The Ten Best Memory Foam Pillows for Side Sleepers
Most people's relationship with their pillow is a very intimate affair. Generally, the more you get to know your pillow, the more you love it – and the harder it is to get a good night's rest without the pillow you've shared secrets and tears with for countless nights in the past.
Unfortunately, pillows often don’t stand up to the wear. The time finally comes when the love of your heart has turned into a stained, flat, germ-infested disgrace that simply has to be replaced. Worse yet, some pillows bring pain into your life. When you wake up with a stiff neck and sore shoulders – if you were able to find sleep at all – well, you know it's time to move on.
Where should you look for the perfect pillow that will fulfill all of your dreams? One that will allow you to enjoy your dreams uninterrupted, to be precise? Exactly what kind of pillow will be guaranteed to fit your very personal preferences and needs?
Memory foam pillows are designed to soften under the pressure of your head, gently conforming to your individual shape. They reduce discomfort-causing pressure points while still providing the support that your muscles, bones, and tendons need. Memory foam pillows deliver both comfort and health, then faithfully return to their original plumpness after use.
Even though every memory foam pillow is created to respond to an individual's unique needs, there are variations even within the selection of the highest-quality memory foam pillows. Here are the very best of the best. With all of these stunning heartthrobs available, you ought to be able to find the new love of your life.
Wanted to feel better about yourself and needed organic pillows? Then check out these pillows!
Thinking about some good ol’ traditional pillows? Try ones filled with buckwheat!
Not actually sure if you’re just a boring side sleeper? Check out pillows for combination sleepers!
1. Coop Home Goods
We're gonna begin with the pillow everybody adores. And that's not because everyone's love affair with their pillow is monotonously the same. Not at all. It's because the Coop Home Goods Original pillow is oh-so-adjustable.
Coop Home Goods started with Visco Elastic memory foam guaranteed by CertiPUR, a U.S. certification program, to be made WITHOUT a long list of things that you definitely don't want inside your pillow. Things like ozone depleters, unhealthy flame-retardant chemicals, mercury, lead, formaldehyde, CFC's – nasty stuff like that. Then that wonderful, hypoallergenic, dust-mite-resistant foam was simply shredded to pieces and stuffed inside a quality, washable case.
How is having a pillow filled with ripped-up memory foam a good thing? The secret is that you can zip this pillow open and take out or leave in just as much shredded foam as you want. You can even buy extra if you'd like. Now the flat-pillow people and the fat-pillow people can all be happy with the same comfortable pillow.
Add a five-year fluffiness warranty and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, and it's a pillow that may take you from casual dating to a life-long marriage with the pillow that's just for you.
2. Snuggle-Pedic
The Snuggle-Pedic pillow, also filled with shredded CertiPUR foam, is first cousin to the Coop Home Goods pillow. In fact, the family resemblance is so strong that it could be difficult to tell the two apart.
The Eco-Friendly Biogreen foam of the Snuggle pillow is stuffed into a Kool-Flow, extra breathable, micro-vented cover that is made of nearly 50% viscose of bamboo. What all of this means is that the Snuggle pillow – true to its name – although providing the comfort of a memory foam pillow, is still shapeable and cool. It's a pillow you can bunch up or smooth out as you please, a pillow that delivers memory foam luxury while still retaining the snuggly characteristics of the simple, classic pillow.
The Snuggle pillow avoids the greatest sins of many memory foam pillows – being stiff, not adjustable, and – to be frank – often retaining so much body heat that they're uncomfortably hot. This pillow is a memory foam pillow that still feels like home.
And if you don't learn to love it within the first 120 nights of sleep, you can return it for a refund. Snuggle-Pedic claims that unlike your last romantic interest, they can actually accept rejection calmly.
3. Classic Brands Conforma
Maybe your vision of Mr. (or Ms.) Right Pillow offers a bit more firmness and support. To be clear, you're searching for literal stability in the relationship. Don't look now, but Classic Brands Conforma pillow is definitely making eyes at you.
