How To Pick The Best Pillow Author: Purple Staff Share Tweet Share

The pillow is perhaps the unsung hero of the sleep world. While we may invest precious time and money in our mattresses and sheets, unfortunately the pillow sometimes comes in as an afterthought. But if you’re looking for the very best night’s sleep, your pillow type is a key player in making sure your spine, neck, head and shoulders get the proper support to stay in alignment throughout the night. The good news is that people are starting to recognize the importance of the pillow for sleep hygiene. If you want to pick the most comfortable pillow for your sleep habits, take note of some of the tips we provide here for choosing your sweetest slumber companion. How to Pick the Best Pillow Think about your sleeping position

Pick a size

Identify pain points

Prioritize neck support

Choose a filling material

Consider breathability

Keep washability in mind The loft. The material. The stuffing. The life span. When it comes to choosing your best pillow, there’s a lot to consider. There’s no one right bed pillow for everyone. Overall, the most important factor is how well your pillow keeps your head, neck and spine in proper alignment while you sleep, while supporting your spine’s natural curvature. Once you’ve nailed that down, you can think about other comfort qualities.

How to Pick the Best Pillow Let’s take a closer like at each of the points you should consider as you’re choosing a comfortable pillow. Think About Your Sleeping Position Whether you sleep on your side, back or stomach (or some combination of the three) will make the biggest difference in what kind of pillow will keep you most comfortable. Different sleeping positions require varying levels of both loft (the height of the pillow) and firmness, or the level of support the pillow provides. Firmness and loft work together to determine the overall feel of your pillow, and the combination you need will be different depending on your habitual sleeping position. In fact, sleep position preference, head size, body weight, and mattress firmness all work together to determine what pillow loft and firmness is right for you. For example, if you’re a habitual stomach sleeper, you’ll likely do better with a very soft pillow. For those who opt to sleep on their backs or sides, they’ll be more comfortable with a firm pillow that offers more support. If you’re a back sleeper, you will need a firmer pillow that can support the gap created by the natural arch of your neck, which will keep your neck in a more natural position. Think of this as the Goldilocks sleeping position. You need a pillow that’s just right, with a medium level of loft and firmness. Some sleepers report positive results from a wedge pillow, for example. If your pillow has a loft that’s too high, your neck can feel strained, and too low of a loft or too little stuffing can leave your neck with little to no support, which also can lead to neck strain. It’s a lose-lose situation. Stomach sleepers fight the same battle, but in the opposite direction. At the end of the day, either sleeping position benefits from a pillow that adjusts easily or that is made to naturally conform to your neck and head pressure. Side sleepers are a little bit different. They need a pillow that fills the space between their head and their mattress. Instead of neck support, they need spine and neck alignment while maintaining proper side support. A pillow that’s too high will wrench the neck sideways, pushing the ears down to your shoulders. Pillows that are too flat leave the neck to support the weight of your head, which strains all those muscles, tendons and ligaments and can lead to chronic neck pain. A supportive or memory foam pillow generally works well for side sleepers since they offer a good mix of comfort and support. Some experts also recommend side sleepers use pillows that can be fluffed into shape, like a down or down alternative pillow. Side sleepers also have to watch out for shoulder pain caused by inadvertently sleeping with too much weight on their shoulders, specifically the rotator cuff. For the right kind of side-sleeping posture, you should keep your forearm above your waist but below your head. It might feel cozy as you’re drifting off to sleep, but putting your forearm under your body puts too much strain on that shoulder. The same is true for putting your forearm under your pillow. This temptation is often is a sign that your pillow is too flat and you should check out one with a higher loft. Stomach sleeping can be tricky. A stomach sleeper has to be careful for a lot of reasons. In fact, some sleep experts recommend avoiding stomach sleeping completely because it tends to extend the upper cervical spine, which puts you at greater risk for putting pressure on your lower back and abdomen while also straining your neck. To best mitigate these risks, a stomach sleeper needs a