Next up is material. Read through the product description for Silentnight Soft Like Down Pillow to get an understanding of the materials the product is made from. Some materials will obviously be known for delivering better quality item than others. You might also have decided that you’ll only accept a product made from a particular material. For this test we worked our way through a constant rotation of new pillows, looking for those that helped us sleep better. The first thing we learned is that material is a key factor. Broadly speaking, there are five types that you need to know about: washable cotton, luxurious down, memory foam for support, modern microfibre and hybrids of two or more of those. See the FAQ at the bottom of this article for a full explanation of the pros and cons of each. We wouldn’t normally include the same brand twice, but Simba’s Stratos is sufficiently different from the Hybrid pillow at the top of this list to justify separate billing. It’s cheaper, for a start, but the main selling-point is the Stratos material used for the cover. Hybrid: A hybrid pillow combines multiple fill types, the most popular combination being foam and microfibre. This way, you get the benefit of a foam structure to support your head, and fluffy fibres for softness. The Silentnight Wellbeing Cool Touch Pillow is ideal for those who spend the night constantly flipping over their pillow for the cool side. It comes with pressure activated gel pads that absorb body heat to cool you down naturally as you sleep. How did I sleep?

Dust mites and other allergens can also accumulate in pillows if you neglect to wash and replace your pillows regularly. One study from the University of Manchester found that the average pillow that has been used for more than 18 months contains at least a million fungal spores. Did it have a cooling effect? You bet it did! The pillow felt cold all night long, as promised. However, as someone who tends to feel cold more than they feel hot - the continuous cooling sensation wasn’t always totally pleasant. I liked sleeping on this pillow far more than I thought I would based on first appearances alone, as it is flat and – to be frank – a bit odd looking. It is 60cm in length, so slightly shorter than the standard 70cm, which means it looks a little sad and small in my pillowcase. However, I rapidly changed my tune when I lay down on it. It is supremely supportive and comfortable once you lie down, and the hypoallergenic bamboo pillow cover is very soft to the touch. They seem to have dropped the astronaut talk, but they don’t really need it: Stratos works noticeably better than other summer pillows that rely on ‘cooling gels’, which we’ve never been convinced by. The fibre filling, made of recycled plastic bottles, is also remarkably soft, light and fluffy, making this a good choice for those who don’t get on with either foam or feathers – although it’s a bit too soft for those who need a lot of head-support. The next step was to try and narrow down our search even more. So we’ve already looked the prices of products in the Pillows category. Then we’ve also looked at the prices of products from Silentnight. So this step combines the two and looks specifically at the price you’d expect to pay for Silentnight branded products in the Pillows category.As for the pillow we are reviewing, the Silentnight Just Like Down pillow is a hypoallergenic, hollowfibre alternative to traditional down pillows. Silentnight have aimed to produce a similar, super soft feel too down while not using animal products. Using hollowfibre as fill material is extremely common in pillows but using it to recreate a down feel is a little different. A bonus of using hollowfibre within pillows is that they can be machine washed, keeping them smelling and feeling better for longer. The brand of product you buy can vary in importance, from person to person. Some people will of course be much more particular about the brands they will use. Whilst others aren’t interested in the brand and are more interested in the overall quality or price of the product itself. Thankfully Silentnight is a brand that many customers have grown to love over the years and is very popular for items in the Pillows category. For memory foam pillows, you should have to clean them less often anyway, as the material is naturally resistant to allergens and bacteria growth. But if you do spill something on one, just draw a bath, add some detergent and submerge the pillow, squeezing the water through it. Air dry or use a fan to speed up the process. Never use a heater to dry memory foam as it’s a serious fire hazard. What pillows do they use in five-star hotels? Another issue I encountered with testing other down pillows is a strong, musty smell that lingers long after first use. That didn’t apply to this one. I also noted that there is no sign of the feathers or down poking out through the tightly-woven cover.

Of the 90 products, we discovered that 50 were more expensive and 30 were cheaper than Silentnight Soft Like Down Pillow. Prices from Silentnight We found it just right straight out of the box, offering fairly firm support with a soft comfort layer on top. However, should you find it too high, you can unzip its cover and remove one of its three layers of memory foam.As you can imagine, pricing is one of the most important factors of any purchasing decision. We can find the perfect product for our needs, that fits the brief in every single way. But if it doesn’t fit our budgets, we simply can’t (or at least shouldn’t) buy it. While I adore nothing more than a peaceful slumber, I do tend to be a restless sleeper. I toss and turn, feel too hot then too cold, get all tangled in my duvet and never stop flipping over my pillow to get the cool side. So I was majorly looking forward to testing out the Silentnight Wellbeing Cool Touch Pillow.