Coop Home Goods Adjustable Loft Bamboo Cooling Pillow Review

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Your sleep comfort is an important part of your overall health. Uninterrupted, comforting sleep helps support a healthy you- both physically and mentally. When you wake due to personal comfort issues, such as sleeping too hot, it doesn’t take long until these interruptions begin to play havoc with your everyday responsibilities.

People who have their sleep interrupted by high temperatures often search fruitlessly for a cooler night’s sleep. Many variables play into why constitutes sleeping too hot, including personal sleep habits, and many products can help to alleviate this discomfort.

Pillows are an important part of your overall sleep comfort, and many companies make the claim they can help you achieve this. The Coop Homegoods Bamboo Cooling Pillow is one such product that promises a cooler sleep experience, and The Sleep Judge Team has purchased one to test these claims out. Below you can find our honest opinion of this particular sleep trial.

Breakdown of the Coop Home Goods Bamboo Cooling Pillow

The Coop Home Goods Company prides themselves in their specialty pillow, and other sleep industry products. Their popular line of pillows are made with a shredded memory foam that can adjust to your sleep style, and keep your sleeping cool and correctly aligned.

The bamboo derived cover provides a breathable surface for less heat retention, and is designed to help provide the most comfortable contouring for your head possible. Plus, the company is particularly concerned with cervical spinal alignment to help keep your back properly positioned while you sleep.

This attention to detail is what has created a comfortable, adjustable, and cool sleep comfort for your head and neck. Due to how well this pillow transitions to meet your personal sleep needs and preferences, it is worth taking a closer look at.

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Unpacking

The Coop Home Goods Adjustable Loft Bamboo Cooling Pillow comes vacuum packed in plastic and tightly folded. When opened it seems incredibly flat and compressed, but it shortly begins to inflate, and with a little plumping quickly gains loft and softness.

I plumped it up by shaking it out and then pushing in the sides. It only took a matter of seconds before it decompressed and became a plush, contouring full sized pillow.

Cooling Benefits

This particular pillow has a large variety of claims, the most popular being how well it adjusts to varying lofts, followed by how cool it sleeps. These claims of coolness are based upon quite a list of variables, which I’ll explain below.

Fabric Choices

Fabric cannot actually generate a cooling effect, but it can be made from materials that help wick away moisture and dissipate heat to provide a cooling effect through increased air flow. If you sleep ‘hot’, a common complaint in the sleep industry, it is most likely due to a variety of factors, many of which are within your control.

To start, when you get too warm during the night, it is due to your body heat being trapped closer to your body- unable to dissipate. What you wear, your room temperatures, and the choices of mattress and pillow materials, as well as the fabrics and weaves of your sheets, can all contribute to the feeling of being too warm.

Natural fiber fabrics, such as cotton and bamboo, provide good breathability. But the tighter the weave, the less this occurs as heat escapes at a much lower rate through the smaller spaces left within the weave. Getting a cooler night’s sleep begins with your fabric choices, and choosing a lower thread count concerning your sheets and pillow cases can help you better take advantage of the constructions of mattresses and pillows that claim they contain cooling properties.

Cooling Bamboo Pillow Claims

This pillow claims a breathable pillow construction through the use of shredded memory foam to provide plenty of air pockets for air movement, as well as a well made, quilted cover that supports the same air flow quality through the use of natural fibers.

What these cooling properties actually entail are the uses of low thread count natural fibers, as well as other materials that do not retain heat or naturally allow temperature fluctuations. So when your body generates heat, it is allowed to draw away from the body and dissipate, rather than being trapped near your body- causing you to feel too hot.

As a sleeper who rarely heats up, I put this particular pillow through a few different tests, including turning the AC off on a particularly warm, desert night. I also shared my experience with a ‘hot’ sleeper in order to get a better assessment of overall comfort in accordance with the company’s claims. My results are found below.

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Features and Benefits

This pillow also makes many claims surrounding overall comfort. The overall construction and materials have created a pretty unique pillow for all sleep types to take advantage of and the features and benefits are described below.

