If you’re someone with sensitive skin, you likely already know the routine for pajama shopping. You already realize that it's all too possible to find pajamas in a shop that feel or seemingly will feel lovely, only to wear them to bed and wake up itchy anyway. Unfortunately, sleepwear for sensitive skin is a tricky buy because you need to find pajamas that actually feel good without causing flare-ups or irritation.
Luckily, if you’re looking for pajamas for eczema, allergies, or easily irritated skin, you’ve come to the right place. Today, our team at This Is J is discussing what you need to know about non-irritating sleepwear. We’re sharing our insights into the best fabric for sensitive skin sleepwear, care tips, and the sensitive sleepwear checklist that won’t lead you astray.
We’re doing this because we understand that you wear your pajamas for 8 hours or more every day, and that the wrong pair can, believe it or not, significantly affect your sleep quality. So, let’s get into it to avoid this reality.
What 'Sensitive Skin' Means for Fabric Choice
Sensitive skin can mean a few different things when it comes to fabric choice. Firstly, if someone has sensitive skin, it could mean they have eczema, a fairly common skin condition affecting 17.8% of all Canadians. Secondly, it could also mean they have contact dermatitis and allergies that cause skin issues. And thirdly, it could mean that someone simply has skin that negatively reacts to heat, sweat, rubbing, dyes, or certain fabric finishes.
This means that for some people, the wrong pajamas can cause an itch within minutes, while for others, they can slowly make their skin feel hot, tight, or uncomfortable throughout the night. It is this challenge that brings us to the crux of why fabric matters in your sleepwear.
You need to carefully choose the fabric of your pajamas because they will sit against your skin for hours, so even small things can make a huge difference. For example, a rough weave or a fabric that traps sweat is a no-no, as are scratchy seams or stiff labels. All of these can be enough to irritate already reactive skin.
So you need to go into choosing your next set of pajamas with this in mind, so that you choose a pair or two that are actually sensitive skin-friendly.
Sleepwear for Sensitive Skin: The Sensitive-Skin Sleepwear Checklist
We know it can be quite the challenge to find sleepwear that's sensitive-skin-friendly, which is why we’re offering a brief breakdown below. Our team has put together the ultimate checklist to go through before you click buy so that you don’t regret your decision:
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Fibre Smoothness
Rough fibres often have jagged edges. When pajamas are made from fabric with rough fibres, they can cause constant friction against your skin all night, which is often enough to set sensitive skin off. In contrast, smooth fibres glide over your skin instead of catching on it. This is why they feel cool, silky, and not scratchy.
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Seam Style
You may not believe us, but a thick seam pressing into one spot for hours will eventually bother you. This is especially true when it is under your hip or shoulder. So, you should look for pajamas with flat seams or a flat-fell seam that tucks the raw edge in. These tucked-away seams help keep your pajamas smooth so nothing rubs you the wrong way overnight.
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Tag Placement
If you’ve ever worn pajamas with a stiff little label at the back of the neck, you know how uncomfortable it can be for your sensitive skin. In fact, we would hazard a guess that you’re even guilty of cutting off these tags when you find them.
Unfortunately, many pajama sets come with these annyong tags, so you need to look for the ones that feature printed or tagless labels. We promise that if you choose these, your neck will thank you for it.
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Dye and Finish Chemistry
What often comes across as the fabric setting off your sensitive skin is actually a reaction to the dye or finish chemistry.
For instance, dyes in polyester pajamas are often known to cause irritation, and wrinkle-free finishes can leave a formaldehyde residue, which is also harmful to sensitive skin. Naturally, this means you might find yourself looking for hypoallergenic pajamas instead, but…‘hypoallergenic’ isn’t a regulated word for fabric.
No, we’re not lying. So, it means that often hypoallergenic (although not always) pajamas promise more than they can deliver. That’s why it's best to look for a trust signal, typically an OEKO-TEX Standard 100 label. This label means the fabric was tested for the harmful substances.
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Moisture Management
Damp skin is itchy skin, and sitting in your own sweat all night irritates sensitive skin faster than many people realize. That's why it's important to consider fabric that pulls moisture away and dries quickly to keep things comfortable while you sleep. This usually means choosing pajamas that offer some form of moisture-wicking, like ours at This Is J.
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Breathability
If your sensitive skin is triggered by heat, try choosing pajamas that offer breathability. Fabric that lets air move through stops that hot, sticky layer from building up against your skin, so you are less likely to wake up kicking the covers off mid-scratch.
How Common Fabrics Rate Against the Checklist
So how do the usual fabrics stack up with sleepwear for sensitive skin? Honestly, it is a mixed bag:
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Cotton: Most people recommend cotton for sensitive skin, and there are a few good reasons for this. For example, it's soft, and it offers breathability. However, it does have a weak spot…and that is moisture. Cotton tends to soak up sweat and hang onto it, so it's possible to go from comfy to clammy by morning, and with sensitive skin, that's a no-go.
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Polyester: No…just no. Polyester might have smooth fibres going for it, but that’s about it. This fabric traps heat, barely breathes, and its dyes are most likely to cause an annoying reaction. So if your skin is fussy, this is the first thing to swap out.
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Wool: We can't deny that wool can be warm and cozy and that it breathes and wicks well, but it's famously itchy, especially in thicker blends. Those with eczema may find it particularly horrible for their skin. So, if you have this condition, you may want to avoid it altogether unless it's a finer merino wool.
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Bamboo viscose: Now, what you might not know about bamboo viscose is that it's a semi-synthetic fabric, but this doesn’t affect its performance. This fabric is super smooth and comfortable. It also offers impressive breathability and moisture wicking, and it performs even better when blended with fabrics like Spandex. Our pajamas feature a 93 percent bamboo viscose and 7 percent spandex blend, so they stretch and keep their shape.
Caring for Sensitive-Skin Sleepwear
Once you’ve found sensitive skin-friendly pajamas, you need to take care of them. Of course, you should follow the pajamas' specific care instructions. Yet, generally, you should start by washing them before you wear them. Often, new pajamas arrive with a little residue and packing dust. This can irritate sensitive skin if you wear them straight out of the packaging.
Next, you’ll want to ensure you’re using fragrance-free, dye-free detergent. You’ll want to do this because added fragrance is one of the most common irritants for sensitive skin. Then you also need to try skipping the fabric softener… we know this is a tough one. But fabric softener leaves a coating on the fibres. That coating is the last thing you want against reactive skin all night.
Lastly, wash your pajamas on cool and dry them on low. This will help your pajamas remain softer and more comfortable for longer.
Choose This Is J for Sleepwear for Sensitive Skin
Now you know that you want smooth fibres, flat seams, and no annoying tags. You also know you want a fabric that breathes, and a finish you can trust. That is exactly what we had in mind with our soft bamboo pajamas at This Is J. Our bamboo viscose blend pajamas are smooth and breathable; they move moisture instead of trapping it, and they stay gentle on sensitive skin all night.
They are also Canadian-made. So what's not to love? If you're looking for sleepwear for sensitive skin, you might want to have a look at your bamboo jammers collection here. We have much to choose from, including loungewear, robes, headbands, and more.
