Is a cooling pillow just a dream?
July 11, 2024 8:48 AM Subscribe
I'm on the hunt for cooling pillow for a side sleeper. How cooling is a cooling pillow? Are they worth the price tag? Help me separate cool facts from hot hype.
I am interested in any of the following information:
1) your experience with the "cooling-ness" of cooling pillows you have used
2) recommendations of specific pillows you've loved (even better if they are acquirable in Canada, extra bonus if they are more to the inexpensive scale of the spectrum)
3) recommendations of specific pillows that are NOT WORTH IT
I am interested in any of the following information:
1) your experience with the "cooling-ness" of cooling pillows you have used
2) recommendations of specific pillows you've loved (even better if they are acquirable in Canada, extra bonus if they are more to the inexpensive scale of the spectrum)
3) recommendations of specific pillows that are NOT WORTH IT
This is not exactly helpful, but I had an actively cooled pillow (water pumped through pillow, heat pump) which was amazing until it broke and then the company folded. I would pay a thousand dollars for another one if it were more reliable.
posted by dmd at 9:36 AM on July 11 [4 favorites]
posted by dmd at 9:36 AM on July 11 [4 favorites]
I bought a "cooling memory foam pillow" from Linen Chest a couple years ago. Can't remember the exact model. It's the hottest pillow I own. In my personal experience, memory foam is always hot no matter how it's marketed.
It gets pretty hot in the summer where I live, and my bedroom is on the third floor with no A/C. When it's hot, I use a buckwheat pillow. It's not actively cooling, but it's breathable and doesn't trap heat.
Keep in mind that heat perception is wildly individual. I've heard people say here that they prefer to wear polyester long sleeves in the summer because it keeps them cooler. I would be suffering. I'd recommend not buying anything you can't try for yourself.
posted by wheatlets at 10:24 AM on July 11 [1 favorite]
It gets pretty hot in the summer where I live, and my bedroom is on the third floor with no A/C. When it's hot, I use a buckwheat pillow. It's not actively cooling, but it's breathable and doesn't trap heat.
Keep in mind that heat perception is wildly individual. I've heard people say here that they prefer to wear polyester long sleeves in the summer because it keeps them cooler. I would be suffering. I'd recommend not buying anything you can't try for yourself.
posted by wheatlets at 10:24 AM on July 11 [1 favorite]
I rather like the IKEA gel one. The gel layer feels nice both winter and summer, especially with a silk pillowcase. And I find it very comfy to sleep on my side and miss it when I travel.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:59 AM on July 11 [1 favorite]
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:59 AM on July 11 [1 favorite]
My teen kid also has the ikea one. It's weird how well it works. Everytime I hug her goodnight or whatever and lean on the pillow I think it's wet at first because it's so much cooler than I expect. She adores it.
posted by chasles at 11:16 AM on July 11
posted by chasles at 11:16 AM on July 11
I have a cooling cover that came on a memory foam pillow from costco. I didn't like the pillow but the cover is the bomb.
posted by leslies at 3:08 PM on July 11 [1 favorite]
posted by leslies at 3:08 PM on July 11 [1 favorite]
Kind of a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but I have a Purple harmony pillow in medium loft (here). It has this soft silicone-like grid system lining the outside of the pillow, which feels to me much much cooler than any pillows I've tried in the past. You don't get any of the heat-up of foam; rather, you get what feels to me like kind of a cool breeze, but may just be the lack of heat. I think it's especially good for side sleepers (of which I'm one), because to me it feels both very soft and very supportive at the same time (of course, all fairly subjective!), which I think works particularly well for side sleepers.
Other anecdata: my dad, who is picky and a hot sleeper, tried the pillow and then bought one himself, and says it's the best pillow he's ever had. My husband, who is also picky and also a hot sleeper, tried it and reported that it did indeed feel cooler, but that he could never imagine sleeping on "creepy jelly". So YMMV. (It's also ridiculously expensive, at $200 for a standard pillow, but I can confirm that I have definitely had much better sleep, as well as much cooler sleep, since I got it. Also, I have no relationship, financial or otherwise with Purple: but Purple, call me, I'll gladly shill for you! :-) )
posted by ClaireBear at 11:33 PM on July 11
Other anecdata: my dad, who is picky and a hot sleeper, tried the pillow and then bought one himself, and says it's the best pillow he's ever had. My husband, who is also picky and also a hot sleeper, tried it and reported that it did indeed feel cooler, but that he could never imagine sleeping on "creepy jelly". So YMMV. (It's also ridiculously expensive, at $200 for a standard pillow, but I can confirm that I have definitely had much better sleep, as well as much cooler sleep, since I got it. Also, I have no relationship, financial or otherwise with Purple: but Purple, call me, I'll gladly shill for you! :-) )
posted by ClaireBear at 11:33 PM on July 11
And to briefly answer some of your other questions:
- As a side sleeper and a hot sleeper, I absolutely loathe down pillows. They sleep hot, they immediately collapse and lose their support and release warm allergenic air.
- I also dislike memory foam pillows. They're not terrible in terms of support for a side sleeper, but personally, I find memory foam to heat up unbearably. I actually have a Tempurpedic mattress, which I like in terms of feel but struggle with in the summer because I feel almost like I'm nestled in a heating mattress pad. For me, would be a hard pass on such a pillow.
- My experience with cooling bedding (mattress pad, pillowcase) has been that it has overpromised and underdelivered. Anything that is covered by something else (e.g., cooling mattress pad) has been basically undetectable. The cooling pillowcase I tried was also underwhelming: in a blind test, I couldn't identify I was sleeping on it. There may be better ones I haven't tried.
posted by ClaireBear at 11:39 PM on July 11 [1 favorite]
- As a side sleeper and a hot sleeper, I absolutely loathe down pillows. They sleep hot, they immediately collapse and lose their support and release warm allergenic air.
- I also dislike memory foam pillows. They're not terrible in terms of support for a side sleeper, but personally, I find memory foam to heat up unbearably. I actually have a Tempurpedic mattress, which I like in terms of feel but struggle with in the summer because I feel almost like I'm nestled in a heating mattress pad. For me, would be a hard pass on such a pillow.
- My experience with cooling bedding (mattress pad, pillowcase) has been that it has overpromised and underdelivered. Anything that is covered by something else (e.g., cooling mattress pad) has been basically undetectable. The cooling pillowcase I tried was also underwhelming: in a blind test, I couldn't identify I was sleeping on it. There may be better ones I haven't tried.
posted by ClaireBear at 11:39 PM on July 11 [1 favorite]
I got the Coop Homegoods EdenCool + pillow. The cover does feel cool initially, but after laying on it a few minutes it warms up like any pillow. I did not notice any benefit from the special cooling fill. I am mostly a back or stomach sleeper and didn’t think the pillow was comfortable no matter how much I filled or unfilled it - it was either too lofty or too floppy. My husband, who is a side sleeper, does like it and has been using it ever since I rejected it, but does not notice any cooling benefit.
posted by Kriesa at 2:38 AM on July 12
posted by Kriesa at 2:38 AM on July 12
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and insight. Time and location meant that we got a cooling pillow from Costco and our loved one is trying it tonight.
posted by Sauter Vaguely at 8:43 PM on July 21
posted by Sauter Vaguely at 8:43 PM on July 21
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Classic Brands Reversible Cool Gel and Memory Foam Double-Sided Pillow, Soft and Comfortable Orthopedic Support, Standard https://a.co/d/07vOPT9e
posted by Jacqueline at 9:18 AM on July 11