Uniqlo Japan sun protection shirt is only equivalent to Vietnamese popular goods?

It takes a machine to measure the UV reflectance of a fabric. And there has been no testing done on this shirt.

Recently, women are crazy about the Japanese Uniqlo brand sun protection shirt with rumors that it is heat and sun resistant, thin and light but has the ability to reflect UV rays up to 95%. So is the shirt really as "miraculous" as people say?

Browsing through some online shopping websites, the advertisements sound very attractive such as: 95% sun protection shirt, UV protection, anti-aging, cancer prevention,... however, the price of this shirt is not cheap.

Through an online shop, our group of reporters went to the store according to the address listed online and received the sharing of Ms. Le Thi Hang (To Hieu, Cau Giay) sharing: "This shirt is a high-end Japanese product with prices ranging from 500 thousand to 2 million VND, but the price is worth it. The shirt has a sun protection index UPF 50+, the UV blocking rate can be up to more than 90%. The shirt is soft, thin, light, airy, sweat-absorbent, woven from ceramic fibers using nano technology".

Despite the high price, women still do not hesitate to spend millions on a shirt just to go out in the sun. Ms. Thanh Mai (Tran Thai Tong, Cau Giay) shared: "When my friends introduced it to me, I was hesitant because the price was a bit high, but after deciding to invest, I was not disappointed. The shirt is of very good quality, and after 2 weeks of use, my skin tone was much brighter."

Recently, women in Ho Chi Minh City also rushed to buy this shirt to protect against the record heat, causing a series of Uniqlo shirt stores to sell out continuously. Facebook user Loan Anh (Ho Chi Minh City) shared the status: "Luckily! Finally, after many days of searching, I was able to buy it, the magical Uniqlo sun protection shirt."

Vietnamese sun protection shirts only block 5% of the sun?

Along with the popularity of this Japanese shirt, there are also many rumors that Vietnamese sun protection shirts can only help women protect against about 5% of sunlight, because of their cheap price and "poor" material.

Strolling through the student support area - Green Market in Cau Giay, famous for being a market with cheap and popular goods. We conducted a survey with the vendors in the market. Ms. Hoan, the owner of a kiosk selling sun protection shirts, said: "Most of Vietnam's sun protection shirts are imported from China, then the garment factories will process and ship the goods to the wholesale markets, so the price is cheap. But the quality is also very good, thick, sweat-absorbent and good at sun protection."

Vietnamese shirts also have good sun protection.

She also added: "Vietnam cannot import Japanese nano sunscreen fabric for processing because the cost will be very high, and if Vietnamese goods are said to be expensive, it will be very difficult to sell. Chinese fabric is cheap, so the finished product will be more suitable for Vietnamese people's prices."

Or according to Mr. Phuc, the owner of another kiosk, who also affirmed: "The quality of Vietnamese products is not much inferior to Japanese shirts, it's just that they are not as thin, light and neat, and because Vietnam doesn't know how to use PR tricks, it can't push up the price."

When asked about this issue, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, former lecturer at the Institute of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, told reporters that there has been no scientific testing of the shirt's sun protection.

He said: "It is necessary to use machines and experiments to measure the UV and ultraviolet reflectivity of fabric materials. And there has never been any testing or measurement of this shirt. However, with advanced Japanese nanotechnology, creating thin, light shirts made from special fibers that can reflect sunlight well is completely possible."

Shops in the student market sell cheap Vietnamese sun protection shirts

The professor also responded to the rumor that Vietnamese shirts can only block 5% of sunlight: "This is completely wrong. In fact, a shirt that cannot be penetrated by sunlight is already capable of blocking sunlight. Vietnamese shirts are thick and block sunlight very well. Even a military shirt can block sunlight. But because Vietnam does not have advanced techniques to produce such special fabrics, the shirt does not have the ability to block sunlight as much as a nano-technology shirt."

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh also advised women to choose cool, sweat-absorbent cotton shirts: "Just choose shirts that when you raise your arms towards the sun, light cannot penetrate."

So, through this, we can answer the questions of some women why there is no "made in Vietnam" UV-protective sun-protective shirt because Vietnam cannot produce this type of fabric yet and because if we import the fabric for processing, the cost is extremely expensive and difficult to sell.

However, according to the analysis of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh mentioned above, even though it is not made from modern materials or advanced technology, the normal Vietnamese sun jacket still helps women protect themselves from the sun effectively at a very affordable price. This is also a good choice and much more economical, women should take note.

According to Vietnam.net