The 3 Best Cooling Pillows on the Market, According to Our Testing
No more waking up drenched in sweat? Music to our ears.
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We're officially in the dog days of summer, and while there's plenty we love about the season (looking at you, fresh produce and days by the pool), there are a few less-than-pleasant parts: namely, the extreme heat. While air conditioning provides some relief for most of us, you'll still want to make sure your home is properly prepared for the weather, like switching out bed linens and installing weather stripping. But if you've done all that and have your A/C blasting at night and you're still finding that you're waking up sweating, then the culprit might be your pillow.
While that down alternative pillow is ideal for winter, it's going to hold in way too much heat to make for a comfortable sleeping environment in the summer. You'll want to switch to a cooling pillow that's made of some sort of foam, latex, or gel material instead. But if you've ever fallen into the trap of feeling a cool-to-the-touch pillow thinking it was perfect only to still wake up drenched, then you know that not all cooling pillows are truly cooling...at least for the whole night. That's why we did the testing for you. We spent weeks researching and testing different cooling pillows, and while most fell to the wayside, these three came out on top.
Pros
- Cooling cover
- Ventilation
- Adjustable support
Cons
- Not machine-washable
Fill: Memory foam and microfiber down alternative | Support level: Soft, medium, and firm | Sizes: Standard and King
Finding the ideal pillow height and softness level for everyone can be pretty difficult, which is why Nectar's pillow was such a hit with our reviewers. Thanks to their patented ComforZip™ technology, sleepers can adjust the support level to perfectly suit their liking. However, even at it's softest setting, we still think this pillow is best suited for side or back sleepers.
Now, onto the really good stuff: our tester was blown away by how great the ventilation was in this pillow. The Nectar Tri-Comfort pillow has a cooling outer cover but also features side ventilation to keep you cool all night long. "The fabric is magically cold all the time. It’s like when you flip your pillow over and the other side is nice and cool — except the whole pillow is like that," according to our tester.
Our only major complaint with the Nectar pillow is that it isn't machine-washable. You'll need to spot-clean any spills or messes since the cover isn't removable.
The Purple Harmony Pillow
Pros
- Machine-washable cover
- Unique ventilation
- Cool-to-the-touch cover
Cons
- High price point
Fill: GelFlex grid and latex core | Support level: Low, medium, and tall | Sizes: Standard and King
Unlike other pillows that use traditional ventilations methods, the Purple Harmony pillow uses a honey-comb style grid to allow air to freely pass through, along with an inner core made of hypoallergenic ventilated latex. All of this to say, you can expect cool air to flow throughout the night with this Harmony pillow.
"I think [the Harmony pillow] definitely is cooler than any other pillow I've tried. It's even cool to the touch, which is wild to me," our tester said. "I normally find myself awake and flipping pillows at least two or three times during the night. Now, however, that number is down to at most one, and sometimes none!"
The Harmony pillow comes in three support levels — low, medium, and tall. We tested the medium and found that it was great for restless and stomach sleepers thanks to the amount of squish and give it provided. Back sleepers might also like this support level, but we imagine they'd be more satisfied with the tall option. If you're a side sleeper, this pillow might not provide enough support for you.
TEMPUR-Cloud® Breeze Dual Cooling™ Pillow
Pros
- Innovative cooling technology
- 5-year warranty
- Machine-washable cover
Cons
- No other size options
- Expensive
Fill: TEMPUR-Breeze® Gel and TEMPUR® material | Support level: Medium | Sizes: Queen and King
As far as we're concerned, this pillow might be magic. "I'm not sure how, but the TEMPUR-Cloud® pillow somehow feels like there's an active cooling element inside, like the A/C is flowing directly through the pillow," our tester says. While we can't say for certain that witchcraft isn't involved in the making of this pillow, we'll take a guess that the magical cooling component probably comes from the two layers of TEMPUR-Breeze® Gel.
The inner core consists of a single piece of TEMPUR® material that provides plenty of support. While Tempur-Pedic says the pillow is ideal for all sleepers, we think it would be best-suited for side sleepers thanks to the generous support. Some back sleepers and most stomach sleepers would probably find this pillow too firm for their liking.
Another 10/10 feature of this pillow? The removable cover is machine washable and it has a 5-year warranty. Obviously, this all comes at a price, but only buying one pillow for five years sounds pretty nice, right?
What We Tested For
- Did the pillow stay cold all night? Being cool to the touch is only a fraction of the battle. While that initial cooling sensation may help you drift to sleep peacefully, it means nothing when you wake up at 2 AM sweating bullets and there's no relief to be found on your once ice-cold pillow. We tested plenty of pillows that felt cold upon first touch, but a full night's rest revealed the hot truth: they aren't actually cooling. Only the pillows that stayed cold throughout the night, whether through ventilation or other cooling technologies, made our list of the best.
- How was the overall support? If you've done some basic research into pillow shopping, then we bet you already know that different types of sleepers need varying levels of support. What do we mean be different types of sleepers? Mostly back, side, and stomach sleepers, though restless and combination sleepers also exist. Stomach and some back sleepers will want a pillow with soft to medium support and low fill as they don't need much lift to keep their spine aligned. Meanwhile, side sleepers need a firmer, taller pillow that can keep their neck in line with the rest of their back while sleeping. Most pillows come in different support levels, but we have included one on this list that's adjustable as well as one that only comes in one fill.
- What fill material is used? Memory foam, down, down alternative...what does it all actually mean? And what's best for you? Long story short, you'll want to stick to materials like foam, latex, and gel when shopping for a cooling pillow. Other fills like down and down alternative can hold onto heat, making your pillow hotter. But foam, latex, and gel keep a cool-to-the-touch feel and have pores that allow air to circulate. It is important to note, though, that memory foam can go on the squishier side, so it might not be best for some side sleepers.
Hannah Jones is the Commerce Editor for Country Living. Her eye is always on the next up-and-coming products to include in gift guides and she's ready to test everything from dog beds to garden tools for product reviews. When she’s not scoping out the latest and greatest items on the market, you can find her hanging with her two rescue dogs.
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