Silk Pillowcases | Mulberry Silk Bedding | Satin Silk Sleepwear

This is the short version of what we have learned selling both: what each is good at, where it is the wrong choice, and how to look after it so it is still worth having in a few years.

Satin is a weave. Silk is a fibre.

This is the single most useful thing to know in this category, and a lot of shops are comfortable leaving it unsaid. Satin describes how the threads are woven, not what they are made of, so a satin fabric may be silk, polyester, viscose or nylon. A product called a satin silk pillowcase can legitimately contain no silk at all. On this site the fabric is named in the first two lines of every product page and again in the specifications.

What momme measures

Momme is a weight, not a thread count. Silk thread is too fine to count usefully, so a standard piece is weighed and the weight in pounds is the momme. Higher means denser and longer wearing. Our pillowcases, eye mask, bonnet and baby mittens are 22 momme; the silk flat sheet, the men's robe and the men's boxers are 19; the women's silk pyjama set is 16. Bedding wants the higher number because it takes friction in one place every night. Garments want the lower one, so they hang and dry.

Grade 6A

Grade describes the raw fibre rather than the finish. 6A is the long fibre grade, and long fibres are what keep a surface even through years of washing. Short fibre silk works loose and roughens at the seam.

What silk actually does

Two things, both properties of the fibre. It reduces friction, so hair and skin slide across it instead of being gripped and tugged. And it moves moisture rather than holding it, which is why the same silk sheet suits a warm night and a cool one.

What it does not do is change how your skin ages or repair hair that is breaking for another reason. We do not publish effectiveness percentages and we do not claim a medical or dermatological outcome, because we cannot stand behind one.

When satin is the better buy

When it is going in the machine every week. Our satin range washes cold on a gentle cycle, resists stains and creases, and costs roughly a third of the silk equivalent. Silk wants cold water, an enzyme-free detergent, no bleach, no dryer and shade drying. A silk pillowcase washed badly lasts less time than a satin one washed properly, so be honest about which you will actually do.

Washing silk

Cold water at 30 degrees or below. Hand wash, or a gentle machine cycle inside a mesh laundry bag. A detergent with no enzymes and no bleach. Air dry out of direct sunlight and keep it away from the dryer, because heat is what ages silk. Iron on the lowest setting if you iron it at all.

Before you order, check the pillow

Every pillowcase on this site is 51 cm by 76 cm, which fits the standard pillow size sold here. If yours is a king, or a contoured memory foam shape, measure it first. A case stretched over a pillow it was not cut for wears at the seam, and that is the one failure that is not the fabric's fault.