Pillows have a recommended lifespan—there’s no embellishing it.
If you've slept on your pillow for seven hours a night for a year and a half, you've spent nearly 4,000 hours with it.
First, there’s the inevitable compression of a pillow's fill, a real concern with down and down-alternative fibers, which lose their loft and supportiveness overtime.
But also there’s the build up of dust and allergens that accumulate inside the pillow. As we sleep, our pillows take on oil from our skin and moisture from our breathing, creating a damp environment that dust mites love.
Encasing pillows in zippered allergen proof covers as well as washing or dry-cleaning them regularly can help prolong their life, but it’s still best to give them the boot after two years.
If you’ve started to notice your head is lolling this way or that overnight, your spine may be misaligned as you try to catch your shut-eye.
In essence, you want your head to be in a similar position to when you’re standing (centered over your shoulders) when you lie down in bed.
Your pillow should keep your head “just level with the mattress, and be firm enough so that it stays there.”
Another sign? You’re aside sleeper or back sleeper and you routinely wake up with your head sunken through the pillow and basically resting directly on the mattress.
You’re likely straining your neck all night, and you may feel stiff or sore throughout the day as a result.
In research, down-alternative fills were found more likely than down to accumulate allergens. So when you buy a new pillow, also purchase a zippered dust mite- and allergen-blocking protector.
The exterior fabrics on down-filled pillows tend to be more tightly woven to hold the feathers in, which presents a barrier to allergens entering; down-alternative pillows may be made with looser-weave fabrics that let in those tiny buggers.
If you’re constantly fluffing your pillow or trying to smooth away lumps, it’s a good indicator your pillow’s fill is past its prime.
Down pillows are often noticeably worse after about a year of use because the fill will start to permanently compress as the feathers lose their ability to re-fluff.
For side and back sleepers, this spells bad support and, as a result, poor sleep. Unless you’re a stomach sleepers, in which case, your pillow may just be flat to begin with.
If your pillow no longer quickly bounces back to its original shape when you press your hands into it for a moment, it’s time to move on.
We tested pillows for each sleep position and almost all of them were able to return to their original shape after being weighed down overnight with a 25-pound weight.
For one, consider running it through the wash and using it as pet bedding, and if you don’t have a pet, try donating to a local animal shelter.
If your pillow is filled with down feathers or another natural material, like buckwheat, you can compost the fill, and cut the encasement up to use as cleaning rags.