Why is it Important to Change Your Pillow and How to Do it?

Pillow is hands down the most comfortable element of our sleep. How we sleep at night and how we will wake up in the morning, a pillow can easily decide. It is much more important than we give credit for. Do you ever find yourself using a pillow that just doesn't feel quite right? And even if it does, it's not exactly healthy to stick with the same pillow for too long. Let us pin point why it is important to change your pillow. That’s not all, this article has many tips for you to not to make a mistake next time you buy a pillow.

Why is a Good Pillow Important for Sleep?

While many of us prioritize getting enough sleep each day, it's easy to neglect the quality of our rest. However, there are compelling reasons why quality sleep should also be a top priority:

Promotes Healthy Sleep

Ever observed the comfort difference between a fresh, soft pillow and an old, thin one? A cozy pillow positions your neck and spine correctly, lessening stress spots so sleep comes easier. An extra pillow under your knees or lower back boosts the quality of your sleep pose. Invest in superior pillows and witness the change in your energy levels!

Evens the Firmness of Your Mattress

Your pillow and mattress work together to create the ideal spot for sleep. If your mattress is firm, choose plush pillows. It can calm pressure points that may cause discomfort. To achieve this, it's recommended to combine a soft mattress with a firmer pillow to offer proper support and prevent your head from awkwardly sinking in. By finding the right pillow-mattress combination, you can tailor your comfort to suit your specific needs.

Aligns the Spine

Having back or neck issues makes your pillow more critical. Good sleep lets your body heal and regain energy. But, if you're wiggling around on a pillow that doesn't support you, it could make spine alignment issues and joint pain worse. Get a pillow that fits your needs for a refreshing wake-up.

Reduces Snoring

A lousy pillow may result in strained neck muscles, leading to snoring during sleep. Understand that a high-grade pillow supports your neck's normal curve. This aid in maintaining open air passages, thus reducing snoring and amplifying sleep quality.

Provides You with Support and Structure

A wide range of pillows are available to choose from that provide various degrees of support. Although natural filling such as down and feathers offer less contouring, they are highly valued for their softness. Such other pillows like ortho-pillows fully filled with polypropylene capsule offers the utmost comfort.

To get the best pillow for yourself, it is good to thoroughly research the options available before rushing to the store. It is advisable to use a particular pillow for about one week so as to ascertain if it supports your requirements properly.

Maintains a Healthy Skin

There is absolutely no doubt about the role of sleep towards healthy skin, which we all are familiar with. The use of quality pillow that is anti-bacterial, anti-dust mite and hypo allergenic helps in creating good atmosphere.

So it’d be good if you clean your pillows as well as your pillow cases to have the most hygienic environment while sleeping. And mind you this is not limited to just pillows!

How Long Do Pillows Last?

Changing your pillow more than often is quite taxing, we undertsand, but still experts suggest that if you replace your pillow once every 1-2 years depending upon the material, you might notice a flow of healthy sleep routine with clean and fresh pillows.

Now, if you keep using the same pillow for years without much care and cleaning, it will collect allergens and sleeping on these will bring a lot of health issues like runny/stuffy nose, itchy skin, irritation in eyes, smelly hair, and what now. That’s too much to go through, so its better you clean your pillow as often as you can. That being said, there are certain aspects that decide the life of your pillow:

Material: Considering the material of the some pillows, polyester wores out much faster than memory foam or latex. So, that’s something to think about while getting a good pillow.

Usage: Anything, literally anything, if used vigoruosuly, will loose its fresh touch soon. Same goes with a pillow. If you are roughing it, it might need to be replaced to soon.

Pillow cases/protectors: Now pillow cases or covers are shields for your pillow. They will protect it from dust, allergens, stains, wear & tear, and anything that can attack your pillow, so don’t forget to get a good pillow case too.

Brand Value: It’s no news that if you buy a good pillow from a trusted manufacturer that will ensure an extended life for your pillow. It might cost you higher at the time but it will save you some serious bucks in the future.

Wash & Care: Very obvious but very often neglected. The way you wash your pillow and the efforts you put in its after care, says a lot about your pillow’s life. You should know how to properly clean your pillow by reading the washing instructions that come with it.

Why Should You Change Your Pillow?

We tend to drain out an item until we enjoy its full worth, which is not bad, but waiting for your pillow to become flat or be ruined beyond use, is just not ideal. If you see any of the following symptoms in your pillow, know that it’s time to make some wise decisions:

Acne

Putting your face on a dirty pillow, can’t even imagine? But we do this more than we are aware. Now imagine the dust mites or allergens causing you the acnes you never had. It is quite jarring but can be avoided as it is something that is not coming out of your own skin. It is caused by something else.

