The Best Silk Sheets Are Sumptuous Sleep Essentials

When it comes to bedding that’s soft and supple, the best silk sheets are hard to beat. Unlike other materials like a textured linen or crisp percale, these have a glossy look and feel that you won’t quite find in another set. Real silk of the highest quality is characterized as a hypoallergenic, naturally breathable fabric, which is great for hot sleepers and sleepers with sensitive skin. What’s more, they are just as adaptable as they are stylish. Many sets come in neutral and bright colorways to play off of your bedroom’s design. You’ll find this versatile textile everywhere from a tranquil turn-of-the-century Carrère and Hastings town house to a colorful classic prewar on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Our Top Picks for the Best Silk Sheets

Best Overall Silk Sheets

Quince Mulberry Silk Sheet Set

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$500

Quince

Best Splurge

Clementine Atelier Medica Silk Fitted Sheet

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$899

Clementine

Best Silk Alternative

Ettitude CleanBamboo Sheet Set

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$359 $251 (30% off)

Ettitude

To get a real feel for the best sets out there, our editors got to work by sleeping in on our favorite sets on the market. Our favorite silk bed sheets are resistant to pilling and snags. And since top-tier silk sheets tend to be pricey, we’ve also sprinkled in some affordable alternative options like satin, sateen, and bamboo sheets. They might trick you into thinking they’re the real thing. Here, find all of our favorites to enhance your sleep experience and self-care routine year-round.

For consistency, all prices reflect queen sizes in this story.

Quince is already one of our favorite destinations for luxury-on-a-budget sleep essentials. While you’ll find an affordable price point here too, the quality of these 100% mulberry silk sheets isn’t something to skip over. Senior commerce editor Nashia Baker keeps these high-quality sheets in rotation since they’re both durable and easy to care for. They are machine washable—she just keeps them with like colors for safe measure, though. From there, an air-dry gets the sheets back to their best condition. Even if you don’t notice an immediate change from tumble drying, the brand says this practice can weaken the silk. As someone whose skin has gotten more sensitive over time, she appreciates the hypoallergenic, temperature-regulating material that feels soothing to sink into each night.

These sheets have a 22 momme count. We dive into this more in our FAQ section, but this count essentially indicates a durable weave, and Baker says they've held up well without tears or color fading in sight.

Calling them “extremely soft and rich-feeling,” commerce writer Julia Harrison coats her bed with this silk set and adds that they’re the “kind of splurge that just feels like self-care every time you slip into it.” While they’re steeper in price, the brand notes that these sheets boast infused with ingredients like hyaluronic acid designed to leave skin feeling dewy and soothed. Harrison says she sleeps easily with these sheets and felt like they were ready for use out of the box with little to no off-gassing (though she did still give them a wash).

All that aside, these sheets can instantly dress up a moody or minimalist bedroom at any given moment with the pearl white and navy blue hues. Although Harrison has a bohemian-meets-Danish design style in her space, she found the navy blue color to be surprisingly subtle. “It wasn’t screaming: silk sheets, or even worse: navy blue sheets,” she says. “I tucked it under my white duvet and it gave a really interesting contrast.”

"These sheets are buttery—pun intended,” says Baker, who has this set in the butter colorway. These are made from a patented CleanBamboo fabric that leaves the sheets with a silky sateen finish. She says they have gotten noticeably softer over time with a routine wash and dry. Plus, they are a bit thinner in a good way than other bamboo-like sets, as Baker says it leaves them with an airier feel. If trendy pastel yellow isn’t your preference, these sheets also come in several neutral and vibrant hues like sage and saffron.

Contributor Yelena Moroz Alpert has this soft sheet set in the saffron color and thought it looked like “liquid gold” at first glance. “The fabric is practically fluid and contours gently over my body, and because I opted for the saffron color, these have a slight sheen of the lustrous precious metal,” she says. “Normally, I reserve my bamboo sheets for the hot months, especially the extra light styles, but this one has just the right amount of weight for the transitional months and I have yet to overheat in these.”

These are our favorite cooling sheets for those seeking a glam aesthetic. Baker says this bamboo set is great for people like her who crave something cool-to-the-touch without sacrificing style. “These sheets have the same appearance to me as a high-end set of silk or satin without the cost,” she says, adding that they have a dramatic drape. “These are even more unique because of the jewel tones, like sapphire, that are hard to find with other brands,” she says. Baker keeps her bedscape full with a mattress topper and protector, and she says these deep pocket sheets fit easily over it all. While she says she’s generally a cold sleeper, the bamboo material is perfectly breathable for hot NYC days.

