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What separates a good night’s sleep from a great night’s sleep is the material and quality of your bedding.
Everyone knows that pillows are important, but not many people realize just how vital using the best fabric for pillow cases is to their sleep experience. Even if you don’t, your body knows the subtle differences between silk satin and Egyptian cotton pillowcases. On top of quality sleep, the type of pillow case you use can also affect your physical appearance, like your hair.
Before we dive into the best fabric for pillow cases, let’s explore if certain pillow cases actually work for bettering your sleep or beauty routine.
Do Pillowcases Work?
Whether it’s regular pillowcases or beauty pillowcases, knowing if the pillow you sleep on influences anything positively or negatively is important.
Although research in this field is lacking, theoretically certain pillowcases with natural fibers contain antimicrobial properties that acne-prone or sensitive skin individuals can leverage. These benefits are thanks to properties like breathable material and metals weaving throughout the pillowcase.
Beauty gurus and stylists also swear by satin or silk pillowcases to prevent frizz and wake up with a smooth do.
While the amazing skin benefits, hair health and sleeping perks of these bedding essentials need to be further explored, it’s safe to say it’s good to invest in the best piece of fabric for your pillowcase.
That said, which bedding fabrics will make the right pillowcase for you?
Best Fabric for Pillow Cases
Silk
Made from natural fibers, silk is one of the most popular pillowcase materials. A mulberry silk pillowcase or Alaska bear natural silk pillowcase can do much when it comes to getting you optimal sleep and improving hair health.
Considered the perfect beauty anti-wrinkle head cradle by many, some of the benefits of silk pillowcases include enhancing delicate skin due to lack of friction. Because the amount of friction from a mulberry silk pillow case and silk duvet cover is minimal, there’s no skin-tugging.
Silk pillowcases also offer hair health support, and even frizz-prone curly hair does better with silk pillowcases. Whether it’s 22-momme silk or 6A-grade mulberry silk pillowcases, you also get minimal hair tangles. You can expect no tangled hair, frizzy hair or bedhead when using a silk pillowcase.
The benefits of silk pillowcases also extend to caring for acne-prone skin. As it’s gentler on the skin than most cotton fabrics, that lack of friction may also reduce inflammation and acne. Silk fabric may also be great for sweaty sleepers. This is because silk can reduce any discomfort caused by heat and the breathable material will absorb any moisture.
Will you find some disadvantages of using silk pillowcases? You will, as with anything, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
Nylon
Without closer inspection, this type of pillow case can be mistaken for silk pillowcases. One reason for this is that these synthetic fabrics can easily be made to look like real silk, but this doesn’t mean nylon can do all that silk can. Still, nylon remains one of the best materials for pillow cases.
Highly durable and resilient, these pillowcases are great whether used indoors or outdoors. One particularly beneficial feature of this type of a pillowcase is that you can readily get these in a variety of colors. From muted colors to bright, solid colors, these bedding fabrics easily leave you spoilt for choices when it comes to aesthetics.
They’re also machine-washable and because the synthetic materials are hypoallergenic, you can wash these easily with any hypoallergenic detergent for sensitive sleepers.
Cotton
Getting a 100% cotton or cotton blend pillowcase may be just what you need to improve your sleep quality on those warm nights. The primary benefit of cotton is that it’s very efficient at drawing moisture from the body. Using any type of cotton weave pillowcase can also promote your body temperature regulation while you sleep.
These beneficial properties make cotton pillowcases the right call for hot sleepers. What’s more, pillowcases made of cotton fabrics are more accommodating to different types of sleepers.
Available in 300-thread count, 400-thread count and 480-thread count, and different types of cotton, it won’t be difficult to find something just right for you. Cotton pillow cases are also easily found in bright and subdued colors, and any cotton pillowcase will make your bedding pop, providing you with a fresh surface that takes your sleep quality to a different level.
That said, some people believe that a cotton pillowcase is bad for your hair as it’s been implicated in causing frizzy hair. More research still needs to be conducted into how pillowcases made from a cotton blend affect hair integrity, but you can easily find the debate amongst beauty lovers and hair stylists.
Cotton is arguably our best fabric for pillow cases because of its versatility and how great it is for most sleepers.
Satin/Polyester Satin
If you want your king size pillowcase made from the most luxurious material out there, then you’ll definitely want to consider satin. It gets props as one of the best beauty pillowcases today because of how gentle it is on sensitive skin. Polyester satin pillowcases are also similar in quality and can be good, too.
Similar to silk, satin pillowcases give your beautiful hair the special care it needs to stay perfect, no matter how long you stay in bed. It’s one of the best pillowcases for beauty use as its low amounts of friction keeps your hair and skin strong and protected.
Its smooth surface may also help to eliminate sleep lines and gives your face a fresh surface it can glide over as you sleep so you don’t get any crease lines.
Perhaps the best alternative to silk, polyester satin is more affordable than the average silk pillowcase. It helps you enjoy some of the comforts of real silk and avoid any possible damage from your pillowcase’s cotton underside. You can use your washing machine to launder it. To ensure it lasts, be sure to take extra care during the cleaning process.
Bottom Line
The best fabric for pillow cases comes down to your personal preference. Each of these materials are great options for pillow cases, will last long and provide a number of benefits.
If you have a delicate beauty routine, want to keep hair trouble to a minimum and don’t mind spending a few extra bucks for luxury, then silk pillowcases may be the right choice for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a “one size fits all” option, we recommend that you go with a breathable cotton fabric.
