Measured: Fabric is judged by the label's fiber content percentages, listed heaviest fiber first, and by cloth weight in grams per square meter or ounces per square yard.
The basics
What to know about men's pajamas & robes
What the group covers
Sleepwear covers what you change into once the day is over, plus the robe that goes over it. A pajama set pairs a top and a bottom cut from one cloth and sold together. The label reads small through double extra large rather than a neck size and a sleeve length. Buy the bottom half alone and you have sleep pants. Replace the pair with a single long shirt ending near the knee and you have a nightshirt. Robes do not fasten at all. The front wraps left over right and holds only because a tie belt runs through two loops at your waist. Loungewear sets borrow all of that and add enough weight and shape to be seen in.
Sleeping well is a temperature problem
Fabric settles almost every question, because sleeping well is a temperature problem before it is a comfort one. Your core temperature falls by 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit as you fall asleep, and cloth that blocks that drop keeps you awake. Woven cotton poplin at 3.5 to 4.5 ounces per square yard lets warm air out through the gaps between crossed threads. Flannel starts as that same cotton, then passes under rollers set with fine wire that raise a fuzzy nap. The still air caught in the nap does the warming rather than the extra 2 ounces of weight. Knit jersey at 140 to 180 grams per square meter follows you as you turn, at the cost of holding sweat against skin. Cotton absorbs about a quarter of its own weight before it feels wet. By comparison, polyester holds under 1 percent, dries within the hour and smells worse by morning.
Terry, waffle and fleece
Robes divide on how their surface is built. Terry stands loops of yarn off a woven ground, and each loop adds surface area, so a robe at 400 to 500 grams per square meter pulls water off your back in one pass. Waffle weaves the same cotton into a raised honeycomb that traps air in the hollows instead of water in loops. This is how a 250 gram robe stays warm at half the weight and dries in a third of the time. Waistbands do equivalent work elsewhere in the drawer. A covered elastic band 1 to 1.5 inches wide holds a pair up. A flat drawcord in the same casing lets you tighten it a year later once the elastic tires. Round cords under 4 millimeters press a line into your stomach when you lie face down.
Set the cloth against the room
Set the cloth against the room rather than the month. Bedrooms sleep best between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit, and at the warm end of that a Woven Pajama Set in poplin is often the only thing you can keep on all night. Below 62 degrees the Flannel Pajama Set earns its nap. Restless sleepers who turn every hour do better in a Knit Pajama Set, which stretches instead of dragging. Wake up damp and a Nightshirt helps, since open legs vent heat faster than any fabric moves it. Sleep Pants alone suit men who sleep bare on top. After a shower a Terry Cloth Robe dries you, in July a Waffle Robe covers you without cooking you. A Loungewear Set handles the hours between waking and getting dressed.
Warmth and airflow on a seesaw
Each gain here is paid for by its opposite. Warmth and airflow sit on a seesaw. So the flannel that rescues January turns a 70 degree bedroom into a bad night, and no finish on the cloth changes that. Absorbency trades against drying time, which is why a heavy terry robe soaks up a whole shower and then hangs damp for 3 or 4 hours. Softness carries its own bill. Cotton grows softer with every wash because the fibers work loose, and loosened fibers are also what pill and thin. Fit follows suit, since cloth loose enough to touch you nowhere is loose enough to twist around your legs at 3 in the morning.
Start at the waistband
Judging a set takes a minute in your hands. Start at the waistband and look for a covered elastic band and a flat cord together, as elastic alone turns slack inside a year and a cord alone digs. Follow that cord to its opening and check for a bar tack, a dense block of stitching that stops it being pulled inside the casing. Look into the crotch of the pants for a gusset, a diamond of extra cloth that keeps four seams from meeting at the one point that splits. On a robe, weigh the belt: a limp 1.5 inch belt slips undone all evening, where a 2 inch belt stitched along both edges holds a knot.
What to leave out of the wash
Keeping cotton soft is mostly about what you leave out. Wash warm, near 104 degrees Fahrenheit, since hot water shrinks woven cotton 3 to 5 percent and bakes body oil into the fibers. Leave fabric softener out of any load holding terry or waffle, because the waxy film it deposits seals the loops that were doing the drying. Half a cup of white vinegar in the rinse softens without coating. Tumble on low and take the load out while it feels slightly damp, as overdrying cracks cotton fibers and leaves a papery hand that never washes back out. Turn flannel inside out to slow pilling, then shave the pills off rather than pulling them, which drags a whole yarn out of the weave.
Buyer checklist
Before you buy men's pajamas & robes
Fit names are only a starting point. Measurements, cloth and construction tell you how a garment will actually wear.
01
Measure the key points
Use chest, neck, sleeve, waist and inseam measurements where relevant, and compare them with the item chart.
02
Fit the hard-to-alter areas first
Shoulders, collar and rise should sit correctly before you consider easier alterations such as hems and sleeve length.
