Anyone used the clothing/swimwear with sun protection built in?

[grlzmom]

Hello,

Question from a first timer with VERY fair skinned children who I know would burn very easily (have managed to successfully slather them with sunblock for all of our disney vacations).

Am considering purchasing some of the tshirts, hats, swimshirts with the uv protection in them. I thought especially with snorkeling a swim shirt would be helpful to help prevent a sunburn (of course using sunblock too).

Please give an honest opinion if you think its a waste of money (since they arent too cheap to begin with). We already have all of this stuff for the baby but its the bigger girls I am thinking of (5,7,10,12)

Thanks in advance

grlzmom

[aks22]

I hear you!
Nothing like red shoulders to ruin a vacation
I bought one of the swim tshirts (I'm pretty sure it was Frogwear, or something about a frog...?) when my oldest was two. She wore it , handed it down to #2, and then handed it down to my brother's kids, who are STILL using it. The colorful design on the front is showing its age, but I can report first-hand that there were no sunburns when wearing the shirt. I was very careful to following the care instructions. They also had sunscreen on, but they definitely did not have as much sun exposure with the shirt on. I bought a matching hat, but its disappeared over theyears. They get new floppy hats every year, though.

You might also try to full coverage swimsuits that look like diving suits. My sister had one for her daughter, who loved it. Great protection with the coverage. I may get them for our two (9 and 6) this trip.

[dijid]

I bought two suits from ebay. DD has only worn them in an indoor pool, so I can not verify the actual sun protection or durability of the suits (although they look well made.) They dry very fast and were less expensive than other similar suits. Check out this link and click on swimsuits to see what's available:

http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=14844495

[albiats]

There is a product made by the RIT people called RIT Sun Guard. You put it in the washing machine and it doesn't change the color or fit of the clothing.

It makes a tshirt that typically has an SPF of 5 into an SPF 30 rating and it lasts for several washings.

I saw it on the shelf at a Walgreen's Drug Store and it wasn't expensive at all, just 2 or 3 dollars for one packet.

It's also discussed in this article on the Dermadoctor Website:
RIT Sun Guard Article (http://www.dermadoctor.com/product.asp?productID=476)

I don't have any personal experience with it, but I have read about it several times and all of the articles were favorable.

[DVC'96]

Hi! My mother in law bought my kids the C-wear swimsuits and we love them! They are made and sold in Australia where the UV rays are much stronger. They outgrew them and I bought them ones from another catalog last year and the suits themselves were not the quality of the first ones. I just recently found the web site that sells the C-wear suits- http://solartex.com/index.html
The suits also have a piece of fabric attached that you can cut out and send back to the company to check the SPF level. I like the two-piece ones, they are easier for them to use the potty.

[aks22]

I ditto above on the Cwear suits. The one I mentioned my sister got for her daughter was C-wear, and she insisted on these Australian suits. Apparently everyone who has tried them swears by them.

[grlzmom]

Wow, thanks so much for all these great replies.

What a wonderful bunch you are :)

grlzmom