Why You Need a Silk Pillowcase for Better Sleep

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It’s the same drill. Every night, you toss and turn in your bed, struggling to get comfortable. You lie awake. You may even experience trouble breathing regularly through your nose or dry eyes. You think, ughhh....should it really take this long to fall asleep?

So what gives?

If you’re like many people, you might have a problem with allergens, including dust mites, which are like microscopic bugs that live in your pillow and sheets. Yeah, it's gross, we get it!

Surprisingly, if ever there was an argument for sleeping on silk, this is it.

Why Are Silk Pillowcases Worth the Investment for Your Sleep?

It’s probably important to start off by saying that a number of factors can affect the quality of your sleep. Briefly, these include factors like stress, diet, and sleep apnea.

However, for the sake of this article (and for you to understand why it’s important to sleep on a real silk pillowcase), we’ll concentrate on a few of the environmental factors that affect sleep.

According to the Sleep Foundation, common allergens that produce bad sleep include pollen, pet dander, mold, and dust mites.

Mites, which are related to the spider family, Arachnida, count among the most common allergens. The droppings they leave behind are also one of the reasons that you wake up feeling like you’re breathing through a straw.

Wherever there is an accumulation of their food source—which is mostly dead skin cells or animal dander—you’ll find mites. While most people think of animal dander as pet dander, humans produce dander, too. (The word “dandruff” offers a clue here.)

Why Mulberry Silk Fabric Repels Mites and Other Allergens

Why do mites thrive in our homes and beds?

Mites cannot drink water. To get the necessary supply of high-quality H2O that they need, they have to suck it out of the atmosphere.

That’s why mites are more common in wetter, warmer environments that linger between 55% to 75% humidity and temperatures of between 68 degrees Fahrenheit and 77 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Center for Healthy Housing.

(Incidentally, other allergy-producing entities like mold and cockroaches also thrive in high humidity.)

As you sleep, your bed becomes like a mite restaurant, allowing them to feast on your skin cells. Most bedding absorbs the moisture from your body and from the air. (This is why your cotton pillows always feel a bit damp in high-humidity areas, like the Southeast.)

It also is a repository for different types of cells. These come from your hair and skin. While sleeping on cotton pillowcases might cause frizzy hair and bed head for you—real downers for your beauty routine—it’s a veritable feast for mites.
To be fair, it’s not just your skin and hair that they like. They love your pet’s skin and hair, too. Mites don't discriminate when it comes to humans, dogs, or cats.

How a mulberry silk pillowcase blocks dust mites

Here’s where sleeping on a silk pillowcase comes in. The best silk pillowcases (like Blissy) are made from 100% mulberry silk fabrics that are extremely tightly woven and employ a zipper closure. This means they form a barrier that prevents mites from living on your mulberry silk pillowcase or getting into your pillow to live there.

This is one of the reasons why pure mulberry silk is naturally hypoallergenic. It's also due to the fact that 100% mulberry silk is made from natural protein which comes from domesticated silkworms that feast on the leaves of the mulberry tree. The proteins from this type of silk have properties that make natural silk fabric hypoallergenic.

The best silk pillowcase in this respect is the silk pillowcase that has a tight charmeuse weave, a high momme weight, and a hidden zipper to keep the buggies out. You'll find all these features and more in Blissy's natural silk pillowcases.

If Hikers Love Pure Mulberry Silk, Sleepers Must Too

The fact that mulberry silk pillowcases, like those from Blissy, are hypoallergenic isn't the only reason why your beauty sleep can benefit so much from sleeping on them.

Let’s take a slight detour for a minute to your local hiking trail and observe some hikers in their natural environment.

According to Besthiking.net, hikers love to wear pure silk fabric underlayers when they’re hiking.

The moisture-wicking benefits of silk products

The highest quality silk offers them a couple of benefits, which include moisture wicking and the comfort of an incredibly soft fabric that feels great on sensitive skin. It also helps to regulate their body temperature—essential when you're hiking in all sorts of weather. (And could it be essential for sleep as well?)

A fabric like silk that wicks moisture pulls moisture away from the skin, keeping both skin and clothing dry and comfortable for hikers.

A mulberry silk pillowcase regulates body temperature

While buying a pure silk shirt and socks may seem like a luxury for something as gritty as a hike, silk’s body temperature regulating quality could be a lifesaver for hikers.

When you think about how hikers hold mulberry silk in such high regard, it makes sense that a mulberry silk pillowcase is also the ultimate fabric for sleep.

Sleeping on a Mulberry Silk Pillowcase: Moisture Wicking

For many people, investing in a pure mulberry silk pillowcase might seem like a luxury. However, as just mentioned, the same benefits that hikers get from silk’s moisture-wicking ability count among the reasons why sleeping on a pure silk pillowcase gives you a better night’s sleep.

A silk pillowcase that wicks moisture keeps your skin and hair warm and dry and can be a real booster for your beauty routine. It also helps you regulate body temperature, making it possible for you to sleep more comfortably and for longer. In other words, sleeping on silk allows you to sleep warm in the winter and stay cool in the summer.

Moisture wicking and dust mites

But it’s silk’s moisture-wicking qualities that have the power to prevent mites from taking over your regular pillowcases made from cotton. Basically, while the smooth surface of a pure mulberry silk pillowcase has a number of skin benefits for you, more importantly, silk's moisture-wicking qualities make your bed unlivable for mites because it deprives them of their water source.

Eliminating dust mites: Reducing humidity and access

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, you have two options when it comes to reducing the number of dust mites (and other allergens) that can wreak havoc with your beauty sleep. You can:

1. Reduce the amount of moisture that helps them proliferate
2. You can block their access to skin cells

Silk pillowcases work great for kids too!

As we’ve discussed, the properties of silk do both of those things. But we would be remiss if we didn’t mention one other thing. You're not the only one that could use a silk pillowcase for better sleep. 

That luxurious silk pillowcase that you’ve been eyeing for your bed can also benefit your child's sleep, too. Blissy silk pillowcases even come in toddler and youth sizes.

The factors that prevent you from sleeping well also prevent your kids from sleeping well, too.

And if they don’t sleep well, ultimately, you don’t sleep well, either.

A Silk Pillowcase for Better Sleep: Final Thoughts

In short, sleeping on the highest quality mulberry silk pillowcases and silk sheets do more for you than give you smoother skin and smoother hair.
It can give you a more restful night’s sleep because mulberry silk helps keep allergens and other sleep thieves at bay.

Blissy Silk Pillowcases are naturally hypoallergenic. They also have a hidden zipper and are constructed of tightly woven silk fabric that makes them inhospitable to mites and other sleep thieves.

Finally, if you’d like your whole family to benefit from sleeping on pure mulberry silk, including your kids, consider buying Blissy Silk Pillowcases for the whole family.

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