According to our data our hypothesis was incorrect. We hypothesized that fabrics that are wool and white will be the most efficient in absorbing harmful Ultraviolet light. However according to our data, black wool garments coated with either an Ultraviolet Protection additive, either DermaDoctor or Puraderm, was the most efficient in absorbing harmful Ultraviolet light (had the highest Average Absorption and lowest ultraviolet transmittance). We know this because in our data that graphed the absorbance of Ultraviolet light through a given fabric white wool came out with an average absorbance rate of 3.3 whereas coated black wool came out with an average absorbance of 6 (highest possible Average Absorption rate when tested with a spectrophotometer).

Other materials didn’t stand a chance against coated black wool either, some figures from our data include: White polyester uncoated had an average absorbance rate of 2.34, black polyester uncoated had an average absorbance of 4, DermaDoctor treated black polyester had an average absorbance of 1.8, Puraderm treated black polyester had an average absorbance of 2.92, and uncoated black wool had an average absorbance of 2.44. 

We can then conclude that within the constraints of our experiment the use of detergent based UPF additive reduced and increased the transmittance of Ultraviolet light in some colors and materials. However this particular study suggests that a coated black wool weave provides the best protection factor against Ultraviolet radiation. Although equally important is the uncoated black polyester weave. The black polyester weave had the second highest absorbency rate (4) and the highest absorbency rate of the fabrics left uncoated.  We recognize that wearing wool in the summer is impracticable and the use of sun protective additives isn’t always convenient, so a black polyester weave might be a more practical choice when looking for a sun protective garment.