About Beneunder

Beneunder makes sun-protective clothing and accessories: lightweight UPF jackets, hats, face and neck covers, arm sleeves, sunglasses and parasol-style umbrellas.

Clothing that does the job sunscreen keeps failing at

The core of the range is light, packable jackets and shirts with a UPF rating, alongside broad-brimmed and full-coverage hats, visors, sun gloves, arm sleeves and neck covers. Around them sit ordinary warm-weather clothes — tees, shorts, leggings, swimwear — plus umbrellas, sunglasses and travel bits. The pitch is practical rather than technical: fabric does not need reapplying every two hours, does not wash off in water and does not get missed on the back of the neck, which is where most people's sunscreen routine actually fails.

What a UPF number means, and what it does not

UPF describes how much ultraviolet the fabric blocks, and a high rating means very little gets through where the fabric covers. Two honest caveats. First, it only protects what it covers — a UPF jacket does nothing for your face, ears or the backs of your hands, so a hat and sunscreen still have a job. Second, the numbers quoted above the standard scale are marketing rather than a meaningful difference: beyond a certain point the fabric is blocking almost everything and the extra digits do not represent extra protection you can feel.

Choosing for heat as well as for sun

The trap with sun clothing is buying something that protects well and is unbearable to wear. Look for loose cut, ventilation panels and genuinely light fabric, because a tight synthetic layer in humidity is how a jacket ends up in the bag by ten in the morning. Darker and more tightly woven fabrics block more ultraviolet than pale, loose ones, but they also run hotter, so read the weight as well as the rating. Wet and stretched fabric protects less than dry and relaxed fabric, which is worth remembering around water.

Washing, wear and the limits of all of this

Sun-protective finishes last longer if you wash gently and avoid bleach and high heat; a garment that has become thin and stretched is no longer doing what it did new. Hold it up to a bright light — if you can see through it easily, so can ultraviolet. And keep the whole thing in proportion: shade and timing matter more than any garment, ultraviolet passes through cloud, and any mole or patch of skin that changes shape, colour or size is a reason to see a doctor regardless of how carefully you cover up.