Take it from Baker: Lunya’s sheets are a dream. At first glance, she mistook these as mulberry silk because of their glossy look. In actuality, these sheets are made of a natural fiber called tencel, which is a wood-based material. The brand notes that the bedding is biodegradable and created using an earth-friendly, closed-loop process that uses recycled materials. These are naturally breathable while also boasting a softness that she hasn’t quite felt in a standard silk set. “I wouldn’t consider myself a hot sleeper, but since NYC weather is constantly up and down, I like something that’s both airy and soft,” she says. “I sleep under the top sheet and duvet with no problem; the set keeps me comfortable during in-between spring and fall weather that hits around the 50s and 60s.”

While the duvet is sold separately, it's a plus to pair with the sheet set since it's just as durable. “I’ve had the same textured comforter with yellow embroidery for years now, and I feared that the design would show through the duvet cover since the only color Lunya has as of now is white,” Baker says. “I was pleasantly surprised to see that the duvet covered it all without any color peeking through.”

Cotton sheets with a sateen weave are a worthy alternative to silk, as well. A favorite of luxury hotels for its polished appearance, this bedding type is lofty, offers a light sheen, and typically has more standard care instructions (machine wash and tumble dry) to keep them in their best condition. Case in point: This Prossioni sateen set. “Sateen sheets tend to be a bit thicker, likely because they are higher in thread count, but Prossioni managed to give the sleekness and softness of sateen with the airiness of bamboo bedding,” says Alpert. “These are the lightest and thinnest sateen sheets I’ve tested.”

While she usually likes sateen sheets during the cooler months of the year, she notes that these are breathable and favor a light silk weight. The luster of the weave is just as impressive. “While I like the silky feel of bamboo viscose sheets, sometimes they feel too light or too slippery, Prossioni sateen sheets take the best elements and elevate them,” she says. “Sometimes when I close my eyes I envision that I am basking in bed in a Tuscan villa.”

If you tend to run hot, you’ll also want to reach for this set. Alpert notes that these maintain an even sleep temperature and freshness, likely because of the patented NordShield Crisp technology designed to leave the sheets with a clean feel night after night. “When my room does get a bit warm (old house syndrome! Or maybe a side-effect of turning 40) these are quick to absorb any sweat, and I have yet to wake up in damp linens,” she adds. “If I were to give these sheets a nickname, it’d be Easy-Breezy.”

This budget-friendly satin sheet set has a smooth texture and comes in nearly two dozen colors to match your bedroom. And coming in at just about $40, they have more of an approachable price tag while still boasting the overall look of silk. The sheets are more slippery than a standard silk set, but the appearance itself doesn’t give that away. Baker has these in burgundy and says the rich hue really shows through in person. This material isn’t as breathable as others in this list, so something to keep in mind depending on the season.

From bamboo to linen sheets, our testing process for sheets is one in the same at AD: Just like fellow shoppers, our editors bring sets in their homes to see if they really hold up for routine use. We had this silk bedding in our homes for several months, if not more, to go through the process of washing and sleeping on them. Here are other factors we kept in mind.

Material: There are several types of silk and silk alternative fabrics to choose from, but our list consists of pure mulberry silk, bamboo varieties, cotton sateen, and satin that all have a similar look and feel. When shopping for a pure silk set of sheets, be sure to look for bedding labels that note 100% mulberry silk, also known as natural silk, that typically boasts a grade 6a rating (the highest possible).

If you're looking for options that mirror silk fabric, 100% viscose from bamboo is typically durable, moisture-wicking, and has less strict care instructions, especially tumble drying. Cotton sateen favors a momme silk sheet set because of its pearly look, and it’s a great option for hot sleepers since it is naturally breathable. Satin tends to be slightly more slippery in texture, but these usually still offer a silky look.

Care: For streamlined care, we tested a variety of options (sheets with matching silk pillowcases) that span hand washing to machine washing, as well as tumble drying and air-drying. Since pure silk can sometimes weaken from abrasive wash and dry cycles, it's typically recommended to hand wash and air-dry.