[iva (OP)]

I have read a recent article stating that red and blue clothing protect the skin best against UV. Why is this so when white has always been the popular choice? Also I would imagine composition of the clothes would make a difference too then and not just their colour?

 

[Bored chemist]

There's no real way to tell from the colour if something blocks UV. Having said that it's hard to see how you could make a dye that was black but didn't absorb UV well. The design of the clothing is a big factor too.

[LeeE]

Red and blue doesn't make sense to me.  Red is long wavelength visible light and blue is short wavelength visible light, so red and blue are at opposite ends of the visible spectrum.  However, both red and blue light are longer than UV, which is shorter than either.

[BenV]

I would think that white clothes would be better, as they often include optical brighteners which interact with UV to give out blue light, and make your clothes "whiter than white"^TM.

[flr]

even the glass is opaque for UV.

[LeeE]

'Ordinary' glass is partially transparent to Near ultraviolet (UVA).

[Bored chemist]

You need to remember that cloth is just a lot of holes woven together. The holes have no UV protection so the fabric will never be brilliant as a sun block.

[LeeE]

...is just a lot of holes woven together...

You make it sound like semiconductors []

[efovargue]

I thought that black absorbed UV light - thousands of old women in Greece can't be wrong!



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