Sun
Shade and UV umbrellas
A canopy you carry is shade you choose. Here is what the rating on it says, and what it leaves to you.
Our UV umbrellas carry a coating rated UPF 50+ on the label, with a silver layer on the underside. The rating is about the fabric; the shade you get from it depends on where the sun is and how you hold the canopy.
What the rating says
UPF, the ultraviolet protection factor, says how much ultraviolet radiation a fabric lets through to the skin. The Skin Cancer Foundation explains that a UPF 50 fabric blocks 98 percent of the sun's rays and lets about one fiftieth through, and rates UPF 50 and above as excellent.
Shade is one layer
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists staying in the shade under an umbrella, a tree or other shelter as one way to reduce sun damage, next to clothing, a hat with a brim all the way round, broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher and sunglasses. The canopy covers the first of those, so on a long day out the rest of the list comes with you.
The CDC notes that ultraviolet rays are strongest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in daylight saving time in the continental US. Those are the hours when the canopy earns its place on a course or a sideline, and the hours the rest of the advice matters most.
If a figure here disagrees with a product page, the product page wins: both are built from the data behind the ZOMAKE lineup.
Questions
Questions about sun and shade
Is a ZOMAKE UV umbrella enough sun protection on its own for you?
No. It is shade, and the CDC lists shade as one measure alongside clothing, a brimmed hat, sunscreen and sunglasses.Does the silver underside of a ZOMAKE umbrella matter?
It reflects heat and light back up and away from you. The UPF rating on the label is for the coated canopy as a whole.
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