I got some silk pillowcases which were lovely, BUT a) expensive, b) annoying to clean (you need special stuff and blah blah blah), so satin sounds like a much better deal to me! I can’t have high maintenance homewear.
I feel you. low maintenance is me too... and cheap.
The 'satin' ones at walmart are pretty cheap. Pretty sure they're synthetic. They are not that high quality but they make a HUGE difference for my hair. Real silk may be beautiful, but it has friction (I sew and silk comes in different textures, but as a natural fabric, most silk I've encountered have some friction) (Silk also needs careful cleaning. My pillowcases go in the washing machine.
Friction is hair's enemy as it raises
roughens the cuticle on the strands of hair, and this causes damage. Silk is less damaging than cotton but satin is even lower friction and that is why it works so well. I don't know about thread count, but the more
slippery the satin feels, the better for your hair.
I've found the 'satin' I find in Walmart (and a couple other places) to be entirely good enough for making my hair stop breaking. Before... I had a mass of split ends at the back, no matter what I put in my hair and no matter how often i cut off the split ends, the back soon looked dry and un-cared for. Now, it does not.
You can also find satin sleep caps, if you can tolerate wearing a cap... i can't... and the elastic to hold them on may rub on some of your hair.
From research I just did:
Originally (most?) satin was a smooth 'weave' made from silk... which resulted in the smoother, shiny 'satin' look... Now, apparently, most satin is synthetic.
About hair structure: (and why you don't want to raise the cuticle)
From the bulb beneath your scalp to the cuticle that protects each strand, here’s everything you need to know about what your hair is made of and why it matters.
www.philipkingsley.co.uk
