I tried a K-LEX (made from a blend of kapok and natural latex) side sleeper pillow out in store and LOVED it. It gave my neck/head the right amount of support, and gave a place for my top arm to rest. However, looking over their website, I didn’t find any organic/OEKO-TEX certs. Does anyone know if they have any of those certifications, or know of a similar pillow that does have those certs?
I have also tried a shredded latex pillow at SoaringHeart that I liked, but I didn’t have someone checking support for me with that one.
I currently use a chunked memory foam type pillow, which has eliminated a lot of neck pain compared to my previous pillow, but it’s definitely not perfect, and it’s 7 years old now and needs replaced.
All the latex you are likely to encounter (either Dunlop or Talalay that is made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will have a reliable certification such as Oeko-Tex, Eco-Institut, or Greenguard Gold (see post #2 here) and based on actual testing I would consider any type or blend of latex to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s.
Kapok is also a natural material that I would consider to be very “safe” as well but Churchill & Smith who manufactures the pillow would be the most reliable source of information about any specific certifications that they have.
The only other kapok/latex pillow I’m aware of off the top of my head is designed and sold by Nest Bedding here.
I’m also looking to get some pillows very soon and certainly wouldn’t mind spending on some quality Latex pillows if it fits my posture though I’m currently leaning towards gel polyester fill pillows (alternative down) simply because all down pillows retain too much heat and are not hyper allergenic.
For Talalay Latex pillows what is the usually iLD of the Latex used for such pillows?
Pillows don’t normally have an ILD rating and with shredded latex an ILD rating wouldn’t have any meaning anyway. Pillows are usually rated as being soft, medium, firm etc. and will also have different thickness profiles and different fill materials or combinations that would affect their firmness and “feel”.
Pillows are also a very personal choice and different people will have very different pillow preferences or different opinions about what they perceive as firm and soft or the general type of pillow that “feels” good to them but some of the information in the pillow topic here and the posts it links to can help you choose a pillow that is the best “match” for you and the mattress you are sleeping on.
Thanks for the reply. It’s very helpful to know that those types of materials are for the most part, inherently “safe”. I have an email out to Churchhill and Smith (makers of the K-Lex) asking about certs, I"ll update here when they get back to me.
When I was asking about similar alternatives, I was thinking more of the form factor. The closest similar thing I’ve seen would probably be a body pillow, but those seem a bit bulky. I think the thing I liked the most about the K-Lex was that there was a place for my top arm (side sleeper) to rest, without the pillow feeling large/bulky.
I also read on some other posts that you use one of the LaNoodles pillows, but were thinking of trying out the K-Lex. Did you ever get a chance to try it out? Do you think the LaNoodles adjustable fill or body pillow variants might be a good potential alternative to look into? I also have an email out to CozyPure, since all their certs reference their mattresses but not their pillows.
Yes I did. It’s a beautiful and very well made pillow but I prefer the softer and more resilient feel of the Lanoodles pillow (which is what I sleep on).
Unfortunately pillow choices are so personal that I have no way to know what type of pillow “feel” you would prefer. The custom fill pillow does have the advantage of being able to customize the height and profile of the pillow.