Sizes

This pillow is available in standard, queen, and king size pillows depending on your needs. At 20×26, 20×30, and 20×36 (respectfully), this pillow has the correct acceptable measurements within the sleep industry compared to other shredded memory foam pillows that measure much smaller.

Popular sizes include standard and queen sizes depending on your bed size. King sized pillows are a good choice for larger and wider bodies to help accommodate shoulder width, but may not be the best choice for smaller people. These larger pillows provide the extra support often needed larger, and taller people, but may not force smaller heads towards the edges of the pillow- which is not supportive of the cervical spine.

I tested a queen sized pillow and might have been better off with a standard size due to this fact. However, since the pillow IS adjustable, i was able to get it to a comfort level I desired in each sleeping position without feeling that I was sacrificing any neck or head support.

Shredded Memory Foam Filling

Shredded memory foam is just that, cut up bits and pieces of visco-elastic memory foam that is supposed to provide a supportive contouring without the deep sink, or the wait many other solid memory foams surfaces have to soften and mold to your shape due to body heat. Many claims say that this is the best filling for your head as it is often adjustable, meaning you can take out, or add for comfort, it supports weight without compressing too much, it breathes due to the air pockets left between the individual pieces, and it isn’t like a polyfill that often flattens without support.

As mentioned, this pillow comes compressed and folded in a vacuum sealed pouch. But it very quickly fluffed up once I took it out of the package, and my end result was a very high loft pillow. When compressed by my hand, body, and head it always returned back to shape rather quickly.

The other benefit of this type of filling allows you to redistribute material to wear you need it. You can remove come filling and fold over part of the pillow, or shove the filling onto one side depending on your needs (for example if you want a more ‘rolled’ pillow for beneath your neck). I played with this and found that redistribution was near impossible with a full pillow and to do that effectively I did have to remove about half the filling. Then I was easily able to manipulate and shape the pillow to my specifications.

Adjustable Loft

I keep bringing up the removable filling in order to adjust the loft to your sleeping position and preferences. This is a great selling point because the filling is easily removable to fit just about any body type in any position. Back sleepers needs a flatter, firmer support for head and neck cushioning, whereas stomach sleepers need an almost flat surface that provides just a slight cushioning to keep pressure point on the head from occurring. Side sleepers need a well contouring place to lay their head that also allows a redistribution of filling to properly keep the neck in spinal alignment.

The choice of loft is important for your sleep position to keep your back correctly aligned with your neck and head. When added lift, or poor support occurs due to pillow choice, it results in strained soft tissues throughout your back and can even exasperate any spinal issues you may have.

When fully fluffed, the loft of the pillow is 8 inches. It never settled any and stayed consistent in height, providing excellent support to the claims that the shredded memory foam keeps it shape after applied pressure. At full loft I found the pillow to be best used for side sleeping, it was good for my smaller body size, but I could have easily removed some filling and gotten similar results.

I removed about a third of the material for back sleeping due to my lighter weight and body shape, and about a half to three-quarters for stomach sleeping. In each position I found my head to be well supported when the filling was adjusted to my liking. It may take a few tries to get it just right, but it was worth the easy effort to find a comfortable position.

As with many shredded memory foam pillows, a few complaints arise surrounding a lumpy feel. I could not feel the filling at all when in use, and even when I pressed with my hand truly couldn’t discern the shredded foam through the layer of coverings. To me, the claims of lumpiness are unsubstantiated.

Breathable, Removable Cover

The top cover is completely removable without fear of losing any of your filling. This quilted, soft, 40% bamboo and 60% polyester covering can be used as a stand alone pillowcase as it is completely machine washable and dryable. Bamboo is a natural fiber that is also highly porous, as well as naturally hypoallergenic and dust mite repellant. This allows for good airflow, plus has moisture wicking properties to help keep body sweat and oils away from your body.

I really liked the feel of this cover as the quilting helped the pillow keep its overall shape, plus it was very soft against the skin when I tested it out without a pillowcase. It is a smooth material that feels cool as well, and it is obvious that it is a thin enough material to keep from holding onto heat too easily. It removes easily enough with a zipper that is sewn flush against the material with a double stitched seam for durability.

