The complete guide
The Honest Buyer's Guide to Choosing a 22 Momme Silk Pillowcase
The small annoyance nobody talks about
Most people never think about their pillowcase until something goes wrong with it. You wake up with a crease pressed down one cheek that takes an hour to fade. Your hair, which looked fine when you went to bed, has knotted itself into a nest on one side. Or you flip the pillow at two in the morning chasing a cool patch that lasted about four minutes.
None of those things are disasters. They are just small friction points that happen every single night, which is the thing about bedding. You use it roughly 2,900 hours a year. A surface that grabs at your hair and skin is doing that for a third of your life.
Cotton is a great fibre and nobody is suggesting otherwise. But a cotton weave, even a very fine one, has a textured surface. Fibres catch. Silk has a different structure. The long, smooth filaments produce a fabric with a much slicker face, so hair and skin move across it with less drag. That is the whole pitch, and it is a physical property of the fabric rather than a marketing claim.
What momme actually measures
If you have spent any time looking at silk bedding, you have seen the word momme and probably skipped past it. It is worth understanding, because it is the single most useful number on a silk product page.
Momme is a weight measure, dating back to the Japanese silk trade. It describes how many pounds a 100 yard by 45 inch piece of the fabric weighs. In practice, higher momme means more silk packed into the same area, which means a denser weave and a fabric with more body.
Silk bedding generally ranges from about 16 momme up to 25. Below 16 it starts to feel thin and sheer, closer to scarf fabric than bedding. Above 25 it gets heavy and stiff enough that it loses the fluid drape people like about silk in the first place. This pillowcase is 22 momme, which sits in the sweet spot most people land on after trying a few. It feels substantial in the hand, it does not go transparent when you hold it up, and it still drapes properly over the pillow.
You will also see thread count quoted, and this one is 600. Thread count counts threads per square inch. It is a familiar number because of cotton sheets, so manufacturers list it for silk too. It tells you the weave is fine and close. Just remember that with silk, momme is the number that separates a serious pillowcase from a flimsy one, and thread count is the supporting detail.
Mulberry silk, and why the source matters
Not all silk comes from the same place. Mulberry silk is produced by silkworms raised on mulberry leaves in controlled conditions. That diet and environment produce long, uniform filaments, which weave into a fabric with a very even surface and consistent colour.
Wild silks, by contrast, come from moths that eat whatever they find, and the filaments are shorter and more irregular. The resulting fabric has a lovely rustic texture, which is great for a jacket and less great under your face at night.
This pillowcase is listed as 100% mulberry silk, on both sides. That second part is worth noting. A fair number of lower-priced cases use silk for the face and something cheaper for the back, which saves money but means the case behaves differently depending on which way the pillow lands. With both sides the same, you stop thinking about it, which is really the point of good bedding.
Getting the size right
Pillow sizing causes more returns than any other factor in this category, so it is worth two minutes with a tape measure.
This is a standard size case at 66 by 51 centimetres, or 20 by 26 inches in the imperial equivalent. That matches the standard bed pillow sold across most Australian retailers. If you bought your pillows from a mainstream bedding shop and did not specifically choose king or European, they are almost certainly standard.
The sizes that will not work are king pillows, which are considerably longer, and European squares, which are square rather than rectangular. A standard case on a king pillow will be tight and will stress the seams. A standard case on a European square simply will not go on.
Measure the pillow flat, without squashing it, from edge to edge in both directions. If your numbers come out close to 66 by 51, you are in the right place. If they are more than a couple of centimetres out, talk to us before ordering.
The closure question
Silk pillowcases come with one of two closures, and people have firm opinions about both.
An envelope closure has a fabric flap that tucks the pillow in. No hardware at all, nothing that can snag, but the pillow can work its way loose during the night if the flap is short.
This one uses an invisible zipper. The zip runs along the open end with the tape concealed inside the seam, so you see a clean line rather than a strip of plastic teeth. The pillow stays fully enclosed no matter how much you shift around, and taking the case off for washing is quick. Because the zip sits at the end rather than under the sleeping area, it does not interfere with where your head actually rests.
Living with silk
This is the part worth reading before you buy, because silk asks a little more of you than cotton does.
The care instructions here are hand wash, at a maximum of 30°C. The method is straightforward. Soak the case in clean water first, dissolve a mild detergent completely in a basin before the fabric goes in, then wash gently. Do it on its own or with similar colours, and never use bleach.
Drying is the other habit to learn. Do not wring or twist. Press the water out between your palms or roll the case in a towel, then dry flat or hang it in the shade. Direct sunlight and dryer heat both damage silk fibres over time, and heat is what turns a lovely pillowcase into a dull one.
If something spills, wash it the same day. Dried marks on silk are far harder to shift than fresh ones.
The practical tip most silk owners arrive at eventually is to buy two. With one on the bed and one drying, the hand wash routine stops being a chore and becomes a five minute job you do while the kettle boils.
Why green works better than you would guess
Solid colours in bedding tend to default to white, grey or beige, so a green pillowcase can feel like a risk. In practice it is one of the easier accent colours to live with.
Green sits comfortably against white sheets without fighting them. It works with natural linen tones because both read as organic rather than synthetic. Against charcoal or deep grey it adds warmth without shouting. And unlike a pattern, a solid colour never clashes with whatever doona cover you already own.
If you are buying a pair, two matching green cases on a queen bed look considered. A single green case against an otherwise neutral bed reads as a deliberate accent rather than an accident.
How to tell a good silk pillowcase from a poor one
A few things are worth checking on any listing, not just this one.
Look for the momme weight stated plainly. If a seller does not mention it, there is usually a reason. Look for the words 100% mulberry silk rather than vague terms like silky, silk touch or silk blend, which can mean polyester. Check whether both sides are silk. Check the dimensions in centimetres rather than trusting a size label. And read the care instructions before you buy, so there are no surprises when wash day comes.
This pillowcase states 22 momme, 600 thread count, 100% mulberry silk on both faces, 66 by 51 centimetres, invisible zipper, hand wash at 30°C. Those are the specifics, and specifics are what you want when comparing options.
The short version
If you sleep on a standard pillow and you are curious about silk, this is a sensible place to start. Twenty-two momme is heavy enough to feel like a proper piece of bedding rather than a novelty, the mulberry silk is on both faces, and the hidden zip keeps everything where it should be. Green is an easy colour that works with most bedrooms.
The one commitment is the hand wash. If you are happy with a short soak and a gentle wash in cool water every week or two, silk is simple to own. If that sounds like too much, be honest with yourself before ordering rather than after.
Measure your pillow, check it against 66 by 51 centimetres, and order the right size the first time. Delivery runs 3 to 7 working days from Australian warehouses, and returns are open for 14 days on unused, unwashed items if it is not what you expected.