Are silk pillowcases worth it? Absolutely. Here's why

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Silk pillowcases are having a moment, bolstered by claims they can help reduce wrinkles, acne and even frizziness in hair — all while giving you a better night’s sleep. And beauty benefits aside, there’s no doubt that these silk pillowcases are ultra soft, smooth and a wonder to sleep on.

To find the latest and greatest silk pillowcases that are worth your money, we slept on cases from 13 popular brands for weeks and spoke with experts to find out whether the added beauty benefits are real or clever marketing myths. We laundered each pillowcase, carefully noted texture and fit, and more importantly slept on each one, checking on how our skin and hair looked following each night of rest. In the end, we found four silk pillowcases that stood out:

Far and away the best silk pillowcase we tested, the Fishers Finery 100% long-strand, luxurious mulberry silk is an excellent, easy-to wash pillowcase with great fit on our pillows, that felt better against the skin than anything we tried and is so well constructed it should last for years to come.

The first time we slept on Fishers Finery, it was almost like we didn’t notice the pillowcase — the silk felt noticeably softer against the skin and hair than any other pillowcases we tested. The cases are weighted at 25 momme (momme count is a standard unit to measure the weight and quality of silk), the upper end of desirability for silk pillowcases. They’re spun from 100% pure grade 6A Mulberry silk, which is generally considered smoother, stronger and more uniformly colored than other silks.
Fishers Finery’s cases also had the best fit on our standard pillows: well-fitting but slightly loose, so they’re easy to put on and pull off. The case has an envelope closure that looks nice and makes the bed feel neater than a loose, open pillowcase end.

We also found these easiest to wash and wear. Like all of the brands we tested, the Fishers Finery cases are both machine- and hand-washable. These cases were the least wrinkly after hand washing — a plus if you’re someone who is never going to iron or steam a pillowcase. We also machine washed (on delicate) and hung dry these pillowcases, which led to less wrinkling than hand washing.

These come in three sizes (standard, queen, and king) and 11 colors––more than most of the brands we tested. Fishers are priced solidly in the middle range of the brands we tested, and we found these to be an excellent mid-range pick that ranks above its price.

MYK Silk’s Natural Silk pillowcase is less luxurious than Fishers Finery’s lush Mulberry silk, but terrific in lots of ways, including its affordable price. For a third of the cost of Fishers Finery, you may not get the most luxurious feeling pillowcase, but you’re not giving up a lot, and you’re getting plenty of color options, and a fantastic night of sleep.

Despite only being silk on one side (the back is constructed from OEKO-TEX certified cotton), the MYK Silk pillowcase felt amazing to sleep on and kept our hair smoother than all-cotton pillowcases. Made from 19 momme mulberry silk — lower weight than Fishers Finery but still quite nice to the touch—these are well-made pillowcases for the price.

The MYK cases are also easier to maintain than many we tested and they were a great fit on our pillows. MYK can be machine or hand-washed and line dried––they showed no signs of wear after a gentle cycle.

These cases fit our queen-size pillows snugly both width- and length-wise. They have a zipper closure, which is a nice functional touch, but because the zipper’s opening and closing points are placed about an inch in from the actual end of the pillow, the opening of the case is a bit shorter than the length of the pillowcase. This meant that inserting a fluffier down pillow with more volume into the pillowcase was slightly more difficult than doing so with some of the looser, larger pillow cases we tested. Once fitted to the pillow, though, MYK Silk’s looked nice on the bed. The MYK Silk pillowcases are sold in three sizes (standard, queen, and king), and nine colors.

The Lunya Washable Silk pillowcase was just downright dreamy, offering the best night’s sleep and keeping our hair the smoothest of all the pillows we tested. The Lunya pillowcase is now made from 100% silk (when we first tested it, it was silk on the front and cotton on the back), making it even more worth the additional cost.

The Lunya pillowcase is so soft and touchable it was downright evocative to use. Sleep felt so restful on Lunya’s silk we didn’t want to lift our heads out of bed. But once we did, our hair seemed noticeably less frizzy, even compared to other pillowcases we tested.

This pillowcase hits all the right notes on fit and care. The Lunya fits a bit more loosely than the others we tested with a narrow width, but extra-long length. We didn’t mind this, since the pillowcase was still easy to put on or remove.

The Lunya is easily machine washed on cold, or by hand, and Lunya’s site says you could even put this case in the dryer on low, but we didn’t test that out. Lunya’s silk pillowcases only come in two sizes, standard queen and king, and in just one color, Tranquil White, which may be too limiting for some customers. It may not be for everyone, but if you want the absolute best feel and don’t mind the limited options, the Lunya Washable Silk pillowcase is worth the money.

