Fibre Guide · Silk Duvets

Wild Silk vs Mulberry Silk Duvets: Which Fill Should You Choose?

In Germany and Austria a wild silk duvet is a familiar summer quilt. Elsewhere the same fill is sold as tussah silk, and the mulberry silk duvet sits beside it at a much higher price. Both are real silk. What separates them is the silkworm, the length of the fibre it spins, and what that fibre does inside a duvet.

Quick answer: Wild silk (tussah) comes from semi-wild Antheraea moths and is a short, tan, slightly coarse fibre that is carded into a quilted batting. Mulberry silk comes from the domesticated Bombyx mori silkworm and is a long, fine, white filament that can be stretched into layered sheets. In a duvet, long mulberry strands keep their loft and stay evenly spread for years, which is why they cost more. A wild silk quilt is the lighter, cheaper choice for summer. A long-strand mulberry silk duvet is the one to buy for year-round use.

Specimen I

Wild silk

Antheraea, sold as tussah or tussar

Silkworm: Semi-wild moths reared on forest trees
Diet: Oak and other forest leaves
Fibre: Short to medium lengths, thicker and uneven
Colour: Natural tan to honey

Specimen II

Mulberry silk

Bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm

Silkworm: Fully domesticated, bred for its cocoon
Diet: Mulberry leaves only
Fibre: One continuous filament, fine and even
Colour: White

What Is Wild Silk?

Wild silk is the trade name for silk spun by moths that were never fully domesticated. The best known is tussah, also written tussar, from the Antheraea moths of China and India. They feed on oak and other forest trees rather than on mulberry leaves, and the tannins in that diet leave the cocoon a natural tan. The fibre keeps the colour after cleaning.

The cocoon is harder than a mulberry cocoon, and the moth is often allowed to break out of it, so the thread arrives in pieces rather than as one long filament. Mills card it into short lengths. For a duvet that means a batting of loose fibres stitched into small compartments to stop it shifting: the classic quilted wild silk summer duvet with a cotton shell.

Thicker and a little coarser than mulberry silk, the fibre is still light and breathable, which is why these quilts sell well for warm bedrooms.

Fine white mulberry silk filaments beside coarser tan wild silk fibre

What Is Mulberry Silk?

Mulberry silk comes from Bombyx mori, a silkworm bred over thousands of years to eat nothing but mulberry leaves. Its cocoon is white and its thread is one unbroken filament several hundred metres long, fine and round in cross-section. It is the silk behind 22 momme pillowcases and bedding.

Long-strand mulberry silk fill showing through the opening of an ivory duvet shell

A duvet fill is never reeled into thread. The cocoons are softened, opened by hand and stretched over a frame into translucent sheets, which are layered until the fill reaches the chosen weight. Sensoire sorts double cocoons for a fuller loft and uses only Grade 6A long-strand mulberry silk.

Because every strand runs across the width of the duvet, the layers cling to each other. The fill needs no close quilting to stay in place, so it drapes over the body instead of sitting on it, and it does not bunch into the corners.

Wild Silk vs Mulberry Silk Duvet: The Differences That Matter

Aspect	Wild silk (tussah)	Mulberry silk
Fibre length	Wild silkShort, carded lengths	Mulberry silkLong strands, stretched in layers
Feel and loft	Wild silkFlatter and firmer, a quilted feel	Mulberry silkLofty, drapes close to the body
Warmth for the weight	Wild silkLight, mostly sold as a summer quilt	Mulberry silkFour weights from summer to winter, loftier for the same weight
Over the years	Wild silkShort fibres can shift and compress inside the compartments	Mulberry silkLayers hold together, the fill stays even and keeps its loft
Washing and care	Wild silkSome are stitched tightly enough to be sold as washable at 30 °C	Mulberry silkNever machine washed, aired and spot cleaned inside a washable cover
Colour and shell	Wild silkTan fill, usually under cotton	Mulberry silkWhite fill, under cotton sateen or pure silk
Price	Wild silkLower	Mulberry silkHigher: sorting, hand layering and a longer fibre

Which Silk Duvet Should You Choose?

Choose wild silk if you want a light, inexpensive summer quilt and do not mind a firmer, flatter feel. It is a sensible first silk duvet for a warm flat.

A long-strand mulberry silk duvet is the better buy if it has to work all year, if you sleep hot in winter as well as in summer, or if you want the fill to be as even in year ten as on day one. The Sensoire range comes in summer, mid-season, winter and 4-seasons weights, and its care routine is a cover, an open window and a little patience rather than a washing machine.

Whichever you pick, read the label for the fill. The word silk on its own says nothing about the species or the length of the fibre.

FAQs About Wild Silk and Mulberry Silk Duvets

Is wild silk better than mulberry silk?

Neither is better at everything. Wild silk is cheaper and lighter and suits summer. Mulberry silk is finer, longer and white, and it keeps its loft for far longer, which makes it the better fill for a duvet you use all year.

Can you wash a wild silk duvet?

Some quilted wild silk duvets are sold as machine washable at 30 °C because the short fibres are stitched into small compartments. Check the label of your own duvet. A long-strand mulberry silk fill is never machine washed.

Why does a mulberry silk duvet cost more?

The cocoons are sorted, opened and stretched by hand, and only long, unbroken strands go into the fill. A wild silk batting is carded by machine from shorter fibre, which takes far less work.

Is tussah silk the same as wild silk?

Tussah, also spelled tussar, is the most common wild silk and comes from Antheraea moths. Eri and muga are other wild silks. In bedding the terms usually describe the same tan, carded fill.

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