Pillows?

Hi mauricedudeley,

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Phoenix

Does anyone have any experience with the Berkeley Ergonomics Gummi (shredded latex) pillow?

I tried the Nest Bedding Easy Breather latex pillow, and while it is both supportive and soft, I donā€™t like the idea of the poly fill mixed in the with the latex.

Iā€™m also trying a Wool Bolus pillow (from Soaring Heart) but adjusting the fill and still not sure if itā€™s right for me. I love the idea of an all-wool pillow, but I find it lumpy and not as contouring as Iā€™d hoped.

I recently switched from being a life-long stomach sleeper to now sleeping on my back and side. Itā€™s still growing pains making the adjustment, but I knew I couldnā€™t keep sleeping on my stomach without long-term damage to my lumbar region.

Any suggestions for your best Latex pillows would be appreciated! I see some people are proponents of the LaNoodle. Would like to hear more.

I love my LaNoodle pillow - never thought Iā€™d give up down pillows, but I have since getting the LaNoodle. I bought one of the queen size overfilled pillows with the zipper so I could adjust the amount of noodles in the pillow. I like a firmish pillow, but this one had so much fill that I ended up with enough noodles that I removed from the pillow to make a softer standard pillow to go with the queen sized one I had ordered. The pillow is squishable so that I get excellent support, while still being soft enough that Iā€™m comfortable all night long. I use a tencel pillowcase so the pillow always feels cool and Iā€™m not constantly flipping the pillow to find the cool side - which is a good thing, because the LaNoodle pillow is heavier than a down pillow and therefore harder to flip. Iā€™ve used mine for about three or four years now, and I still think itā€™s the best pillow Iā€™ve ever found. Iā€™m a side sleeper, and itā€™s just perfect for me in that position.

Thanks, Clawdia. Given that the extra fill pillow (I assume that you chose this out of the lite, regular, and extra fill options) had excess fill, do you think the regular would be fine?

I tried the LaNoodle Pillow, and true to what others have said here, it really is a dream. It offers comforting support, but you barely know itā€™s there. I purchased the one with the zipper and the adjustable fill, since Iā€™m particular about loft. After trying various pillowsā€“kapok, carded wool, wool bolusā€“this one is my definite favorite.

Iā€™m glad to hear that you like the pillow!

Hello All,

On the search for a new pillow. I recently had a ~3" memory foam firm pillow that was working well with my firm mattress.

I got a new soft 2" topper recently and the pillow doesnā€™t provide the support it used to. I think my shoulders are causing the part of the pillow near my neck to drop down, and as such I am losing support for my neck and waking up with neck pain.

Any pillow suggestions or remedies to combat this? The la noodle looks interesting, but I have had a bad experience with shredded memory foam pillows before (much too hot, head sinks in too deep, no support for the neck). I am possibly thinking of a hard flat rubber type platform to put under my pillow but am not sure where to get one or what to get. That or simply getting a taller pillow

I am a 70/30 back/side sleeper. Thank you!

I find that the LaNoodle doesnā€™t sleep hot. And the LaNoodle isnā€™t quite the same as shredded latex. I also discovered that some shredded latex pillows sold out there are actually a mix of latex and poly (like Nestā€™s). The poly would be a contributing factor to heat retention, I think.

In my experience, the LaNoodle provides the right amount of support, especially if you buy the one with the adjustable fill. I tried out four types of pillows before I settled on the LaNoodle: cotton (which flattened and had no support), kapok (which was okay but felt like it had too much resistance), and wool (bolus and carded, both of which werenā€™t comfortable to me).

I tried searching the forum for any reviews about the Berkeley Ergonomics Gummi pillow, but it looks like it was only brought up once a few posts up, about a year ago, so I was hoping to refresh the conversation.

Anyone tried it since then? I wasnā€™t pillow shopping at the time, but happened to lay on the Gummi as I was testing latex hybrids locally and thought it was a great blend of softness and support. I was considering ordering it but they donā€™t accept returns, so I wanted to come here first to see if there were any reviews from people who have spent more than 15 minutes on it.

Thatā€™s when I saw the reviews about the La Noodle, above. The Gummi is a shredded latex with kind of ragged, uneven edges. The La Noodle looks like, well, noodles. Is anyone familiar with both? Wondering what the main differences would be.

