Memory Foam Pillows

A memory foam pillow shapes itself to you, slowly

Memory foam is a viscoelastic foam. In plain words: press it and it gives way slowly, take your hand away and it comes back slowly. Put your head on a memory foam pillow and it settles into the shape of your head and neck instead of pushing back right away. Get up and the dent fades over a few seconds.

The foam started out far from any bedroom. NASA's Spinoff publication says an aeronautical engineer, Charles Yost, developed it in 1966 under a NASA contract to improve airplane seats for crash protection and comfort. It was first called "slow spring back foam", which is still the best description anyone has come up with.

Today a memory foam pillow can mean quite different things on the bed. The fill column in the table tells you which one you're looking at.

Three kinds of memory foam fill

Solid or molded foam: one shape, one height

One piece of foam, either poured into a mold or cut from a block. It can be a plain rectangle, a loaf with rounded edges, or a shaped pillow with a neck roll. It holds its height all night and doesn't need fluffing.

The trade-off is that you can't change it. If the height is wrong for you, it stays wrong. Shaped versions have their own pages: contour pillows and cervical pillows.

Shredded foam: small pieces you can move

Shredded memory foam is the same foam cut into small pieces and stuffed into a cover, often mixed with fiber. You can push it around, fold the pillow, hug it and fluff it. Many shredded pillows have a zipper so you can take fill out to lower the pillow.

My one opinion on this page: adjustable shredded fill is the honest answer when you don't know your height yet. Check that the listing says the fill can be removed. The details are on shredded memory foam pillows and adjustable pillows.

Gel memory foam: foam plus a cooling claim

Gel memory foam has gel mixed into the foam, swirled through it or spread as a layer on top. Makers almost always pair it with a cooling claim. How cool it feels to you isn't something a listing can promise, so the table shows the gel and the stated cooling method, nothing more. See gel pillows.

Blends and hybrids

Some pillows combine memory foam with fiber, latex or a layer of a different foam. The fill column shows the blend as stated. If the maker only says "foam", that's what the table says too.

How to read the table

Each field appears only when the maker or the listing states it. A blank is a blank.

Fill: the type of foam

Solid, shredded, gel or a blend, as the maker describes it. This is the field that put the pillow on this page, so it's the one to read first.

Shape: rectangle, loaf or contour

Plain rectangle, a wave, a cervical cradle, a roll. We take shape from the maker's drawing or name, not from a generic "shape" box on a shopping page.

Loft: height in inches

How tall the pillow is. For solid foam, it's fixed. For shredded foam, makers usually give the full height, before you take any fill out. A side sleeper generally needs a taller pillow than a back sleeper, and a stomach sleeper the lowest of all.

Adjustable loft

Shows whether the maker says you can change the height, by removing shredded fill or foam layers. Solid foam pillows almost never can.

Firmness: the maker's word

There's no shared firmness scale for pillows. Memory foam adds a twist: it can feel firm when you first press it and softer once it settles. The table shows the maker's word and never ranks by it.

Cooling: only with a method

Solid foam doesn't let air move through it the way fiber does. Makers answer with gel, ventilation holes, shredded fill, phase-change layers or cooling cover fabric. The table shows cooling only when the maker says how. A cooling label without a method doesn't count. More on cooling pillows.

Certifications

• CertiPUR-US. A program for flexible polyurethane foam. Accredited labs test foam samples for certain chemicals, heavy metals and emissions, plus baseline physical performance. It covers the foam only.
• OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100. A certification for textiles tested for harmful substances. On a pillow it usually covers the cover fabric. A real label has a certificate number you can look up.

The table shows either one only when the maker names it for that pillow. Plenty of good pillows say nothing, and then the cell is blank. A blank isn't a fail; it's just not stated.

Hypoallergenic

A claim, not a certification. The table shows it when the listing says it. It doesn't come with a test result behind it.