Your pillow collects dirt, oil, and dead skin cells over time, especially when you don’ t clean it quite as much. There are other things too that are transferred to your pillow such as face cream, makeup, and yeah your drool. Cleaning your pillow will help you with all this but still you will have to change it at some point.

Long Time No New Pillow

Is your pillow all flat or lop sided? It might be too old or too used. It is wise to get a new pillow. According to the National Sleep Foundation, you should change your pillow once every 2 years. So ditch the oldie and go for a newbie. A hypoallergenic down pillow would be a good pick as it doesn’t trap dust mites. If you prefer your pillows flat and firm, how about a pancake pillow that you’ve been thinking about?

You Wake Up with a Stiff Neck

Its no news that pillows loose the their authentic shape over time. They become uneven or flat, which also causes are body to mislign as well. We can rave about how we prefer a flat pillow but that might not be so good for the kind of sleeping position you prefer. You should chop for a pillow that gently cradles you neck and supports your spine properly. If you want to avoid morning headaches and neck stiffness.

Allergies

What happens when flip or pat your pillow after a long time? The blow of dust puffs out from your pillow. Pillow tend to gather dust and dirt over time if not cleaned often. Sleeping on such a pillow can be quite uncomfortable for your nose especially when you have certain allergies. So it is wise to clean your pillow often and moreover replace them every two years.

Past the Expiration Date

Sounds odd for a pillow, but it is real. Some pillows come with an expiration date mentioned on its tag. That certainly doesn’t mean that you have rush to the store the very next day. But it does require you to change your pillow soon. Not all pillows have such tags on them but you can deduce by seeing the condition of its fabric that it needs to be replaced.

How to Care for A Pillow and to Change Yours?

It goes without saying that if you care for your pillows good it will increase its life. Washing them often, layering them up with good protective pillow cases,a and using them carefully will most assuredly make them last long. If you are confused about where to begin, here are some tips for you to go on:

Washing the Pillow

People have their own ways to care for their pillows. Some wash their pillows while others wash their pillow cases. Well airing on the side of hygiene we suggest you should wash your pillow every other month to keep it fresh. Usually such pillows come with manufacturer’s wash and care instructions. Follow these directions and you’d be able to clean your pillow without ruining it.

If you own memory foam pillow you would want to use spot cleaning technique to gently clean it with a mixture of soap and water. For down and feather pillows you just need to dry clean to protect the fill. Make sure you use a washable pillow case as pillows are prone to gathering dust and dirt. Further with latex pillows you need cleaning more than often. You can use luke and warm and mix it with a mild detergent. You can machine wash your polyester pillows on a ‘gently cycle’. With micorbead pillow you can just clean it with a damp cloth without making it overly wet.

Drying the Pillow

Again with every pillow comes an instruction manual detailing how to care for it. Not only washing guidelines but it also has drying techniques too. Generally you should dry a pillow by keeping it on a flat and shaded surface. This will help your pillow keep its natural shape and not attract dust or dirt while being damp. Make sure to thoroughly dry your pillow before further use or storage. Time taken by your pillow to dry highly depends on the material or fiber that is filled in it.

Covering the Pillow

Pillowcases are more than just an item of convenience. Its a necessity for your pillow. Make sure you cover up your pillow with a good pillowcase. It will protect your pillow form dust, dirt, and stains. You can easily wash these pillow cases once a week and then limit the pillow washing to once a month.

Protecting the Pillow

Pillow protectors is an additional way to preserve your pillow. There different kinds of pillow protectors with various unique features in the market like:

Quilted pillow protectors
Anti-allergy pillow protectors
Waterproof pillow protectors
Stain-resistant pillow protectors

A pillow protector will shield your pillow well and save your investment in the long run. It will prevent your pillow from attracting:

Bed bugs
Dust mites
Spills and stains
Skin cells and hair
Bacteria and allergens
Body oils, sweat, and drool

You can get a good breathable pillow protector so that it doesn’t collect moisture. Cleaning the protector is also important to preserve its barrier surface from collecting germs.

Changing the Pillow

As we have discussed all the way through, cleaning is good and it helps keep your pillow daisy fresh, after a while even cleaning it won’t do the trick. The only option you’ll have to resort to is changing it and getting a new one. Unevenness, lumps, fabric wear & tear, and discoloring stains are some signs that will tell you when to change the pillow.

Final Thoughts

By now you must be quite well versed as to why we need to change our pillow once every 1-2 years. That being said its not like that just changing the pillow after 2 years is all that needs to be done, during that span you need to know how to wash and care for it as well or your pillow may not survive even till the end of the year. Also, if you want your pillows to last long you should begin with investing in a good pillow.

Pillow prices range from steep to very low. But often cheaper pillows don’t have that kind of good lifespan. So its better to spent some extra bucks today than to keep spending in the future. You need to also look out for some good pillow cases and protectors, these will ensure a long life of your pillow.