Bed Pillows

Your bed pillow can change your life. A bad pillow can produce a restless slumber. The right down pillow or memory foam pillow can give you a good night’s sleep, increasing your productivity and improving your mood. You have heard all the commercials preaching the importance of a comfortable mattress and soft sheets to help you sleep at night. But where you rest your head for eight hours each night is just as important. It’s time to invest in new pillows when the old ones are lumpy and clumpy, and you just can’t seem to beat the clumps out with your fists. There’s a trick you can try just to be sure: Fold your pillow in half. If it’s easy, there’s very little resistance and it doesn’t get its shape back right away, you’re going to need to go shopping. Before you do, there are some things to consider.

Down Pillows

Down pillows
Down feathers are the softest feathers on a bird that keep them warm and are shed after the winter months. Usually down feathers put into pillows are from geese and ducks. They are the luxury pillow and are often covered with silk or satin because why have the best filling and sacrifice the quality of the cover? These pillows are extremely soft and therefore not recommended for people who prefer a firmer head rest. They last an extremely long time, though they are expensive and are not recommended for those with allergies because some problems have been reported.

Buckwheat Pillows

Other natural pillow materials
Buckwheat hull pillows are made from natural fibers as well and are the traditional pillow in Japan. It is a firm pillow that conforms more to the shape of your body than a softer pillow would. It is filled with buckwheat husks which are a bit like cereal grains or flat beans, kind of like a bean bag but more natural. You can contort the pillow to your specifications, whatever makes you the most comfortable. As well, buckwheat pillows usually have a zipper on the side so that you can add and remove buckwheat hull as you desire. Be careful when you open it or you’ll spill the beans. Feather pillows are different from down pillows, so be careful when you’re shopping that you don’t think they are the same. These pillows are filled with different downs from a combination of different birds as well as feathers. The result is a pillow that is more firm and less expensive than a pure down pillow. However, there are a few down sides to this type: one, it aggravates a person’s allergies and two the feathers used are pointed at the tips, which downs are not. The points poke through the pillow and can even be sharp to the touch. You can’t cover these pillows with silk cases because the feathers will poke you in your sleep; you need a thick pillow case to avoid poking. You may also notice that the feathers will escape from the case from time to time. Wool pillows are not quite as popular or as known as the other types, but have their benefits. It’s from a natural material, to be sure, and comes in pure wool or a wool-cotton blend. They can be fluffy and they are washable. The wool breathes and therefore it is able to regulate body and head temperature. Allergy sufferers do not have reactions to these pillows.

Wool Pillows

Artificial pillow fillings
Polyester pillows are not as bad as they sound, being synthetic and everything. They are actually good for people with allergies because now, with recent technology, the pillows resist bacteria and microbes, like the dust mite, that causes allergic symptoms. The downside is that this pillows need to be replaced much more often than the others, about once every 2 or 3 years. Memory foam: The NASA pillow that never quite made it to space. You’ve probably seen what the memory foam mattress is like, and the pillow is very similar. It’s made of rubber latex, so it’s not recommended for those who have a latex allergy. Like the polyester pillow it’s hypoallergenic and it’s firm. Memory foam is the result of a chemical reaction forming bubbles in the material, unlike regular foam. Regular foam is much stiffer and doesn’t circulate any air. Memory foam is flexible and responds to the heat of the human body, causing the material to conform to your shape. When you lift up your head the foam pops back into its regular shape. Some people believe that the firmness and contour of the memory foam pillow is ergonomic.

Memory Foam Pillows

Sizing your pillow
Pillow depend on the size of your bed and of course your own personal preference. You can have a king size pillow for your twin size bed if you so desire. Standard pillows are 20×26 inches and are meant for twin beds, but you can get four or six of the standard size for your king bed. Luxury hotels, for example, use four king size pillows on a queen size bed. Queen bed usually have two queen size pillows that are 20×30 inches and a king bed has two king size pillows 20×36 inches. The differences between the sizes of the pillows amounts to only a couple of inches.

How do you sleep?
That’s right, your sleeping position matter too. It could even play the most important role in your decision-making process. If you sleep on your side, then you need a firm or extra-firm pillow for ergonomic purposes. Your neck should be propped above your shoulder to align the neck and spine. I don’t think that a down pillow would be very useful to you, but a memory foam or even a polyester one would do the trick. If you sleep on your back, you need some support, but not quite as much. You don’t want your head to be tilting back or anything. Medium-density is best for you but your options are pretty open. If you sleep on your stomach, the best pillow for you is a down pillow because it won’t cause your neck to tilt upwards, you can just sink right in. Soft is good in your case.

Pricing
A cheap foam pillow that is not memory foam will only cost $5 but a good feather pillow will set you back about $100. If your budget is limited, buy a couple of good ones that won’t wear out in 2 years and a cheap one for propping yourself up but not necessarily for sleep. Memory foam costs between $20 and $120. Of course larger pillows are more expensive.