silk

How to Maintain Silk Pajamas

Since ancient times, silk pajamas has been loved by people for its softness ,hygienism and constant-temperature. Looking at a piece of silk pajama set on the body is very beautiful, but many people don’t know how to clean and maintain it if it is accidentally dirty.

  • Silk should not be soaped:First, because tap water contains calcium and magnesium rods, when it comes to soap, it will become calcium soap or magnesium soap.

the positive charge of silk, soap with negative charges, the two are easy to combine, precipitation attached to the silk surface, there will be gray-white spots, so silk is best rinsed with water or washed with detergent.

  • When silk pajama set and silk clothing is washed, strong rubbing will cause abrasion or “displacement” of silk fibers under the action of magic, stretching and twisting forces, thus causing clothing deformation, losing its original stiffness and shortening its life
  • Silk clothes are not washable for a long time. Salt in sweat can make the surface of light-colored silk clothes show yellow spots.
  • Silk garments must be rinsed clean after washing.When washing silk products, we should choose a good detergent. Because silk is slightly acidic as human skin, it is not suitable to wash it with alkaline detergent or soap. It is better to use a small amount of neutral detergent (such as detergent for washing vegetables and fruits).

After washing, silk fabrics should be soaked in water with a few drops of acetic acid for a few minutes, which can make the color brighter.

Silk clothes should be thoroughly cleaned when they are collected. It’s best to dry-clean them once. It can not only decontaminate, but also protect the material and shape of clothes. At the same time, it can also play the role of insecticide and sterilization.When collecting silk clothes, white silk should be wrapped in blue paper to prevent yellowing.

Bright-coloured silk garments should be wrapped in dark paper to keep their colours intact.Silk clothing is lighter, afraid of extrusion, easy to wrinkle, should be stored alone or placed on the top of the suitcase.

How to use silk cocoons for beauty.

How much do you know about silk cocoon?

The name “silk cocoon” usually refers to mulberry silk cocoons. A silk
cocoon is a small and scrotiform protection layer woven by silkworms. There are several kinds of silkcocoons, most of which are white or soft yellow and have oval or round shapes.

A regular silk cocoon has a length of about 3-4 centimeters. It is used by
people to cleanse and exfoliate skin for
the purpose of beauty.

Silk cocoons contain natural proteins, amino acids and collagen which are excellent for anti-aging and keeping skin supple and nourished, removing blemishes and dead cells.When gently massaged your face, those luxuriously soft silk cocoons release Sericin(often used in today’s anti-aging creams) that is essential to the human body,which helps make your complexion clearerand smoother with continued usage. Statistics show that UV damage and scarring have improved by 20% afterusing the silk cocoon for a month or so.

How to Use Silk Cocoons?

1.Soak it in lukewarm water for about 3 minutes.

2.When it becomes soaked and soft, place it on fingertips through opening

3.Massage face with it gently in circular motion

A witty woman is a treasure; a witty beauty is apower. How can you miss this little beauty trick that is easy and healthywithout costing the earth?

Sleep problems and insomnia

Insomnia can be caused by psychiatric and medical conditions, unhealthy sleep habits, specific substances, and/or certain biological factors.

The sad truth is, most people experience sleeplessness at some point during their lives. But what is the difference between a restless night and insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleep disorder, where the sufferer regularly has problems falling asleep, or remaining asleep throughout the night. Symptoms of insomnia include finding it hard to fall asleep even though you’re feeling tired and unexplained waking during the night or early in the morning. This in turn makes it hard to function properly during the day.

You may wear the same pajamas year-round.
You may choose high quality of silk pajama set.


What you wear matters, even while you sleep. Your body temperature plays a part in your sleep cycle—a slight drop in temperature is what induces sleep.

Silk is ideal,  because it keeps you warm when you’re cold and cool when you’re hot. If silk is too pricey, try breathable cotton in the warmer months and cozy flannel during the cold. 

You sleep in the wrong position.

If you try your hardest to sleep on your back because you heard it won’t give you wrinkles, you might end up with bags under your eyes instead. 

 Sleep posture affects sleep quality and people should stick to what they naturally gravitate toward

Certain conditions do call for a specific sleeping position that might not be natural but could still help you sleep better. And silk beddings may help you in this problem.

