Cyclists wear sun hats and sun protection shawls and rush on the commute; courier riders are tightly wrapped in sun protection masks and ice sleeves and shuttle through life; in the square of the residential area, three children Groups of five, wearing sun protection vests, chasing and playing happily…
In the hot summer, sun protection equipment has become a standard for outdoor activities. Faced with the dazzling array of sun protection equipment on the market, how do consumers make the right choice? How can companies make sunscreen products more refined and more profitable?
Don’t just look at the UPF value for sun protection
From sun hats, sun protection masks, parasols, sun protection ice sleeves, to sun protection and insulated tents for outdoor sports, etc., the types of sun protection products on the market It is getting richer and richer, and the styles are getting more and more novel.
Faced with a dazzling variety of sunscreen products, how do consumers make the best choice for themselves?
Take sun protection clothing as an example. People wear sun-protective clothing, firstly to prevent sunburn, and secondly to prevent sunburn. When many consumers choose sun-protective clothing, they mainly rely on the ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) value. Some consumers even blindly pursue the UPF value, thinking that the higher the UPF value, the better. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. Sun protection clothing should not only protect you from the sun, but also provide a comfortable and breathable wearing experience.
“Good sun protection clothing should be both quick-drying and breathable, and the fabric should be light and comfortable.” Lu Zhenxing, director of the Technology R&D Center of Jinpai Warp Knitting Technology Co., Ltd., explained to a reporter from China Textile News that sun protection In fact, it prevents excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays in the sun. Ultraviolet rays are divided into UVA, UVB and UVC according to wavelength. Among them, UVA and UVB have a greater impact on the human body. From a microscopic perspective, fabrics are uneven and porous. Part of the ultraviolet light that hits the surface of the fabric will be absorbed by the fabric, part of it will be reflected on the surface of the fabric, and the rest will pass through the fabric. The design of sunscreen fabrics is to maximize the fabric’s absorption and reflection of ultraviolet rays of specific wavelengths and reduce the amount of ultraviolet rays that penetrate the fabric.
Lu Zhenxing said that the UV protection effect of sunscreen fabrics is related to the fiber raw materials, yarn and fabric structure, color, and moisture content of the fabric. In general, sunscreen fabrics are products with relatively high technical content.
Lu Zhenxing, who has lived and worked in Fujian for a long time, is also an outdoor sports enthusiast. He has his own needs and standards when choosing outdoor sun protection gear. He said: “Fujian is mountainous and has a changeable climate. It is also an outdoor mountaineering sport. When climbing in the morning and afternoon, the needs for clothing and equipment are different. For example, in the morning, the emphasis is on sun protection, quick drying and moisture absorption; in the afternoon, the emphasis is on sun protection, quick drying and moisture absorption. In addition to sun protection, we must also consider keeping warm.”
Lu Zhenxing has a deep understanding of the problems existing in the current sun protection textile market: “In recent years, sun protection products have been mixed, and various sun protection concepts have emerged one after another, confusing consumers. Dizzy and confused. Some sun protection clothing has poor wearing experience, which reduces consumers’ repurchase rate and consumption intention of sun protection products. There are still generally few popular sun protection products with good wearing experience and sun protection effect, and reasonable prices.”
Specialized segmentation is the trend
The sun protection function of fabrics is generally achieved through three levels: raw yarn, coating, and finishing. Among them, the sunscreen effect obtained through coating and finishing will weaken as the number of washings increases. Therefore, improving the UV resistance of raw yarn has become the focus of research and development of sunscreen fabrics.
The original sun protection clothing was mainly made of polyester woven fabrics, which had certain limitations in terms of breathability and wearing comfort. With the successful development of nylon yarn with UV protection and titanium dioxide content, the market share of nylon is increasing, gradually replacing the polyester market.
In addition to paying attention to the anti-UV function of the raw yarn itself, the design of the fabric structure is also very important. In the development of sun protection fabrics, knitting technology has gradually become mainstream. Polyester woven fabric has a dense structure but is not breathable. The nylon material is skin-friendly and combined with knitting technology makes the fabric breathable and more elastic, making it more comfortable to wear.
The “Sunscreen Ice Silk PRO+” product has a cool feeling and quick-drying effect
“Many brands of sun protection clothing on the market are mainly made of woven fabrics, and they sold well in the past. They are all polyester fabrics, and now they are developing more in the direction of nylon knitting. Nylon has its own coolness, and the knitted structure makes the wearing comfort experience better.” Lu Zhenxing said that the fabric structure of warp knitting technology is between weft knitting and woven , the fabric has some skinny texture, better support, better resistance to fluffing and pilling, and is more suitable for the needs of outdoor sports sunscreen products.
Jinpai warp knitting sun protection products are mainly concentrated in the sports field, such as professional cycling pants produced by warp knitting technology, which are sun protection and wear-resistant. Cycling pants are designed with inner pads, which can reduce hip wear. At the same time, the dense fabric structure can tighten the legs and reduce energy consumption caused by muscle shaking during exercise. They are very professional.
