Pillows can be made with wool, silk, buckwheat, bamboo, latex and other materials, but in the UK the vast majority of pillows are either synthetic, or down / feather. The four most popular pillow fillings are:

• Polyester, Hollowfibre pillows

   

  – General purpose, good all-rounder synthetic pillow

• Down pillows

   

  – Made from very fluffy under-feathers, super soft but can be expensive

• Feather pillows

   

  – Made from feathers (duh!), fairly soft and supportive but can be noisy and spiky

• Memory foam pillows

   

  – Made from Nasa thermo and pressure-reactive foam, very supportive, like Marmite: some people love them, some people hate them

We’ve put together this pillow comparison chart to enable you to compare the differences between the main types of pillow.
Once you’ve decided on what sort of pillow is for you, take a look at our reviews of the best pillows to find your ideal pillow.

Pillow comparison chart