Sun protection
UPF50+
Tested to three standards.
All our swimwear is tested against the Australian, European and US standards and rated UPF50+: AS 4399:2020 in Australia, BS EN 13758-2002 in Europe and AATCC TM 183-2020 in the United States.
Our fabric
From plastic bottle to swimwear.
Our swim shorts and much of our range are made with REPREVE, a recycled yarn spun from used plastic bottles. Our women's swimwear is made from REPREVE recycled nylon. Every piece is tested to UPF50+ and made to be handed down, so the bottles stay out of the sea and the swimwear stays out of landfill.
How a bottle becomes swimwear
Four steps, start to finish.
01
Bottles are collected.
Used plastic bottles are gathered, sorted and cleaned.
02
Chopped into flake.
Caps and labels off, then shredded into clean plastic flake.
03
Melted and spun into yarn.
The flake is melted into chip, then extruded and spun into fine REPREVE recycled yarn.
04
Woven, knitted and sewn.
The yarn becomes our fabric, cut and sewn into Sandbar swimwear.
Why recycled
Plastic that already exists.
Most swimwear is made from virgin polyester, nylon or spandex, which means extracting oil and refining it into new plastic. We would rather use plastic that is already here. Billions of bottles go to landfill and the sea every year. REPREVE gives them a second life as fibre, and making yarn from bottles uses less energy and produces fewer emissions than making it from oil.
REPREVE is made by Unifi in the United States, at its own bottle processing and recycling centres. Its recycled content is verified by U TRUST and traceable with FiberPrint, so what we say about our fabric can be checked, not just claimed.
5 to 8bottles in every pair of swim shorts
30bn+bottles recycled by Unifi, makers of REPREVE
U TRUSTverified and FiberPrint traceable
Tested round the world
Silky soft, airy light, and rated UPF50+.
Sun protection only works if a child will keep it on. That comes down to how it feels, so we spent two years getting the fabric right before we sold a single piece.
Development
2 years
Of testing before we were happy.
Silky soft, light, breathable and fast drying. Swimwear that goes on without a fuss and comes off at the end of the day, not halfway through it.
The right stretch
Stretch where it matters.
Rash guards, women's swimwear and kids' swimwear are four-way stretch, for free movement in the water. Men's and boys' swim shorts are woven REPREVE polyester, cut to hold their shape swim after swim.
Made to last
Stitched into the fabric, not printed on.
A print can crack and fade. Our embroidered motifs are stitched into the fabric, so the lobsters and turtles look the same on the last summer as they did on the first. Metal string caps on our drawstring shorts and properly finished seams do the rest.
Swimwear that gets handed down to the next sibling is the most sustainable swimwear there is. A bottle's second life should be a long one.
Embroideredstitched into the fabric, not printed
Metal capson our drawstring shorts
Hand-me-downbuilt for more than one summer
Fabric questions
The detail, for those who want it.
What the fabric is, where it comes from and how it is tested. Anything else, write to us at hello@wearesandbar.com.
What is REPREVE?
REPREVE is a recycled performance fibre made by Unifi in the United States from used plastic bottles. The bottles are cleaned, chopped into flake, melted into chip and spun into yarn. Its recycled content is verified by U TRUST and traceable with FiberPrint.
How many plastic bottles are in a pair of Sandbar swim shorts?
Around 5 to 8, depending on the size. Our swim shorts and much of our range are made with REPREVE recycled polyester yarn.
Is Sandbar women's swimwear recycled too?
Yes. Our women's swimwear is made from REPREVE recycled nylon, with four-way stretch for free movement in the water.
Is Sandbar swimwear UPF50+?
Yes. All our swimwear is tested against the Australian (AS 4399:2020), European (BS EN 13758-2002) and US (AATCC TM 183-2020) standards and rated UPF50+.
Does recycled fabric feel different?
Not in the way you might expect. After two years of testing, our swimwear is silky soft, light, breathable and fast drying. The difference is where the fibre comes from, not how it feels.
Why are the designs embroidered rather than printed?
Because a print can crack and fade, and a motif stitched into the fabric does not. It is part of making swimwear that lasts long enough to be handed down.
Does Sandbar remove plastic from the ocean as well?
Yes. Every item sold funds the removal of 1 kg of plastic from oceans, beaches and waterways. Sandbar customers have removed 64,031 kg so far, counted live from every order.
Good taste runs in the family. So does the fabric.
Matching swimwear made from recycled bottles, rated UPF50+, with 1 kg of ocean plastic removed for every piece.
