be placed on the market in any member state within the EU, unless it is obvious that the CE mark has been misplaced. The CE mark is usually attached by the manufacturer himself.

Doesn’t say anything about UV protection.

TÜV-tested
Unfortunately, we do not know according to which criteria the TÜV tests the UV protection of clothing and for what period and under what conditions the test is valid.

The test label must include a test number in the footer. In the absence of the test number, it may indicate that only one product from the manufacturer’s entire range has been tested – but not necessarily the present one.

By the way, the same applies to the seal of the Oeko-Tex Standard 100: If the test number is missing, it is not guaranteed that the present product has been explicitly certified. It may also be an indication that only one component of the product (e.g. only the thread) has been tested for pollutants, but not the complete product.