And, you can save 15% on orders of $100 or more with code FOR-CNNSLEEP-15 through March 18.

The Company Store’s silk pillowcase is satiny smooth, and was a delight to sleep on. Made with high-quality 22 momme, 100% mulberry silk, this model had a pleasant weight to it, and the fabric was smoother and silkier than anything else we tested, with a visible shine that feels delightful on clean skin, and imparts a feeling of luxury that other pillowcases lacked. The Company Store’s fabric is also a bit thicker, which made it feel more durable, although we didn’t encounter any wear issues with any of the silk pillowcases we tested.

Like others, this pillowcase also has an envelope enclosure, for a clean look, and gave us a roomy, but not saggy fit on most standard pillows. Company Store recommends hand or machine washing inside out on cold (ideally in a mesh laundry bag), and air drying. We followed these instructions and didn’t encounter any issues.

Although this pillowcase is the most expensive we recommend, the price is borne out in its quality. The silk feels more ample and luxurious than our other high-end recommendation from Lunya, which was a bit thinner, in comparison. It’s well constructed, with high quality stitching. And the maintenance is no more labor intensive than any other silk pillowcase we liked. The Company Store silk pillowcase comes in three colors, but only a single size (standard), which is a bit limiting, but if you’re in pursuit of the absolute highest quality and don’t mind paying the higher price, this pillowcase is worth it.

There’s a lot to consider when buying silk pillowcases. Whether you’re wondering about the type of silk, possible benefits, ease of care or price point, we’ve compiled all our research to walk you through exactly what you need to know before buying.

While studies have suggested silk pillowcases might reduce acne, other skin benefits — such as reducing wrinkles — are mostly anecdotal. Dendy Engelman, M.D., a cosmetic dermatologist with the NYC-based Shafer Clinic, said that no one should expect silk pillowcases to completely eliminate wrinkles, but adds that they can “help to slow down the formation of them,” especially “sleep wrinkles,” the lines some dermatologists believe develop from sleeping on your side or your stomach as your face scrunches into your pillow. “Silk creates fewer wrinkles and indentations on the skin as you sleep because it helps reduce strain or friction,” Engleman says.

Silk is less absorbent than cotton, Engleman adds, so it doesn’t drink in our nighttime skin care products the way cotton can, which means night serums and moisturizers stay on the skin doing their work there, not on the pillowcase.

We did not see any short-term difference in the condition of our skin while sleeping on silk during our testing. That said, whereas the acne study we cited above lasted 12 weeks, our testing process lasted only six, took place during winter, when skin is more dry, and during a pandemic, when stress levels have been higher than normal. In other words, our first-hand experience wasn’t long enough for us to definitively assess the impact sleeping on silk has on skin. There could be long-term benefits to our facial skin that we’ll see accrue over a longer time, including that we are getting better nights of sleep sleeping on silk — it’s just impossible to say without more research.

The decreased friction of silk is thought by many to aid in managing frizzy hair. The smoother surface of silk can potentially mean “less messing, fuzzing, split ends of your hair,” says textile expert Deborah Young. This benefit is more pronounced for those with thick and curly hair. Simply put, Young says, “less texture equals less bedhead.” Our testers both noticed a reduction in dryness and frizziness while sleep on silk pillowcases, and our hair seemed more supple and healthy during the weeks of the testing process, though we didn’t find that one specific pillowcase brand was quantifiably better in its treatment of our hair.

To those worried that silk bedding is too high maintenance, Young outlined a simple care routine. “Silk can absolutely be machine washed – inside out, in a mesh lingerie bag, with a detergent formulated for silk on a delicate cleaning cycle and absolutely no bleach – ever!” Young advises washing separately, or as she prefers, by hand and in cold water, gently squeezed out in a rolled up towel, lay flat or hung to dry. We washed all of the cases we tested both by hand and in the machine, with fine results from both. Though most of the care instructions for these pillowcases indicate that drying in a machine on low heat is OK, as an option to line drying, we adhered to our expert’s advice and only line-dried. Machine washing was less laborious than hand-washing, but took about the same time to complete.

If you’re shopping for silk pillowcases, Young advises, you’ll find the highest quality if you select real silk (which includes most of the pillowcases we tested, including our winners). Young notes though that some “silk” pillowcases are actually made of 100% polyester, which “could be a budget, but successful, alternative.” (A couple of the cases in our testing pool were polyester, a noticeable difference from real silk in terms of touch and quality, but still effective in terms of offering good, comfortable sleep and less flyaway hair.) Pure silk is perceived as more valuable and luxurious, Young says, but silk blends may be more affordable and still quite effective when it comes to pillowcases.

