The Best Silk Pillowcase UK - Quality, Options & Price Comparison
Silk pillowcases are gaining popularity across the UK for their unparalleled benefits for hair, skin, and comfort. But with so many options available, how do you choose the perfect silk pillowcase, that combines quality, durability, great price, variety of colours and sizes to meet your needs?
We have done the work for you. In this comprehensive guide, we will introduce you to some of the best silk pillowcases available in the UK, exploring their unique features, advantages, disadvantages, price points, and more. We'll compare the top silk pillowcase brands in the UK, including Slip, Blissy, Real Silk, Lily Silk, and Marks & Spencer, and ultimately reveal which one is the best choice and why.
Why Choose Silk Pillowcases?
Silk is the softest and the most luxurious fabric. Silk pillowcases are known to offer some incredible benefits for your health, comfort, skin and hair, such as reduced friction, which results in reduced wrinkle formation and smoother healthier hair, moisture retention, hypoallergenic properties, smooth surface, and temperature regulation. However, not all silk is created equal.
How to Choose the Best Silk Pillowcase?
When selecting a silk pillowcase, several factors should be considered, including:
- Silk type: 100% Mulberry silk being the highest quality silk, made by silkworms exclusively fed mulberry tree leaves. Some brands will use a term "100% Silk", which is highly likely to be a cheaper, inferior version;
- Silk density: 22 Momme being the ideal choice for bedding items. Many brands use 16 or 19 momme silk which is sheer, dull and less durable. 22 momme silk is shiny, thick, luxurious, smooth, and long lasting;
- Thread count: 600 being ideal;
- Colour and size options: the more, the better, but at the same time too many might cause confusion and prevent you from making a decision;
- OEKO-TEX Certification: meaning it doesn't use toxic dyes and any other harsh chemicals. When choosing your silk pillowcase, it's crucial that it would be safety tested;
- Mulberry Silk Grade: 6A grade being the highest quality silk;
- Product Packaging: silk pillowcases are often gifted to others on Birthdays, Christmas, Mother's day, and other celebrations. Packaging plays a big role in the overall experience of receiving a gift. More impressive packaging will make the receiver like the present more;
- Price: It's important to find the "price sweet spot" for your budget. Avoid the lowest cost products as they almost certainly will use poor quality silk, mix silk with polyester, or use other unfair practices. On the other hand, do you really need the most expensive product? More expensive doesn't always mean better;
Keep in mind that most poor quality silk retailers will often not state silk density and silk type, as they don't want you to know it. These products will be much thinner, see through, less soft, less durable, and cheaper. When investing in a silk pillowcase, we highly recommend choosing a transparent and trustworthy brand, that provides a detailed product description and has nothing to hide.
Top Silk Pillowcase Brands in the UK
1. Slip Silk Pillowcase
Slip silk pillowcase brand is the oldest from all, founded in 2004. It is an Australian silk pillowcase brand. Slip offers high-quality 22 momme 100% mulberry silk pillowcases, known for their luxurious feel and elegance. However, their products come with the highest price tag, which may not be ideal for budget-conscious shoppers.
Slip works with celebrity influencers to promote their products. In addition, the brand claims that their silk is different, they call it "slip silk". However, that's just a fancy term they use. Silk has been discovered around 5000 years ago in ancient China. They haven't discovered or invented a new type of fabric. Plus, is it actually more durable? See a combination photo of several customer reviews showing ripped Slip pillowcases below.
Advantages
-Highest quality 22 momme 100% mulberry silk
-21 Colour/Pattern options
-Promoted by celebrities
-6A Grade
-OEKO-TEX tested
-Says Machine washable (see photo bellow)
-Invisible Zipper closure
Disadvantages
-The highest price: Queen Size £89, King £110
-Embroidered logo (weak spot, susceptible for tearing, see bellow)
-Basic packaging
-Basic product description with only 1-2 photos of the product
2. Blissy Silk Pillowcase
Blissy is another popular brand offering silk pillowcases with a focus on highest quality and unique style. They offer 48 colour/pattern options! Blissy is a USA based company. Like Slip, their products can be quite pricey, making them less accessible to a wider audience. However, you can often get great deals. Especially if you're buying 4 or more pillowcases.
However, be aware of aggressive marketing, using terms like "Breakage free hair" - this is physically impossible. A silk pillowcase can only reduce breakage, not stop it 100%. "No more bedhead or tired hair! Kiss dryness and tangles goodbye!" - also, it does not provide 100% protection. Statements like these should be made with caution, as there will be a small proportion of people with more coarse hair type, who will see less improvement.
In addition, some customers report not being able to find the product price before buying, needing to scroll forever on their product page. Others report accidentally buying too many pillowcases, because of unclear terms of product deals. These customers report not being able to get refunds!
Another thing to mention, Blissy claims they offer "Try for 60 Nights" and return it if you don't like it. However, Trustpilot reviewers claim they don't manage to get money refunded. They report being ignored by Blissy's customer support team.
And lastly, even though we agree that silk pillowcases are an amazing invention, Blissy has an abnormal amount of positive reviews - 96,818 reviews at the time of writing this blog post. And surprisingly, 100% of these reviews are 5 stars! Isn't that a little strange? On the other hand, Blissy UK has 1.4 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot UK, and 3.3 stars on their general Trustpilot Blissy.com.
Most people complain about long deliveries (sometimes longer than 1-2 months), lost deliveries (sometimes on orders of £200+) and never receiving a refund, no customer support, accidentally buying too many products, and not getting refunds. People feel scammed. It seems that this company prioritises profits too much and lacks care for their customers.
