The complete guide
How To Choose A Silk Pillowcase That Actually Suits Your Bed
The problem with the pillowcase you already own
Most of us never think about the pillowcase. It comes with the sheet set, it goes on the pillow, it gets washed when the bed gets stripped. Nobody chooses it. And for a long time that was fine, because cotton is cheap and washes well and nobody expected much more.
Then you touch a silk one and the comparison becomes obvious. Cotton is woven from short staple fibres, and no matter how fine the weave, that surface has texture. You can feel it with a fingertip. Press your face into it for eight hours and that texture drags on skin and catches on hair, which is why you wake up with creases down one cheek and a nest on one side of your head.
Silk is a long continuous filament. The surface is smoother, so there is less to catch on. That is the whole proposition, and it is a physical one rather than a marketing one. Your hair slides instead of snagging. Your cheek moves instead of gripping. Nothing dramatic happens, but you notice it the first morning.
What momme actually tells you
Silk gets measured in momme, which is a weight-per-area figure. Think of it the way you think about GSM for a towel. A lower number means lighter, thinner fabric. A higher number means more silk in the same square metre.
Bedding silk generally runs between 16 and 25 momme. At 16 the fabric feels light and a bit sheer, and it tends to wrinkle easily. At 25 it feels thick and almost formal, closer to a lining in a good jacket. This pillowcase sits at 22 momme, which is where most people land after trying a few. It has real body in the hand, it drapes over the pillow instead of clinging to it, and it holds up to a regular wash cycle without going limp.
The thread count listed here is 600. Thread count gets quoted a lot because shoppers recognise it from cotton sheets, but with silk the momme weight is the figure worth comparing. If two pillowcases both claim 100% mulberry silk and one is 19 momme and the other is 22, you can feel that difference. Thread count on its own will not tell you much.
Mulberry silk, and why the word matters
"Silk" on a label can mean several things. Mulberry silk comes from silkworms raised on a diet of mulberry leaves, and the filaments they produce are long, even and pale. That consistency is what gives the fabric its smooth face and its even colour when dyed.
Wild silks look different. They are often shorter in staple, more textured and naturally darker, which is lovely for a scarf and less ideal for something you press your face into. If you are hunting for the best pure silk pillowcase, mulberry is the specification you want to see stated plainly, as it is here.
Watch out for "satin" used on its own. Satin is a weave structure, not a fibre, and a polyester satin is a very different product at a very different price. It will look shiny in photos. It will not feel the same, and it does not breathe the same way.
Getting the size right
This is a standard pillowcase, 66cm long by 50.8cm wide, which is the imperial 20 inches by 26 inches converted. That is the size of the everyday bed pillow in most New Zealand homes.
Before you order, take a tape measure to the pillow you actually use. Lay it flat, measure the long edge and the short edge, and compare. If your pillow is around 66cm by 50cm, you are in the right place. If it is noticeably longer, say a queen or king pillow, a standard case will be stretched tight and the fabric will not drape properly. Silk looks best with a little ease, not pulled drum-tight.
Deep or heavily contoured pillows are the other thing to check. Memory foam pillows with a high loft take up more volume than their flat dimensions suggest. If yours is particularly thick, measure the girth as well as the length.
Why the zip is worth caring about
Pillowcases close in three common ways. Open end, which is simplest and lets the pillow escape. Envelope flap, which tucks a tail of fabric back over the pillow and mostly works. And a zip, which closes the thing properly.
This one uses a concealed zip along the open edge. Two practical results follow. The pillow stays inside no matter how much you move at night, so you are not reaching under the duvet at 3am to shove it back in. And the outer face of the case stays unbroken, with no visible fastening to feel under your cheek or spoil the line of the bed.
It also makes laundry easier. Unzip, slide the pillow out, zip the empty case closed before it goes in the wash. Zipping it shut before washing is a small habit that stops the zip teeth snagging the fabric in the drum.
Living with silk: the care side
Silk asks for a bit more than cotton, but less than people fear. Here is the honest version.
Hand washing in cool water with a mild detergent made for delicates is the gentlest option and takes about five minutes. If that sounds like too much, a gentle machine cycle works, with the case inside a mesh laundry bag so it does not get thrashed around with zips and buttons from other items. Cool water either way.
Skip the bleach and skip the fabric softener. Bleach attacks the protein fibre directly. Softener coats the surface and takes away the slipperiness you paid for, which rather defeats the point.
Do not tumble dry. Heat is what damages silk fastest. Lay the case flat on a towel or hang it on a line out of direct sun, and it will dry quickly because the fabric is thin. If it needs pressing, use the coolest iron setting, work on the reverse side, and do it while the fabric still holds a little moisture.
For a white case specifically, shade drying matters. Strong New Zealand sun is hard on any white textile over time, and silk is no exception.
Who it suits, and who might want something else
If you wake with hair that needs ten minutes of untangling, silk is worth trying. If you have a short blow-dry that collapses overnight, same. If you have ever sat in a morning meeting with a crease across one cheek, you will understand the appeal immediately.
Someone who wants a pillowcase they can throw in a hot wash with the towels and tumble dry on high should probably stay with cotton. There is no shame in that. Silk rewards a bit of care, and if that care is never going to happen, the fabric will not last as long as it should.
White is the easy choice for most bedrooms. It goes with everything, it reads clean, and it does not date. If you are assembling bedding from different sets, a plain white silk pillowcase is the piece that ties things together rather than competing.
The short version
Pure mulberry silk, 22 momme, white, in a standard 66cm by 50.8cm fit with a concealed zip. Measure your pillow before you order. Wash it cool, dry it flat, keep it out of the tumble dryer, and it will keep its hand and its colour for a long time.
One pillowcase per order, so grab two if you share the bed. Orders travel by tracked courier from Australian warehouses and usually land within 5 to 10 working days, free NZ-wide over NZ$175. Returns run 14 days from delivery, unused and unwashed.