There’s a range of types of silk you’ll hear about when shopping. A momme number, as noted above, denotes the thickness and durability of the fabric, a higher momme being a heavier weight, Young explains. Mulberry silk comes from cultivated silkworms that eat only leaves from the mulberry tree. “There are other silks that are rougher and more cotton-like, but the shiny stuff is mulberry or cultivated silk,” Young says. Charmeuse is a lighter weight silk. And the grade of silk rates its quality. Silk is graded on an A, B or C scale, A being the finest quality. A number attached to that grade is a more specific marker of quality, 6 being the highest (and the number linked to our top winner.)

This pillowcase came recommended from dermatologist, Dr. Engelman. The Slip is, aptly, more slippery than some of the other high-end brands we tested, reminding us of a silky robe––it’s soft and sleek to the touch and against the skin and hair. Slip, while deliciously soft and wonderful to sleep on, didn’t feel necessarily more pleasing than Fishers Finery, nor did it feel more over-the-top fantastic than Lunya, which is why, at its price point of $89, Slip didn’t end up one of our winners.

A highly ranked option recommended Young, Blissy’s silk pillowcases cases are 100% silk, 22 momme 6A grade — indulgently soft for sure, and similarly high quality, but more of a satin finish than that washable silk feel of Fishers Finery or Lunya that we loved so much. Blissy’s silk offered amazing nights of sleep and comes in a range of sizes, but only one color— that limitation, plus the almost-double price as compared to Fishers Finery, kept Blissy from being one of our winners.

We like Brooklinen’s bedding, including their linen sheets and plush bath towels, and enjoyed using their 100% long-strand pure mulberry silk pillowcases too. The brand’s specialty charmeuse weave, generous in width and length, and multiple color options were all points in favor of this pillowcase. They came in just under our top pick because we loved the Lunya’s silk touch just a little bit more.

SpaSilk 100% Pure Silk Pillowcase for Hair and Skin Beauty

SpaSilk’s silk pillowcase is a bargain option but it feels high grade, silky, and even sumptuous. We like that SpaSilk comes in travel size, in addition to standard size options, and a broad range of colors. Ultimately, though, SpaSilk didn’t feel quite as nice to the touch as MYK Silk did, which is why it didn’t come in as our first-place bargain pillowcase.

Made of 100% silk charmeuse and finished with piped hems and French seams, Cuddledown’s cases look minimalist chic, feel divine and fit our pillows perfectly. They offered several restful nights of sleep, and didn’t seem to dry out our hair and face. They didn’t rank as high as some of our winners only because we didn’t love them quite as much to the touch, but they were more than satisfying.

Quince’s 100% mulberry silk pillowcase is soft to the touch, but it didn’t feel nearly as luxurious as our main pick from Fishers’ Finery. Despite being 22momme mulberry silk, we didn’t find it quite as satiny as our other recommendations. That said, this pillowcase comes in six colors and two sizes, and the price is a steal for 100% silk.

Parachute’s silk pillowcase feels similar to our luxury pick from The Company Store. It’s made from 100% mulberry silk, although Parachute fails to disclose the weight of the fabric. We liked this pillowcase overall, but as with other Parachute pillowcases, it was slightly too small on our pillows. The envelope enclosure didn’t overlap on the back of the pillow and at $89 for a single pillowcase, that was a dealbreaker.

The Casper pillowcase is made from 100% mulberry silk, but regrettably it had an unnatural and almost synthetic feeling in our hands and on our face when we were testing it. Although the pillowcase is well-made, and fits well on our pillows, we didn’t find ourselves reaching for this option compared to the others we tested.

Blissford’s satin pillowcase, made from 100% polyester, is less luxurious than the 100% silk cases we tried. It feels synthetic compared to many of the silk brands, and we felt the difference against our face during sleep. Blissford cases fit our pillow perfectly, and look nice, with a zippable flap closure. These were a breeze to hand wash and line dry, and they’re machine washable as well. Perhaps because they’re satin and not silk, they stand up to being wrung out by hand better than silk, and hardly wrinkled at all once air-dried.

Bedsure is another decently-made 100% polyester satin option that we dismissed because they felt far less luxurious than the silk pillowcases we tried. Bedsure’s cases come in a package of two for less than Blissford’s one. They are looser and drapier than some we tested, but they also have an envelope closure at the end for a neatly-made pillow. On their Amazon page, Bedsure looks cheesy and lower quality, but in person, the packaging is attractive and the product is quite decent, especially for the price.

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