The complete guide
How to Choose a Silk Pillowcase, A Plain Buyer's Guide
The problem with the pillowcase you already own
Most people never think about their pillowcase. It is cotton, it came in a set with the sheets, and it gets washed with everything else. Then one morning you notice the sleep creases on your cheek have not faded by the time you get to work, or you spend ten minutes untangling your hair, and you start to wonder whether the surface you press your face into for eight hours a night is doing you any favours.
Cotton is a good fibre. It is durable, it washes well and it costs very little. But cotton staple is short and slightly rough, and it has a lot of grip. Hair catches on it. Skin drags against it. Over a long night of turning, that friction adds up. Silk behaves differently because the fibre itself is different. Silk filaments are long, continuous and smooth, so hair and skin slide across them instead of catching. That is the whole idea behind a silk pillowcase, and it is a property of the fibre, not a coating or a finish that washes out.
What momme actually measures
If you have spent any time shopping for silk, you have seen the word momme. It is the traditional unit of silk weight, pronounced "mummy", and it tells you how much silk fibre is packed into a given area of fabric. Cotton uses thread count for roughly the same purpose. Silk uses momme.
Lightweight silk sits around 16 momme. That is fine for a scarf or a camisole, but on a pillowcase it can feel thin and it will wear out faster, because every wash and every night of friction takes a toll on less fabric. At the other end, very heavy silk starts to feel stiff and loses some of the drape people buy silk for in the first place.
This pillowcase is 22 momme. That is a dense, substantial weight that you can feel the moment you pick it up. It holds its shape over a pillow, it drapes rather than clings, and there is enough fibre there to stand up to a weekly wash. If you are comparing options and trying to work out which is the best 22 momme silk pillowcase for your bed, start by making sure the momme figure refers to the whole case and not just one side.
Grade 6A, and what grading tells you
The other number you will see is the grade. Mulberry silk is graded on a scale that runs up to 6A, and the grade describes the raw filament rather than the finished fabric. It covers how long the strands are, how even they are in thickness, and how consistent the colour is before any dye goes near them.
Longer, more even filaments produce a smoother, stronger fabric with fewer slubs and weak points. The maker lists this fabric as 100% mulberry silk at grade 6A. Combine that with a 22 momme weight and you have the specification most people are after when they go looking for the best mulberry silk pillowcase.
One thing worth saying plainly: grade and momme describe the fabric, nothing more. They are useful because they are measurable. Treat any claim that goes beyond fabric facts with a bit of caution.
Getting the size right
Canadian pillow sizes are straightforward once you know them. A standard pillow is 20 x 26 inches (51 x 66 cm). A queen is 20 x 30 inches (51 x 76 cm). A king is 20 x 36 inches (51 x 91 cm).
This case is a queen at 20 x 30 inches. If you have queen pillows, it is a direct match. If you have standard pillows, it will still go on, but you will have about four inches of spare fabric at the open end. Some people genuinely do not mind that, and a few prefer the looser drape. Others find the slack annoying. King pillows will not fit at all, since they are six inches longer than the case.
The quickest way to check is to pull the pillow out of its current case, lay it flat and measure it seam to seam. Pillow labels go missing, but a tape measure does not lie. Anyone searching for the best queen silk pillowcase should do this first, because a size mismatch is the most common reason a silk case ends up back in the box.
Zipper or envelope
Silk pillowcases usually close one of two ways. An envelope closure uses an overlapping flap of fabric, like a standard cotton pillowcase. A zipper closure runs along one edge and seals the case shut.
This one uses a hidden zipper. The zip is set into the seam so it is tucked away rather than sitting on the surface. The practical benefit is that the pillow stays fully enclosed. Envelope flaps have a habit of working loose as you move at night, and once the flap shifts, you get a fold of extra fabric bunched up somewhere under your head. That defeats the point of a smooth surface.
Position the zipped edge at the outer end of the pillow, away from where your face lands, and you will not notice it is there. If you have been hunting for the best silk pillowcase with hidden zipper, the thing to check is that the zip is enclosed in the seam rather than exposed along the top.
Why black
Colour is personal, but black has some practical advantages worth mentioning. It goes with almost everything, which matters if your sheets rotate through the year. It reads as calm and quiet rather than decorative. And dark silk is more forgiving about the small marks of ordinary life, the trace of a night cream or a dot of hair oil, which show up quickly on ivory or blush.
Black silk also has a particular look. It is not flat. Silk picks up light along the filament, so a dark case has a soft sheen that shifts as the light moves across it. That is one reason the best black silk pillowcase options tend to photograph better in person than on a screen.
Looking after it
Silk is a protein fibre, closer to wool or hair than to cotton. Treat it the way you would treat a good wool sweater and it will last.
Hand washing is the gentlest route. Cool water, a small amount of mild detergent made for delicates, a few minutes of light agitation, then a thorough rinse. If you would rather use the machine, put the case in a mesh laundry bag, run the delicate cycle at a low temperature, and keep it separate from anything with zips or hooks.
Skip bleach completely, and skip fabric softener too. Softener coats fibres, and coating a fibre that is already smooth does nothing useful. After washing, press the water out between your palms rather than wringing, then hang or lay the case flat to dry somewhere out of direct sun. Heat and strong sunlight both break silk down over time.
If you want it crisp, iron on the lowest setting, inside out, while the fabric still holds a little moisture. A dry iron on dry silk is how shine marks happen.
Washing once a week is a sensible rhythm. More often if you use heavy creams or oils at night. Having two cases makes this easier, because one can be in the wash while the other is on the bed.
The short version
Look for 100% mulberry silk rather than a blend or a satin finish. Check the momme weight, with the low twenties being the sweet spot for a pillowcase. Measure your pillow before you order, because queen at 20 x 30 inches is not the same as standard at 20 x 26. Prefer a zipper over an envelope flap if you want the surface to stay flat all night. Then wash it cool, dry it flat and keep it away from heat.
This one ticks those boxes: 100% mulberry silk at grade 6A, 22 momme, queen sized at 20 x 30 inches (51 x 76 cm), solid black, hidden zipper, one case in a gift box. Delivery runs 3 to 7 working days from Canadian warehouses, free over $150 and $20 below that, with 14 days to return it unused and unwashed if the fit is not right.