bed pillow with low loft, soft support and a compressible fill. The more you’re able to sink down into your pillow, the better you’ll sleep on your stomach without straining your neck. A down alternative pillow or a shredded memory foam pillow may be a good option to consider if you sleep on your stomach. Pick a Size It sounds easy, right? If you sleep on a standard size or double bed, you should use a standard pillow. Queen size mattress need queen size pillows, and king size pillows are for king size beds. But there’s more to consider than the size of your bed when choosing your next pillow. You also need to consider how you’re going to use your pillow and how many you’re going to want. For example, if you like to prop up against lots of pillows to read before you go to sleep, you may want one pillow that corresponds to the size of your bed, plus some smaller pillows that you can layer on top for extra support. Smaller pillows are also better for snuggling and putting between your knees if you’re a side sleeper. Many sleepers in king size beds actually prefer the smaller standard pillow size. Some sleepers also enjoy a body pillow. You don’t always have to play by the rules. No matter your mattress size, you can choose whatever pillow size you want. Identify Pain Points Where do you ache in the mornings? For many sleepers, the answer is the neck and shoulders. If that’s the case, a new pillow can make a world of difference in how you feel every morning. The right pillow ensures your neck doesn’t work too hard during the night to support the weight of your head, no matter your sleeping position. A pillow with the right support will keep your spine in neutral alignment all night long, which means you’ll wake up pain free. To keep your pillow from being a literal pain in the neck, gravitate toward a memory foam pillow or one stuffed with feathers. A latex pillow is also a good option, but if you want the very best pillow for waking up pain free, you should check out any of the Purple pillow options. Our legendary Purple Grid™ is one of the best materials you can find for relieving neck pain and giving you a great night’s sleep. Many sleepers also wake up with back pain, especially in the lower back. If this the case, adding a pillow under your legs or lumbar region can help alleviate pressure and promote proper sleep posture, which can help you wake up pain free. For sleepers who wake up with headaches, the right pillow can make a world of difference. If your neck isn’t properly supported by your pillow, the strain and tension of holding the weight of your head all night long can lead to early morning tension headaches. Knowing from the very beginning where your pressure and tension points are can help you pinpoint the exact kind of pillow support you’re currently missing. Prioritize Neck Support Perhaps the most important thing to consider when settling on a new pillow is how it supports your neck. While you sleep, your mattress and pillow work together to make sure your spine is supported from top to bottom. The pillow’s role in this arrangement is to make sure the top of your spine—your neck—gets proper support. If that’s not happening, you can lose out on a great night’s sleep, wake up with headaches, suffer a sore neck, and more. Without adequate support, everything within your neck has to work harder while you sleep—including tendons, ligaments, and muscles. And when they do relax, it can force your neck and upper spine into unnaturally curved positions that lead to aches and pains when we wake up. It’s a bad deal all the way around. If you’re waking up with headaches and/or neck pain, a cervical pillow, specifically, may be the perfect solution for you. A cervical pillow is designed to support your head and neck. Because they help support the natural curve of the spine, cervical pillows help reduce neck discomfort for many sleepers. If you consistently experience neck discomfort or wake up with neck stiffness, a special neck pillow may provide the right level of comfort and support. What Should I Look for in a Cervical Pillow? Comfort is probably the most important thing to look for in a cervical pillow. If it’s not comfortable, it’s not actually helping the situation and you won’t sleep well. Also, take a look at the shape of the neck pillow. Most cervical pillows have a specialized shape and could be designed for side sleeping or back sleeping. Some pillows are more adaptable than others. For example, the Purple Pillow™ and the Purple Harmony Pillow™ are designed to adapt to the unique shape of your head and neck while providing personalized, dreamy comfort. Will a Cervical Pillow Be Worth It? Chances are good that it will. If you’re switching from a traditional pillow to one designed specifically for neck comfort, there’s a good chance you will notice a big difference in the way your neck and head feel after a great night’s sleep with proper support.

