What are the benefits of silk bedding?

Silk is highly breathable – particularly if you opt for pure silk bedding – with thermal control properties that’ll keep you from being chilly in the winter and overheating in the summer. You no longer have to switch to the ‘cold side’ of the pillow every few minutes, nor keep one leg out of the covers to even the temperature – silk bedding works together with your body to regulate the heat. What’s more, the proteins in silk bedding are effectively absorbent and help to liberate you, your mattress topper and your mattress of moisture (read: sweat). Where cotton and other materials can sometimes trap heat and sweat, silk naturally releases it.

And it’s not just an ability to keep you the perfect temperature that silk bedding sheets boasts. Silk bed sheets actually pose a whole plethora of advantages to your skin and hair, too. Need proof? By nature, silk contains sericin that works hard to prevent the accumulation of melanin on your skin, helping you avoid pigmentation. Silk also absorbs less moisture (plus dirt and oil) than cotton, which means it’s a hygienic choice for acne sufferers. By the same token, it won’t absorb your skincare products, so they’ll actually stay on your face overnight and get to work as they should.

Elsewhere, the soft and smooth nature of silk enables your skin and hair to ‘glide’ across the surface, avoiding friction and eliminating wrinkles, pulled hair and bed head. It’s no wonder every beauty guru around is jumping on the bandwagon and adding a silk bedding set to their boudoir.

Are silk sheets worth it? The verdict:

When you compare silk to more common fabrics for bed sheets, such as cotton or polyester, silk bedding comes out on top. While cotton has to go through a process to be deemed hypoallergenic, silk is naturally so. Cotton is great at absorbing moisture, but it tends to hold it instead of emitting it like silk, which naturally synchronises with the heat of your body.

The price of a silk bedding set is usually the main turn-off factor for people, but the benefits do seem to outweigh the cons. And there are some more affordable options. This four-piece silk bedding set from Amazon won’t break the bank, nor will this silk-filled duvet from John Lewis. If you do have a little more money to spend, we recommend The White Company’s Audley range, or Lily Silk for an extensive range of 100% Mulberry silk bedding in a whole array of colours to suit your interior style. They’ve got everything from classic white silk bedding to mood-boosting pink silk bedding.

Is silk comfortable to sleep on?

If you think about sleeping on more affordable 100-200 thread count sheets vs 500 count Egyptian cotton bedding, you’d notice a significantly softer feel on your skin each night. When it comes to silk pillows, flat sheets and silk duvet cover sets, you’ll notice another upgrade still. Of course, you can even split up silk sheets into different qualities – be it pure mulberry silk and, on the flip side ‘silk effect’ satin or sateen sheets – but, generally speaking, silk eyemasks, bedspreads and bedding across the board feel cooling on the skin and glide smoothly across you and your nightwear as you sleep. Dreamy.

What is the best type of silk for bedding?

In a dream world, the best type of silk for bedding would be of the mulberry silk variety in the highest grade, A. The grading refers to the cleanliness, evenness and strand length of the silk, with grade 6A (among the already prestigious A category) being the most premium. Grade 6A mulberry silk should have a glossy, ivory silk finish and appears as such because the silkworms used to create the silk are fed a diet of mulberry leaves alone.

After you’ve got your silk type – mulberry – and grading – A – you can then begin to think about the momme which, in layman’s terms, is the concentration of weight in the fabric. The higher the momme, the heavier the feel of the silk so, naturally, this means that higher momme silks will create more of a weighted blanket feel during your night’s sleep. And, well, who wouldn’t want that?

After something else? Head this way for the silk pillowcases, silk face masks, silk scrunchies and silk hair wraps.

For more from GLAMOUR UK’s Commerce Writer Mayola Fernandes, follow her on Instagram @mayolafernandess.