Choose by sleep position, then by kind of foam

• Side sleepers. A taller pillow. Solid foam if you know your height, shredded if you want to tune it. See also best pillows for side sleepers.
• Back sleepers. A medium height. A contour shape or a lower solid pillow.
• Stomach sleepers. The lowest height you can find. Shredded foam with fill removed, or a thin pillow.
• Combination sleepers. Shredded foam, which moves with you when you turn.

If you'd like a few questions to narrow it down, the pillow quiz asks how you sleep.

Sizes: standard, queen, king and the odd ones

A standard bed pillow is 20 x 26 inches, and the US labeling rules use that size as their example for a standard pillowcase. Rectangular memory foam pillows often come in standard, queen and king. Solid foam is less forgiving than fiber, so a pillow that's even an inch off from its case can look stretched or bunched.

Shaped foam pillows are often smaller and come with a fitted cover. Check the stated dimensions, and see standard size pillows, queen size pillows and king size pillows for the bed-size pages. Many foam pillows are also sold in sets of two; the pack count column shows that.

Unwrapping, airing and the first week

If your pillow arrives compressed and rolled, follow the maker's instructions for how long to let one expand before you judge its height, and for airing out any smell from the packaging. Don't rate the loft straight out of the box.

Then give it about a week. Memory foam feels different from fiber or feathers: your head settles in rather than resting on top. That takes some getting used to, and the first night is rarely a fair test.

Care: the cover washes, solid foam doesn't

First, read the tag. Solid memory foam pillows almost always have a removable cover. The cover goes in the washer; the foam core is spot clean only, because foam holds water and dries slowly. Shredded foam pillows vary: some can be washed whole, many can't.

If a listing says "machine wash" and nothing else, it usually means the cover. Sellers write it that way more often than you'd hope. The care column shows the stated care, and how to wash pillows has the rest.

Housekeeping rule: a pillow protector under the cover saves the foam from most of what a spot clean can't fix. Foam that can't be washed is a decoration with a nap schedule.

Memory foam next to the other fills

If you're choosing between fills rather than between foam pillows, here's how memory foam sits next to the others on this site:

• Memory foam. Slow to give, slow to return. Holds a set height. Warmer when solid.
• Latex. Foam too, but springy: it pushes back right away. See latex pillows.
• Down and feather. Soft, foldable, needs fluffing. See feather pillows.
• Down alternative. Polyester fiber that squashes and fluffs like down. See down alternative pillows.
• Buckwheat. Hulls that shift and hold whatever shape you push them into. See buckwheat pillows.

None of these is right for everybody. A side sleeper can be happy on any of them at the right height. Fill decides the feel; loft decides the fit.

When a memory foam pillow is worn out

There's no fixed number of years, and we won't make one up. The pillow tells you. Look for:

• A dent that stays. If the dip from your head doesn't fade after you get up, the foam has lost its spring.
• Lumps or crumbs. Solid foam that cracks or sheds bits, or shredded fill that has packed into clumps.
• A lower pillow. Measure the loft against the stated number. If it has dropped a lot, so has your head.
• A smell that washing the cover doesn't fix.

Shredded foam pillows sometimes just need fluffing or a top-up. Some makers sell extra fill. A solid pillow can't be topped up, so when it goes, it goes. (The archive has a shelf of retired pillows I keep "for guests who arrive unannounced". Nobody has arrived unannounced since 2019.)

Who should skip memory foam

Another fill may suit you better if:

• You like a pillow that springs back right away
• You fold your pillow in half and want it to stay folded
• You run hot and the listing gives no cooling method
• You want to wash the whole pillow, not just the cover

For quick bounce, latex is the usual next step. For fold and squish, down alternative or feather. For a fill that shifts and breathes, buckwheat. All four are linked above.

Related pages

The pillows section sorts everything by position and fill. Shaped memory foam sits in ergonomic pillows and neck pillows. Ranked lists are on best memory foam pillows, and for the general picture by position, read best sleeping positions.

Tuck it in.