Satin pillowcases offer a variety of potential benefits. The glossy, smooth texture of the weave allows the head to move easily, reducing the friction that could otherwise cause wrinkles, hair frizzing, and breakage.
Hair and skin help – When choosing between a satin vs silk pillowcase for skin and hair, you win either way, as satin also has the benefit of low friction. It also shares silk's breathability and hypoallergenic nature.
Less Friction
That's not the case with a satin or silk pillowcase. The satin pillowcase will allow your hair to gently glide over the top of it reducing friction, tangles, and frizz and keeping your hairstyle intact. The satin or silk pillowcase also helps prevent split ends from breaking.
Mulberry Silk Pillowcase
Brooklinen is well renowned for its cozy sheets and towels, but the bedding brand also makes all-star silky pillowcases. Its mulberry silk material is breathable and naturally cool to the touch, two features that guarantee less friction damage to your hair and skin.
Washing satin isn't the time for heavy-duty stain removers, bleach or other harsh chemicals. Use a gentle detergent. Use cool water. Never use warm or hot water to wash your satin pillowcase as it will damage the fibers and cause the pillowcase to shrink.
Satin pillowcases offer a variety of potential benefits. The glossy, smooth texture of the weave allows the head to move easily, reducing the friction that could otherwise cause wrinkles, hair frizzing, and breakage. The material is also less absorbent, which may promote hydrated skin while decreasing the risk of acne.
Silk pillowcases, like your other bed linens, come into direct contact with your skin every night, so it's important to wash them regularly — typically about every seven to ten days. To learn more about washing bed linens, check out this guide to washing and properly caring for bedding.
"Silk is beneficial to the hair because it is a breathable fabric allowing circulation and preventing the moisture from night sweats from getting trapped at the root of the hair," says Hill." It also helps to minimize the friction between our hair fibers and cotton fabrics.
Silk is a much stronger material than satin. This is important because when you're investing in a high-quality bedsheet or pillowcase, you want it to last a long time. Being a durable, strong material, silk is much more likely to stand the test of time without tears and other damage to the structure.
When you cover your hair with satin, the fabric acts as a barrier against moisture-absorbing fabrics like cotton. This can prevent split ends caused by hair drying out. Your curls stay fresher longer and maintain the moisture produced by the natural oils or added hydration. As a result, you'll enjoy healthier hair.
Bacteria and dirt will build up more slowly on silk or satin than on cotton, but you still need to wash it frequently. You don't want to be applying a fresh layer of skin irritants every time you go to sleep! For this reason, read the label carefully before deciding between silk or satin pillowcases.
Over time, they can cause problems ranging from infertility to cancer. Other chemicals used in the creation of satin material can lead to dermatitis and allergies. For instance, AZO dyes, which are used to color textiles into vivid colors, can come off and come into contact with the skin.
If you're someone who goes to bed with wet hair often, you might want to consider resting your tresses on satin. Unlike cotton, which can cause damage to your hair if you sleep with it wet, satin pillowcases will be more forgiving and allow your wet hair to move more freely and prevent creases while you sleep.
Satin offers similar haircare benefits to silk, but it won't retain moisture as well as silk. "Satin absorbs a little bit more than silk since it's a mixture of numerous materials including cotton, but it's still way less than 100% cotton pillow cases," Onuoha says.
Silk pillowcases fight frizz by helping your hair retain moisture. Silk is also a friction-free material that allows your hair to glide and move freely over the pillowcase while you sleep. Meaning less snagging and damage which, as you've probably guessed, means less frizz.
The bottom line is that you should change your pillowcase at least once per week. That's even if you don't sleep with a pillow under your neck or face. Of course, if you want to do it every few days, that's even better.
Don't sleep with your hair tied up!
Instead, sleep with it down, or if you have to tie it back, go low with a ponytail or loose braid at the nape of your neck. Try pulling your hair up with a soft scrunchie instead!
More significant hair loss can be caused by a number of factors — alopecia, chemotherapy, hereditary baldness, childbirth, stress — but your pillowcase doesn't have anything to do with it. “Whether it's cotton or silk, the pillowcase you sleep on at night doesn't influence your hair loss in any way,” Fox says.