Best Cooling Pillow 2023 – Reviews and Buyer Guide

Night sweats can be a real pain in the neck when you don’t have a cool pillow to lay your head on. I used to wake up with beads of sweat all over my face, and it was so frustrating!
When you have certain diseases or are going through menopause or hyperhidrosis, many people prefer their pillows to remain cold because during these conditions it can be difficult for them to control their body temperature and sleep quality is not good.

This article will delve deep into the merits and demerits of cooling pillows to help you find out which is best for your needs.

To date, we’ve probably tested about 200 manufacturers and only found several products worth your time. There are a lot of factors to consider before deciding on the right pillow for you. Rest assured, our Cooling Pillow Buying Guide will break them down in detail so that it is easy and enjoyable to choose from all your options!


Malouf Z Gel Memory Foam Pillow
Best High Loft Cooling Pilow for side sleepers

best cooling Pillow

The Malouf Z Gel Memory Foam Pillow was designed to cool you during sleep. It is not a very soft pillow, but definitely softer than Equinox and the gel layer really removes heat from your head while keeping temperature lower than body-temperature for a better night’s rest without waking up feeling hot or sweaty.  

If you want to make your pillow even cooler, then remove the bamboo cover. However, we do not recommend using memory foam pillows without a case because it is difficult to wash and maintain memory foam if left uncovered.

There are three different sizes and two loft options. Side-sleepers will find these pillows to be a godsend!

The Mid-Loft pillow is 6 inches and the High-Lofter 7 inches. We tested it with a high loft in size standard; it was heavy, weighing 4.7 pounds but what we particularly liked were its excellent neck support for back sleepers or side sleeping as well because of our spinal alignment needs during these positions – definitely the best choice for anyone who sleeps on their side!

Pros

  • Cooling effect
  • Different sizes and exceptionally high loft size for side sleepers with broad shoulders
  • Excellent neck and spine support

Cons

  • There is a slight smell from the new pillow
  • It’s a little pricey

ComfySleep Buckwheat Pillow
Best Breathebale cooling pillow

An excellent alternative to a cooling pillow is something that allows for your head and neck to be well-ventilated. We believe the best breathable pillows are made with buckwheat husks, grown in America by Mennonite farmers who harvest them using sustainable methods.

As a result, each pillow is created by hand–including the organic cotton cover. This makes it an excellent choice for allergy-sufferers and those who prefer entirely natural products.

Buckwheat hulls as a filler provide a unique healing effect. The cushion is hypoallergenic, hygienic and supports the physiologically correct position of your neck during sleep. Buckwheat husks are thousands of small pyramids – springs that cling to one another because their structure allows them too! This design creates an even airflow which provides for conditioning benefits while you rest on it each night with its light yet sturdy material.

After that, the shell particles are hooked for each other and provide strong but soft support. This leads to lower blood pressure (one of the headaches and insomnia causes), which relieves muscle tension and improves microcirculation in cerebral vessels.

Essential oils emitted by the hulls create an aromatic effect that has a beneficial affect on all areas of your body. It slows the development of inflammatory processes (bronchitis, sinusitis, middle ear infection).

This pillow is the perfect night companion for those with increased perspiration. The moisture-wicking fabric will ensure a cool, dry sleep – no more waking up in an uncomfortable puddle of sweat!

ComfySleep is sold in 4 different sizes and can provide the perfect support for any sleep style.

Pros

  • Made in the US
  • 100% organic
  • The breathable effect maintains a constant temperature
  • Excellent neck and shoulder support

Cons

  • Pillow rustles a little
  • There is a slight smell of buckwheat
  • For some, it may seem hard and lumpy
  • You can not wash the hulls

Best soft cooling pillow for back sleepers

Perfect Cloud Cooling-Gel Memory Foam Pillow

The main feature of this pillow that we like is its gusset side and special air channels for heat dissipation. But apart from these channels, there are no other cooling elements. So you may need to bring a fan or an ice pack with you when using this thing to cool down fast enough before getting sleepy!

Memory foam is of medium firmness, which leads to the perfect pillow. The Perfect Cloud Cooling-Gel Memory Foam Pillow offers one of the softest pillows on today’s market.

The pillow’s height is 5 inches, and despite its softness, it supports your neck quite well. Best suited for back sleepers who need a softer cushioning to support their head at night. Not recommended for side-sleeping individuals since foam density doesn’t provide enough good head support.

The cool comfort of a memory foam pillow in the wintertime is unmatched. As temperatures drop, it’s great to have that firm and soft feeling on your head as you drift off into dreamland.

Memory foam pillows maintain their pliable consistency throughout all seasons for ultimate user-centered design.

The only downside to the pillow is that it’s available in one size. It weights 4.5 pounds and measures 24″ x 16″.

