What is Momme in Silk?

What is Momme in Silk?

Momme [mom-ee] is a Japanese word used as a unit of weight measurement for real silk. Momme, often abbreviated as mm, is defined as the weight in pounds of a piece of fabric sized 45 inches x 100 yards. That is an incredibly long piece of fabric -- about the length of a football field! To put it terms closer to the size of sheets: one momme equates to about 4.340 grams per square meter. Eight momme fabric weighs about 1 ounce per square yard or 35 grams per square meter.

The higher the momme, the heavier and denser the weave will be. During the process of silk production, the silk factory will adjust the density and yarn count of the silk thread to control the weight -- or momme -- of the fabric. With 26 momme scarves, for example, the weft and warp of the silk fibers are woven closer together than they would be for a 12 momme scarves. Higher momme silk fabrics are also made with thicker yarn. In this way, momme is similar to thread count, which is commonly used to measure the weave of cotton sheets.

Anything under 20 momme is considered lightweight silk. 20 momme to 28 momme is considered midweight, with anything above 28 momme is categorized as heavy. When considering a specific weave or type of silk, higher momme is generally considered to be of better quality.