HOME PLACE: No fluffy matter, pillow poll proves serious business

Tag : Print Pillowcase
Almost every note contained a bedtime story along with heartfeltsuggestions. It's like we've just been waiting for support groupsto spring up around pillows.

"Your article reminded me of my own closet full of the wrongpillows," Emily wrote. "My husband likens me to Goldilocks, thoughI am not blond; rather I could never find a pillow that was 'justright.'"

Emily told me about finally finding rest at Overstock.com with a natural latex foam pillow, but admits it was initially astretch to trust an Internet buy.

"I was skeptical about buying a pillow without being able to gothrough the whole squeezing, squishing, and pre-purchase testingyou describe, but Overstock has a pretty easy return policy, andreally worst case scenario was adding one more pillow to myever-growing "wrong" pillow collection. I've now been using it forfour years with no change in the quality or comfort of the pillowover time."

With that, Emily offered me empathy and good luck.

Another colleague confirmed my memory of childhood pillows comingfrom other beds, never a store. He sent along what he's found towork.

"The secret to this pillow is that it is made with small pieces offoam rubber. Much like you would shred paper into one-inch bits,the foam is torn into small pieces. This allows you to form it howyou want it and it easily fluffs up if it gets a little flat. If itis too soft or flat, you simply keep adding small pieces of foamuntil you hit the degree of firmness you want. Kind of like thesenewfangled beds that let you dial in the firmness or softness. Onceyou have the pillowcase stuffed and sewn up (or zippered, if youprefer to be able to add or subtract foam), then I've found thatputting the pillow into one of those quilted pillowcases with thezipper adds a little more firmness and smoothness. Put all of thisin a nice, freshly washed, crisp cotton pillow case and there youhave it. This method for making your own pillow puts you in totalcontrol."

Odd how he knew being in control would catch my attention...

Foam, mostly latex, was the big winner. Jennifer talked aboutdiscovering bliss through her father's ancient latex foam pillow.Her cup ran over when a visit to a bed and breakfast yielded thenews that a big box store carried a newer and very acceptableversion. "Now my husband and I both sleep on latex foam pillowsand, for some reason, he thinks mine is better than his and triesto steal it from me when I'm not looking (luckily I have adifferent pillow case than him and he hasn't gotten smart enough tochange it)."

Jennifer, sorry if I revealed your secret, but you and I are cutfrom the same cloth. I had to put a tiny safety pin in the cornerof my pillow to mark my territory and, just like your's, my spousehas not wised up.

My friend from Portland added her two cents. Casey is a pastor -- Ibelieve a woman of God naturally has more wisdom than me. She toldme about plunking down a C-note for a fancy, schmancy number.

"This isn't like the cheap memory foam you get in Costco," Caseyexplained. "This is the good stuff. We figured we'd give it a tryfor a week, then bring them back. After two days, we knew we werehooked. We had those two pillows for five years, and then replacedthem."

As you can see, I've heard the word -- go latex. Kudos to all ofyou for those pearls about pillows.

I must admit, however, I got more than a little pleasure from myseparated-at-birth friend's lament.

Jeanne and I have shared more than one secret and now we can addpillow talk.

"I didn't always have issues with pillows. Like you, I had prettymuch the same one throughout my entire childhood, and probably onlya couple others during the first 25 years of adult life, and Ihardly gave a passing thought to any of them," she e-mailed.

As Jeanne battled an illness, however, pillows took on moreimportance than one can imagine, she explained. "During that darkperiod of my life, I couldn't sleep lying down flat, because thatmade the problem much worse, so I learned to sleep propped up...onLOTS of pillows. It was an ongoing challenge to find thecombination that would allow me to be comfortable enough and yetnot be too horizontal.

"I finally settled on three as the essential number of pillows. Oneis fat and pretty firm, one is an old, flat, somewhat bleached foammodel, and one is down-filled, medium soft. Some combination ofthese usually allows me to get what snatches of sleep I can betweenthe hot flashes and the trips to the loo. But the combination'salways changing. Whatever's going on with my back or neck orshoulder (or psyche...don't forget psyche).

"I haven't actually become prone on a bedding department floor, butit wouldn't surprise me if that delicious experience is in myfuture. That old foam pillow really is about ready for thelandfill....I'm going to need a replacement soon.

"This probably isn't the helpful advice you were looking for, butit's all I got. Sleep well!"

I will, Jeanne. Knowing I'm not alone in this has given me greatpeace of mind. My thanks to all and to all a good night.


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