03
Check fiber and fabric weight
The same style can feel very different in lightweight cotton, dense denim, wool or a high-stretch blend.
04
Plan for care
Check washing, pressing and dry-cleaning needs before deciding whether the garment suits everyday use.
Measure your chest at the fullest point and compare it with the garment chest measurement, since sleepwear needs 6 to 8 inches more than your body. Under 4 inches of room and the top pulls across your back every time you roll over.
Measure from your crotch to 1 inch above the floor barefoot and buy that inseam, because sleep pants rarely come in leg options and a hem that reaches the floor gets stood on in the dark.
Slide two fingers flat under the waistband with the drawcord untied. Two should pass with light tension, and a band you can pull 4 inches away from your body will slide down your hips as soon as you lie on your side.
Sit on the floor in a woven set and pull your knees to your chest, since that position rather than standing at a mirror is where a size too small pulls at the knee and the seat.
Pick robe length from the shoulder seam down: about 40 inches ends at mid thigh, 48 inches lands just below the knee on a man of average height, and 52 to 55 inches reaches the ankle.
Bend your arm and look at the cuff, which should sit at the wrist bone. A sleeve long enough to cover half your palm catches on bedding and drags all night.
Care
Caring for men's pajamas & robes
Wash warm at around 104 degrees Fahrenheit rather than hot, since heat is what shrinks woven cotton 3 to 5 percent and it takes that length out of the hem first.
Keep fabric softener and dryer sheets away from terry and waffle, because both leave a waxy film that seals the loops. A robe that has stopped drying you is almost always a softener problem.
Add half a cup of white vinegar to the rinse when cotton starts feeling stiff, as it strips detergent residue and leaves the fibers soft without coating them.
Take the load out of a low tumble while it still feels slightly damp, since overdrying cracks cotton fibers and the papery feel that follows never washes back out.
Run a new terry robe on its own for the first two or three cycles, because fresh loops shed lint that ends up on every dark garment in the load.
Knot the drawcord loosely before washing and turn flannel inside out, which stops the cord vanishing into its casing and slows the pilling at the inner thigh.
Questions
Common questions
What is the difference between pajamas and loungewear?
Weight and intent. Pajamas run 140 to 180 grams per square meter in knit, or 3.5 to 5 ounces per square yard woven, light enough to sleep under a duvet. Loungewear starts around 240 grams and is cut to be seen, with ribbed cuffs and a tapered leg. Sleep in loungewear and the extra weight will wake you around 2 in the morning.
Should I size up in pajamas?
Usually no, since sleepwear already carries 6 to 8 inches of room at the chest, and a bigger size buys cloth that twists around your legs by morning. Size up only for untreated woven cotton with no pre-shrunk label, which can lose 3 to 5 percent in a hot wash. Buy your true chest measurement and control shrinkage with warm water instead.
Do cotton pajamas shrink, and how do I stop it?
They do, usually 3 to 5 percent for woven cotton and 4 to 6 percent for flannel. Nearly all of it lands in the first two washes. Heat causes it, so wash warm at around 104 degrees Fahrenheit and tumble low, pulling the set out while it still feels damp. Cloth labeled pre-shrunk or sanforized has already given up most of that movement at the mill.
Why has my bathrobe stopped soaking up water?
Fabric softener, nine times in ten. Softener works by coating fibers in a thin waxy film, and that film seals the terry loops that were doing the absorbing. Strip it by running the robe through a warm wash with half a cup of white vinegar and no detergent, then a normal wash. Leave softener and dryer sheets out from then on, since sheets deposit the same residue.
How often should I wash pajamas?
Every three or four wears for most men, or after each wear in summer and for anyone who sweats at night. Skin sheds oil and cells for eight hours straight and cotton holds both, which is why an old set smells before it looks dirty. Showering before bed roughly doubles that interval. Robes worn over clean skin stretch to a week or two.
What should I sleep in if I sweat at night?
Woven cotton, and as little of it as you can manage. Poplin at 3.5 to 4.5 ounces per square yard stands off your skin and dries faster than jersey, which clings once wet. A nightshirt does better still, since open legs vent heat faster than fabric can move it. Avoid flannel and anything over half polyester, as one traps damp in the nap and the other holds odor.
Terry or waffle robe, which one should I buy?
Buy terry if the robe replaces a towel and waffle if it goes over pajamas. Terry at 400 to 500 grams per square meter dries you in one pass and then needs 3 or 4 hours to dry itself. Waffle at 200 to 300 grams picks up roughly a third as much, dries in about an hour and packs small. A cold bathroom favors terry; summer and travel favor waffle.
Is a drawstring better than an elastic waist?
Both together beat either alone. Elastic 1 to 1.5 inches wide inside a covered casing does the holding and loses grip after a year of dryer heat. By comparison, a flat drawcord threaded through it lets you tighten the pair after that. Choose flat cord over round, because a round cord under 4 millimeters presses a line into your stomach when you lie face down.
