A mid-loft cotton batting pillow for side sleepers with an average frame
If you sleep on your side with average or narrow shoulders, the cotton pillow that fits you is a batting pillow of middle height that keeps the shape it arrives in.
Updated .
In short: Choose cotton batting about 4 inches high, around 2 pounds in a standard size, sewn closed, with a percale cover if you sleep warm.
The specification
| Part | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Fill form | Cotton batting, meaning layered sheets of cotton rather than shredded or loose fill |
| Loft | About 4 inches. One seller's regular fill, sold for side and back sleepers, is approximately 4" thick (seller specification) |
| Fill weight | About 2 pounds for a standard 20 x 26 inch pillow, the amount one seller puts in its standard size (seller specification). Another fills each pillow with at least two pounds of cotton batting (seller specification) |
| Cover weave | Percale for a sleeper who runs warm. It is a simple one-yarn-over, one-yarn-under plain weave (textile source). A cool sleeper can choose the cover by feel alone |
| Can it be adjusted | No. A pillow that stays as it comes is sewn closed and cannot be topped up |
Figures come from sellers' published specifications and the textile sources cited on this site. No pillow was weighed or tested for this page.
Where your answers lead in cotton
Side sleeping needs more height than any other position, because the pillow has to fill the gap between the mattress and the ear. That gap depends on the sleeper's shoulders and on how far the body sinks into the bed. In one study, 9 healthy subjects lay on their side on pillows at four heights (8, 10, 12 and 14 cm), and the curve of the neck was well predicted by a height worked out from each person's shoulder width (Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing). In the same study, a medium individualized height of 9.74 to 11.76 cm with neck support gave the neck curve closest to natural standing (Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing). So the frame sets the starting point. Average shoulders sit in the middle of the range, and narrow shoulders lower it a little. Broad shoulders on a soft mattress end up in the middle too, because the body sinks far enough to close part of the gap.
Not wanting to open the pillow to add or remove fill points to batting, because it holds a set shape. For a warm sleeper, the tight structure of percale creates thousands of tiny gaps for air to move through (textile source). The guide to what goes inside an organic cotton pillow sets out the forms cotton fill comes in.
What would change the cotton fill
Broad shoulders on a firm mattress move a sleeper out of this result, because the body stays high and the pillow has to cover the whole distance. A current pillow that already sits too high, or a night spent changing position, points instead to a zipped pillow with shredded fill that can be taken out or pushed to one end. The comparison of batting and shredded fill over time shows how each one changes.
Time changes batting too. One seller states that cotton batting can condense over time to about half of its original volume (seller page), and a sewn-closed pillow offers no way to add fill back. Read why cotton pillows flatten before settling on a closed one.
Washing can also overturn this result. A maker of cotton goods says most cotton pillow inserts are not machine washable and that soaked fibers can clump (care page). After tumble drying, the inside fill may need extra time to dry even when the cover feels dry (Sleep Foundation). Anyone who needs to put the whole pillow in the machine should read what happens when you wash a cotton pillow first.
Checking the fill on your own pillow
Lie on your side on your own mattress and ask someone to look at you from the foot of the bed. Your nose, chin and breastbone should form one straight line. A head that drops toward the mattress means the pillow is too low, and a head that tips up means it is too high. Hold the position for a few minutes first, because batting gives a little under the weight of a head.
Then put your current pillow on a kitchen scale and compare it with the weight in the table. A standard pillow well under that will probably sit lower once your head rests on it. The guide to how much a cotton pillow should weigh gives figures for queen and king sizes too.
Finally, read the label. A tag that says "cotton fill" without saying "batting" may mean shredded fill, and an organic mark may apply to the cover alone. The guide to GOTS labels on pillows explains how to tell whether the Global Organic Textile Standard reaches the fill.
Other cotton pillow pages
- How do batting and shredded cotton fill change between night one and night three hundred?
- How much should a cotton pillow weigh, by size?
- Can you wash a cotton pillow, and what happens if you do?
Back to match a cotton pillow to how you sleep
Sources
The cotton spec sheet's outside references, one line apiece, tagged with the section that cites them.
- seller specification (naturallinens.com), cited under “The specification”.
- seller specification (ceceswool.com), cited under “The specification”; “What would change the cotton fill”.
- textile source (moresewing.co.uk), cited under “The specification”; “Where your answers lead in cotton”.
- Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing (link.springer.com), cited under “Where your answers lead in cotton”.
- care page (vincentmfg.com), cited under “What would change the cotton fill”.
- Sleep Foundation (sleepfoundation.org), cited under “What would change the cotton fill”.