What is more expensive, silk or satin?

Silk is almost always more expensive than satin when satin refers to the common polyester satin that dominates the market. The reason is that silk is a natural luxury fiber that requires raising silkworms, harvesting cocoons, and carefully unwinding and spinning delicate filaments, which is labor-intensive and low-yield. High-quality mulberry silk satin typically costs $30 to over $80 per yard for fabric alone, and finished silk pillowcases, dresses, or sheets often cost $90 to $300 or more. Polyester satin, by contrast, is made from petroleum-based synthetic yarn that is mass-produced in factories at very high speed and low cost. Polyester satin fabric can cost $3 to $10 per yard, and finished products are similarly cheap. However, there is a nuance. If satin is made from silk, which is called silk satin, then silk and satin are the same thing, so the price is the same and it is expensive. There are also mid-priced satins made from acetate, cupro, or rayon that cost more than polyester but less than silk. So the accurate answer is real silk satin is far more expensive than polyester satin, which is what most stores mean when they just say satin.