In Lu Zhenxing’s view, the development direction of sunscreen market segments from outdoor to leisure to professional fields is becoming increasingly clear, which also puts forward higher requirements for professionalism. Through joint planning and development with upstream and downstream companies, Jinpai Warp Knitting’s new products have now entered the mainstream channels of the market, and sales performance has grown steadily, indicating that customers are more certain about product quality and have good market feedback.
The sun protection clothing is made of 79% nylon and 21% spandex using a high-needle process. It has a delicate feel and a cool touch.
Ultra-fine, lightweight and breathable sunscreen product, reaching UPF50+,��Has good UV protection properties.
The demand for thin and light sun protection products is not only reflected in sun protection clothing, but also in the category of outdoor sun protection tents.
Jiangxi Changshuo Outdoor Leisure Products Co., Ltd. is a company specializing in sun protection umbrella fabrics and outdoor tent fabrics. The sunscreen fabrics currently produced by the company integrate practical functions such as light shading, heat insulation, resistance to ultraviolet radiation, and waterproofing. Jiang Hong, technical director of Changshuo Outdoor Products Company, said: “In the past two years, the market demand for thin and light tent fabrics has grown rapidly. Customers’ demand for the functions of tent fabrics include not only sun protection, but also waterproof, flame retardant, heat insulation, etc. , integrating multiple functions into one, puts forward higher requirements for the development of sun protection fabrics.”
Application scenarios continue to expand
Many people believe that sun protection clothing is a highly seasonal product Products will have strong market demand only in summer. In fact, this is also a misunderstanding.
In scenes such as high-altitude mountaineering, skiing, seaside vacations, and offshore operations, the intensity of ultraviolet rays increases exponentially. If you do not pay attention to protection, it will cause great harm to the human body. Under plateau snow conditions, 90% of ultraviolet rays can be reflected back, causing double radiation to the human body. Water surfaces strongly reflect ultraviolet rays, so people also need protection from sunscreen products.
Sunscreen products have been extended from seasonal consumption to all year round, and their application scenarios have also evolved from simple sunscreen to necessary equipment in special scenes. The expansion of scenarios has led to the rapid expansion of the sun protection product market, and has also made sun protection product manufacturers, especially sun protection clothing manufacturers, pursue the comfort, functionality, fashion and ornamental properties of their products.
An analysis report pointed out that the sun protection clothing e-commerce brand Jiao Nei had the most prominent growth in the outdoor clothing market last summer and this spring, with a year-on-year growth of 1,467%. Jiaoxia brand achieved excellent performance with a year-on-year growth of 423%. Functional sun protection clothing brand Ohsunny achieved 151% growth.
Analysis of high-growth sub-categories in Taobao Tmall’s spring and summer clothing market shows that the demand for sportswear is more casual and refined, and categories with warmth and sun protection functions are showing positive growth. Among them, sales of sun protection clothing from last summer to this spring were approximately 2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of approximately 40%.
Among the main categories of sun protection textiles, in addition to sun protection clothing, sun protection tents have also begun to become the dark horse of outdoor sun protection products. The COVID-19 epidemic has made people more eager to get closer to nature. Driven by the craze for outdoor sports, sun protection tents have also become a new growth point in the market. The application scenarios of these sun protection products have also been expanded to all seasons. The “Tent Market Research and Analysis” report recently released by the China Textile Information Center shows that in 2021, the sales volume of tents in the domestic TOP20 outdoor sports stores reached 943,700, with sales revenue of 245 million yuan. The sales volume increased by 12% year-on-year, and the sales amount increased by 12% year-on-year. 30%.
Liu Changjiang, director of the Supply Chain Cooperation Department of China Textile Information Center, analyzed that from the perspective of sales proportion, the distribution of outdoor tents in the four quarters of the year has tended to be even, and the application scenarios of sun protection tents have changed from Summer extends to all seasons. At the same time, with the development of the camping economy, family consumption has gradually become the main force.
“This market is strengthening and the market capacity has increased.” Talking about the market changes of outdoor tents, Jiang Hong told the reporter of China Textile News that in the process of sunscreen umbrella cloth processing and outdoor tent fabric production and research and development process In addition to studying how to better provide fabrics with sun protection, shading, UV protection and other functions, we also need to consider the future development direction of this field.
“In the future, the field of yarn is an important direction for the research and development of sunscreen products, and there is a lot of room for exploration. For example, the application of new raw materials such as graphene fiber with UV protection needs to be expanded in the field of sunscreen, and textile There is also more and more room for collaboration between upstream and downstream industries. For another example, can we combine research on sun protection and functional smart wear to collect and store the ultraviolet energy absorbed by sun protection clothing, so that sun protection clothing can protect you from the sun in summer and keep you warm in winter? .” Jiang Hong, a mentor at the corporate postdoctoral innovation base, is leading her team to explore.
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