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SOLAR TAN THRU's
PRESS RELEASES |
INSIDE TRIATHLON - July 1995
"Solar Tan Thru"
Swimming suits by Solar
By Leonard Zinn
Salient features: The sun can shine through Solar Tan Thru swimsuits to give the wearer an all-over tan. The bright, high-contrast color prints make the fabric opaque to the eye when wet or dry, except when pulled away from the skin. Solid-color panels are see-through. The Solar Tan Thru fabric is an open, honey-comb-like knit made in Germany of 70 percent Nylon and 30 percent Lycra. Like greenhouse shade cloth, it allows light to penetrate. It is printed in Italy, and the suits are manufactured in Germany.
Solar Tan Thru fabric is claimed to give the average effect of SPF 10 sun screen and block more than 50 percent of the light. The sun protection factor varies depending on the angle of the sun; when light hits the fabric perpendicular to its surface, the FPF can be as low as 2. Solar Tan Thru makers point out that the fabric does not affect the relative proportions of UVA and UVB light hitting the skin, and human skin has evolved to handle the naturally occurring ratio. UVA, which tanning salons produce, causes immediate pigment change, and UVB causes the longer-term tan.
Likes: Solar Tan Thru suits really do what the manufacturer says they do. You can see right through the swimsuit when you hold it up but your eye can not see through the bright print when someone is wearing it. Our art director laid out in the sun a few times in one, and did get an all-over tan, except under the seams. (Tanning instructions supplied with the suit say to move the straps periodically). I like getting a tan everywhere while being clothed.
Solar Tan Thru suits are extremely light and dry quickly. They come in numerous styles, stretch in every direction and fit like any good-quality suit. They are machine washable in cold water. The tester of a one-piece women's model particularly like its cut.
Other: There have been attempts at tan-through suits in the past, but they have not been successful commercially. All-cotton versions did not have the look of contemporary suits, and often became see-through as well as tan-through when wet. Later synthetic versions only had one-way stretch and did not fit well.
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