The memory foam in this pillow is hypoallergenic and dust resistant, which are the industry standards. However, what really sets it apart from other pillows we tested was that its odor dissipated after airing out for only a few hours.
The pillow can’t be washed, but the cover that you put it in can. The hidden zipper makes it easy to remove and clean when necessary!

Pros:

  • One of the softest pillow
  • Suitable for back sleepers
  • Ventilation holes and gusset siding

Cons:

  • It may not be appropriate for side sleepers, heavy people and people with broad shoulders
  • ​For some, it can be too soft
  • Not the coolest pillow

Best Ventilated Gel memory foam for side sleepers Classic Brands Cool Sleep Pillow

This pillow is made of special memory foam that does not collect dust. The foam is also hypoallergenic and does not allow bacteria or dust mites. This makes it a good pillow for people who have allergies. It also has a cooling gel in it and has holes to let air through, which takes heat away from the person sleeping on the pillow.

This is not an ordinary memory foam. It does not keep the heat in, but it sends it outside. This type of memory foam is a little harder than regular foam, but the thickness is 6 inches, which is suitable for side and back sleepers. The pillow comes with a great cover that can be washed. It seems like this cover makes the cooling effect last longer because you can wash it!

The pillow is manufactured in the USA, Maryland. However, the foam used to make pillows originates in China.

As with all memory foam pillows, there is a smell. More sensitive people might find this alarming, but after you air the pillow out, it should go away on its own.

Apparently, this pillow is just like ISO-COOL. But we did not include ISO-COOL in our rating. It only comes in a standard size, and people were complaining about it. Now, Classic Brands Cool Sleep Ventilated is the best alternative, and it costs less money too!

Pros

  • Certified ventilated memory foam
  • Great case
  • High pillow 6 inches
  • Different sizes: Standard, King Size, Quin size

Cons

  • For some, it can be too firm
  • ​Smell that goes away with time

Best Slim Cooling Pillow for Stomach Sleepers

Bluewave Bedding Cool-Gel Memory Foam Pillow

Bluewave Bedding’s Cool-Gel mattresses are perfect for those looking for a thin cooling pillow.

This memory foam pillow is certified by CertiPUR-US, with a thickness of 2.5 inches and density of 50D. The material is soft.

This pillow was built to offer better support and comfort for people who sleep on their back or chest.

Many people who sleep in this position to avoid injuries, lack a thin and flat pillow.

Bluewave Bedding is proudly designed in Florida. The dimensions of this item are 24″x 16″. Other sizes are not supplied.

One side of the pillow has a flat area, while the other is rounded. This allows you to keep your spine aligned with your sleep position better.

And you can get a bamboo cover as well. This case is washable, does not retain any foul smells, and is able to successfully remove heat and moisture from the head.

This pillow is not suitable for everyone. It’s best suited to those who sleep on their chest or back.

Pros

  • For stomach sleepers
  • Ultra slim

Cons

  • Only one, standard size
  • ​Some odor
  • No for everyone

Best Cooling Pillow – Buyer Guide

Why do I need a cooling pillow?

Under certain conditions, a cooling pillow will help.

  • If you have trouble falling asleep but want to fall asleep quickly.
  • If you like to sleep on cooling or breathing pillows;
  • If you have night sweats,

Here, we look at medical uses for the cooling pillow.

  • Night sweats. Soaking wet clothes and bed linens from night sweats due to hot flashes at night, because of which the sleeper gets hot flashes during sleep. These hot flashes are not associated with the temperature of your room.
  • Menopause. Often, sleeping women during menopause have hot flashes, which is the cause of night sweats. This is a relatively common cause of night sweats among women.
  • Insomnia.
  • Hormone disorders. Night sweats may also be the result of certain hormonal conditions.
  • Taking certain medications can cause a person to continue experiencing night sweats. In a recent survey of those taking antidepressants, it was found that approximately 8 to 22% experienced night sweats. It is known that sweating causes aspirin, acetaminophen, and some other drugs to lose effectiveness.
  • Other sleep disorders (read more).

Cooling Pillow Benefits

An interesting study done by Harvard University researchers found that the head is actually the hottest part of your body. The reason? It’s all about blood flow and circulation to our brain, which also happens to be at their most active in this area too! 

Well, I suspected it all my life. I tried to solve the problem of overheating by alternating the positions of my pillow. I always remember the phrase, “cool as the other side of the pillow.”

The most significant benefit of a cooling pillow, in my opinion, is that it helps me fall asleep faster. If you are unwell or your body’s temperature is increased due to high external heat and humidity, it will be difficult for you to fall asleep. When we toss and turn from side to side, our body’s reflexes–our natural regulating systems–simply have too many jobs.

“The body normally releases heat through hands, face and feet around the time of sleep onset, and usually continues to cool until around 4am. If anything prevents that decrease in temperature, then sleep quality is impaired and it is difficult to fall asleep.” Doctor Chris Idzikowski , director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre and author of Sound Asleep.

