Buckwheat Pillows

No pillow is more economical over time than a quality buckwheat hull pillow. There are two primary reasons for this. First, a quality buckwheat pillow costs about the same as a comparable conventional pillow. Secondly, the life of a quality buckwheat pillow is far, far longer than that of a conventional pillow.

The reason for this is not that the buckwheat pillow is actually physically made that much more long lasting, but in the ugly reality of dust mite infestations. Dust mites (You really need to see a picture of these disgusting creatures taken through a microscope) build up by the millions in conventional pillows (Not so in buckwheat hull pillows). They live on dead skin cells that fluff off your face as you sleep.

They can cause all kinds of allergic reactions as well as respiratory ailments and chronic sorts of infections. From a health and hygienic standpoint, it is recommended that a conventional pillow be replaced every six months. There are some manufacturers of conventional pillows as well as mattresses and other bedding, that attempt to solve this problem by treating their products with pesticidal chemicals. This is not an ideal answer to the problem, as the chemicals may  prove to be a more serious problem than the dust mite infestation. Buckwheat hulls, on the other hand, do not support dust mites, and the covers are easily washed.

So your choice is very obvious. You can either choose a pillow that really should be replaced every six months, or buy a much more comfortable buckwheat pillow that will provide healthy sleep for at least fifteen years for the same initial cost. You do the math.

It’s funny how things work out. I just wrote a post about combining the new mattress technologies with the ancient technologies of buckwheat hull pillows. I was visiting my good friend George, and he decided to give our mutual good friend Pete, a call. Pete and I hunt with George at Georg’s hunting camp.

Of course I always take my own special buckwheat pillow with me to camp, even though there are lots of pillows there. Pete was curious as to why I always lugged my old pillow along up there, so I told him all about the virtues of buckwheat pillows.

Of course he wanted to try it. After making a great show of the misery I would endure without my buckwheat pillow (I actually wasn’t exaggerating), I reluctantly allowed him to use it - just for one night. Well, he didn’t want to give it back.

Being the conniving sort that I am, I discovered that I “just happened to have a new one along with me”. Well, he whipped out his wallet, paid for his new buckwheat pillow, and I got my 15 or so year old pillow back from him.

This brings us up to the phone call I started with. This was the first time I talked to him since he bought his buckwheat pillow.

He thanked me profusely for having brought that pillow along to deer camp and selling it to him, because he had one of those new fangled sleep number air mattresses, and he said that his new buckwheat pillow was the perfect match for his mattress. He told me he’s telling everybody he knows about his buckwheat pillow. He provided me with the perfect example of the old technology enhancing so well the new modern technology. Ya gotta try these things!

Buckwheat hull pillows were in use from two to three thousand years ago, and now they’re making a comeback. The newest technologies in sleeping are the air chamber mattresses where you can dial in your preferred “sleep number” which signifies the firmness you prefer at any given time, and the “memory foam” type mattress which uses your body heat to make the mattress conform to the shape of your body.

These new technologies work great for the mattresses, but not so great for the pillows, although they’re trying. The requirements and purposes of pillows are different than those for mattresses, and I believe a buckwheat pillow makes the perfect companion to the new technologies used in modern mattresses.

I think it’s really neat when you can combine the technicalities of civilizations thousands of years apart to accomplish the ultimate in sleeping comfort.