Advantages
-Highest quality 22 momme 100% mulberry silk
-48 Colour/Pattern options
-Featured in Magazines
-6A Grade
-OEKO-TEX tested
-Says Machine washable (see photo bellow)
-Invisible Zipper closure
-Comprehensive product descriptions with 9+ product photos
Disadvantages
-Second highest price: Standard £56, Queen £62, King £68 (Sale)
-Embroidered logo (weak spot, susceptible for tearing, see bellow)
-Basic packaging
-Poor quality zipper, tears after washing
-Outrageous/Misleading claims
-Sneaky product pages where you can accidentally buy too many pillowcases
-No customer support
-No refunds
3. Real Silk Pillowcase
Real Silk is a European company, specialising in Silk Pillowcases, Bedding Sets, Pyjamas, and Silk accessories. Real Silk offers the highest quality 22 Momme, 100% Mulberry silk pillowcases at affordable prices. With a diverse range of colours and sizes, this brand is dedicated to catering to every individual's preferences and needs. In addition, Real Silk is known to provide an outstanding customer service, where every individual is dealt with in a timely manner.
However, that's the only silk pillowcase brand that doesn't have an embroidered logo on the product (probably due to related quality issues), and the only one stating their pillowcases should be hand washed. This might seem not practical to some, but that's the traditional way of caring for silk products that has been used for thousands of years. Washing machine is much more likely to cause damages and reduce the longevity of silk.
Advantages
-Highest quality 22 momme 100% mulberry silk
-12 Colour options
-No Embroidered logo (weak spot, susceptible for tearing)
-6A Grade
-OEKO-TEX tested
-Luxury Gift packaging with gift paper
-Detailed product description with 7+ photos of the product
-More affordable: Standard £45, Queen £46, King £49
-Invisible Zipper closure
-Outstanding customer support
Disadvantages
-Less colour options
-No pattern options
-Strong recommendation to Hand Wash
-Less popular company
4. LilySilk Pillowcase
LilySilk is known as a luxurious silk clothing brand. LilySilk is a successful Chinese silk company. In addition to clothing, they also sell other bedding items including silk pillowcases. They offer a variety of colours and sizes, and are slightly less expensive than Slip and Blissy brands.
LilySilk offer 19, 22, and 25 momme density silk pillowcases. For the comparison purposes, we'll use their 22 Momme silk pillowcase. LilySilk is the only brand not using zippers on their pillowcases. It makes the pillowcase more likely to slip out.
Advantages
-Highest quality 22 momme 100% mulberry silk
-19, 22 and 25 momme options
-12 Colour and a few Pattern options
-Clothing promoted by celebrities
-No Embroidered logo (weak spot, susceptible for tearing)
-6A Grade
-OEKO-TEX tested
-More affordable: UK Standard £50, King £70
-Detailed product description with 8 photos of the product
Disadvantages
-No zipper, envelope closure instead
-Basic packaging
-Fake, computer generated product images
5. Marks & Spencer Silk Pillowcase
Marks & Spencer, a popular food store, offers a range of silk pillowcases, focusing on both quality and affordability. While their selection is more limited than some other brands, offering only 8 different colours, they still provide a good option for those seeking a balance between quality and price.
However, are these pillowcases high quality? Firstly, nowhere in the title or product description it states "Mulberry Silk". It only says "Silk". This indicates lower quality. Secondly, it does not state what momme (silk weight) it is, another red flag indicating poor quality.
It could be anything, 16 or 19 momme poor quality silk. Lower silk momme means it's thinner and cheaper, as it contains less silk, it is also less shiny, and less durable. Choose brands that clearly state their pillowcase momme, look for 22 momme density, which is proven to be the sweet spot for price, quality, feel, look, and durability.
As expected, people are not very happy with the quality, here's one of the reviews:
-Kells Bells1, January 2023
"Not bad but not my favourite silk experience. Overall a good introduction to silk pillowcases, but I’ve had better and have paid more than double."
Advantages
-Can purchase in store
-Low cost option, the standard size is £29.50
Disadvantages
-Only 8 colours
-Not allowing to choose the size
-Not stating silk momme (density)
-Not Mulberry silk
-Short product description, 5 photos
-The shipping is not free, it's £3.50
-Cheap looking packaging
Comparison, Which Silk Pillowcase is the Best in the UK?
All except Mark's and Spencer are the highest quality mulberry silk pillowcases. All brands offer a variety of beautiful unique colours and several sizes to choose from. However, Slip and Blissy, the two most popular brands, have critical quality issues due to their embroidered logos and care instructions stating it's ok to wash it using a washing machine. This causes products to break down easily.
Real Silk and LilySilk have overcome this issue and are the two brands that prioritise the quality of their products. However, Real Silk offers more luxurious, packaging, better product presentation, superior zipper closure, and lower costs, making it overall, the best silk pillowcase option in the UK.
Real Silk's pillowcases are made of 100% mulberry silk, with a 22 Momme weight and 600 thread count, OEKO-TEX certification, 12 colours, 3 sizes, 5-8 day delivery times, outstanding customer support, and excellent reviews. Ensuring superior quality, comfort, and durability of your silk pillowcase.
Conclusion
After comparing the top silk pillowcase brands in the UK, it's evident that Real Silk stands out as the best choice due to its superior quality, diverse range of colours and sizes, excellent product photos and presentation, no critical quality issues, and competitive pricing. By choosing Real Silk, you'll not only receive a top-quality product but also enjoy a luxurious sleeping experience that benefits your skin and hair. Don't settle for less – invest in a Real Silk pillowcase today and experience the difference for yourself.