I noticed that TMU member Sleep EZ also offers a ā€œNoodle Latex Pillowā€ which might be worthy of consideration, as well as shredded and solid latex pillows.

Hey Sweet Dreams,

Thanks for your reply; Iā€™d would be interested in knowing the answer as well. Also, thanks for mentioning expert member Sleep EZā€™s pillows as an option. Here is aTMU resource link regarding the pillow shopping process, a good read for others currently on the pillow shopping journeyā€¦:slight_smile:

Thanks,
Sensei

Hello,
It looks like this is THE thread for pillows. A lot of the links keep referring back to this thread (in fact some of them are self/circular referrals within this thread).
After reading through all the pages, it looks like there isnā€™t any overwhelming choice for pillow.

  1. I find the wool pillow from DIY Natural bedding quite appealing:
    Our Manufacturer Memberships :: The Mattress Underground
    They offer customization in terms of firmness and size and has the best price of all wool pillows.

  2. There is some good feedback about Obasan wool pillow in this thread. I will try this at Urban Mattress this week before deciding. From the info, this looks very similar to above DIYā€™s pillow but at a higher price.

  3. Casper Pillow is being advertised as the one to support all sleep positions which I would need, as I donā€™t always sleep 100% on the back or on the side and it is a combination of the two.

Please let me know if there is any other good pillows to look at.

My experience with pillows so far:
a) I currently have Oxygen Pillow from Berkeley Ergonomics and it has lost lot of its support and it is sagging greatly just like the double coiled Berekeley Ergonomics mattress after 3 years of use which I am in the process of throwing out and replacing. Due to this I would like avoid latex or latex shredded pillow.
b) I also have Down alternative pillows from Bed Bath and Beyond. Not good enough, but currently using this instead of Oxygen pillow.

c) I have tried Technogel Vive mattress and the mattress has good cooling properties and but it definitely sinks after 5 to 6 hours of sleep causing back pain and so I returned it back. In that process I didnā€™t find the contour/shape of the Technogel pillow comfortable. Also the cooling effect is only noticeable in the first hour or so after which it warms up to body temperature.

d) Not a big fan of memory foam pillows as they usually heat up after lying in the same position for sometime.

I ordered two queen Layla pillows (70/30 shredded memory foam and kapok). I basically got them BOGO combining offers. I also found a good deal on organic kapok fill and bamboo mattress covers with a zipper. Iā€™m looking forward to putting them together. Iā€™m waiting on a BOGO deal at CozyPure for a LaNoodle pillow.

Some other pillows that look interesting but I have not tried:

  1. Avocado Green pillow (70% ribbons of latex, 30% kapok).
  2. Pluto pillow (they ask questions about your preferences and then build it.) It looks like they do a pillow within a pillow design, using polyfoams.

I posted several months ago wondering if I should order the Gummi or LaNoodle pillow, and ended up going with the LaNoodle. I got the adjustable fill version and have been very happy with it.

Now I want to add a body pillow and am not sure what type of fill to go with. Iā€™m a side sleeper and want a pillow that I can rest my free arm on, as well as put between my knees. Right now I just use an extra queen pillow for either my arm OR my knees, and want to be able to do both.

I know Iā€™m happy with the LaNoodle for my main pillow, but havenā€™t tried the other fill types to know which I would prefer as a body pillow.

Can anyone offer the main differences and/or their experiences between latex noodles, wool and kapok, especially as it pertains to how body pillows are used for side sleepers?

Pillow question here. I have been sleeping on one of the ubiquitous Tempurpedic contour pillows for the past 6 years. After successfully making the switch to a Sleep EZ hybrid bed last month, I no longer want any poly foam in my bedroom, especially near my face. I am worried that I will not be able to find a natural pillow that will give the same firm compression for my compromised rotator cuff and c5, c6 stenosis. I have tried sleeping on the shredded latex pillows that came with the bed, adjusted the fill level many times, and no go. I have tried a med loft talalay pillow, nope. I have seen latex pillows online in the same shape as the contour pillow, but as they are latex and not memory foam, they will not have the same nature, and I am worried they will not come close to the firmness I need. In desperation, I ordered a millet cervical pillow, and a kapok contour pillow with a head indent and a zipper. I am going to try to put the cervical pillow in the neck area of the kapok pillow, and see what happens. I did find a wool double bolster pillow, but at 180.00, I would like at least a couple of reviews before I commit to that. Any feedback or advice from fellow natural neck pain pillow seekers is appreciated. https://www.whitelotushome.com/bedding/kapillow-sleep-pillows-1.html
https://www.whitelotushome.com/bedding/kapillow-sleep-pillows-1.html
https://organiclifestyle.com/wool-pillows/orthopedic-neck-pillow-alternative-to-tempur-pedic?PageSpeed=noscript

Hi GraciePlush5!

