The complete guide
Silk Pillowcase Buyer's Guide, Momme Weight, Fit and Care Explained
The problem with the pillowcase you already own
Most people never think about their pillowcase. It came with the sheet set, it is cotton, it gets washed with everything else, and that is the end of it. Then one morning you notice your hair looks like it lost a fight, or you have a crease across one cheek that takes an hour to fade, and you start wondering whether the fabric has anything to do with it.
It does, at least in a mechanical sense. Cotton is woven from short staple fibres with a raised, textured surface. Put a microscope on it and it looks like a rough field. Your hair and skin move across that surface every time you turn over, and over seven or eight hours that adds up to a lot of small tugs. Silk is woven from long continuous filaments and the face of the fabric is far smoother. Things slide instead of catching. That is the whole mechanism, and it is a physical property of the fibre rather than anything mysterious.
The other half of the problem is that bedding can feel hot. Cotton absorbs and holds moisture against you. Silk breathes and feels cool to touch, which is why a lot of people switch over in summer and then never switch back.
How momme weight works, and why 22 matters
Walk into silk shopping without knowing what momme means and you will get lost fast. Momme, usually written as mm, is the traditional unit for silk fabric weight. It describes how much silk sits in a standard area of cloth. Higher momme means more silk, which means a denser, heavier, more durable fabric.
Silk pillowcases generally run from about 16 momme at the light end up to around 30 at the heavy end. Light silk is cheaper and feels thin. It drapes nicely but it wears through faster and can feel almost papery. Very heavy silk feels substantial and lasts a long time, but it starts to lose the fluid drape that makes silk pleasant in the first place, and the price climbs steeply.
Twenty-two momme is the figure most experienced buyers land on. It has enough body that the fabric sits properly on the pillow rather than clinging. It survives a regular wash cycle. It still has that cool, liquid feel across the surface. If someone asks what the best mulberry silk pillowcase weight is for everyday use, 22 is the honest answer for most households.
This pillowcase is 22 momme long strand mulberry silk with a listed thread count of 600. Long strand matters because fewer joins through the yarn gives a smoother, more even face. Thread count on silk is read a little differently than on cotton, but 600 on a silk weave points to a fine, dense cloth rather than an open one.
Getting the size right
Sizing is where most pillowcase purchases go wrong, and it is completely avoidable. Pillow sizes are not standardised worldwide, and the words standard, queen and king mean slightly different things depending on where the bedding was made.
This case is queen, listed as 20" x 30", which is 76.2cm by 50.8cm. Before you order, take a tape measure to the pillow you actually sleep on. Measure the length and the width while the pillow is lying flat and not squashed. If your pillow is close to 76cm by 51cm, this is the right case.
If your pillow comes in noticeably smaller, the case will fit but will look slack at the end, with a visible flap of loose fabric. If your pillow is significantly larger, which is common with king pillows at around 90cm long, the case will stretch at the seams and the zip will strain. Neither situation is fatal, but both are easy to avoid with a thirty second measurement.
One thing worth noting for anyone searching for a queen silk pillowcase NZ side. A lot of pillows sold here are described loosely. Trust your tape measure over the label on the packaging.
Why the hidden zip earns its place
A pillowcase has to close somehow. The three common options are an open end, an envelope flap, and a zip.
An open end is the cheapest to make and the worst to live with, because the pillow works its way out overnight and you wake up gripping bare pillow. An envelope flap is better and it is what most cotton sets use, but the flap can still work loose if you move around a lot.
A zip solves it properly. The pillow goes in, the zip closes, and nothing moves until you open it again. On this case the zip is concealed, which means the hardware is hidden inside a fabric fold rather than sitting exposed along the edge. The result is a continuous looking panel with no visible teeth, which matters more than you would think on a white case where any dark zip would show.
It also makes washing less of a chore. Unzip, slide the pillow out, in it goes. There is no fighting with a flap or turning the case inside out. If you are the kind of person who washes bedding weekly, that small bit of convenience is what decides whether a nice pillowcase stays in rotation or ends up at the back of the linen cupboard.
Who this suits
White silk in queen size is the default choice for a reason. It goes with everything. If your bedroom changes over time, or you swap duvet covers with the seasons, a white case never clashes. It reads clean, it photographs well, and it does not compete with a patterned quilt.
It suits people who want the surface benefit of silk without spending a fortune on 30 momme. It suits anyone who already runs a hair routine and does not want it undone by friction overnight. It suits hot sleepers who like something cool against their face. And it works as a gift, because sizing is the only variable and queen covers most beds.
Who should skip it? Anyone with a king pillow, anyone who genuinely cannot be bothered with a separate wash cycle, and anyone who wants a pillowcase they can bleach. Silk is not a bleach fabric, and that is worth knowing before you buy rather than after.
Looking after it without the fuss
Silk has a reputation for being difficult. It is not, it just has different rules.
Hand washing in cool water with a mild detergent is the gentlest method, and it takes about five minutes. Fill a basin, swirl the case through, rinse, press the water out without wringing. If hand washing is not going to happen in your house, a machine is fine. Use a gentle cycle, cool water, and put the case inside a mesh wash bag so it does not get caught on anything in the drum.
Skip the fabric softener. Silk does not need it and the residue builds up and dulls the surface. Skip bleach and oxygen brighteners for the same reason, plus they damage the fibre.
Drying is the step people get wrong. Do not tumble dry. Lay the case flat or hang it on a line, out of direct sunlight. Sun is what fades silk and weakens the fibre over time, so a shaded spot or an indoor rack is better than a sunny clothesline. If creases bother you, press on a low setting on the reverse side, or just hang the case while it is still slightly damp and let gravity do the work.
Done this way, a 22 momme case holds its feel and its colour through a long run of washes. The packing bag that comes with it is useful for storage between uses or for travel.
The short version
This is a white queen silk pillowcase in 22 momme long strand mulberry silk, with a 600 thread count weave and a concealed zip. It measures 76.2cm by 50.8cm and comes as a single case with a packing bag.
Measure your pillow before you order. Wash it cool in a mesh bag or by hand, line dry it out of the sun, and leave the dryer out of it. That is genuinely all there is to it.