The Conforma pillow is a single piece of ventilated memory foam with a soft, removable cover. And why is it completely perforated with ventilation holes? 'Cause although this pillow is about providing support, it still wants to be fun – and cool. Literally cool, averting that overly-warm, stuffy feeling that nobody prefers in a pillow.
And why does it inspire love? 'Cause this pillow is all about you. It's deliciously responsive and ergonomic, conforming exactly to your needs every time, while still providing the kind of support that completely scares away the stiff neck you got from your last relationship.
Did we mention that the cover is machine washable? Yep, you got it. It's forgiving, too.
4. Sleep Innovations
This one is for the people who can't seem to settle down in one relationship. You know the type – those restless pillow-turners, the never-satisfied. The Sleep Innovations Reversible pillow is made with standard memory foam on one side that provides healthy support for your neck and head while sleeping on your side.
But when you begin to feel dissatisfied – just flip this pillow over. The other side of the pillow features a layer of cooling gel memory foam. You just can't get a more satisfying cool-side-of-the-pillow feeling than is provided by this Sleep Innovations pillow.
If you think you might possibly like a gel pillow but you're really uncertain, this is a great pillow to try, providing the best of both memory foam worlds.
Plus, like the Coop Home Goods pillow, this one is made in the U.S.A.
5. Elite Rest Slim Sleeper
You've heard the saying – there's a lid for every pot. The Elite Rest Slim Sleeper is not for everyone, but it may be just the pillow for someone who hasn't found the perfect match yet.
The Slim Sleeper is ideal for those who have become used to a flatter pillow. These folks have broken it off with the ex-pillow, but nonetheless they simply can't stop themselves from hopelessly searching for another pillow exactly like it!
Maybe they sleep on their side with one arm under the pillow. Maybe they roll from side to stomach or even onto their back, and they don't want a pillow that gets in the way. Whatever the reason, although they would like to benefit from the support and comfort of memory foam, they simply can't adjust to the usual thickness of most memory foam pillows.
The Elite Rest Slim Sleeper memory foam pillow gives firm ergonomic support without uncomfortable pressure points. It's hypoallergenic, anti-microbial, and anti-bacterial. And it's only three inches tall.
6. Malouf Z Zoned Gel Dough
If you're impressed by the popular, the Z Zoned Gel DOUGH pillow by Malouf is another one that gets the rave reviews. As its name suggests, the memory foam of this pillow is made of a gel-like material that provides refreshing coolness for those restless, uncomfortably warm nights. This pillow is also fully ventilated, just like the Conforma pillow, for ultimate temperature control.
The Z Gel DOUGH pillow comes with a removable Tencel cover that offers moisture management. (Just in case there's a little bit of sweat in spite of this pillow's fabled coolness. We won't even mention drool.)
To increase the Z's ergonomic qualities, the ventilation holes are larger in the middle and smaller around the outside edges. That means that your neck will be supported even while your head is grateful for the cushiony, yet adequately supportive comfort of the center of the pillow.
Watch out. This pillow is looking for somebody who's hot.
7. Xtreme Comforts
Xtreme Comfort offers the adjustable, shredded CertiPUR memory foam filling and Kool-Flow bamboo cover demanded by so many pillow-lovers. It's a pillow that aims to please, coming in three sizes of your choice, with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee as well as a six-year warranty.
With this adjustable pillow, you can make sure that your head, neck, and spine are elevated at the proper angles, reducing the neck and shoulder stiffness that come from poor circulation, pinched nerves, and tight muscles. In other words, if your relationship with your last pillow left you hurt and suffering, try the Xtreme Comfort pillow. It is advertised as never going flat. This pillow really doesn't want to let you down.
The Xtreme Comfort pillow sleeps great on the side, but it's good for stomach and back sleepers, too. If your human relationships have left you tossing and turning, this pillow wants to cradle you into a restful, comfortable sleep.
