How to wash a silk pillowcase without ruining it

Silk is easy to wash once you know the few things it does not like. Cool water, a gentle detergent, no tumble dryer and no direct sun cover almost all of it. Here is how to do it by hand or in the machine, and why each step is there.

One thing first. Read the care label on your own pillowcase and follow it over any general guide, this one included.

How do you wash a silk pillowcase by hand?

Hand washing gives you the most control, and it does not take long.

Fill a clean basin or sink with cool water.
Add a little pH-neutral detergent with no enzymes or bleach, and mix it in before the silk goes in.
Put the pillowcase in and move it gently through the water with your hands. No scrubbing.
Rinse it in fresh cool water until no suds are left.
Press the water out gently. You can roll it in a clean, dry towel to take up more.
Lay it flat or hang it up to dry, out of direct sun.

That is the whole routine. You only need a small amount of detergent for one pillowcase.

Can you put a silk pillowcase in the washing machine?

If the care label allows it, yes. Choose a delicate cycle with cool water, and put the pillowcase inside a mesh laundry bag first.

Wash it on its own or with other delicates, rather than with jeans, towels or anything with zips and hooks. The detergent rule is the same as for hand washing: pH neutral, no enzymes, no bleach. Take it out as soon as the cycle finishes rather than leaving it sitting damp in the drum.

A second pillowcase makes weekly washing easier, because one can dry while you sleep on the other.

What detergent should you use on silk?

Look for three things on the label: pH neutral, no enzymes, no bleach.

Silk is a natural protein fibre, made mostly of fibroin. Raw silk also carries a gum called sericin, and that is washed out in degumming before smooth silk fabric is woven. So what you are washing is a protein fibre, and it wants gentle treatment.

The Ohio State University extension's silk care fact sheet says strong alkaline detergents weaken silk. A pH-neutral detergent sits in the middle of the scale, neither acid nor alkaline, which is why it is the standard advice. Standard care advice also keeps enzymes and bleach away from silk.

That goes for stain removers too. Check them for bleach and enzymes before they go anywhere near silk, and if in doubt, leave them out.

How should you dry a silk pillowcase?

Not in the tumble dryer. Lay it flat on a clean towel, or hang it up, somewhere out of direct sun.

This is the easy step to miss. The same care guidance says sunlight fades silk and turns white silk yellow. A sunny windowsill or a washing line in full sun is the wrong place for it. Shade, or a room where the light does not fall straight on it, is the right one. If your pillowcase is champagne or blush, drying it in the shade is the simple way to follow that advice.

The same goes once it is dry. Keep it out of direct sun when it is stored, too.

How often should you wash a silk pillowcase?

Every week, whatever your pillowcase is made of. It is the simplest habit in this guide.

You may read that silk is naturally antibacterial, so it can go longer between washes. No test of plain, untreated woven silk shows that. Where silk fabrics reduced bacteria in studies, an antimicrobial finish had been added to them. One study in 2008 compared the same silk fabric with and without that finish, and found the finish mattered. So treat silk like any other pillowcase and wash it weekly. Our science page lists this with the other claims we don't make.

How long does a silk pillowcase last?

We found no study of how long a silk pillowcase lasts, so we won't give you a number of years. If you see one, ask where it comes from.

What the care guidance does tell you is which things weaken or fade silk. Strong alkaline detergents weaken it, and sunlight fades it. Keep those away, along with enzymes, bleach and the tumble dryer, and you are doing what the guidance asks.

We found no study showing a heavier silk lasts longer, either. Momme is a weight: 22 momme is about 95.5 g of silk per square metre, and a higher momme simply means a denser fabric. We explain it in what does momme mean?

SOIEA is 100% mulberry silk at 22 momme, in champagne and blush, launching in December 2026 for the UK and Ireland. See the pillowcase, and keep our care answers to hand.

Questions people ask

No. Lay it flat or hang it up to dry, out of direct sun. Standard care guidance says sunlight fades silk and turns white silk yellow.

Only if it is pH neutral, with no enzymes and no bleach. Standard care guidance says strong alkaline detergents weaken silk, so check the label before you use it.

No test of plain, untreated woven silk shows that. Where silk fabrics reduced bacteria in studies, an antimicrobial finish had been added. Wash a silk pillowcase every week, as you would any other.

We found no study showing that, and no study of silk pillowcase lifespan at all. Momme is a weight: 22 momme is about 95.5 g of silk per square metre. A higher momme means a denser fabric.

Only in the shade. Standard care guidance says sunlight fades silk and turns white silk yellow, so keep it out of direct sun when it dries and when it is put away.

Sources

Every claim here is checked against the published sources above and our graded evidence page. We don't make claims the evidence doesn't support.