Silk is a vey nce fabric; unfortunately, it is fragile and prone to stain. It is also expensive, and must be drycleaned. So which fabric comes closest to imitating natural silk? Rayon , polysester?
I’d say Rayon.
Moderator’s Note: Not a Great Debate, and I’m not sure there’s really a single factual answer, so I’m moving it to IMHO.
Probably rayon. It can have a very soft feel that’s quite similar to silk. Be advised though - it doesn’t breath nearly as well so can be uncomfortable depending on your climate. Also, if you get any sort of grease or oil on it you might as well toss it.
I have a number of silk pieces (tank tops, shirts) I’ve thrown into the washer and dryer with no ill effect, other than the normal wear-and-tear you’d expect with other fabrics laundered thus.
I’ve machine- or hand-laundered silk garments I wouldn’t run through the dryer. Silk is notorious for soaking up grease stains, but shampoo does an amazing job of removing those stains.
I think many of the “microfiber” fabrics come close to silk.
Rayon is beautiful. It also shrinks incredibly, and is fragile, IME.
In men’s clothing I have had a few people think that microfibre business shirts are silk. They do drape like silk shirts. They are very easy care. As freckafree says years ago I had lots of silk shirts and my wife wore a lot of silk stuff. I used to just wash them on gentle in a machine with wool wash. They just suffered normal wear and tear.
I also wash my silk shirts, and throw them into the dryer (but Pull them out early). Now IRONING is a different story. Gotta be careful on the heat setting.
Tencel feels to me like sandwashed silk. I love it. Also it can be machine washed and dried.