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.
Wash the Pillowcase
For pillowcases that are especially delicate, you may want to stop the machine before the spin cycle, which can cause creases and wrinkles. If washing by hand, go for a gentle touch with no twisting or wringing. Silk fabric is strong when it's dry, but much weaker when fibers are wet.
A silk pillowcase should be washed regularly and changed as often as you change your bedsheets. 'Typically we clean pillowcases and sheets together on a weekly or twice weekly schedule,' says Wayne Edelman. If you can, you should swap out your pillowcases for fresh once every few days.
Temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (29 Celsius) can damage silk significantly. It is best to wash all silk products in cold water. Don't use bleach, which will harm the fabric and cause it to yellow, or fabric softener which can leave residue on the fabric.
The first thing you need to know about how to dry silk pillowcases is that you should never put them in the dryer. The high heat of a dryer — even on a low setting — will destroy the silk's fiber.
If you frequently sleep with wet hair, we suggest investing in a silk pillowcase. Silk doesn't retain moisture well, thereby allowing your hair to dry faster. More importantly, it's slick and produces less friction when compared with a cotton or flannel pillowcase.
Which one you choose comes down to a few factors, like price and preference. "I like satin more because it's less expensive than silk, but it's also smoother than silk, reducing the friction between the hair strands and the pillowcase," says Dr. Isfahan Chambers-Harris, Trichologist, Ph. D.
The smooth texture allows the fabric to glide against your hair cuticles, producing less friction than coarser fabrics that are more likely to snag hair. While silk does not outright prevent bedhead, the reduced friction can result in less tangling, frizziness, and breakage.
Less likely to overheat: Because they don't absorb moisture, silk pillowcases are less likely to get damp or wet as you sweat. This means you're less likely to wake up feeling sticky or like you're sleeping on a soaked-through pillowcase.
Detergent can stiffen silk
Even if you are hand washing your silks are per the instructions, if you are using a detergent, they can become stiff. Using a castile soap like Dr Bronner's instead can help a lot. Even after air drying, though, your silk may still be a bit stiff.
Rule Number One: use shampoo to wash your silks, not dish liquid, woolite, or laundry detergent. Silks (and wool) are protein fibers, just like your hair, so use shampoo. You don't ever want to use Biz on silks. The enzymes are very bad for these protein fibers.
Woolite Delicates Hypoallergenic Liquid Laundry Detergent is the best detergent for silk! Not only does this formula protect fabric fibers from damage due to over-washing, but it also contains no harsh ingredients that could cause skin irritation or an allergic reaction.
If you find that the sheen of your silk clothing has lost its luster or shimmer and appears to have a white film or looks dull, the silk fibers may have become damaged due to improper cleaning or exposure to too much light or heat.
Pop your item in the washing machine – we recommend placing any silk items inside a mesh laundry bag or pillowcase to avoid snags or damage caused by the drum. Select a cool, delicate cycle (do not set the wash temperature to any higher than 30°C).
Your silk should dry in about 45 minutes depending on temperature and conditions. DO iron sparingly, only on the coolest setting with sheets and turn your pillowcases inside out. A light steam will enable the iron to glide smoothly over the fabric.
As such, silk is prone to fading when exposed to direct sunlight, either indoors or outside. Even this best silk bedding will fade if left in direct sunlight. This is why we recommend always hanging your silk to dry away from the sun. Happily, your silk sheets should air dry very quickly, even indoors.
The highest-quality silk is mulberry silk, which is made from silkworms who eat from the leaves of the mulberry tree. It's the most durable silk and also the softest, which makes it ideal for a high-traffic item like a pillowcase. There are grades within silk — A, B, and C scale, with A being the best quality.
While a silk pillowcase can't completely undo hair damage or reverse different types of hair loss, it does play an important part in promoting hair growth and repair.
Satin is actually a synthetic material and not a natural fiber like pure mulberry silk. Satin will also have a glossy and non-glossy side just like silk and can often be called charmeuse, but don't confuse satin charmeuse with natural silk charmeuse as it is not the same.
Silk and satin – often get confused for each other, they look similar but what are the differences between the two? Despite their similar appearance the biggest difference is that satin is a weave and not a natural fibre, whereas silk is a natural fibre fabric.
Now, the good news: A mulberry silk pillowcase is fantastic for hair and can even help reverse and repair damage and hair breakage (and give you a great night of beauty sleep to boot!).
If you have oily hair, a silk pillowcase may not be the best choice, since a cotton pillowcase will absorb oil better, according to Aguirre. Silk pillowcases will be more beneficial if you have dry hair, or are experiencing breakage.
"Whilst sleeping on a silk pillowcase is great for your skin, it doesn't have the same overnight conditioning effect of a silk hair wrap," explains Sotiriou. "A wrap cocoons the hair, encasing your naturally forming oils rather than letting them transfer to your pillow.
If you have short hair, sleep with it down since tying it up would cause too much friction and pressure on your scalp. If you have long hair, you're going to want to tie it up to protect your strands, especially the ends, from getting snagged or pulled as you sleep.