The Guide to Buying Silk Bedding

Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the key foundations of health and wellbeing. If you’ve resolved to take better care of yourself and improve your quality of life, you’d be wise to upgrade your quality of sleep with high-quality bedding.

One way to get better rest is by investing in organic, high-quality bedding. Silk is one of the strongest natural fibers and its ability to regulate temperature makes it popular in both hot and temperate climates. 

Silk bedding changes the way you sleep. Let’s find out everything you need to know in our definitive guide. 

Why Silk?

Silk Prevents Overheating

The first, and most significant, the advantage of silk bedding is it prevents overheating. When you sleep under traditional bedding, most of your body heat and sweat is trapped under the covers with you. However, silk bedding efficiently vents this heat and moisture away.

As a matter of fact, silk wicks heat and moisture away at twice the rate of cotton, which reduces the humidity in your bed by 50%. This means that even on the hottest nights, silk keeps you at the perfect temperature all night long, letting you get the sleep you need.

Silk Reduces Allergies

Wicking all that excess heat and moisture away has another effect in addition to keeping you cool – it also reduces allergies. Removing extra moisture reduces allergies, because it prevents common allergens, such as dust mites, from living in your bed. Like all living things, dust mites need water to survive. Without it, they can’t grow and multiply in your bed, allowing you to breathe easily.

Furthermore, silk is naturally hypoallergenic. Very few people are allergic to silk while many people are allergic to cotton and other cheap materials. Consequently, you aren’t woken up by coughing or sneezing if you sleep under silk bedding.

Decreases Your Chemical Exposure

The next reason why you need silk in your life is it reduces your exposure to dangerous chemicals. In today’s world, we are exposed to chemicals all the time. For example, cotton bedding is treated with harsh chemicals to make it fire and wrinkle resistant. When you sleep under cotton sheets and a cheap comforter, these chemicals rub against your skin all night long, and you breathe them in with every breath.

100% silk bedding, on the other hand, isn’t treated with these harsh chemicals. The chemicals used to make cotton bedding fire and wrinkle resistant would ruin silk’s soft, smooth texture. Besides, silk is already fire and wrinkle-resistant. Since silk doesn’t need to be treated with these harsh chemicals, you are never exposed to them when you sleep under silk bedding.

Silk Soothes Sore Skin

In addition to improving your overall health, silk also soothes sore skin. Silk soothes sore skin because of its soft, smooth texture. For example, if you have a sunburn or rash, silk gently glides over the sore areas of your skin. In contrast, cheap cotton bedding catches on broken, uneven skin, irritating it even more. When you sleep under silk, you never need to worry about your sheets chafing your skin, and your sunburn or rash actually has a chance to heal.

Silk Improves Your Complexion

Silk’s sumptuous, the smooth texture doesn’t only help heal sore skin; it also improves your overall complexion. Since silk is so smooth, sleeping under silk bedding decreases the amount of friction against your skin. As a result, your skin looks clearer and more even. Moreover, your hair tears less when you sleep on a silk pillow, giving it a healthy, shiny glow.

Type of Silk

Mulberry Silk

Mulberry silk is the most common and widely used silk around the world. It accounts for about 90% of the world’s supply. Thus, the term “silk” generally refers to the silk from a mulberry worm. This type of silk is produced by the Bombyx mori silkworms who feed on mulberry bushes. hence the name. The silkworms are entirely domesticated and reared indoors. Mulberry silk is popular around the world, though especially in China, Japan, and Korea. The production of silk involves the killing of the worms in their cocoons to extract the silk fiber. The disadvantage of using mulberry silk is that it requires extra care to maintain its smooth texture.

Tussah Silk is actually silk made from wild silkworms which have not been bred. As the worms are not fed a strict diet or protected in the same way that cultivated silkworms are, this type of silk is not as soft or durable as cultivated silk. Most wild silk comes from India and not China.

Habotai Silk is another great silk that is commonly used for making sheets and bedding. Habotai is less expensive but also less durable than charmeuse. Often this type of silk is “washed” with sand to make it feel as soft as charmeuse. However this washing process also destroys the fibers in the silk, which means it doesn’t last as long.

Other

There are many other types of silk available, but none are as luxurious and smooth as mulberry silk. Other types are sometimes made from silkworms not on a strict diet, or the manufacturing process means the fibers won’t last as long. So, remember when you are buying silk bedding, to check that the silk you are purchasing is high-quality. 

Momme Weight

Momme is the unit used when describing the weight of silk thread. In other words, momme weight describes the weight of 100 yards of silk, 45 inches wide, in pounds. Therefore, it is recommended to check labels for the manufacturer’s listing.

Silk’s type also helps determine the momme weight of the silk. For instance: Charmeuse silk is only found with a momme weight of 12 to 30. Habotai silk is usually only found with a momme weight of 5 to15. In fact, you had better select a momme weight greater than 16 for bedding.

How To Wash Silk Bed Sheets?

With proper care, silk can retain its luxurious feel and last for years. Considering that silk bed sheet sets are usually pricier than regular cotton or other materials, you’d really want to prolong the life of your precious silk sheets! 

Wash your new sheets before use, by hand and in cold water. If you’re feeling particularly nonchalant, a machine that washes in cold water on a delicate cycle will also work. Machine wash your silks in a “silk-only” separate load from the rest of your fabrics.

Place all silk fabrics in mesh laundry bags and use a gentle detergent. Choosing a gentle detergent is imperative. Since silk is a natural fiber, washing it in detergents too acidic or too alkaline will harden those fibers. A neutral pH works best to help maintain the quality of those fibers. 

Air dry your sheets but keep them out of sunlight that might damage the fibers. When hanging your sheets, avoid contact with wood or any dyed material that might leech into and stain your sheets. Using a dryer on anything but a pure “air” cycle is not recommended for silk. Besides, silk dries incredibly fast and a full set of sheets can dry in 15 minutes.

Avoid using bleach, fabric softener or any other harsh chemicals. 

Dry cleaning and ironing are also not necessary, but if you absolutely have to iron, use only the coolest setting and turn the sheets inside out.

Store the sheets in breathable bags and away from direct sunlight and intense sources of heat.

For more silk information and lifestyle advice, pls visit our blog.