Best Ways To Maximize Sun Protection For Your Hands With Sun Gloves

Going on a trip or just walking long in the sun on a hot day can expose your body to the influence of UV rays which is harmful to your skin. If you are camping, fishing, spending time on a beach, having a picnic or just going for a walk in the park for a few minutes, the sun can burn your skin causing you pain, elevating your risk of skin cancer, and causing sun spots/sun damage that will age your skin. You have to make sure that you have the means to protect your skin from direct long exposure to the sun rays and that you can avoid getting a sunburn(even on the cloudiest of days where the UV index could be deceivingly high). In addition, sun damage and UV exposure to our hands can happen even when we least expect it. For example, those heat lamps your gel manicure (or your partners) is cured with at the nail salon? Those UV lamps emit UV A rays. Though brief, the time under these lamps causes cumulative damage.

Ways to Protect Your Skin From the Sun

There are a lot of ways to protect your body from the UV rays, some of which are handy at any time and others will have to be searched for and prepared for ahead of time.. There are two forms of known sun protection: chemical and physical.

The first and the most obvious way to protect your skin from burning in the sun is by applying sunscreen. However, not everybody would use it. Some people don’t like the sensation of it or the smell, other people can be allergic to certain components of the cream. Sometimes, even wearing sunscreen, people can get a sunburn maybe because they didn’t apply it properly or didn’t read the label and got a wrong percentage. In many cases it can rub off and isnt reapplied often enough-especially when you are jumping in and out of the water or spending time in outdoor sports and sweating it off.

Another way to get sun protection is by using a physical barrier such as clothing. For those whose skin is more sensitive to the sun rays, long sleeves and pants are recommended. Another must-have accessory when you’re out under the sun is a hat (getting a sunstroke is no fun). Not only the hat can protect you from getting a heatstroke, but also it can cover your face and protect your facial skin from the effects of the suns harsh rays. Sunglasses that block UV rays are another necessary item to protect your eyes from the sun. The eyes, as well as the skin around them, are very delicate and exposing your eyes to the sun for too long without protection can cause certain eye diseases as well as unsightly crows feet from squinting.

How to Protect Your Hands?

However, even if you got every spot on your body covered and protected, there is one spot we tend to forget about but which can get a sunburn and sun damage quite easily - our hands! Of course, you can also use sunscreen on them. However, it is not always practical and sunscreen can leave a film which can attract sand at the beach, cause your hands to be slipperry while riding a bike or holding a fishing pole., or make your hands unable to grasp your surfboard while surfing .

Thus, if you need to protect your hands from hazardous UV rays, there’s another option you can look into - sun protection gloves. What are they and what are their uses and benefits? This is exactly what we will discuss further in this article.

Sun Gloves and Their Features

Hands are exposed to the sunlight most of the time- while you are driving, fishing, camping, hiking, or just having a walk outside with a friend. What’s more, the harmful UV rays absorbed by the skin can not only influence the condition of it but also accelerate the aging process.

UPF

Sun gloves are usually made of fabric that protects skin from the UV rays better than regular fabrics. Similar to sunscreen, this fabric provides a higher level of UPF (Ultraviolet Protective Factor) which helps filter out and absorb the UV rays letting through only 2% of them. For example, the UPF 50+ has sun protective qualities equivalent to SPF 50+ of sunscreen. See our article about understanding the differences between UPF and SPF for a more detailed understanding of UPF.

Design

Sun protective gloves usually come complete or fingerless. People usually choose the fingerless model as they leave your fingertips open but protect the back of your palm from a sunburn and keep your hands cooler than they would be in the gloves covering the fingers(that often cause excessive sweating and less grip). Fingerless gloves help keep you agile and able to grasp onto items such as a fishing pole without losing your grip. These are also the perfect gloves to slip on when getting your nails painted with gel polish as only the tips will be exposed to the UV light that is necessary to cure the gel thus limiting your overall exposure.

Fabric

The best thing about sun protective gloves is that you won’t even notice them during wear: they are super comfortable and made of a thin polyester blend which makes them almost unnoticeable on your hand.

Cooling Feature

Wearing sun protective gloves, you don’t have to worry that your hand will get too warm or sweat. The best sun gloves are actually designed to keep your skin cooler. You can just dip them in the water and the fabric wicks moisture , effectively cooling your skin.

