Silk sheets are an item of luxury that has lost some of its popularity over the years
, but has now bounced back into prominence once again.
Silk is a natural protein fiber and it has been around for quite some time now. The first indication that silk was used to make sheets dates way back to ancient China where they were used in the palace of the emperor as well as other heads of states.
They are still very much favored in China today, as are other silk garments. They were hand woven and sewed it could take up to one year to create ones worthy of the emperor to sleep on. Only the best silk fibers were used coming straight from the silk worms that were nurtured to produce silk. They were fed the best diets and cared for constantly not only did the emperor and his household sleep on them but there were giant ones hung as decorations throughout the palace; they were favored decorations because of the way they bellowed in the breeze.
Ones that are one hundred percent natural silk are very expensive because of the difficult of weaving the ultra fine strands into cloth. Much of the production is still done by hand today. The costs of decent ones easily exceed five hundred dollars. There are several contributing factors involved with the cost.
The thread count is how many threads there are per square inch of fabric, the higher the thread counts the denser the fabric. The thread count plays a huge role. Denser fabric is stronger better wearing fabric so a higher thread count usually indicates a higher quality product that will result in a higher cost. Other contributing factors to cost is the size of it, if they are meant for a full size bed they will be less expensive than if they are meant for a queen size bed, because a full size bed is smaller and takes less silk to produce them.
If you are looking for a luxury item, look no further than silk sheets.