A 22-momme silk pyjama set is meant to outlast the decade you bought it in. Whether it actually does is almost entirely about how you wash and store it. Here is the routine we use ourselves — six steps, fewer than thirty minutes, and the only mistakes worth avoiding.
Wash less than you think you need to
Mulberry silk is naturally antibacterial. The protein in the fibre, sericin, repels bacteria and odour the way wool does. Unless you've slept hot or sweated, silk pyjamas don't need washing every wear. Every three to four wears is normal. Every wear is overkill — and the friction of the wash itself is what wears silk down faster than the wear itself.
Air the piece on a hanger between wears. Most of the time that's all it needs.
The six-step hand-wash routine
- Pre-soak. Fill a clean basin with cool water (under 30°C) and add a teaspoon of pH-neutral silk detergent. Let the water still before you put anything in.
- Hand wash. Submerge the silk and swirl gently for two minutes. Do not rub, scrub, or twist. Friction is the single thing that pills and weakens silk.
- Rinse cool. Drain. Refill with clean cool water. Press the garment gently underwater so detergent flushes out. Repeat until the water runs clear.
- Press the water out. Lay the silk flat on a clean dry towel. Roll the towel up loosely, like a Swiss roll, and press down to absorb water. Never wring.
- Dry flat in shade. Lay the garment flat on a fresh towel, out of direct sunlight. Reshape with your hands. Sunlight bleaches silk and weakens the fibre — direct sun is the drying mistake nobody talks about.
- Steam, don't iron. Hang the piece in the bathroom while you shower — the steam will release any wrinkles. If you must iron, use the lowest silk setting, iron inside-out, and use a pressing cloth.
The detergent that actually matters
The wrong detergent will dull silk in a single wash. What to avoid:
- Anything with enzymes. Most "biological" laundry liquids contain protease enzymes that literally digest protein. Silk is protein. Read the bottle.
- Optical brighteners. They coat the fibre and kill the natural sheen.
- Bleach of any kind. Including oxygen bleach. It oxidises silk and yellows it.
- Fabric softener. Coats the fibre with silicone. Silk is already soft.
Use a pH-neutral silk-specific wash, or a fragrance-free baby shampoo as a backup. Both are gentle enough that they won't strip the sericin.
The machine wash question
Yes, you can. No, you probably shouldn't. If you're going to:
- Always inside a mesh laundry bag.
- Cool water (under 30°C). Delicate or silk cycle. Spin no higher than 400 rpm.
- Silk-specific detergent only.
- No softener.
- Lay flat to dry — never put silk in the tumble dryer. The heat shrinks the fibre and the friction pills it permanently.
Hand wash gives you another four or five years on a piece. Whether that trade-off is worth twenty-five minutes is up to you.
Folding so silk never creases
The reason silk wrinkles in storage isn't the fabric — it's the fold. Hard creases form where the silk presses against itself under pressure. Avoid them with two habits:
- Fold loosely, around tissue. Place a sheet of acid-free tissue paper between every fold. The tissue cushions the crease. We wrap every Jhouni piece in silk tissue for exactly this reason — keep the tissue, reuse it.
- Hang anything you can. Slip dresses, robes, shirts — hang them. Use a wide padded hanger so the shoulder doesn't pucker. Cedar wood hangers also keep moths off.
Long-term storage
If a piece is going away for the season:
- Wash it first. Body oils and food residue are what attracts moths and silverfish.
- Dry it completely. Even slight damp causes mildew on silk.
- Store in a cool, dark, dry place. Not a plastic bag — silk needs air. A cotton garment bag is ideal. A pillowcase works.
- Add cedar blocks or lavender sachets, not mothballs.
- Refold every six months so the same crease doesn't set permanently.
What to do when something goes wrong
A few honest fixes for the most common problems:
- Coffee or wine spill. Blot — never rub. Hand-wash the whole piece in cool water as soon as you can. Don't spot-clean with hot water; it sets protein stains permanently.
- Makeup transfer. Rinse the area in cool water, then hand-wash. Avoid the temptation to scrub.
- Sweat marks. A teaspoon of white vinegar in the rinse will neutralise. Don't use it as the wash itself — diluted only.
- Pulled thread. Don't cut. Gently work the thread back into the weave from the inside with a fingernail or blunt needle.
Treated like this, a 22-momme mulberry silk pyjama set will outlast almost everything else in your wardrobe. The single most important thing is to be gentle. Silk doesn't ask for much. Just don't fight it.
— The Jhouni studio
Want the printable version? Our full Care Guide covers silk and linen side by side. New to silk? Start with Mulberry Silk, Explained.