Portability

Gloves with sun protection are also easy to carry around. You can take them with you virtually anywhere simply fitting them in your handbag or pocket. They fold up easily and are super portable so you can have them with you on every trip, even if its a short drive to the neighborhood store. In fact, sun damage sustained on your hands just while holding the steering wheel is one of the most obvious signs of aging. IMAGE OF AGING HANDS

Washing

Sun gloves are also easy to maintain. They don’t require any special treatment, you may simply hand wash them with a mild soap and air dry them every so often or spot clean as needed.

Men and Women

The sun gloves are available in a wide range of sizes both for men and women. In most cases, they are unisex. As such, the standard mens size would most likely be Large and the standard Woman would buy a Medium unless their hands run particularly big or small.

The Benefits of Sun Protective Gloves

Effectiveness

Sun protective gloves are proven to be more effective than sunscreen. Even when the UPF and SPF factors are respectfully the same, the difference between sun gloves and sunscreen is the ease of use, the likelihood you will remember to reapply (and how effective you reapply the layer of sunscreen) as well as if sunscreen interrupts with your activity (such as skewering kabobs-who wants minerals or chemicals on their hands while doing that or holding a fishing pole with slippery sunscreened hands).

Younger Skin

As previously mentioned, the exposure of your skin to direct sunlight can negatively affect the condition of it. Ever heard of the common saying that “your hands tell your age”. Our hands are affected by multiple factors that make them age faster and UV rays are the greatest contributor to aging. By using sun protective gloves, you protect the skin on your hands from the sunlight exposure and can keep your hand’s skin younger and healthier for a long time.

It’s Cool

We don’t mean cool as in sharp but in a literal meaning. Sun protective gloves help you stay cooler on a sunny day, eliminate sweating thus preventing your hands from getting uncomfortable or developing some type of rash or blisters. Certain fabric technologies as well as the water wicking process will do the trick. However, depending on the design you choose, it doesn’t mean you can’t also benefit from a stylish component of it and look cool as well.

Dermatologists Approve

Dermatologists worldwide agree that wearing sun-protective gloves protects your skin better from UV rays. Sun protective gloves are recommended over sunscreen because the sunscreen can rub off, lose its effectiveness through perspiration or just wear off after a set amount of time. They are specifically useful for people with more sensitive and delicate skin.

Durable

Sun gloves are made of a resilient but thin material and can serve you for many uses. They are highly durable and easily withstand washing without losing their quality or sun protective properties. Most sungloves are protective because of the way the fabric is woven (very tightly, blocking out UV rays), not by a chemical treatmet. Thus, they don’t lose their effectiveness with use unless use is causing their threads to unravel and weaken. By investing into sun protective gloves you invest into healthier skin, save on pricy sun spot removal and skin damage treatments in the long run and preserve the good condition and youth of your hands. Most importantly, those who have higher susceptability to skin cancer or those with photosensitivies like Lupus can rest assured they are protecting their hands from such issues.

Suitable for Every Occasion

You can use sun protective gloves anywhere you go. It can be a hiking, camping, hunting or fishing trip or a chill day at the beach. It is specifically convenient during hunting or fishing since your hands are exposed to the sunlight for a long time (most of the time not even moving). With sun gloves, you don’t have to worry about reapplying sunscreen which can be extremely inconvenient in this situation if you are in the middle of something or working with dirty materials or even food.

Best Sun Gloves

When you have decided to get a pair of sun-protective gloves (and we confirm, it’s a wise decision), you can get lost in a wide variety of items suggested on the market. It's important that you look for the features that are important to you- whether it is that the sun gloves are lightweight, UPF 50, have fingers or not, have an inside grip or not, and their size/color. The best sun gloves serve the purpose of protecting your hands from harmful UV rays and will fit like a second skin. We recognize there are a lot of great options that can be found to protect your hands from the sun, and even offer our own version of sun gloves that has been clinically tested to be UPF 50, lightweight and a neutral nude color. Whatever brand/option you choose, its important that you feel comfortable and are willing to keep them in your pocket to wear them when needed (because what's the point if they are stowed away in storage). You want to make sure they are kept handy for the best investment you can make-that in your health, and specifically, your skins health.