Satin or silk pillowcase?

**Arctic_Mama** · October 22nd, 2008, 05:21 AM

You guys are going to laugh - DH and I were in-between paychecks when I found this site and reformed my routine and I wanted, no... NEEDED a silk pillowcase (my hair tangles, frizzes, and snags SO easily!) but I couldn't get to the fabric store and couldn't order one online.

So. Resourceful me, I dug up a lovely thin silk poncho I was on some sort of weird acid trip when I decided to buy - and consequently never wore it - and decided to cannibalize it into a pillowcase. Snip snip here, row of stitches there, viola! Silk pillowcase. It's not thick (you can see through it) and it's not a dense, rich satin weave... but even that cheap crappy thing has INFINITELY more slip than even my 400 thread count pima cotton pillowcase I'd previously used. ANYTHING is better than cotton. A good satin will be dense, thick, and very slippery, but you can absolutely get away with many different weights of silk or bamboo, in particular, as they are both extremely lustrous, long-stapled fibers.

And yes, you can totally go Holly Hobby like moi and hack something up yourself... you have no idea how close I was to cannibalizing something like my wedding dress, instead (that things made me look like a snow beast) but thought the better of it at the last minute

**Masara** · October 22nd, 2008, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by Arctic_Mama

You guys are going to laugh

I'm not laughing. I did more or less the same thing.
I made my silk pillowcases out of an old sari bought from ebay. All the pillowcases I found on the web were the wrong shape (French pillows are square) So I just made my own. The fabric is very thin, but I put a cotton case underneath it and when you get three or four pillow cases from one sari, it doesn't matter if you need to replace often (so saying, I've been using them since May and they are all still fine)

I didn't answer the question: Silk for me. I love the feel of silk and I'm always careful with things marked "satin" because my skin prefers natural fibres.

**cocolover** · October 22nd, 2008, 10:16 AM

Hmmm....a real mixed response. I guess I'll have to feel them in person and then make my decision. However, I am heading into middle age here, so maybe for my skin the silk would be good. thank you all for your responses. Oh, Arctic_Mama, I think you just sound smart! As I was reading your post I was thinking, hmmm, do we have anything silk anywhere in the house I could cut up....

Tapioca · October 22nd, 2008, 10:30 AM

All I know is that satin pillowcases on satin sheets is a PITA. Whoops! There goes the pillow again! And the sheet slithers off the bed whenever I try to make it. Grr. Pillowcases, yes. But I'm never getting satin sheets again.

**Missie** · October 22nd, 2008, 03:22 PM

just had to add one more thought..
I bought a little soft feather pillow from Ikea for my silk pillowcase.. the little one works better for me than a big pillow.. its something to do with being able to scrunch it up to mould into your neck I think.. I have other big pillows with cotton covers on the bed but the little silk pillow is the BEST

**Arctic_Mama** · October 22nd, 2008, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Tapioca

All I know is that satin pillowcases on satin sheets is a PITA. Whoops! There goes the pillow again! And the sheet slithers off the bed whenever I try to make it. Grr. Pillowcases, yes. But I'm never getting satin sheets again.

Yup! Like a greased bowling ball, that amount of slip can be REALLY problematic for other things too

Unless you like inching off the bed accidentally, I recommend silk/satin pillowcases ONLY, save your pennies on the sheets!

**Anje** · October 22nd, 2008, 07:27 PM

I haven't tried silk pillowcases, but you can get them for fairly cheap at Dharma Trading if you don't mind white being the only choice. (They sell supplies for tie-dye, etc., so most of what they sell is white.)

I can say that my home-made polyester satin pillowcase doesn't get much love. It feels sticky against my face -- the thing doesn't really breathe. It was rather awful in the summer. I may have to dig it out and give it another try now that it's getting cold out, but I don't relish the idea. I've been wearing cheap polyester satin sleep bonnets instead, which contain the hair while still letting my face enjoy cottony coolness.

**cocolover** · October 23rd, 2008, 10:00 AM

Anje, that thing about sticking on your face has just swung my vote. I don't even like to sleep on cotton/poly blends, so I bet I will not like the satin either. I found a pretty one on ebay, from feeling pampered, anyone ever bought from them? It is pretty cheap with free shipping.

**happymommy** · October 24th, 2008, 10:06 AM

I got my satin pillowcases as Linens n things on sale, then found them for half that at Sally's beauty. But I really wanted silk.

Kohl's sells silk ones in the Daisy Fuentes bedding collection.

**Deborah** · October 24th, 2008, 12:18 PM

I have bought several different ones over the years. For good acetate ones (infinitely better than polyester in my opinion) our own Lisa Janey makes nice ones. I bought one from Dharma Trading, but am not crazy about it. I have a couple others as well, but my hands-down favorite is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=350105588684

With $2 shipping it is $24, and worth every penny. The one I have already is midnight blue. I have a silver one on order. These are great silk, and wonderfully made. They are the kind where the back panels overlap, and you slip the pillow in that way. This type of closure keeps the pillow from sliding out of the case, and just looks nicer. I love mine. This lady is nice to work with too, and sends the pillow case out either that day or the next, so they get to you shockingly fast.

I machine wash mine, and have been tossing it into the warm dryer for 5 minutes, then letting it hang to finish drying. I may skip the dryer with the new one. The blue one has developed a very nice but not shiny finish, somewhat suede-like, but still quite smooth. I like it, but I'm going to just hang the new one to dry, and see if I like that surface even better. I think I have managed to create my own 'sueded silk'.

When I first used a satin pillowcase, I did have trouble with it shooting off the side of the bed, due to the slipperiness. I have since found a solution. You know that rubbery stuff that looks like a very loosely woven fabric that you can buy in rolls to line your cabinets with? I somehow found that I had a piece of that cut about 8 inches by 12 inches. I put that between the pillow and the sheet. Voilà! No more slipping around.

I'm sure you can find other good silk suppliers, but I have had great success with the one I mention above; that's why I describe her producct so fully. Sorry to be so lengthy in my reply. I must just be in a chatty mood.