You’ve had the same beddings for years 

It’s time for you to change you bedding set now.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends replacing your mattress about every eight years. If you’ve lost track of time, check for worn or sagging spots in the middle or at the edges; these signal it’s time for a change. 

About momme weight

Silk bedding quality is referred to using momme weight.

Many people are familiar with thread count, which is used with many fabrics as a way to distinguish the overall quality of the fabric.

However, with silk, thread count is not generally used because it is not a good means to distinguish between different qualities of silk.

Silk is an incredibly fine thread to begin with, and thread counts would be extremely high, regardless of the quality of the silk. So for example, a low-quality silk may have a similarly high thread count to a high-quality silk. For this reason, silk uses an alternative system to measure quality, called momme weight.

What is momme？

 In simplest terms, momme weight describes the weight of 100 yards of silk, 45 inches wide, in pounds. So, if a fabric is listed with a momme weight of 8mm, it means that 100 yards of the fabric weighs 8 pounds.  Many silk dresses and other silk clothing items will be around 8mm in weight. Higher quality silks tend to be 14, 15 or 16mm or higher. The best Silk bedding is 19mm or 19 pounds in weight per 100 yards.

range of momme weight 

Silk generally falls into a range of 6 momme on the lower side to a maximum weight of 30 momme. For bedding, silk with a 19 momme weight is generally considered to provide the best balance of strength, aesthetics and affordability.

Importance of momme weight

If you are looking at various silk bedding options and you are unable to find a listed momme weight, you should look elsewhere. Without a declaration of momme weight, you have no way of knowing the quality of silk.

Effect of momme weight

While a higher momme weight silk will be more opaque than a lower momme weight silk, silk in general is a semi-transparent fabric. When deciding on color, remember that dyed silk will be more opaque as the dye will stop light from passing through the fabric, while white silk will be less opaque. However, many people enjoy white silk for its classic look and ability to match with many different types of bedding.

What’s OKEO

The STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® is a worldwide consistent, independent testing and certification system for raw, semi-finished, and finished textile products at all processing levels, as well as accessory materials used. Examples of articles that can be certified: raw and dyed/finished yarns, woven and knitted fabrics, accessories, such as buttons, zip fasteners, sewing threads or labels, ready-made articles of various types.

The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 was developed by European textile institutes who were committed to finding a way to reduce our environmental footprint. The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 is a global testing and accreditation program that successfully sets the standards for the screening of harmful substances in consumer textiles. Textiles can only be certified if all components meet the requirements submitted. 

All Mulberry Park Silks products are Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certified and have been tested and guaranteed to be free of all harmful substances, including toxins and irritants, ensuring that the silk products that you bring into your home are safe, natural and healthy.


Now, FREEDOMSILK is proud to inform our customers that all our silk bedding fabrics are certified by Oeko-Tex, completely chemical-free, no harmful substance added before and during the process of manufacture. Please feel assured to choose and purchase, in addition, if you still have doubts about the authenticity of our silk, get free swatches from us, burn it. 

The OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 was introduced at the beginning of the 1990s in response to the demand of the general public for textiles which are harmless to health. Poison in textiles and other negative headlines were widespread at this time and indiscriminately branded all chemicals used in textile manufacturing as negative and dangerous to health.

Advantages in life of silk

Besides its luxurious softness and lustrous beauty, there are benefits of silk that other fabrics, whether natural or man-made, simply cannot match. These advantages of silk have rightly earned silk its reputation as the queen of fabrics. If “Why Silk?” is still a question in your mind, the following benefits of silk should remove any doubts. 

  • You may suffer from the Allergy and Asthma for a long time, with so much treatment, however, no effect. Anything can do? Definitely yes. Just silkbedding for you .

Because of its natural protein structure, silk is the most hypoallergenic of all fabrics

  • Silk is warm and cozy in winter and comfortably cool when temperatures rise. Its natural temperature-regulating properties give silk this paradoxical ability to cool and warm simultaneously. Silk garments thus outperform other fabrics in both summer and winter. Silk worn as a second layer warms without being bulky.

