The silk sheets are one of the luxurious materials for bedding and are well known in recent years. Read on with us below!
Because of silk's property of being hypoallergenic, its ability to prevent bed-head conditions is safe for the user's skin and harmonizes with its beauty and comfort.
In the past, silk was produced from silkworms that were domesticated in China in history. Its characteristics are harder and softer than cotton. If you've gone through synthetic silk or cotton sateen weaves, silk bed sheets will change your mind about silk as it easily breaks, shrinks, or gets too cold.
We have integrated instructions for use and options, including care for new bedding.
Let you know if silk is right for you, or how to find good quality options and how to ensure your silk will last for many years to come.
1. Types of silk sheets
1.1 Charmeuse Silk
This is the most common type of silk, used in everything from bedding to dresses to shirts. Its light texture and natural elasticity make it ideal for use as bed sheets, pillowcases and some other bedding. The front of the fabric has a glossy satin finish, while the back has a dull finish. Charmeuse is known to be cultivated silk, the silkworms that make it are raised for natural silk.
1.2 Mulberry Silk
Regarding the quality of moth and silk, this type is used a lot to make bedding. Nearly all mulberry silks are charmeuse silk raised from special silkworms fed a very strict diet.
And Bombyx mori is a silkworm that can make mulberry silk and they eat mulberry leaves. This silkworm has been in the industry for more than 5,000 years.
With quality breeding and a strict diet of mulberry leaves, the result is mulberry silk, the finest silk available today.
1.3 Tussah Silk
Silk is made from wild silkworms that have not been bred. Since they are not fed a strict or protective diet like silkworms are raised, the silk is neither soft nor durable. Wild silks come from India, not China.
1.4 Habotai Silk
It is another type of silk commonly used to make bed sheets and bedding. It is less expensive, also less durable than charmeuse. This silk is "washed" with sand to give it a soft feel. However, this washing destroys the fibers in the silk, making it not last long.
1.5 Dupioni Silk
It is a durable, glossy but coarse silk that is not ideal for bed linen and bedding. It can be used in duvets, because it doesn't work well to maintain the temperature. It has low quality as these silks are made from uneven, non-quality cocoons.
So through the above comment, mulberry silk is the best kind of silk, to better understand how to choose a silk sheet, you need to learn a little bit about Momme Weight. Read the next part.
2. Momme Weight Rating
Unlike other natural fibers, which are measured by yarn count, silk uses the momme weight rating.
Momme is pronounced mummy, momme weight is basically a measurement of the weight of silk. This measurement was developed by the Japanese and used to measure things like pearls.
To calculate momme weight, simply measure a piece of fabric 100 yards long and 45 inches wide. If it weighs 12 lbs then the momme weight of the fabric is 12.
Choosing this type of silk helps determine the momme weight of the silk. The habotai silk with momme weight from 5 to 15, and charmeuse silk can be from 12 to 30.
The ideal weight selection is to look for a weight greater than 14 for bedding. The 19mm momme is a good weight, offering good feel and durability. If momme increases, so silk becomes opaque, note that unbleached silk will always be smooth. This is also a feature of the fabric and does not affect its durability.
3. Matching, color and pattern on silk sheets
3.1 Matching of silk sheet
Actually the silk sheets do not shrink easily when they are cared for properly. However, you need to know three things to avoid in order for silk sheets to always be the right size:
- Method 1: avoid soaking bed sheets before washing. This can cause individual fibers to change shape, lose softness and lead to shrinkage.
- Method 2: Use cool water when washing bed sheets.
- Method 3: hang to dry in the air because silk's property is to dry quickly, but if you live in a humid environment, it is advisable to choose another set of bed sheets to use while the sheets dry.
Almost all the silk sheets have varied standard sizes, for choosing a suitable bed size. Pay attention to the depth of the "pocket", it will affect the mattress height to be able to fit. Most of the options above have extra pockets, but before you buy, it's a good idea to measure your mattress to be sure.
