- Fill type: organic buckwheat hulls
- Firmness level: very firm
- Sizes available: small (51 x 46cm) or standard (70 x 44cm)
- Free standard delivery in most of mainland UK
This one comes recommended by reader Hazel S, who wrote, “I’ve found buckwheat husk pillows to be excellent for neck pain and resulting headaches.” We had never actually heard of buckwheat pillows, so we quickly ordered one from Brow Farm in Ormskirk, which Hazel said was the better of two suppliers she’d tried.
While we waited for it to arrive, we did a bit of research. These ‘sobakawa’ have been used in Japan for centuries and are, essentially, a beanbag for your head, filled with the dry hulls of buckwheat seeds. The downside is that a very small number of people are allergic to buckwheat. The upside is that it’s one of the most supportive materials you can find: kind of like nature’s memory foam in that it molds to the shape of your head, neck and shoulders.
We had ordered the standard size, which was a little too thick on arrival, so we unzipped it to remove a few handfuls of hulls and added the dried lavender (a £12 extra). Since the pillow itself is made of hardwearing unbleached cotton, we put it in a soft outer pillowcase and settled down to sleep.
It’s not the most luxurious surface and the buckwheat makes an audible crunching as it moves around, but it only took a few seconds for the pillow to mould itself to exactly the right shape and height for a solid, supportive, pain-free night’s sleep.
As Hazel says, “It’s a slightly unusual feeling, but you soon get used to it and then very comfy. I have recommended them to several people who have also found that they have resolved their issues.”
We’d agree with that, with the slight proviso that these pillows are very heavy. The small one weighs 3.3kg and the standard one weighs 4.4kg: not the kind of thing you want to pack for your holiday, and not massively comfortable for sitting up in bed reading either.
But for high support, precisely moulded to your body, and at a very low price, this is a neat solution that we’re grateful to Hazel for pointing out.