Support vs. Comfort For maximum support, you need a material that gives way to pressure and stays put for support. Pillow material for back sleepers, for example, should surrender to the back of the head, but rise to support neck arch. More support doesn’t always equal more comfort, but in finding a comfortable pillow support is often very important. Additionally, when looking for the best pillow for neck support, it’s very important to pick the right materials to fit your sleep needs. Bed pillows with batting made from memory foam or hyper-elastic polymer materials aren’t “stuffed” with anything. They’re molded from space-aged materials into a solid structure. As such, they resist shifting within the pillow, like feathers, beads or other loose materials. Washability Every type of pillow material can be cleaned in some way. The methods for washing a pillow are quite different depending on the material. Some are machine washable (down or feather), whereas others have to be hand-washed (memory foam). Buy a pillow that’s easily washable. Cleaning your pillow removes allergens like dust mites, bacteria, mold, and fungi, as well as the good old gross stuff that accumulate — head oil, sweat, and drool! Removing these yucky substances can help decrease your allergy symptoms. For most of us, washing a couple of times a year is good enough. 4 Steps for Washing Down/Feather Pillows: Throw your pillows into the washer. Add detergent and fabric softener. Set your washer to the hottest wash cycle. This will help kill any bacteria or dust mites that may be hiding deep inside the pillow. Add an extra spin cycle to get as much water out as possible. Nobody wants to sleep on a mildewy pillow. Throw pillows into the dryer. Add a clean bath towel for extra speedy (and fluffy) drying. Once again, use the highest heat setting possible to kill off bacteria and dust mites. You should wash your down/feather pillows every three to four weeks to keep them smelling fresh and dust mite/bacteria free. 4 Steps for Deep Cleaning Memory Foam Pillows: Fill your sink or bathtub with warm water and add a small amount of laundry detergent. Submerge your memory foam pillow into the water. Use your hands to squeeze it repeatedly. Wring the water out. Repeat two to three more times. Drain your sink/bathtub and refill it with clean water. Submerge and squeeze the pillow to wash away soap and any remaining dirt. Gently hand wring water out of pillow. Leave to air dry under a sunny window or ceiling fan. We recommend deep cleaning memory foam pillows every two to three months. To keep them fresh between deep hand washes, vacuum your pillow’s surface once a week and spot treat any stains or discoloration with hydrogen peroxide. Solid pillow materials generally harbor less of these irritants than those made from loose materials. The reason is simple. Loose materials like feathers, beads, and husks offer much more surface area for microbes and bacterial to inhabit. It’s tough for a dust mite to burrow its way to the center of a solid memory foam pillow, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t throwing a dust mite party on the surface of your pillow. Are the Purple Pillows Washable? Absolutely. However, because Purple’s pillows are unique, there are some special washing techniques you should be aware of. Here are our official guidelines for how to wash our pillows: The Purple® Pillow: For the interior grid material, remove it from the cover and hand wash it with warm water and gentle soap. Let it air dry once you’re done. To clean the pillow cover, throw it in the washing machine with like colors in cold water and tumble dry on low heat, just like you would clean a standard pillowcase. The Purple® Plush Pillow: Cleaning the Purple Plush Pillow is simple: machine wash it on a cold, gentle cycle. Tumble dry it on low heat with a clean dryer or tennis balls. The Purple Harmony Pillow: To clean the cover, remove it from the pillow and wash it in cold water. Let it air dry. Don’t wash the latex core. Spot clean the core as needed but don’t throw it in the washing machine. Airflow Much of our body heat escapes from our heads, and if our pillows can’t dissipate that heat away while we’re in la-la land, we’ll wake up a hot mess. Some pillow materials are better at dissipating heat than others. The trade off is usually in adjustability and support. For example, memory foam pillows are good at support, but bad at providing air flow to keep your head cool. Feather pillow stuffing can shift and sink, so they’re bad for supporting the neck. But they don’t get you too sweaty at night. In an effort to find the perfect balance of comfortable and supportive, today’s egornomic pillows are stuffed with everything from polystyrene beads to millet seed husks. Few pillow brands achieve the perfect balance, but some do. So, if you find yourself regularly working your pillow into shapes that would impress Picasso, then you probably need a pillow stuffing upgrade. Here are a few of the most common pillow materials. Memory Foam Memory foam was first developed in 1966 by NASA to improve the safety of their aircraft cushions. The foam is made by feeding gas into a polymer matrix creating a solid structure that can “remember” and return to its original shape.