3.2 Color of silk sheet
There are many colors and its main characteristics are good color catch and beautiful shine. It meets buyer needs like dark colors (which are more translucent and don't yellow easily), or cool subtleties of classic white or various pale shades. Lighter colors are less likely to fade from sunlight, so you can choose whatever suits the room and your aesthetic.
3.3 Patterns on silk sheet
Often patterns will not appear commonly on silk sheets, although several options are available. You'll find it common to find sheets with embroidery on the edges or just on the pillowcase, but these tend to be more expensive.
4. Consider temperature
Almost all silks regulate temperature and tend to be comfortable for cold or hot sleepers. But still some people feel that silk can be uncomfortably cool when they first climb into bed. If this happens to you, consider purchasing an additional heated mattress to use with your silk sheet set.
5. Pure Silk vs Blended Silk
Pure silk sheets are popular, but blended fabrics are also available. They are mainly cotton with 25-30% silk, which is cheaper. But they are softer and tend to flow, less brittle.
6. Organic Silk
Once when silk was extremely expensive and hard to find, now you can find them everywhere at a more affordable price when choosing them as eco-friendly bedding. However, you can also find a better quality to suit your pocket.
7. OEKO-TEX Standard with 100 certifications
Is an accredited place and specializes in providing certification for products tested to be free of harmful chemicals.
However, the absence of this certification does not mean that the panels are contaminated, simply that the manufacturer does not pay for the certification process.
What's more, silk is not as susceptible to contamination as cultivated fibers like cotton or processed fabrics like rayon. Having OEKO-TEX certification will bring peace of mind.
8. Caring and maintenance of silk sheet
Some tips to maintain and prolong the life of your bed sheets by avoiding jagged toenails and fingernails, not eating in bed and always washing them regularly.
If you want to use any product, test on a small area to make sure it doesn't stain or bleed.
You need to treat stains immediately if possible.
However, you should not soak silk bed sheets before washing as this can easily damage the fibers. In the case of dirty or yellowed linens, pretreat with undiluted white vinegar or a silk-friendly stain remover.
If possible, hand wash your silks for the first three or four washes. Since the new silks are composed of stiff fibers and hand washing allows them to be softer and more durable to prevent breakage.
Make it a habit to wash your hands because of this will keep them in better condition, rest assured that silk can also be machine washed on a gentle cycle or hand wash.
Cool to warm water and mild, silk-friendly detergents are recommended.
Always hang your sheets to dry naturally, using the dryer will shrink and damage the silk. Directly drying silks in sunlight can cause color fading, hang them in a shady place with plenty of wind.
9. Choosing the silk sheet following the seasons
Usually all silks are suitable for all seasons and can be converted according to temperature.
In case if you are at night or it is hot or cold, you should buy another silk blanket for summer and winter.
The reason silk is flexible is to prevent silk from bunching up, and to provide even heat to your entire body. Finally, your feet are insulated in the same way as your upper body, and your body is also better at regulating your temper.
The fact that you stay up in the middle of the night is because most synthetic fibers and traditional bedding materials are less breathable. If you lie on it for too long, it will irritate the sweat glands. This is especially problematic for women going through menopause, once the body goes from hot to cool to hot again.
Silk's structure at the microscopic level allows for small amounts of air, helping the body to regulate its natural temperature. Once overheated the body will sweat and the breathable nature of silk will allow moisture to escape, cooling the body so called the emollient effect. While you shower, less moisture is created and so silk helps the body retain heat naturally. At the same time, silk also provides an even amount of cooling throughout the night so that the body does not need to be constantly adjusted.
Conclusion
The choice of a silk sheet that is right for you will be based on many factors and your personality such as the type of silk sheet, momme weight is greater than 14 (19 is fine), even color is affected so you need a bedding set that matches your style and space,...
We hope that the necessary information we provide will help you to be able to choose a silk sheet.
