How to choose a pillow: loft, fill and your sleep position
A pillow has one job: keep your head level with your spine, so your neck is not bent up or down all night. Which one does that comes down to three things: the position you sleep in, how soft your mattress is, and whether you sleep hot. This guide takes each in turn, names the pillows on our floor that fit, and ends with the step most people skip.
One thing to know first: under our refund policy, bedding, pillows and accessories are final sale once opened. So choose carefully, and come lie on a few pillows in the store rather than guess.
Start with how you sleep
Loft is the height of the pillow once your head is on it. Side sleepers have the widest gap to fill between the ear and the mattress, so they need the most loft. Stomach sleepers need the least, or the neck bends back. Back sleepers sit in between.
| Position | Loft | Feel | On our floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | High | Medium-firm to firm; must not flatten | Malouf Shoulder Zoned and Zoned Gel Dough high loft, Purple Harmony tall, Tempur-Pedic Adapt ProHi and Breeze ProHi |
| Back | Medium | Medium, with some give | Malouf Zoned ActiveDough and Zoned Talalay Latex, Purple Harmony medium, Tempur-Pedic Symphony (arched side) and Tempur-Neck |
| Stomach | Low | Soft and thin | Malouf Zoned Gel Dough low loft, Purple Harmony low, Tempur-Pedic Adapt ProLo and Breeze ProLo |
| Combination | Medium, or adjustable | Medium and responsive | Tempur-Pedic Adapt ProAdjust, Purple DreamLayer and Purple Pillow with Booster, Malouf Gelled Microfiber |
Fall asleep on your side and wake on your back? Count yourself a combination sleeper and lean toward medium loft or an adjustable pillow. Many side sleepers also prefer a shoulder cutout, covered next.
Loft, and why your mattress changes it
The same pillow sits differently on different mattresses. On a soft or plush mattress your shoulder sinks in, the gap between ear and mattress shrinks, and a high-loft pillow pushes your head up. On a firm mattress your shoulder stays on top, the gap grows, and a low pillow leaves your head hanging. As a rule of thumb: softer mattress, lower loft; firmer mattress, higher loft. Our mattress firmness guide explains the scale.
Shoulder-cutout pillows take a different route. Malouf's Shoulder Zoned line has a recess along the front edge so your shoulder tucks under the pillow instead of pushing it away; the brand describes it as designed for side sleepers to align the head and neck. It comes as the Shoulder Zoned Gel Dough, the Shoulder Zoned ActiveDough and the cooling Shoulder CarbonCool.
Fills compared
Fill decides how a pillow feels, how warm it sleeps and how long it holds its shape.
| Fill | Feel | Heat | Holds its shape | On our floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory foam, solid | Slow and contouring | Warmest, unless the cover or foam is built to cool | Long | Tempur-Pedic Adapt ProLo, Adapt ProHi, Tempur-Neck, Symphony |
| Memory foam, zoned and dough | Softer, quicker memory foam with holes through it | Cooler than solid foam; the zones add airflow | Long | Malouf Zoned Gel Dough, Zoned ActiveDough, Shoulder Zoned |
| Latex | Springy; you sleep on it, not in it | Cool; latex breathes, and zoned latex more so | Longest | Malouf Zoned Talalay Latex |
| Grid or polymer | Stretchy; bounces straight back | Cool; the open grid lets air through | Long | Purple Harmony low, medium and tall |
| Down-alternative fiber | Soft and scrunchable | Neutral | Shortest; flattens over time | Malouf Gelled Microfiber, Purple Cloud |
| Adjustable fill | You add or remove fill to set the loft | Depends on the fill | Long; re-fluff or top up | Tempur-Pedic Adapt ProAdjust, Purple DreamLayer, Freeform and Purple Pillow with Booster |
On the names: Malouf's Zoned pillows have larger holes in the center to cradle the head and smaller holes at the edge to support the neck, and the brand says the zones add airflow. Dough is Malouf's softer memory foam; ActiveDough is the quicker version, which the brand describes as the feel of latex with the contouring of memory foam. Tempur-Pedic's ProLo and ProHi are the same medium-firm material in a low and a high profile; the brand points stomach and back sleepers to ProLo, side and combination sleepers to ProHi. Purple's Harmony comes in low, medium and tall, and Purple describes it as a latex core wrapped in its grid.
If you sleep hot
A warm pillow is usually dense foam under a cover that traps heat. Three things help. Airflow: zoned foam, latex and grid pillows let air move through the fill. The cover: Tempur-Pedic's Adapt and Breeze pillows come with what the brand calls a cool-to-the-touch SmartClimate cover, and Malouf's Zoned pillows use Tencel or rayon-from-bamboo covers. Phase-change material: Malouf's Ice Cloud Omniphase and CarbonCool pillows carry a layer the brand calls Omniphase, which it describes as absorbing and releasing heat to hold a steady temperature through the night. The Ice Cloud is two-sided, foam with the Omniphase layer on one side and shredded foam with down-alternative fill on the other, in low, mid and high loft.
If the whole bed runs hot, see our bedding and the sleeping-cool answer in our FAQ.
Pillow size
Standard and queen pillows are roughly 26 to 30 inches wide; king pillows roughly 34 to 36. Two standard or queen pillows fill a queen bed. On a king or California king, two king pillows fill the width; two standards leave a gap in the middle. Loft and fill do not change with size, so choose the pillow first and the size second.
Body pillows are their own category. Malouf's Wrap-Around is one long pillow the brand describes as supporting the head, neck, back, hips and belly. Many side sleepers like one to hug, or a smaller pillow between the knees.
Whatever you choose, a pillow protector under the pillowcase keeps sweat and oils out of the fill, which matters most for a foam or latex pillow you plan to keep for years. We stock them alongside our mattress protectors.
When to replace a pillow
Pillows wear out well before mattresses. The signs:
- The fold test, for fiber pillows: fold it in half and let go. If it stays folded, the fill is spent.
- Flattening: a foam or latex pillow with a permanent dent, or that lets your head sink to the mattress, is done.
- Yellowing, or a smell that survives the wash: sweat and oils have reached the fill.
As a rule of thumb, fiber and down-alternative pillows last one to three years. Solid memory foam, latex and grid pillows last longer, often several years, if they stay covered and dry. A protector and a yearly wash of the cover get you there.
Try it on the bed you're buying
Lie on the floor model, with the pillow, in the position you actually sleep in, for five minutes. Then check: on your side, your nose should line up with the middle of your chest; on your back, your chin should not be pushed toward your chest; on your stomach, your neck should not be bent back. If the loft is wrong, stay put and we will hand you the next one up or down. Pillows are final sale once opened, so five minutes on the floor bed is worth more than any chart, including ours.
Find us
Mattress Central, 3319 Glendale Blvd, Atwater Village, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Open daily, 9 AM to 8 PM. Call (323) 522-3410. Free delivery anywhere in the US; around Los Angeles our own team sets it up (California orders). Mattresses come with a one-time comfort exchange within 120 nights; pillows and bedding do not. Browse pillows, protectors and bedding, read the mattress firmness guide, or check the FAQ.