Welcome to our Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

Congratulations on your Sleep EZ mattress purchase! I am glad to hear that youā€™ve had a successful experience. ( one of our members here. I understand the desire to want to transition away from a polyfoam pillow.

You may be interested in this thread that discusses a somewhat similar situation. They were also seeking a firm replacement for a polyfoam pillow. Choosing a pillow is also very personal like choosing a mattress as there are many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a pillow to make specific suggestions or recommendations for someone elseā€¦

I wouldnā€™t discount the ā€œfirmnessā€ of a solid latex pillow just yet. Shredded latex pillows will generally be softer and ā€œfluffierā€ and less ā€œbouncyā€ than a solid latex pillow, so I wouldnā€™t avoid a solid latex pillow based on your experience with shredded latex.
Several companies also offer solid latex pillows in different firmness, but to be sure youā€™d need to test it first. One option that has been discussed and recommended previously in the forum is the Malouf 100% Natural Talalay Latex Pillow that you may want to have a look at ā€“ although, this is not a contoured pillow.

While it would be impossible to cover the properties of every possible pillow or pillow material on the market because there are so many (memory foam, polyfoam, latex, shredded foam materials, different types of wool or other animal fibers, plant fibers such as kapok or cotton, feathers, down, synthetic fibers or fiber ā€œclustersā€, buckwheat or millet hulls, and others) ā€¦ in very general terms fiber fillings will tend to compress and pack down and become firmer over time (or in some cases over the course of the night) more than foam materials or shredded foam materials.

Wool is one of the stronger and more resilient fibers though so it tends to maintain its loft better and for longer than other fibers such as polyester (dacron) or cotton (especially wool ā€œballsā€ vs wool batting).

[quote]Any feedback or advice from fellow natural neck pain pillow seekers is appreciated. Buy Kapok Sleep Pillows - luxurious sateen is spun in the USA from 100% USDA-certified
Buy Kapok Sleep Pillows - luxurious sateen is spun in the USA from 100% USDA-certified
organiclifestyle.com/wool-pillows/orthop...c?PageSpeed=noscript[/quote]

I would be wary of relying too heavily on other peopleā€™s reviews when it comes to choosing a pillow. Although one can learn a great deal from other peopleā€™s experiences, what worked and did not work for them ā€¦ Iā€™d keep in mind that is no single pillow that is ā€œbestā€ for any particular situation or ā€œsymptomā€ because the goal of a pillow is to keep your head and neck in good alignment in all your sleeping positions and which pillow does this for any particular person or on any particular mattress will vary widely from person to person. In other words ā€¦ a pillow that works well for one person with upper back, shoulder, or neck issues may not be suitable at all for someone else with similar issues.

Pillows are 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 ā€œfeelsā€ 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 ā€œmatchā€ for you and the mattress you are sleeping on.

Like mattresses ā€¦ there are certain ā€œneedsā€ that depend on body type (or in your case, specific medical needs) and sleeping positions but with pillows, personal preferences play a more important role because the face is much more sensitive to textures, temperature, smells, and other more subjective ā€œfeelā€ based properties of a pillow. There is more about choosing pillows in the above-mentioned pillow thread that you might find interesting if you havenā€™t read it already, and the other topics and sources of information that it links to that may be helpful as well.

That said, I did a forum search to see if anyone else had commented on these pillows, but could not find anything on these products. Hopefully, someone who owns one will see your post to weigh in with their experiences!

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix!
Thanks for the warm welcome. I have enjoyed reading this forum for the past several months. I would be remiss in not thanking your and your forum for helping inform me towards making a decision on some toppers and then a mattress from a couple of companies that I never would have heard of otherwise!

