The perfect pillow.

May 4, 2007 12:18 PM

How do I find the perfect pillow?

I'd like to find the perfect pillow after years of substandard noggin support. I am tall with broad shoulders and like a good bit of support at the neck, and a little less at the head bone. Is there a resource one could use to order the bestest pillow ever?

posted by toastchee to Health & Fitness (18 answers total)

This is the best I've ever found. Note that they come in different sizes, make sure you get the right size for your frame.
posted by Brian James at 12:27 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

2nd Brian James. I have one of those, and it is awesome.
posted by jtfowl0 at 12:29 PM on May 4, 2007

Yup, the Tempur Pedic is the best pillow you can buy if you want to support your neck. I like the feel of a feather pillow so I put a rather flat feather pillow over mine. If you are really large then even the large pillow may not be quite high enough for your neck and head, but you can always stack it on top of another pillow or put one over the top like I do.
posted by caddis at 12:41 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

A $129 pillow? I need a pillow as well, mine is a lumpy whiff of a thing. But for $129? Can you give me a little more descriptive squee?
posted by cashman at 12:42 PM on May 4, 2007

toastchee is likely to need the $149 one (although if he looks around I bet he can get it for less)
posted by caddis at 12:56 PM on May 4, 2007

I have virtually the same pillow, only it was 19.99 at Ikea.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:13 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Get a buckwheat pillow. Health food/yoga stores tend to carry them. I've got a tube pillow rather than the standard shape, and it's awesome.
posted by mkultra at 1:14 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

I actually use a buckwheat-hull stuffed pillowcase I made myself. These apparently are used in Japan (or so the marketing of my original pillow said), but the ones sold commercially are skimpy. So I made my own. I like the support on it, but every couple years I have to replace the hulls because they get crunched up and provide less support. A friend of mine says that cracked corn might also give me a good supportive pillow, but I think the smell would be distracting.
posted by lleachie at 1:15 PM on May 4, 2007

For a more constrained budget (like mine), you might try these pillows, which are filled with buckwheat hulls. I've been through a lot of pillows thanks to a life of frequent headaches, and sobagara pillows are the best I've ever found.

They are firmer than average, and will stay in the shape you press them into. The hulls do make a sort of Rice Krispy sound when you reshape the pillow, but nothing noticeable enough to hinder sleeping.

That site says $40, but I found mine at a Walgreen's under a different brand name for $20.
posted by zebra3 at 1:16 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Nthing the buckwheat pillow. i love mine.
posted by gnutron at 1:24 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Tempurpedic is a ripoff brand name. Search for "memory foam pillow" and you'll find 234857938475 alternatives that are just as good and cost a third as much. Making foam isn't rocket science, no matter what Tempurpedic's marketing materials may say. I was just looking at these on Overstock.com, if you want a starting place.
posted by autojack at 1:52 PM on May 4, 2007 [2 favorites]

true, when I say Tempur Pedic I mean it in the generic sense of the term.
posted by caddis at 3:01 PM on May 4, 2007

If you shop at Costco, they have those pillows there for $cheap. I love mine. Worth it if you visit there in meatspace regularly and want to squish it and poke at it for a few minutes to see how dense it is.
posted by CipherSwarm at 3:17 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Buckwheat hull pillow. Get a big one, not the small one. Don't worry about the initial snap, crackle, pop.

True story: when I first used one of these years ago, I told a friend about it. I described it as "full of buckwheat hulls." He looked at me, stunned, and said "What?!" I repeated slowly: "full of buckwheat hulls." And he said, "Oh wow! I thought you said it was full of fuck-me holes!" True. I swear.
posted by The Deej at 4:06 PM on May 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

toastchee, you've said nothing about how you sleep so it might not be easy to figure out what will work for you. How about some more info? Back, font, or side?
posted by JJ86 at 7:35 PM on May 4, 2007

Response by poster: Hi Gang! I am a side sleeper for the most part. I'm most interested in one with fuck-me holes. Can I order that somewhere?
posted by toastchee at 5:11 AM on May 5, 2007

Hey toast, glad I could find exactly what you need. I'd Google it for you, but I am afraid.
posted by The Deej at 10:27 AM on May 5, 2007

I've tried a lot of the "generic" brand memory foam pillows, like you can get at Target or Costco, and haven't found one that's as good as the Tempurpedic. Perhaps things have changed in the past few years, but for something that I use every single day, I don't mind spending a little more money. Honestly, wouldn't you pay $0.30 US a day to sleep better?

From my experience, the main difference is in the density and resilience of the foam. Tempurpedic hits my "sleep spot", if you will.

I did buy the "higher-end" Ikea pillow, but it's not quite right, and even still, it was $70 or $80. I probably just have to try it a few more nights.

Because I travel fairly often for work, I even buy the Tempurpedic travel pillow.

However, I've found that the knockoff mattresses are roughly equivalent to the Tempurpedic, and we've been quite happy with one we bought on eBay (new!) for 1/4 the price.

Todd
posted by reddot at 8:46 AM on May 7, 2007