When swimming, never wear white and blue swimsuits, it is really dangerous!

Summer is here, and many people may be eager to jump into the arms of the sea and relax their tired body and mind.

Before going to the sea for a swim, you must choose a comfortable and good-looking swimsuit. But do you know that the choice of swimsuit is not only about comfort and appearance, but also safety is a very important aspect.

In many sports scenarios, clothing colors can play a role in protection and warning. So, how should we choose the color of swimsuits and other sportswear? Today, we will explore the knowledge of clothing color selection from the perspective of practicality and safety.

01

What color swimsuit is safer to wear?

Swimming is a favorite sport for many people in summer. The safety of everyone (especially children) in water is the most important thing, and the color of the swimsuit can provide a certain safety precaution.

A professional organization conducted an experiment to study the impact of swimsuit colors on children's safety. The experiment observed the visibility of swimsuits of different colors on calm and wavy water surfaces in indoor swimming pools and outdoor lakes, and concluded that fluorescent colors with strong contrast are the best swimsuit colors in indoor swimming pools and lake water.

Fluorescent colors such as fluorescent orange, fluorescent green, fluorescent pink, and fluorescent red are more vivid. The picture shows a children's swimsuit with fluorescent yellow fabric. The picture is copyrighted by the library. Reprinting and using it may cause copyright disputes

Fluorescent swimsuits can improve children's visibility in the water, which helps parents or safety personnel to watch over children in the water. White, light blue, and black are not recommended swimsuit colors. In the experiment, these colors have poor visibility or blend into the environment and are difficult to detect. This experimental conclusion can also be applied to the scene of adults choosing swimsuits.

Experiment on the visibility of swimsuit colors. Image source: Reference [2]

02

Should I choose dark or light sunscreen?

As the hot summer approaches, we should pay attention to sun protection when doing outdoor sports. Facing the hot sun, people tend to choose light-colored clothing to feel cooler, but in this case, more ultraviolet rays will be projected onto the skin through the fabric; while for dark-colored clothing, most of the ultraviolet rays will be absorbed by the clothing fabric, and the ultraviolet rays that pass through the fabric to the skin surface will be greatly reduced.

Compared with light-colored clothing, dark-colored clothing can absorb a lot of ultraviolet rays and have a sunscreen effect. However, it can also make people feel hotter because of the absorption of a lot of ultraviolet rays.

Taking polyester, the most common fabric for sportswear, as an example, the study found that the colors of polyester fabrics have the following effects on UV protection: black, navy blue, red, dark green, and purple. Black, navy blue, and red polyester fabrics have better sun protection. Unfortunately, dark clothing absorbs a lot of ultraviolet rays, which can cause the temperature of the clothing itself to rise, making people feel stuffy.

Sun protection clothing made of anti-ultraviolet fabric. Copyright image of the library, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes

Some sportswear now uses professional anti-UV fabrics (here refers to anti-UV textiles that meet the national standard GB/T 18830-2009 "Evaluation of UV Protection Performance of Textiles", reaching UPF>40, UVA transmittance <5%). This type of fabric has undergone special anti-UV processing technology and can provide sufficiently effective UV protection. At this time, the color of the clothing is not the key UV protection factor. In this case, you can choose light-colored sportswear to achieve the effect of sun protection without stuffiness.

03

What color clothes can reduce mosquito bites?

In summer, the number of mosquitoes increases greatly, especially at night. Mosquitoes become the primary problem for many people when they walk or exercise outside. Mosquitoes tend to move towards darkness, so wearing dark-colored clothing (such as black, dark red, etc.) is more likely to attract mosquito bites, while light-colored clothing (such as white, light yellow, etc.) can reduce the probability of being bitten by mosquitoes.

Black clothing is more likely to attract mosquitoes. Copyright image, reprinting may cause copyright disputes

Nowadays, you can also use portable mosquito repellent sprays, mosquito repellent water and other products to prevent mosquitoes outdoors. Choosing appropriate sportswear and using these professional mosquito repellent products can improve the mosquito repellent effect.

04

Running and Cycling

Choose clothes in these colors

More and more people are engaging in outdoor running and cycling in the summer. When running or cycling on city roads, the colors of your clothes should be as bright and eye-catching as possible.

Studies have shown that fluorescent yellow-green is the best choice under daylight, when the human eye is most sensitive to the wavelength of this color.

Cyclists wearing yellow-green fluorescent cycling clothes during the day. Copyright image of the library, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes

When the light is dim at night, orange and red perform better. When exercising at night, it is best to choose clothing with reflective materials or wear professional outdoor reflective tape on appropriate parts to increase your visibility, prevent collisions, and improve safety.

05

Hiking Adventures

These colors are safer

Outdoor adventure is becoming an increasingly popular sport, and different adventure scenes require different clothing colors. For example, in a jungle adventure, you should wear a color that contrasts with the surrounding color to improve your visibility, and avoid green, light yellow, etc., so that you can easily attract the attention of your peers.

However, from the perspective of ecological protection, it is best to use camouflage colors similar to the environment to avoid disturbing the animals living in the jungle. Therefore, the color of jungle adventure clothing should be reasonably arranged between the outer and inner clothing according to the specific situation.

Climbers in blue. Copyrighted images from the photo library. Reproduction may result in copyright disputes.

The environment of cave exploration is generally dark, so you should choose high-brightness clothing similar to that of night running, and equipped with reflective materials. For desert exploration, you need to avoid choosing the same color as the desert, and choose bright colors such as red and orange.

06

Ice and Snow Sports

The color of clothes is important

Although it is summer now, we can also cool down in advance. Driven by the Beijing Winter Olympics, winter ice and snow sports are becoming more and more popular, and there are many things to know about clothing selection for skating and skiing. In terms of color selection, it is advisable to choose outdoor ski clothes with bright colors, such as red, orange, blue, fluorescent yellow, etc., or high-purity contrasting colors.

A ski enthusiast wearing a fluorescent yellow top. Copyright image. Reproduction may cause copyright disputes.

On the one hand, bright colors can give the wearer a warm visual experience, and on the other hand, they can improve one's visibility, reminding others to get out of the way and prevent collisions when skiing at high speeds. More importantly, in the event of danger, brightly colored ski suits will help rescuers find the injured and provide timely rescue.

To sum up, when it comes to outdoor sports clothing, in addition to considering pleasing colors, we also have to consider the characteristics of different sports and, based on needs, give priority to clothing that can bring us safety.

References:

[1] Sun Jinliang, ed. New Fiber Materials[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai University Press, August 2007.

[2] Alise Everton. Swimsuit Colors – Dressing Kids For Safety.

https://www.poolmagazine.com/news/safety/swimsuit-colors-dressing-kids-for-safety/

[3] Zhang Shulin. The practical function of clothing colors[J]. Literary Review, 2006(03):95-96. DOI:10.16566/j.cnki.1003-5672.2006.03.028.

[4] The Brightest, Most Visible Safety Colors for Cyclists and Runners.

[5] Chen Bin (ed.); Zang Jiewen, Xu Chunhua, Zhou Yang, Dong Shuting, Lei Siyu (eds.). Sportswear Design[M]. Shanghai: Donghua University Press, 2018.05.

Author: Song Lidan, Consulting Engineer, Industrial Research Department, China Textile Construction Planning Institute

Reviewer: Zhang Jie, Chief Engineer of China Textile Construction Planning Institute

The cover image and some images in this article are from the copyright library

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