All-climate fabric

Silk is highly absorbent and dries quickly.

  • It can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling damp. Silk will absorb perspiration while letting your skin breathe.
  • In spite of its delicate appearance, silk is relatively robust and its smooth surface resists soil and odors well.
  • Silk takes color well, washes easily, and is easy to work with in spinning, weaving, knitting, and sewing .
  • Mixes well with other animal and vegetable fibers.
  • Silk is a natural heat regulator, able to maintain the air around you at a comfortable temperature when you sleep.The smooth surface of silk pajamas or beeding sets means there is little friction between your skin and your bedding linen, which is said to be the biggest cause for sleep wrinkles. The fact that your hair moves around freely as well basically means you will not wake up with a bedful of broken hair and your head looking like a mess.

How to Keep Silk From Wrinkling

Pure silk is made from a natural protein-fiber obtained from the larvae of the mulberry silkworm; it has a tendency to wrinkle depending on the variety. Leaving crumpled silk garments in damp conditions also causes them to wrinkle. Some silks — like crepe de chine, habotai, noil and charmeuse — are less prone to wrinkling. Ahimsa silk — also known as “Peace Silk” because it is made from silkworm cocoons in which the silk worms are not killed — wrinkles less than other silks.

Step 1
Remove wrinkles with a hand-held steamer. Hang your silk clothes in breathable clothes-covers — in a dry place — to keep them wrinkle free.

Step 2
Iron smooth-finish silk like charmeuse on a “low” setting. Hang the garment in a breathable clothes-cover to keep it dry and to prevent it from touching other garments.

Step 3
Place the two ends of your tie together after you take it off. Roll up the tie around your finger. Slip the tie off your finger and leave it rolled up. This tightens the fabric and helps keep the tie wrinkle-free.

Step 4
Fold your silk garments after ironing. Place tissue paper between the folds. This prevents wrinkling when you store or pack the garment.

Tip
Hang up your silk garment in the bathroom when you take a hot shower. The hot steam relaxes the silk fibers. The natural weight of the garments pulls out most wrinkles.

Some ABCs about Silk

Why Silk?

SKIN AND HAIR CARE

The smooth surface of silk means there is little friction between your skin and your bedding linen, which is said to be the biggest cause for sleep wrinkles. Sleeping on silk bedding lines enables you to say goodbye to your messy morning hair.

HYPOALLERGENIC

Silk is hypoallergenic and repels common household allergens including bacteria, mold, fungi, and dust mites alike to ensure a healthy and restful sleep throughout the night.

TEMPERATURE-REGULATING

The great insulation properties of silk help keep the temperature around your skin at an optimal level during sleep, allowing you to feel cool in summer and warm in winter.

What is silk made of?

Silk is mostly made up of two proteins, called sericin and fibroin. Fibroins are what makes up the “silk” as we know it, as they form the long strings of silk fiber that act as the structure of the cocoons. Sericin, on the other hand, is the “glue” with which the silkworms hold the fibers together in the shape of the cocoon. Large amounts of sericin is irritant to our skin, so after pupa have been removed, the cocoons must undergo a process in which they are placed in water and lose most of the sericin coating. The filaments made of fibroins are then drawn from the cocoon and weaved, eventually made into silk fabrics as we know it.

Mulberry vs Tussar/Wild silk:

Mulberry silk is produced by the silk worms of Bombyx mori moths, which eat Mulberry leaves. The process of Mulberry silk production is an ancient craft that had been in existence for over 2000 years in China. Generally speaking, Mulberry silk has better color, smoothness, luster, fiber length, fiber uniformness and elasticity that wild tussar silk, in all its coarseness and dimness, can only dream of having.

Satin & Silk Satin:

Satin is not even a type of fabric, it is just a particular way to weave any fabric so that the surface is glossy and shiny and the back is dull. Satin weave can be done with most textiles such as silk, polyester, cotton, nylon, etc., and with any quality of silk as well. So when you read “satin silk” in a product name, know it could very well be made with very low quality silk and break apart easily.

What is Momme in silk fabric?

