Sunscreen ???

[karibritt01]

The sunscreens we regularly use (Water Babies and Banana Boat Sport) tend to turn our clothes orange if they are not washed immediately after wearing. My kids are getting ready to go to summer camp for a week, and I am dreading all the orange laundry that will come back home with them. Does anyone know of a good sunscreen that will not ruin their clothes?

 

[Christine]

I believe that the non-chemical sunscreens do not do this. Try looking for a brand that only contains zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Blue Lizard is just one that comes to mind. You can actually get a white stain on your clothes, temporarily, for the non-chemical sunscreens but I find that it will come out in the wash.

If you are already using the non-chemical ones, it could be some other type of additive that is causing this and you may want to switch to a more "natural" brand.

 

[karibritt01]

How does the Blue Lizard brand protect? Does it wash off or sweat off too easily? (Just trying to figure out how often they will need to reapply.) Is it available at Wal-Mart?

 

[Christine]

How does the Blue Lizard brand protect? Does it wash off or sweat off too easily? (Just trying to figure out how often they will need to reapply.) Is it available at Wal-Mart?

Blue Lizard and others like it are predominantly physical blockers. They use zinc oxide and titanium dioxide which are minerals and lay on the skin and block the sun. A chemical sunscreen such as avenbenzone cause a chemical reaction in the skin and causes a block that way. Both can wash off and both need to be reapplied equally as often.

The zinc sunscreens go on white and take a bit of effort to rub in and get the white to disappear. Once the white goes away, you can usually see a reflective "shine" on your skin when you hold it (such as your arm) in the light a certain way.

Remember the 70s when lifeguards all wore white stuff on their noses and faces. That's zinc oxide. Only these days they have micronized it so it doesn't have much of the white residue. I find it very effective.

I bought Blue Lizard at my grocery store (Wegman's and Giant). I don't regularly shop Wal-Mart but I don't remember seeing it there. Wal-Mart probably sells something like it though.

 

[pixiewings71]

We use Banana Boat sport spray on, it's never turned our clothes orange....