By now, you may have heard about adjustable pillows and are wondering: will they work for me and my personal sleeping position? Side sleepers, stomach sleepers, back sleepers, and those who change positions throughout the night can benefit from an adjustable pillow.
At Coop Home Goods, we make our pillows with a blend of cross-cut memory foam and microfiber, enabling you to add or remove fill in order to sleep both comfortably and aligned. Today, we’re walking you through why adjustable pillows are going to give you the best sleeping experience of your life!
Why One-Size-Fits All Pillows Don’t Deliver A Quality Night’s Sleep
When we say one-size-fits-all pillows, what we mean is pillows that aren’t adjustable. You probably are sleeping on one currently! Because everyone has a different body type and sleep position, pillows that cannot be tailored to the sleeper are, by nature, flawed.
Think about it: if we were all given the same ingredients to make a meal, how many of us would end up with exactly the same meal? Not many. Even though there are a range of pillows of different shapes, materials, and densities, some level of adjustability or customization is still needed to achieve the perfect-for-you pillow!
Even if you prefer a firm pillow, a solid memory foam pillow might feel nice, but you could find yourself waking to a stiff neck and shoulders. This is because the height is likely too high or low, causing malalignment of the neck and spine. The same can be said for all one-size-fits-all pillows: they’re just not made with everybody (and every body) in mind!
Because one-size-fits-all pillows aren’t made to be adjustable, you’ll likely end up tossing and turning, flipping and fluffing your pillow in the middle of the night—interrupting your precious sleeping time!
What Makes Adjustable Pillows Better for Sleeping?
Now that you know what makes one-size-fits-all pillows bad for sleeping, let’s look at how adjustable pillows are good!
Most people who are serious about finding the right pillow begin their research based on their personal sleep position. “Depending on the sleeping position that is best for you, you’ll be able to determine which pillow gives you the best support and where you need to place other pillows as well to ensure that your spine is straight and organs are not in harm’s way,” says Linda Hobbs of Mother Distracted.
Sleep position definitely plays into which pillow is right for you to a certain extent. At Coop Home Goods, we have two options for bed pillows: The Original, which contains medium density fill, and The Eden, which is made with a softer, squishier fill.
Because our pillows are adjustable, both The Original and The Eden are great for all sleep positions, but stomach sleepers tend to prefer more softness, and therefore we recommend The Eden for them.
But, again, every single person is unique.
Say you have a 6’5”, 275 pound football player and a 5’2”, 110 pound ballet dancer who both sleep on their left sides. Will the exact same pillow with the exact same level of fill work for both of them? No! However, both the football player and the ballet dancer could sleep on a Coop Home Goods Original Pillow, because they can adjust the filling according to their own unique bodies!
The football player would likely sleep better on a pillow with added fill for more support (here at Coop, we provide an extra half pound bag of fill with each pillow!). The ballet dancer, on the other hand, would likely prefer to remove some fill from the pillow for a lower loft.
See? Both are sleeping on the Coop Original Pillow, but on different sizes and with customized levels of fill! That’s why having an adjustable pillow is so important to your sleep health.
What Is the Best Filling for Adjustable Pillows?
There are a number of different pillow fillings out there, but not all are created equal! You’re likely sleeping on either solid memory foam, down or feather, down alternative made from cotton or synthetic fibers, buckwheat, or some type of polyester fiber. Turns out, none of these are a perfect option for adjustable pillows!
The best fill when it comes to pillows is a mix of cross-cut memory foam and microfiber. Why? Because cross-cut memory foam provides support, while microfiber provides softness. It’s the perfect balance.
At Coop, we make all of our adjustable pillows with a blend of these two materials, because our research has shown that almost every person can add or remove enough fill to meet their comfort and support needs.
How to Determine How Much Filling You Need
Now that we’ve covered the materials, let’s talk about adjusting your pillow! How in the world will you know how much filling you need?
What you really need to do is pay attention to your body. You want your pillow to do a couple things: you want it to keep you comfy, but you also want to “ensure that your spine is straight and organs are not in harm’s way,” says The Wow Decor.
Essentially, you want your pillow to keep your neck and spine in one long, straight line. This will prevent back pain, as well as aches in the neck and shoulders. So not only should you adjust the amount of fill in your pillow, but you should adjust where the fill sits. At Coop, we recommend more fill where your pillow cradles your neck to ensure that straight spinal alignment!
How to Know if There is Too Much Filling
If you feel like your neck is sloping upwards and your head is too high up, you likely need to remove some fill from your pillow. If your pillow feels like it’s pushing you up and off of your bed, that’s also a sign that you should remove some of the fill.
How to Know if There is Not Enough Filling
If your neck is sloping downward, or you feel your neck stretching in any way, this is a sign that you should add filling to your pillow. If your head feels like it’s sinking too far into your pillow and not receiving any resistance or support, that also means you should add some fill.
Remember that if you’re waking up stiff or with any kind of aches and pain in the spine,
Make the Switch to a Coop Home Goods Adjustable Pillow
We started Coop Home Goods out of personal necessity. Our founder actually was experiencing a lot of neck and spine problems—so much so that he was seeking physical therapy for his orthopedic concerns. When he realized much of his problems were caused by his pillow, he designed our adjustable Original Pillow.
Coop Home Goods pillows are a result of five years of research and product testing! We looked at sleep and pillows from all angles before choosing our cross-cut memory foam and microfiber blend fill. We use all new memory foam in our pillows, and all our foams are GREENGUARD Gold and CertiPUR-US certified.
We also wanted our pillow to be durable and last a long time, so the entire pillow is machine washable! As per our care instructions, we recommend routinely washing the outer cover, but only washing the inner pillow once a year. At Coop, we believe in our pillows so much that we offer a full refund if you’re not getting the best night’s sleep of your life!
In Conclusion
You deserve total and complete sleep comfort, and that starts with a supportive pillow. Not all pillows are created equal. You want to find a pillow that adjusts to your own comfort and support needs.
That’s why at Coop, we’ve taken everything into account to make adjustable pillows that are adored by people of all shapes and sizes.