Satin pillowcase — set of two, French size

This is where most satin pillowcases sold in France go wrong, and it is what decides whether yours will fit well.

In France, two pillows dominate: the 65 × 65 cm square and the 50 × 70 cm rectangular. Yet satin bed linen is almost always made to American standards: Standard 50 × 66 cm, Queen 50 × 76 cm, King 50 × 91 cm. None of these three fits a square pillow, and only one fits a French rectangular pillow properly.

• 65 × 65 cm — the exact size of the French square pillow. It is a true European size, not an adaptation.
• 50 × 75 cm — what the market calls Queen, and we prefer to say so rather than disguise it. We chose it because it is the only one, among the sizes actually manufactured, that fits a French 50 × 70 cm pillow properly: five centimeters of ease in length, exactly what an envelope flap requires. The Standard at 50 × 66 cm would be too short to close, and the King at 50 × 91 cm would float loose by twenty centimeters.

We sell neither the Standard, nor the King, nor the German sizes 80 × 80 and 40 × 80. They exist at our supplier; they correspond to nothing in a French bedroom.

Two pillowcases in polyester satin, with an envelope closure: an inner flap holds the pillow in place, with no zipper. Nothing that scratches the cheek, nothing that breaks in the wash.

Two sizes, one square, the other rectangular. It's bed linen. Nothing more, nothing less.

A night is not spent motionless. With each change of position, hair and cheek rub against the pillowcase. On cotton, the surface snags: it lifts the hair cuticle and pulls the skin.

Cotton adds a second problem: it absorbs. Sebum, water and the products applied in the evening migrate to the pillow instead of staying where you put them.

Satin acts on both of these points. Its surface glides instead of snagging, and polyester absorbs almost nothing. It is not a treatment, it is a mechanical barrier — exactly the same as the one in our night bonnet, applied to the pillow rather than to the head.

These are not two versions of the same product. They are two different answers, and one does not replace the other.

What the pillowcase does that the bonnet does not. It takes no effort: once the bed is made, you stop thinking about it. No habit to form, no evening when you forget. And it also protects the skin of the face from friction, which a bonnet will never do.

What the bonnet does that the pillowcase does not. It follows the head. The pillowcase only protects what rests on it: as soon as you move, part of the length of your hair ends up back on the sheet or hangs off the pillow. The bonnet also keeps volume and definition in place, and it costs less.

If you are unsure and have very voluminous, curly or braided hair, start with the bonnet at €13.90. If you know you will never put anything on your head to sleep, the pillowcase is made for you — and that is a perfectly valid reason.

• Sold in pairs. The price of €29.90 is for the two pillowcases, not per unit. They are the same color and the same size.
• It is polyester satin. Satin is a weave, not a material. It is not silk, and we will never sell it as such.
• Envelope closure, no zipper.
• Free delivery in metropolitan France, €3.90 elsewhere. Delivered to your door in 8 to 15 business days, with a tracking number as soon as it ships.
• 30-day money-back guarantee from receipt: sleep on them for several nights; if they do not suit you, we refund you without you having to send them back. Once per customer, conditions here.
• No stock counter, no limited offer, no fabricated review on this site.

Machine wash at 30 °C in a laundry bag, or by hand in lukewarm water. Air dry, never in a tumble dryer. Do not iron satin directly: iron on the reverse side, at low temperature, or not at all — polyester smooths out on its own when it dries spread out.

Having two is not a convenient accident: you change one while the other dries.

• You don't want to wear anything on your head to sleep → the pillowcase, this page.
• You have volume, curls or braids to preserve → the satin night bonnet.
• You have a short cut or waves to maintain → the long-tail durag.
• You want satin on the whole bed, not just the pillow → the satin bedding set, 200 × 200 cm duvet cover, from €54.90. Warning: the two pillowcases supplied with the bedding set are in the North American size, 48 × 74 cm; it is the ones on this page that fit a French pillow properly.
• You want to create curls without an iron → the heatless curler.
• You're not sure → our thirty-second guide.

Measure it. If it is 65 × 65 cm, take the square. If it is 50 × 70 cm, take the 50 × 75. If your pillow has another size, write to us before ordering rather than after: we will tell you frankly whether it will fit or not.

Yes, it is the Queen. We do not hide it. It also happens to be the only manufactured size that suits a French 50 × 70 cm pillow: an envelope-flap pillowcase must be a little longer than the pillow to cover it, and five centimeters is the normal ease. The American Standard, at 50 × 66 cm, would not close. What is a problem with other sellers is not the origin of the size: it is that they offer the Standard or the King without saying which pillow it fits.

No. It is polyester satin. Satin describes a weave, silk a material: so satin can be woven from polyester. It is cheaper, it can be machine washed, and it is stated. We have detailed the difference in this article.

Allow 8 to 15 business days in metropolitan France from the moment your payment is confirmed, with a tracking number as soon as it ships.

Satin is smooth, and the pillow can be too. If your pillow has a shiny synthetic cover, the whole thing may move more than with cotton. On a cotton cover, it stays in place.

It depends on your hair, not on your budget. Large volume, defined curls, braids, locs: the bonnet. Long, straight hair, or a flat refusal to sleep with anything on your head: the pillowcase. The section above details both without favoring either.

Less so. The benefit mostly concerns the lengths, which are the oldest and most fragile part of the hair. On a very short cut, the effect on the hair is marginal — the effect on the skin of the face, however, stays the same.

We will not give you a number of washes. We do not yet have enough hindsight to measure it honestly, and we prefer to tell you that rather than invent a figure. What we do know: polyester does not tolerate heat well. It is the tumble dryer and the iron that kill a satin pillowcase, not use.

Not yet on this product. We will not make any up. How we collect and publish them is detailed on the page Our review policy.