If you're trying to improve the health of your hair, sleeping on silk pillowcases is the way to go. The reason? Silk is smooth and soft, which helps minimize static on hair—and mitigates other hair-related concerns.
Less Hair Damage and Frizz
The benefits of sleeping on a silk pillowcase are most pronounced for hair, experts say, because the smooth surface reduces friction and thus breakage.
While a silk pillowcase can't completely undo hair damage or reverse different types of hair loss, it does play an important part in promoting hair growth and repair.
Are silk pillowcases worth it? Yes! Not only do they feel great to sleep on, silk pillowcase benefits also include smoother hair and smoother skin.
Silk pillowcases fight frizz by helping your hair retain moisture. Silk is also a friction-free material that allows your hair to glide and move freely over the pillowcase while you sleep. Meaning less snagging and damage which, as you've probably guessed, means less frizz.
Silk is too delicate
Poor quality, cheap silk, is flimsy. And while you should take care to protect your silk from snags and tears (for example, by using a mesh laundry bag when washing as we recommend above), good high quality silk sheets and silk pillowcases should last as long as their cotton counterparts.
Less friction, less frizz – Because it's so smooth, silk doesn't cause much friction for your delicate strands of hair. No matter your hair type, this can be a vital tool for stopping bedhead and helping to prevent hair loss that can often come with friction.
A silk pillowcase should be washed regularly and changed as often as you change your bedsheets. 'Typically we clean pillowcases and sheets together on a weekly or twice weekly schedule,' says Wayne Edelman. If you can, you should swap out your pillowcases for fresh once every few days.
Silk will typically last longer because it's higher quality. If you with satin because it better aligns with your budget, it's still a huge upgrade from a cotton pillowcase. And if you're really concerned about the slight loss of moisture, Onuoha suggests giving your curls a quick oil treatment.
Silk pillowcases, like your other bed linens, come into direct contact with your skin every night, so it's important to wash them regularly — typically about every seven to ten days.
Silk is your hair's best friend. "Silk pillowcases are an absolute game-changer as they don't pull and absorb moisture from your hair and your face," says Reslan. "Unlike regular pillowcases, the smooth silk fibers don't cause damage to your hair by creating friction and roughening up your hair's cuticles.
Yes you can. However, whether your pillowcase is silk or cotton, going to bed with wet hair can attract bacteria. If your silk pillowcase absorbs some of your hair product, you can wash this out as easily as a cotton pillow case in most cases, but keeping in mind that silk is more delicate than cotton.
Since the silk encourages the outer layer of your hair cuticles to lay flat, adds Marjan, so strands look and feel smoother—just like silk.
Do silk pillowcases prevent frizzy hair? Yes! Thanks to silk's super smooth texture, hair glides over it without any friction which means you'll be less likely to wake up with frizzy hair, tangles, or bedhead, whereas cotton can snag hair and muss it up into a nest of tangles overnight.
Silk tends to be a moisture-wicking textile, which may put your pattern at risk of waking up thirsty. Satin, in contrast, is a minimally-absorbent fabric, which means it won't suck the natural moisture from your curls or soak in any product you're wearing to bed.
The highest-quality silk is mulberry silk, which is made from silkworms who eat from the leaves of the mulberry tree. It's the most durable silk and also the softest, which makes it ideal for a high-traffic item like a pillowcase.
Satin is actually a synthetic material and not a natural fiber like pure mulberry silk. Satin will also have a glossy and non-glossy side just like silk and can often be called charmeuse, but don't confuse satin charmeuse with natural silk charmeuse as it is not the same.
Silk reacts to alkaline detergents. These can cause the silk to become rough and even cause the fabric to break down. So, when washing silk, even by hand, ensure that you use a mild detergent. Some people even make their own detergents just for silk.
Let's start with how to wash your silk pillowcase
But if you don't have any silk friendly detergents, you can also use your hair shampoo. The reason you can use your hair shampoo is because silk is a natural fiber with natural protein and amino acids, similar to our hair. Do not twist the fabric and let it drip dry.
You should probably change your bedsheets once a week. Think about it: You spend hours in bed every night, and your sheets collect skin flakes and an assortment of bodily fluids and oils. Then there's stuff like dust, dust mites, and (if you have a cat or dog) pet hair.
Less Friction
Have you ever woken up to find your hair in a tangled mess? That's not the case with a satin or silk pillowcase. The satin pillowcase will allow your hair to gently glide over the top of it reducing friction, tangles, and frizz and keeping your hairstyle intact.
Curly hair and wavy hair tend to get a lot more frizzier when compared to straight hair. Your hair type is determined by the shape of your hair follicle. If you have a rounded follicle, your hair grows straight. If you have flat hair follicles, your hair type becomes wavy or curly, making it more prone to frizz.