Pillowcases and pillow shams, what is the difference? It is a question as old as time. Well, I am here to teach you the difference. What each one looks like and what is their purpose.
Put simply, pillowcases cover the pillow, they are the ones you use on your pillow when you go to sleep. Pillow shams are used to add design to the pillow and are often placed on top of pillowcases to complement the comforter set. You can check out all of our pillow covers here
Here is a visual aid:
The visual aid is the easiest way to differentiate between the two. Pillowcases are usually plain and do not have any extra work or stitching which would make it uncomfortable to us sleep with at night. While Pillow shams can be very fancy and over the top to add as much design as needed.
HERE IS A FULL BREAKDOWN OF THE DIFFERENCES:
| Pillowcases | Pillow Shams |
|---|---|
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HOW SHOULD YOU STYLE YOUR BED?
Generally, it is a good idea to include pillows with both pillow shams and pillowcases on the bed. When buying coverings for your bed, you should buy a comforter set and a sheet set. This way you will have, at minimum, 2 pillowcases and 2 pillow shams. This way, you can fill your bed with 4 pillows, so it looks full.
Placing 4 pillows on the bed also means you do not need to remove the pillow shams from your pillows every night and place them back on every morning. Instead, you can simply place the extra pillows on the side or in the closet before going to bed.
In this picture you can see a very common set up for a bedding set. The bed has a comforter and sheet set with complementing designs. There are 4 pillows on the bed, 2 with covers matching the sheet set, and 2 matching the comforter set. When it comes time to sleep, the owner would simply remove the 2 pillows with blue covers and sleep on the other ones.
You may notice that both sets of covers have design on them. Although pillowcases are usually plain, their main differentiator is the material they are made of.
You can see clearly that the pillow shams have extra material at the and are thicker. This is because what matters most with pillow shams is form, not function.
BONUS: SHOULD YOU SLEEP ON UNDRESS PILLOWS?
Never. It is never advisable to sleep on undressed pillows. Even if they are your own pillows. Pillows get used every day! Using them without a cover would mean getting them dirtier much more often. Which means more cleaning pillows and more buying pillows.
Think of it the same as your mattress. Sleeping on a mattress without a sheet will get your mattress very dirty very fast, even as a clean adult.
Covering your pillows covers goes double for guest bedrooms. You should never have one guest use the same bedding as another unless it has been cleaned beforehand.
TL:DR
Pillow shams are used to add design to your pillows and match the comforter set.
Pillowcases are used to sleep on and match your sheet set.
