Do silk duvets/Comforters have a distinctive odour?
Silk, as a natural product, has a unique odor that comes from sericin, the protein "glue" silkworms use to bind together the silk threads into their cocoons. The more refined silk is, the less sericin remains on the silk, but even the most refined silk still has approximately 10%-15% sericin in it. Some people mistake the smell for chemical additives, but you can rest assured that none of our silk products have come into contact with any harmful chemicals during any stage of their production. Sericin, on the other hand, has some great health benefits such as being anti-oxidant and UV-resistant.
In our experience, the odor is usually the strongest when you first unpack the silk from the delivery package since there is nowhere for the smell to dissipate. Once unpacked, it usually only takes a short period of time before the smell becomes barely noticeable.
If you find the smell too strong to bear, you could try to hang our products in an area with good air circulation for a few days and wait for the smell to go before using them. Do NOT use strong cleaning agents such as bleach as it will totally undermine the natural properties of silk and shorten the lifespan of our products.