8. Perfect Cloud
The Perfect Cloud Double Airflow memory foam pillow is simply air-infused. The sides are made of a breathable mesh. The pillow itself includes multiple levels of ventilation that treat you to an absolutely weightless sleep experience. Yeah, you've got it – this all sounds a lot like sleeping on a cloud.
Perfect Cloud's vision is to provide a memory foam pillow that does not stress your body in any way. In fact, it's a pillow that may leave you so comfortable you won't actually need to think about your pillow at all. One of those low-maintenance relationships that everybody craves.
The knit cover is removable for washing, the Visco foam material is CertiPUR certified, and the entire pillow comes with a 10-year warranty. This is a quality memory foam pillow looking for a long-term relationship with someone who absolutely knows that they deserve the best.
9. Sweetnight
Look for the memory foam pillow that has delivered perfect satisfaction to most of its friends, and you will find the Sweetnight pillow. This one has the standard healthy CertiPUR shredded memory foam filling and even comes with a handy drawstring bag for storing any foam you choose to remove – just in case your tastes change, and you decide to try a lusher pillow size later on.
Sweetnight combines the temperature-controlling advantages of shredded memory foam with the additional coolness of gel by stuffing their pillows with shredded gel memory foam. Although it hasn't yet reached the popularity of better-known brands, this pillow offers the best of both worlds for those torn between an adjustable pillow and a gel foam pillow. The pillow will stay fluffy, can be cuddled and shaped, yet will not become unmanageably lumpy or flat.
It comes with a machine washable case; it resists allergens, pet dander, and bacteria; and it's looking for a sweetheart just like you.
10. Urban Bloom Domus
We've all been warned that beauty is only skin-deep. So why is it that the pillow to win the heart is often the first one to catch the eye?
The Urban Bloom Domus memory foam pillow is a beauty. It comes with a tufted knit cover that's soft and breathable, designed to provide moisture control, and indubitably classy-looking. This Lux-Loft cover is accented with elegant leather trim around the edges and mesh gusset sides that will leave you reluctant to cover it with any other case. This one is a real dresser – and you wouldn't guess it, but the cover is machine-washable, too.
Inside, the Domus features a five-inch thick, ventilated memory foam that provides ergonomic support without being too firm and unyielding. And just in case you distrust its stylish exterior, it comes with a 90-day satisfaction guarantee as well as a 10-year warranty.
Buying Guide
Durability Although memory foam pillows do bounce back after each use, unfortunately they age just like the best of us. Eventually your pillow will become flatter than it was originally. Look for a pillow with at least a five-year warranty – and make sure you save that warranty, just in case. Also, be aware that pillows filled with shredded foam which can be fluffed and "squished" into comfy shapes usually have a longer life than single-piece pillows.
Odor Most memory foam pillows have a slight chemical odor when they are new. Don't be discouraged – the pillow will soon air out enough that you won't be able to detect any unpleasant smells. This is a difficult aspect to review, however, since individual reactions to specific smells vary widely. What one person may actually find to be mildly pleasant can potentially cause headaches and other side effects for a minority of users.
Quality Materials Pillows made from the highest-quality materials not only look better and last longer, but they are often healthier, too. Not to mention the factors of how easy they are to clean and maintain. Make sure that the pillow that attracts your attention is truly worthy of your love.
Health Since every human body is lovingly created as a unique masterpiece, the pillow that best suits you simply may not be the same as the one treasured by the multitude. If you're suffering from neck, shoulder, or back pain, you might want to check with your chiropractor to find out what height and firmness of pillow is likely to be best for you before making a purchase. Obviously, single-piece pillows generally provide firmer support, while those stuffed with shredded foam provide more adjustability. In any case, don't be afraid to look for a pillow with a satisfaction guarantee so that you can regretfully let it go if it just isn't going to work out between the two of you.
