Pillow Buyers Guide

A comfortable pillow is often the answer to getting a good night’s sleep. If you find you spend half the night turning and plumping your pillow to try to make it comfortable then your pillow has probably lost its support and needs replacing. If you think about it, your pillow takes a lot of wear – every night it gets crushed under your head; our breath contains moisture which the pillow absorbs, as well as oils from our hair and skin. If you notice your pillow has lost its clean white appearance and is now showing staining it is time for a replacement. Using a good pillow protector will help keep your pillow fresh for longer, but with constant wear it will lose its support. As a general guide, we would recommend that you replace your pillows after about 2 years, but as some pillows wear out quicker than others they may need replacing sooner.

Which filling to choose

There are several filling options available. When choosing the right filling for you it is important to consider sleeping position as well as price. The better the quality of the filling, the better the support it will offer but do bear in mind that 2 years is a good life cycle for any pillow.

Natural filling options:

Feather and Down pillows provide firm support with 85% small flat feathers and 15% down clusters for added softness. Although particularly suitable if you sleep on your back as you will need a little more support so that your neck and head are slightly raised, it is a comfortable supportive pillow for however you sleep.

A pillow that consists mostly of down clusters is a softer pillow offering a flatter pillow for sleeping on your stomach or side.

All natural filled pillows are excellent for sculpting to the contours of the neck and head, they reshape perfectly every morning and they do not retain moisture.

Synthetic filling options:

These can be soft or firm depending on how much filling is put in the pillow.

Microfibre pillows are generally the softer and more flexible synthetic option, it is sometimes called a Down Alternative as it is as close to a natural down pillow as any synthetic material ever made. Microfibre offers medium to soft support, it reshapes well and can be washed without the fibres clumping.

Hollowfibre pillows offer a firm support pillow, the fibres are coarse and thick and while they do not sculpt to the contours of the neck, they are a good choice for a back sleeper. A hollowfibre pillow will not have the life span of natural or microfibre as the filling will clump through use and you will find you aren’t able to reshape it.

If you are on the market for a new pillow and like what you have, check the label of your  pillow fillings so that when you are buying your next pillow you know exactly what you are looking for. We often get calls from hotel guests who have slept on our products and have looked in the pillow case to get the details of the pillow construction, so it pays to be nosey

Pillow sizes

The most common size pillow in Ireland and the UK is the standard 50×75 and this is used for most beds.

If you have a superking bed however you may find the king 50×90 pillows useful as there will be no gap between the pillows which you would normally have with 2 standard size pillows.

The square 65×65 pillows are mainly for aesthetics but are also very useful if you like to prop up in bed to read or if you’re lucky enough have your breakfast in bed!

– Standard:50cm x 75cm

– Superking: 50cm x 90cm

– Square:65cm x 65cm