The complete guide
How to Choose a Silk Pillowcase, Sizes, Momme and Care
The problem with the pillowcase you already own
Most of us never think about the pillowcase. It came with the sheet set, it is cotton, it is fine. Then you notice things. Your hair looks slept on in a way that takes twenty minutes to fix. Your cheek has creases in it at eight in the morning. The case has crept halfway off the pillow by the time you wake up, and the corner of it is bunched under your ear.
None of that is dramatic. It is just daily friction, literally. Cotton has a textured surface, and your face and hair drag across it every time you turn over. A silk pillowcase changes the surface you are sleeping against. Hair slides rather than catches, and skin moves across the cloth instead of gripping it. That is the whole mechanism. It is not magic, it is just a smoother fibre.
This particular pillowcase is a queen, cut from 19 momme Grade 6A pure mulberry silk on both sides, woven at 600 thread count, in a solid navy blue with a hidden zip. Below is how to work out whether that spec sheet actually suits your bed.
What momme means and why 19 is the number to look for
Silk is not sold by thread count the way cotton is. It is sold by momme, a weight measure that tells you how dense the fabric is. A 12 momme silk is light and gauzy. A 16 momme is passable. A 19 momme silk is where most people land for bedding, because it has enough body to drape properly, enough strength to survive regular washing, and enough weight to stay sitting on the pillow instead of rippling about.
Go much above 22 momme and silk starts to feel heavy and a bit warm. Go below 16 and you will see the fabric wear thin at the seams within a year or two. So 19 is not a compromise, it is roughly the sweet spot. If you are comparing options and looking for the best 19 momme silk pillowcase, check that the figure applies to the whole case and not just the face.
Grade 6A refers to the raw silk itself, not the finished cloth. It is the top grade in the common system, based on how long and even the silk filaments are. Longer, more even filaments make a smoother, stronger fabric. The 600 thread count then describes how tightly those filaments are woven.
Double sided matters more than people expect
Here is a thing worth checking on any silk pillowcase. Is both sides silk, or just the side you can see in the photo? Plenty of cases on the market use a silk face and a polyester or cotton back to keep the price down. The moment you flip your pillow in the night, you are on the cheap side.
This one is double sided 19 momme mulberry silk. Front and back are the same cloth. You can turn the pillow as often as you like and nothing changes. If you only check one spec when shopping for the best pure silk pillowcase, make it this one.
Sizing, and why you should go and measure
This is where most silk pillowcase purchases go sideways in South Africa, so it is worth a careful read.
Silk pillowcases are almost always cut to American sizes. The three common ones are standard at 51 x 66 cm, queen at 51 x 76 cm, and king at 51 x 91 cm. This pillowcase is the queen, 76.2 x 50.8 cm, which is 30 x 20 inches.
A standard South African pillow, on the other hand, is usually around 45 x 70 cm. That is narrower and shorter than the American queen. So if you put a local pillow in this case, you will have a relaxed, slightly loose fit with soft drape at the ends. Some people love that look. Others find it sloppy.
If you have imported pillow inserts, hotel style pillows, or a bed dressed with American sized bedding, this queen will fit properly. The only way to know for sure is to take a tape measure to the pillow you actually sleep on tonight. Do not trust the label, because pillows compress and sag over years of use and the printed size is often optimistic. Measure the real thing, flat, from seam to seam.
If you are buying for someone else and cannot measure their pillow, the queen is a reasonably safe bet, because a slightly roomy case still works while a tight one does not.
The hidden zip, and why closures matter
Three closure styles dominate silk pillowcases. The envelope flap tucks the excess fabric back inside. It is cheap to make and looks neat, but the pillow can work its way out over a night of turning. A visible zip holds firmly but puts a plastic or metal strip near where you sleep. A hidden zip, which is what this case uses, gives you the grip of a zip with the clean look of a plain seam.
The zip sits tucked into the edge seam, well away from your face. The interior edges here are also stitched over, which means no raw fabric edges fraying on the inside or catching on a ring when you change the bed. If you are shopping for the best silk pillowcase with hidden zip construction, those finished interior seams are the detail that separates a well made case from a rushed one.
Practical tip: always close the zip before washing. An open zip tumbling loose in a machine will snag the silk.
Living with navy blue
Colour choice on a pillowcase is partly taste and partly practicality. Dark colours are forgiving. Night creams, hair oils, serums and the odd bit of mascara all show up less on navy than they do on ivory or blush. If you do a proper skincare routine at night, that is a real advantage.
Navy is also an easy neighbour. It sits well against crisp white cotton, picks up the tone in grey bedding, and gives warm cream or oatmeal linen a bit of definition. It does not fight with patterns the way a bright or unusual shade can. For a guest room, where you do not know what the rest of the bed will look like next season, a dark neutral is the sensible pick.
One caution. Dark dyes and strong sunlight do not get along. Dry it in the shade, not pegged out in full afternoon sun.
Washing it without ruining it
Silk is not fragile, but it is fussy about heat and chemicals. Get those two things right and a 19 momme case will last you years.
Cool water, always. Use a mild liquid detergent made for delicates, not a biological powder, because the enzymes in biological detergents break down protein fibres, and silk is a protein fibre. Skip bleach entirely. Skip fabric softener too, since silk is already soft and the softener just leaves a film that dulls the surface.
You can hand wash in a basin, which is gentlest, or machine wash cold on a gentle or delicates cycle with the case zipped shut inside a mesh laundry bag. Either works. When it comes out, do not wring it. Press the water out between your hands or roll it in a towel, then dry flat or hang in the shade.
If you need to iron, use the lowest setting on the reverse side, ideally while the fabric is still a bit damp. Honestly, most of the time hanging it up is enough and the creases fall out by themselves.
Wash it every week to ten days. More often if you use heavy products at night. Frequent cool washes are far kinder than letting oils build up and then attacking it with hot water.
Who this suits
People with long hair, curly hair or fine hair tend to notice the difference first, because those are the hair types that suffer most from overnight drag. Anyone who sleeps hot often prefers silk to cotton, since it feels cool going in and does not trap heat. And anyone who has woken up with pillow creases in their cheek will understand the appeal immediately.
It also makes a straightforward gift. There is no sizing guesswork if the recipient uses a queen pillow, navy works in almost any room, and the whole thing weighs 109 grams, so it posts easily.
The short version
This is one queen size pillowcase, 76.2 x 50.8 cm, in solid navy blue. The fabric is 19 momme Grade 6A pure mulberry silk on both sides, woven at 600 thread count. It closes with a hidden zip and the interior edges are stitched over.
Measure your pillow before you order, because this is cut to the American queen size and a standard South African pillow is smaller. Wash it cool and gentle, dry it in the shade, and keep it away from bleach and softener.
Delivery is tracked to every province in 10 to 20 working days, free over R1800 and R250 below that. Payment is by card. If it turns out not to be right for your bed, you have 14 days from delivery to send it back unused and unwashed.