Regarding the pillow talk, I miss the days when I could sleep on the fattest, puffiest down pillow and suffer no ill effects from it. My husband took over the down pillows after my accident, and I spent months trying to find something that worked for me. That is the most ironic piece here. The tempurpedic contour works for me. The compression is perfect for the nerve pain and holds my head immoble. I am rejecting it because it is 6 years old, has flattened and I refuse to go through another off gassing with this memory foam. Especially since Iā€™ve taken such pains to make everything in my living area as natural as possible. I am a bit of a health nut, and despite the injury, am very active and athletic. Waking up with shooting pains up the side of my neck and head can make me pretty useless that day.
So I read through all the threads that you highlighted (thank you for that), and learned from one that the wool bolster pillow is made by Holy Lamb, so I gave them an email shout out. The only thing that makes me not want to order it, is that it doesnā€™t have a zipper, so there is no way to adjust the level of wool, or fluff the wool to keep it from felting. I like the shape of the kapok contour pillow Ive been sleeping on for 3 nights, I donā€™t think I like the kapok itself, so I think Iā€™m going to place an order with DIY bedding and order a couple of lbs of wooly bolas to stuff the contour pillow with, take the kapok and stuff my dogs bed with it (sheā€™ll appreciate not sleeping on poly batting anymore, too) and see what happens with that. I do think wool is going to be the best material to press against the back of my skull and being able to adjust the levels and take the wool bolas out to fluff will make a difference. I really appreciate the attention you give to each poster, and the care you take in making sure they weigh in all the factors of choosing products for themselves. It truly is not one size fits all, and everybody is so different in preferences and sizes and health issues. Thanks for taking a little of the frustration out of it, and providing a very helpful resource.

So, about memory foamā€™s broad meaning, can anyone name ~3 companies that have very different memory foam (but they need to make shredded filling/pillows)? Ignoring the extra filler (like alternative down and kapok), it just seems like memory foam is a term used for a huge spectrum of foams. Iā€™ve tried to research memory foam and look at companies ~ingredients and how their memory foam looks, but after a lot of time, it all just looks the same but Iā€™m sure itā€™s quite different.
I looked through the verified vendors, basically all of them and I found very very few shredded memfoam pilows. Thereā€™s tons of shredded latex. And thereā€™s plenty of shredded memfoam pillows online, but I donā€™t get the differences at all.

2nd question: what can you add to shredded latex to make it mold together more and feel softer when compressed, and less slippery. If I canā€™t find a good memfoam replacement then Iā€™m gonna need to find a way to make shredded latex work.

  • Slippery / molding\shaping: If I only have 1 shredded latex pillow, and try to bunch it up, it all just fucks off and does whatever it wants
  • Hard: If my head weighed like 2 pounds I think the latex would feel like a cloud, but once laying down it feels so compressed that it kind of hurts (I guess I can try more latex fill, but it wonā€™t solve it).

Iā€™m a new member, so excuse me if Iā€™m missing any etiquette. Iā€™ve personally had a great experience with bamboo pillows. Specifically Sova, although I think they may be discontinued. Itā€™s quite firm for side sleeping and very friendly with allergies

Boxypants, itā€™s great that you like your pillow! And your comment provides me the perfect opportunity to provide some information regarding ā€œbamboo pillowsā€ - a bit of a Public Service Announcement Iā€™ve been meaning to post for some time.

When a pillow is referenced as ā€œbambooā€, this is actually reflective of the fabric encasement of the pillow. Specifically, that bamboo was the source of the cellulose that was eventually reconstituted to form the rayon fiber. Pillows using this sort of outer covering are quite common, but they can contain many different sorts of interior ā€œstuffingā€, such as polyfoam, memory foam, latex, or various types of synthetic fibers. You can also find mattresses and toppers using covers (ticking) that contain rayon sourced from bamboo, and theyā€™ll often even embroider the term ā€œbambooā€ into the covering.

The main reason I bring this up is that itā€™s a common misconception, specifically with the ā€œbamboo pillowsā€, that they contain stuffing of actual bamboo and are natural products. One of the larger groups that tend to promulgate this misconception would be the traveling road shows that frequent places like warehouse clubs. Iā€™ve had many customers purchase a pillow from one of these shows, fully believing their new pillow was natural and from all plant sourced material, when in reality it was shredded memory foam with a rayon outer covering. And thereā€™s nothing wrong with a shredded memory foam pillow, if thatā€™s what suits your particular needs and tastes. I only bring this up because the misconception is quite prevalent with consumers, and you need to make sure that you also know what is inside of any pillow youā€™re considering to make sure the material matches your sleeping style and demands.