Mommes (mm), is a unit traditionally used to measure the quality of silk fabrics. One momme = 4.340 grams per square meter. The usual range of momme weight for different weaves of silk are:

Gauze—3 to 5 mm
Organza—4 to 6 mm
Habotai—12 to 16 mm
Charmeuse—12 to 30 mm
Normally, the higher the momme weight, the more durable the weave, the more luxurious the fabric is, the more suitable it is for heavy-duty use, and the longer the shelf-life.

For bedding, the higher the weight in momme, the better the silk bedding is. Sheets between 19-25 momme are considered ideal. silk with momme weight lower than 19 are not suitable for the production of quality silk bedding linen. For sleepwear, 22mm are the most suitable fabric.

How to Identify Silk

The most effective and simple way to identify real silk is burning. You can tell the difference from 2 aspects.
1 Flames
Burning genuine silk produces a smell very similar to that of burning human hair. The flame is close to invisible when burning the edge of the real silk fabric. Very soon after the flame source is taken away from the fabric, the silk will self-extinguish. When burned, fake silk material tend to combust rapidly in intense flames, and give a smell of burning plastic.
2. Ashes
The ash from burning of real silk is black, crispy and turns to powder easily when grinded. The ash of fake silk tend to be sticky, twisted, and difficult to break apart.

How do I iron my silk?

Ironing silk can be tricky because of the heat involved. Permanent damage may be caused if one is not careful. Silk is best ironed when slightly damp, with the iron put on a cool setting. Below is the details steps to follow when you need to iron your silk sheets and/or sleepwear:

1. Preparing your silk
Silk is best when ironed damp in order to minimize the effects of the iron’s heat. We recommend ironing right after a wash.
– If you handwash your silk, squeeze very gently after rinsing to remove excess water from the fabric. Remember: DO NOT WRING/TWIST the silk, it may break silk threads and cause stretch/tear.
– If you use a washing machine, you may iron directly.

2. Other preprations before ironing
– Make sure the surface of your iron is clean. If your iron is stained with metal stains, you may remove them by applying a baking soda solution. DO NOT IRON if your iron is dirty or have metal stains as it may permanently ruin the silk.
– Set the iron to be either on a delicate or silk setting, or the lowest setting if there is no specific settings for silk.
– Prepare a pure cotton sheet of white or natural color and lay the sheet on the ironing board. This is to prevent coloring of the ironing board to leach onto your silk, which may cause permanent damage to your silk.

3. Ironing your silk
– Silk fabrics tend to use weaves that give a shiny surface and a dull, matte back. Always iron the backside.
– You are going to iron silk part by part. Make sure the part you are ironing is smoothed out without wrinkles.
– You may iron the silk directly if the setting is on silk, but generally we recommend using a press cloth to cover the area you are aiming to iron to prevent potential damage. A small piece of thin cotton cloth would be ideal for the press cloth in this case.
– Press the iron to the surface of the silk (or the piece of press cloth) to start ironing. Keep the iron moving to avoid local overheating which causes silk fiber deformations.
– Once you finish ironing one part of the silk, smooth out another part and move the press cloth over to start ironing until you are done.

To summarize, some points to watch out for are:
– Only iron when silk is damp.
– DO NOT WRING/TWIST silk to remove excessive water.
– Clean your iron beforehand.
– Use an undyed sheet between the ironing board and the silk.
– Iron the inside (dull side) of your silk.
– Do not leave the iron in one place for too long.

We recommend you iron your silk after every wash or two washes. Regular ironing helps preserve the natural sheen of silk and may extend shelf life of silk considerably.

How do I dry my silk?

The recommended way to dry silk is by hanging it in a place with good air circulation. Air drying silk best allows the silk to retain its shape afterwards. Avoid contact with direct sunlight, as prolonged exposure to direct sunlight can damage silk fibers as well as cause colors to fade.

Drying machines and hair dryers can also be used, however these are not recommended as they may cause permanent damage to the silk.

  • For machine drying, leave the drying machine on cool setting and tumble dry. Keep drying time as little as possible, as the friction involved may cause breakage in silk fibers or white streaks.
  • For hair dryers, make sure you use a heatless setting. Continuous heating from a hair dryer would cause brittleness in silk fiber and dull the perfect luster.