Buckwheat Pillows

Everyone is different. The first time I slept on a buckwheat hull pillow, it took me probably 15 - 20 minutes to fall asleep, and I was actually surprised by the slight rustling-crunching sound of the hulls against each other, but it still only took me minutes to fall asleep. I was never bothered by it, and didn’t notice it again. It’s still there if I actually listen for it, but seems to be much fainter.

On the other hand, since we’ve been selling them, we’ve had 1 person who returned their pillow because they couldn’t get used to it, although they didn’t specify why.

The biggest difference though, is that people are used to a relatively thick pillow filled with feathers or foam, both of which compress. Buckwheat hulls do not compress. Your head and neck snuggle down into it, and it provides support relatively evenly everywhere that it is in contact, whereas feathers and foam compress and then provide the most pressure where they have been compacted the most. This is how the buckwheat hull pillow really out performs the feathers and foam.

However, to maximize this benefit, you need to adjust the volume of hulls so that your head and neck are supported at their natural configuration. Again, everyone is different. Some of us have long, limber necks. Others have shorter, thicker necks. Again, buckwheat pillows have the advantage of being easily adjusted to conform by simply removing or adding hulls to suit your particular requirements. This is easily accommodated by the nylon zipper hidden in the end of the buckwheat pillow.

We have no reservations about refrigerating or freezing buckwheat hull pillows. Perhaps you want to have a cool pillow on a hot night, or maybe you suffer from a condition that could benefit from a cool pillow.

If your doctor or therapist recommends cold therapy to help with pain, swelling, or other conditions, you can simply put your buckwheat pillow in a refrigerator or freezer until it is cool enough for your purpose. If you forget and let it in longer than you had intended, there is no harm done. Cooling or freezing the buckwheat hulls will not harm them in any way.

They will retain their coolness for a considerable period of time, depending on how warm the room temperature is, the size and volume of the pillow, and how thoroughly it was cooled.

If your air conditioner goes on the blink, it would be helpful if you had a buckwheat pillow cooling in the freezer.

This is a frequently asked question, and there is not a clear cut answer. There are both pros and cons to heating buckwheat pillows.

A buckwheat pillow can be heated and used similarly to the way you would use an ordinary heating pad, except, of course, that the buckwheat pillow will eventually cool. That can be an advantage, as you don’t run the risk of falling asleep and letting the heating pad heat longer, and perhaps hotter, than you intended.

Then there are the safety concerns. We do not recomend ever heating one in a regular oven. If you use a microwave oven, only heat for a few seconds before checking the warmth, because buckwheat hulls heat very quickly in a microwave oven, and the heating speed varies so greatly from one microwave to another, that the question of safety should be obvious.

Also, the heating will quickly remove the natural moisture and oils from the hulls, and we believe that this will substantially shorten the life of the hulls. Our opinion is, that while there can be benefits from using a heated buckwheat hull pillow, we can not recomend it.

A sachet is, according to Wikipedia, a small disposable bag often used to contain single-use quantities of consumer goods, such as ketchup, or shampoo. A sachet can also be a fabric bag containing potpourri, or in culinary use, herbs and spices used to infuse flavors into stocks.

It is the one containing potpourri, or aromatherapy herbs, that we are interested in. A small bag made of a cheesecloth-like material, coarse enoug to permit air to flow through, but fine enough to prevent crushed or chopped aromatic herbs from falling through, has many uses in the bed and bath area, or even other areas of the home.

Aromatherapy sachets can be placed in pillows, in clothing drawers, hung in closets, or anywhere you’d like a fresh scent. They are especially effective in pillows, particularly if a soothing, sleep inducing herb such as lavender or camomile (chamomile) is used. Care needs to be taken, however, that the person using the pillow is not sensitive to the herb being used, as there is a very small percentage of people who can be allergic to one of these.  Used in this way, they can be very helpful in inducing sleep. The buckwheat pillows lend themselves particularly well to this method of promoting sleep because of their propensity to allow air to circulate through the pillow, thus providing the availability of the sleep inducing aroma. Movement of the head upon the pillow, or rearrangement of it when making the bed, disturbs the leaves and petals, thus releasing additional fresh aroma.