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I want sun protection for my arms.

I bought these from a bike shop.

They fit VERY tightly to my arms.

When I wear them, they cause me to sweat about twice as much as wearing a long sleeve polyester shirt.

Is that normal ?

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  • Use sun block! But there are light sleeves with UV blocking effect. You'll need to shop around.
    – Carel
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 6:17
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    Maybe these are intended as arm warmers, not merely as sun protection? Why not use sun cream?
    – Michael
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 8:29
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    While sunblock is an option it has some drawbacks. It clogs the pores so your skin can not breath. Which is the way the body dissipates heat.
    – fixit7
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 9:40
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    Hang on, folks - arm coolers exist. Never used them myself, but they're generally made of fabrics that provide a cooling sensation if wet. Can't answer the OP's question due to lack of experience, though. Example product here. desotosport.com/products/arm-coolers-made-of-skin-cooler-90
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 11:15
  • Keep in mind that sweating is what makes them work (though you can also pour water on them) It's possible these particular samples aren't as suitable fabric as the sleeves of your long sleeve top, but there's nothing wrong with the concept - you trade the risk of gaps for the option of taking them off. Personally I just prefer the long sleeve top, if I want something else for after the sun goes down I bring a second and get to wear something not already saturated with 14 hours of sweat solids.
    – Chris Stratton
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 14:44

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They're basically arm warmers. They have to be close fitting to stay in place. I suspect you're not sweating as much more as you think, but it's not evaporating as quickly - her way you can easily end up sweatier.

Some arm warmers/sun protectors are better than others - thinner and better at wicking sweat away. So you may have been a bit unlucky. Light colours are also helpful in the sun, but I'd rather use suncream even if that means carrying some and topping it up. I found that using sleeves like yours as sun protection left me with little gaps that kept opening up where they met my jersey sleeves, and I got sunburnt there. Yours may fit better.

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    They were advertised as a block to UV rays. Putting the sleaves up higher left no gaps.
    – fixit7
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 9:43
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    My thermal arm warmers were also advertised as blocking UV, which they do very well, as well as being warm and windproof. The note about the gap I get was more of a caution - fit differs between people.
    – Chris H
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 20:47

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