A night of uninterrupted, peaceful sleep is facilitated by a quality pillow. In the absence of a pillow, the head and neck regions must support their own weight, which sometimes leads to soreness in the muscles. If a pillow is overly soft, this support may also be absent. Conversely, if the pillow is too hard, the head can’t comfortable rest against the surface.

Perhaps more important than the comfort is an unseen feature of the pillow: the fill. The wrong kind of fill can cause sleep-disrupting allergies such as a congested or runny nose, along with inflamed, red teary eyes.

The reason down fill can cause allergies is partly due to dust mites, a microscopic household creature not even visible to the naked eye. Dust mites take up residence in the natural clusters of down fiber. The dust mites produce an allergen which is incorrectly recognized by the immune system of some people as an infectious invader. The body starts off an immune response which leads to allergy attacks.

Fortunately, people with such sensitivities can opt for a non-down or down alternative pillow. These pillows can conceivably control the severity of an allergy, and are also cheaper than their down counterparts. The non-down pillows are broadly divided into three categories, each typed by three kinds of fill. The first kind is made from natural down alternatives, such as silk from the silkworm. The second kind is a synthetic fill, which is sometimes called gel fiber fill. The third kind is known as memory-foam, oftentimes attributed to the fruits of space research.

Natural down alternatives such as silk are beloved by aficionados because of its two excellent qualities: high insulation, low weight. The popularity of silk is quite high in Asian nations because of historical and industrial advantages. For those of us here in the U.S., the disadvantage is that silk tends to be somewhat pricier.

Gel fiber synthetic pillows are likely to be the second most used fill after down. Recent improvements in the technology of polyester fibers means that they can be made almost like down, i.e. very warm but also very light and fluffy. In fact, ski clothes and sleeping bags are often stuffed with gel fiber synthetics. The consumer should be aware that the polyester fills which are best are also the most expensive. The most expensive being usually manufactured by a specialist company and licensed to various secondary industries.

Pillows are generally two component objects made of fabric and fill. A modern type of pillow is a single component object shaped from a single piece of dense memory foam. Memory foam was invented by NASA Ames for seating material in flight craft. In recent years, it has become cheap enough to incorporate into household bedding. Its comfort lies in its property of conforming to the curves of your head and neck. However, pillows made from memory foam have been reported to emit a unsettling chemical odor.

Still have questions ? It might be worth it to check out our research about the down alternatives market. Read the latest news concerning to comforter down alternatives.