Silk Notes
How to read a sleepwear composition label
A composition label lists the fibres in the main fabric with their percentages by weight. It is the one line in a product description that has to be about the material.
Read it before the styling notes. Everything else on a sleepwear page can be written without touching the fabric.
Read the fibre, not the finish
Fibres are things like silk, cotton, polyester, viscose, modal and elastane. Finishes and weaves are things like satin, charmeuse, sateen and crepe. Only the first group can appear as a percentage.
| On the label | What it means |
|---|---|
| 100% mulberry silk | Main fabric is silk from mulberry-fed silkworms. |
| Excluding trims | Main fabric is pure; elastic and thread are not silk. |
| 100% polyester | Synthetic. Often sold under the name satin. |
| 95% polyester, 5% elastane | Synthetic with stretch. |
| Viscose or modal | Manufactured from processed cellulose, not silk. |
| Satin, charmeuse, sateen | A weave. No information about the fibre. |
Cross-check the care instructions
A fibre and its care usually agree. Silk asks for a cold hand wash, no bleach, no tumble dry and a cool iron. A garment described as silk but labelled machine wash warm, tumble dry low is worth questioning.
What to check on a product page
- No fibre percentage anywhere in the text.
- Composition shown only inside an image.
- Silky, silk-feel or silk-touch used where a percentage should be.
- A fibre named in the title but absent from the composition.
What Very Personal Research states
The Silk Camisole Set in Rouge is 100% mulberry silk, excluding trims, and that line appears as text on the product page. If you want the background on the weave confusion, read silk vs satin sleepwear.
Questions
- What does a composition label tell me?
- It lists the fibres in the main fabric and their percentages, by weight, highest first. It is the only part of a garment description that has to describe the material rather than the impression.
- Does 'satin' appear on a composition label?
- Not as a fibre. Satin is a weave, so it may appear in the product name but never as a composition percentage. If the composition reads 100% polyester and the name says satin, the garment is polyester.
- Why do silk garments list elastane?
- Elastane may appear in a waistband or narrow trim to give stretch. Read the main-fabric composition and any separate trim information together.
- Where should the composition be shown online?
- As readable text on the product page, not only inside a photo of the label. If you cannot select and copy the fibre content, treat it as unstated.
The Silk Camisole Set in Rouge
Camisole and shorts in 100% mulberry silk.
View the set