In Australia, sunshine is part of daily life — and while we love it, we also know how important it is to protect our skin from UV rays. Clothing plays a big role here, and fabrics with a UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) rating give us an extra layer of confidence when spending time outdoors.

At Bamboo Body, we’ve always believed that clothes should do more than just look good. They should feel comfortable, be made with care for the planet, and support your wellbeing too. That’s why we test our fabrics for UPF protection, so you know exactly how they perform.

Back in 2020, we tested our range for the first time, and every fabric came back with an excellent UPF50+ result. This year, in 2025, we’ve gone back and retested both our existing fabrics and some of the new blends we’ve introduced along the way. The results give us a more detailed picture — and we want to share that with you.

In October 2020, we sent a range of our fabrics to ARPANSA (the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) — Australia’s national authority on radiation and UV protection. ARPANSA is the accredited body that carries out UPF testing according to the Australian Standard, so the results are independent and reliable.

The testing process is straightforward but very precise. Small samples of fabric are placed into a specialised instrument (a Labsphere UV-1000F spectrophotometer), which measures how much ultraviolet (UV) light passes through. The less UV that gets through, the higher the fabric’s Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) rating.

The outcome was something we were proud of: every single fabric tested achieved the highest possible result — UPF50+ (Excellent Protection)

This means that under lab conditions, the fabrics blocked at least 98% of UV rays.

For us, this confirmed that our focus on natural, breathable, and sustainable fabrics didn’t come at the cost of sun safety. It was an important milestone and gave us confidence in sharing these results with our community.

One of the fabrics we tested in 2020 was our navy bamboo/spandex blend (our Bamboo Softline Jersey). Here's the most important metrics.

This graph is showing the UV transmittance characteristics of a material — essentially how much ultraviolet (UV) light passes through it at different wavelengths. Let’s break it down:
X-axis (horizontal): Wavelength in nanometres (nm), ranging from about 290 to 400 nm.

This span covers both the UVB region (280–315 nm), which is linked to sunburn, and the UVA region (315–400 nm), which contributes to skin ageing, wrinkles, dark spots and can also contribute to skin cancers.

Y-axis (vertical): Average transmittance, or the fraction of UV light that passed through the fabric.


The values are extremely small — between 0.002 and 0.004 — which means only a tiny percentage of UV rays were able to pass through.

In the result table below you can clearly see that the Mean UVB and UVA transmittance is 0.3% which is very low. The UPF is 350, which falls into the UPF50+ excellent protection category.

So with our first testing in 2020, all the fabrics we sent to ARPANSA — bamboo softline jersey and bamboo/organic cotton jersey — came back with the highest protection rating of UPF50+ (Excellent Protection) in every colourway, as you can see in the summary table below.

Since our first round of testing in 2020, we’ve added new fabrics, new colours, and new blends to the Bamboo Body range. Naturally, we wanted to know how these would perform under the sun.

We also know that fabrics can vary slightly from batch to batch — things like yarn thickness, fabric weight, weave, and even colour can make a difference to how much UV is blocked. That’s why a retest felt important: it gives us a fresh, more detailed picture of how our current fabrics are performing.

Another reason is that the Australian standard for UPF testing (AS 4399:2020) is now stricter than when we first tested back in 2020. The way results are classified today is more conservative, which means the same type of fabric might fall into a lower UPF category even if the testing process is identical.

When we retested our fabrics in 2025, the results gave us a more varied picture. The majority of fabrics — including staples like black softline jersey, burgundy, our new French terry fabrics, and several of our bamboo linen wovens (Noosa and Brighton) — achieved the top rating of UPF50+ (Excellent Protection). A smaller group, such as our Scandi woven and pink pyjama jersey, came in at UPF30 (Good Protection). And a handful of lighter fabrics, including the ivory and powder blue softline jerseys, as well as the Sahara linen woven, were rated at UPF15 (Minimum Protection).

What truly stood out to us was the white softline jersey. We tested this fabric multiple times and received results ranging from UPF50+ to UPF30 to UPF15. This inconsistency left us puzzled, and we’re continuing to investigate the reasons behind it, including working closely with our factory for further insights. For now, we’ve chosen to assign the lowest protective level (UPF15) to this fabric to ensure transparency and safety. At the same time, we’re determined to improve it so it can return to the UPF50+ standard.

Overall, most Bamboo Body fabrics still provide the highest level of sun protection, while others offer moderate to minimum protection — something we want to be upfront about so you know exactly what to expect from each fabric.

In general, lighter colours in lighter-weight fabrics — particularly the softline jersey in shades like white, ivory, and powder blue — tend to test lower. They’re still UPF certified, but with a lower factor compared to darker or denser fabrics.

The most important takeaway is that the majority of our fabrics continue to offer the highest level of sun protection — UPF50+ (Excellent Protection). If you’re wearing darker colours or denser fabrics like bamboo organic cotton, French terry, or our linen wovens (Noosa and Brighton), you’re getting excellent coverage under the Australian sun.

At the same time, we want to be upfront about fabrics that tested lower. Some lighter shades in softline jersey (white, ivory, powder blue) and the Sahara linen woven came back at UPF15 (Minimum Protection). These fabrics still block the majority of UV rays and are UPF certified, but they don’t provide as much protection as darker or denser fabrics.

Why the difference? Colour, weight, and composition all matter. Darker shades and heavier fabrics naturally block more UV, while lighter colours in lighter-weight fabrics let more through. Even within the same fabric type, results can vary — which is why we continue to test and monitor regularly.

If sun protection is especially important to you, please consider choosing darker colours or denser fabrics for the best possible coverage.

Of course, clothing is just one part of being sun safe. We always recommend applying SPF to exposed skin, wearing a wide-brim hat and sunglasses, seeking shade when possible, and checking the UV index on your weather app to make sure you’re fully protected.

To help you explore our fabrics more closely, you can familiarise yourself with our fabric range. You’ll also notice UPF fabric icons across our website, which make it easy to understand the protection factor of each material at a glance.

And if you’d like to shop only our top-rated options, we’ve created a dedicated UPF50+ page, where you’ll find all Bamboo Body fabrics that achieved a UPF50+ Excellent Protection rating.