The complete guide
How to Choose a 22 Momme Mulberry Silk Pillowcase
The problem with a cotton pillowcase
Most of us inherit our pillowcases rather than choose them. They come as part of a bed set, or they turn up in a multipack, and we use them until they wear through. Cotton is fine. It is hard-wearing and cheap and washes easily. But it has a texture, and that texture has a grip to it.
You notice the grip in small ways. Hair that was tidy at bedtime is tangled in the morning. The side of your face carries a crease line from the weave for the first hour of the day. You shift position and feel the fabric drag rather than slip. None of it is dramatic. It is just friction, repeated across eight hours, every night of the year.
A mulberry silk pillowcase changes that surface. Silk filaments are long and smooth, and the woven face has very little tooth to it. Hair and skin slide over the fabric instead of catching on it. That is a property of the material, not a promise about anything else, and it is the honest reason silk bedding has stayed popular for as long as it has.
What momme actually measures
If you have shopped for silk before, you have seen numbers like 16, 19, 22 and 25 attached to a momme figure. Momme is simply a weight measurement for silk fabric. It describes how much a given area of the cloth weighs, which in practice tells you how dense and substantial it is.
Low momme silk, around 16, is light. It feels delicate and it drapes very loosely. It is often cheaper, and it can be a reasonable entry point, but it tends to show wear sooner. At the other end, 25 momme and above is noticeably heavy. Some people love it. Others find it closer to a furnishing fabric than to bedding, and the price climbs sharply.
Twenty-two momme sits in the middle, and that is why so many shoppers land there. A 22 momme silk pillowcase has enough weight to sit properly over a pillow rather than clinging to every lump. It feels solid in your hand. It holds up to regular washing better than the lighter weights. For most people buying their first good silk pillowcase, it is the sensible place to start.
Grade 6A and what grading tells you
Momme is about the fabric. Grading is about the raw fibre that goes into it.
Mulberry silk is graded by filament quality, with 6A at the top of the scale. The grading looks at how long the filaments are, how even they are in thickness, and how clean and consistent they appear. Long, even filaments can be woven into a smooth, uniform face with few slubs and little variation in sheen. Shorter or more irregular fibre produces a fabric that looks and feels patchier.
These pillowcases are made from 100% mulberry silk graded 6A at 22 momme. That combination, top grade fibre at a mid-to-heavy weight, is the specification you will find on most well-made silk bedding. It is worth checking both numbers when you compare products, because a high momme figure on low grade fibre does not give you the same result.
Why the weave matters more than the word satin
A quick word on terminology, because it trips up a lot of shoppers. Silk is a fibre. Satin is a weave. A satin pillowcase can be made from polyester, and often is. It will be shiny, it will be cheap, and it will feel quite different from silk against the skin, particularly in a warm room where synthetics hold heat.
When a listing says 100% mulberry silk, that is a fibre claim. When it only says satin, it is telling you about the weave structure and nothing about what the thread is made of. If silk is what you want, look for the fibre named directly.
The closure, and why it is not a small detail
This set uses a hidden zipper along one edge of each case. It sounds minor until you have lived with the alternative.
Envelope closures are the common budget option. A flap of fabric folds over the open end and tucks the pillow in. It works well enough on a half-full pillow. On a plump one, the flap gapes, the pillow edges out through the night, and by morning the case has slid halfway down. You end up repositioning it every time you make the bed.
A silk pillowcase with hidden zipper holds the pillow where it should be. The zip sits inside the seam, so you do not see hardware, and the case keeps its rectangular shape from both sides. For a white case especially, where the eye goes straight to the lines, that tidiness is worth having.
Zips do need a little care. Hold the fabric away as you close it so the silk does not catch in the teeth, and zip slowly. That one habit will see the case through years of use.
Getting the size right
This is where most returns come from, and it is entirely avoidable.
These cases are cut to the American standard size, 20 x 26 inches, which is 51 x 66 cm. That is one of several pillow sizes in circulation. Queen cases run 20 x 30 inches and king cases run 20 x 36 inches, and plenty of countries use their own dimensions that match none of those.
So do not guess from the label on your pillow or the name of the set it came in. Lay the pillow flat and run a tape measure along the width and the length. If it comes in at or just under 20 x 26 inches (51 x 66 cm), a standard case is right. If it is appreciably bigger, the silk will be stretched tight, the seams will take the strain, and the case will wear out faster.
If your pillow is slightly smaller than the case, that is fine. A little room is better than none.
Why two cases make sense
The pack contains two pillowcases, and that is more practical than it sounds.
Silk needs hand washing, which means it is not something you throw in with the weekly load and forget about. With a pair, one case goes in the wash while the other stays on the bed. You never have the awkward gap where you go back to cotton for two days and immediately notice the difference.
On a shared bed, two matching cases also just look right. One silk and one cotton is an odd sight, and the sheen difference is obvious in daylight.
Looking after them
Silk rewards gentle handling, and the routine is short.
Wash by hand in cool water with a mild detergent made for delicate fibres. Swirl the fabric through the water rather than scrubbing or twisting it. Rinse until the water runs clear, then lift the case out, support its weight, and press the water out between two towels. Do not wring it.
Dry flat or hang in the shade. Direct sun fades silk and can yellow a white case over time. Skip the tumble dryer entirely, since heat is the fastest way to ruin good silk.
If creases bother you, press on the reverse at a low setting while the fabric is still faintly damp. Keep the iron moving. Store the spare case folded in a dry drawer rather than crumpled in a linen basket.
Avoid bleach completely, even on white. It breaks down silk fibres and can leave a dull yellow tone that will not wash out. Deal with marks promptly using cool water and a drop of mild detergent, and they usually lift without any drama.
Who this suits
Anyone who wants a smoother surface to sleep on, and anyone with long hair who is tired of the morning tangle. It is also one of the easier gifts to get right, because silk bedding is something plenty of people would enjoy but rarely buy for themselves. White goes with every bedroom, so there is no colour guesswork, and the gift box means you do not need to wrap anything.
It suits any pillow filling, too. Latex, memory foam, down or polyester all work. The only thing that matters is the finished size.
The short version
Two white pillowcases, 100% mulberry silk, grade 6A, 22 momme, cut to the American standard size of 20 x 26 inches (51 x 66 cm), each with a hidden zipper, supplied in a gift box. Hand wash only, dry out of direct sun.
Measure your pillow first. If it fits that standard size, the rest of the decision is easy.