– The Guardian, 2013

The cooling pillow will help those who suffer from insomnia. At the University of South Australia, studies have shown that reducing temperature, allows you to get rid of some types of insomnia.

Burn fat. So, in the study on five volunteers, in the bedrooms of which the temperature was set at 66 F (19C). The study demonstrated a 30-40% increase in brown fat (healthy fat) and its calorie-burning activity. At the same time, an increase in room temperature to 79F (26C) led to a decrease in the content of brown fat in the body.

–  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov


Anti-aging effect. 
Melatonin or “sleep hormone,” is a hormone produced by our body. Melatonin slows the aging process in the body, helps the body to deal with stress and with the manifestation of seasonal depression.

With a lack of melatonin, a person begins to grow old more quickly. In the body, free radicals accumulated, regulation of body weight is disturbed, which leads to obesity. In women, the risk of early menopause increases, and the risk of developing breast cancer increases.

Studies show that during sleep at a temperature of 60-68 degrees, allows us to produce much more melatonin in our body. Using a cooling pillow, you will remove more heat from the body, which means producing more melatonin.

That in turn will improve the quality of sleep, increase the energy of the body, give a psychological relief and, among other things, you will look better thanks to the rejuvenating effect.

A good sleep on the cooling pillow will help us avoid some sleep disorders and parasomnias. Symptoms of which are: sleep talking, sleepwalking, nightmares and others. A deeper and more comfortable sleep will help to avoid these manifestations.

Types of cooling pillows

Memory Foam is a modified low-density polyurethane foam. It was invented with the support of NASA’s space program. It was called T-Foam. The material was used in space missions. It was designed to reduce the load on astronauts.

The first generation was not very wear-resistant material; it was subject to rapid wear, crumbled and cracked. Tempur-Pedic was the first company who develop its own, new generation version of memory foam. This foam was very wear-resistant, it was free from the drawbacks of the previous generation. And it was called Tempura.

But this foam still has one drawback. It keeps the heat received from the sleeping body. Therefore, memory foam with gel is the best option for cooling pillows.

Thanks to a combination of these materials, this pillow quickly adapts to the characteristics of the body, repeating and memorizing the slightest bends of the body. The temperature of the pillow is always slightly below room temperature.

But I must warn you. This type of pillow is quite firm. If you before slept on a soft, down pillow, then you immediately feel the difference.

There is one more minus; these pillows smell while new. Airing the memory foam pillow outdoors will help get rid of the smell.

Breathable pillows freely let air into the filler and allow air to go back out. This results in a cooling effect. Typically, the filler of these pillows is some organic husks, for example, buckwheat hulls.

A good pillow with buckwheat hulls is light, loose, very plastic. Sleeping on it is very convenient. The husk in the pillow should be well cleaned. Otherwise, it will be hard and cause allergies.

The filler in the qualitative breathable pillow must undergo a fine cleaning and dedusting, and also treatment with hot steam. Only after this, the pillow can be called free of allergens.

There is one feature that may not everyone like. It rustles. If the pillow with a synthetic case, it whispers very loudly. In a pillowcase made of organic tissue, it makes a quiet noise and only when you lie down on it. During sleep, when the head moves, the sound of noise is not perceived.

Another feature, the pillow produces a delicate flavor of buckwheat, but not for long. Many people like this fragrance. It has a soothing effect, but in any case, after some time the smell will not be felt.

How to clean cooling pillow

From time to time, the cooling pillow must be cleaned. Methods of cleaning differ depending on what type of pillow you have.

Pillows with memory-foam are beautiful in that they do not accumulate dust and foreign smells. Clean this pillow only if it gets dirty. You do not need to do this too often: thanks to the porous structure of the filler, the pillow is well ventilated, does not accumulate dust and retains its purity and freshness for a long time.

Because of this, a dust mite cannot appear in such a pillow, which is often the cause of allergic reactions.

Therefore, pillows with a memory foam are so well suited for allergies and babies.

Washing the pillow in a washing machine is impossible: because such washing can break fragile partitions between the bubbles in the foam material. To clean the pillow, it is enough to wipe it with a sponge soaked in water or a soapy solution.

Buckwheat Pillow. With proper care, your pillow will last you several years. Let’s remember the simple rules:

  • Do not wash the buckwheat pillow;
  • A pillow with hulls can be cleaned through a pillowcase with a vacuum cleaner;
  • To wash the pillowcase, shake out the hulls in a plastic bag, and after washing pour the hulls back;
  • Shake the pillow once a month;
  • The first time you clean the pillow a month after the acquisition, then again after a year;
  • If a person was sick and sweated a lot, as well as if the room is very humid, the pillow can be dried outdoor in the shade.
  • You cannot heat a pillow in the oven; the hulls can dry up and be brittle.

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