Inner Casing

The inner casing also boasts a lay flat zipper and double stitched seam, and easily unzips for the removal or addition of shredded memory foam. It has a smooth, soft feel to it, and also seems to be of a loose enough weave for good breathability.

Although I couldn’t really find much info on the exact material blend of this case, I would assume it is of a similar construction as the outer casing. Since the claims of this pillow surround its cooler night’s sleep, I figure it is also very breathable since the entire pillow is machine washable and there seems to be no fear of material breakdown due to moisture.

Machine Washable

Unlike many other foam constructed pillows, this pillow is entirely machine washable. Many memory foams can begin to break down over time with the addition of moisture, but this one claims to be more than durable.

I had to put this to the test, and believed, at the very least, it wouldn’t fluff back up as high after being washed. I was wrong. It fluffed back up just fine to its maximum loft. It’s yet to been seen if this hold true over time, but for now I give this aspect two thumbs up.

30 Day Guarantee

Due to the personal use of a pillow, many don’t have a sleep trial. This pillow does however, and if you cannot find a comfortable adjustment within 30 days you can return it, hassle free. This is a pretty decent selling point as like most sleep industry products, you often make a small investment in both money and anticipation of a better night’s sleep.

Consumer Reviews

As a fully adjustable pillow, it really does have an overwhelming positive response. As my experiences show, it’s difficult NOT to find a comfort level that works for you, and most consumers praise its versatility as well how well keeps it’s loft and overall shape.

Negative comments surrounded it being lumpy, or hard to shape. All of which I had no difficulty with.

My Cooling Sleep Trial Experiences

It is VERY important to mention here that no matter how many claims are made about the ‘cooling’ experience a product provides, many of the variables that go into your personal experience are under your control. One of the most important being what type of fabric and thread count choices you make concerning the layer between you and the product.

In this case we are talking about pillowcases, and although the pillow does have a removable, washable cover – to keep everything well protected and clean I did use my own pillowcase. This is where many people error concerning the cooling properties of many materials. If you cover your pillow with a tightly woven fabric, such as with a thread count of 400 and higher, no matter what kind of fabric that is used you will have less air flow. Certain materials also breathe less than others. Natural fibers, such as cotton and bamboo naturally breath, but synthetics and synthetic blends may not breathe as well.

My Trial Room Temperatures Variables|

I do not usually sleep hot, and even if I find myself uncomfortably warm, rarely wake up sweating. For this trial I wanted to create both a typical sleep temperature control, as well as a warmer environment than what I am used to. Normally my room is about 72 degrees that I control with the use of the AC, as well as a ceiling fan, or open windows if the temperatures outside have cooled off. For this trial I slept both with my room at what I am used to, and also kept the AC off in my house for a day (I live in Southeastern New Mexico) during the summer to heat up my house. Nights do cool off significantly, but I did record about an 84 degree room when I went to bed, which wasn’t horribly uncomfortable as long as I was at relative rest and not exerting myself.

My Trial Thread Count Variable

Since my sleep trial surrounds the cooling claims of the pillow, I used both a low thread count cotton pillowcase (a 250 thread-count to be exact), and a high thread count microfiber cotton/poly blend pillowcase (700 thread-count) in order to determine the overall air flow this particular pillow construction suggests. First I slept with the low thread count cotton case to get the initial full ‘effect’ the pillow claims, and then used the microfiber pillowcase to see if there was any difference.

Results

First off, I want to note that this is a VERY comfortable pillow for any sleep position. The loft is ideal for side sleepers, and the adjustability easily changes support for both stomach and side sleepers. It is fairly firm when the full amount of foam is within, and it does soften as you take foam out.

For my trials I slept on my side with the full foam filling within to see if the higher loft, and higher amount of material would retain heat at any given time.

• 72 Degrees/Cotton Casing
  I slept great with a light cotton sheet and cotton pillowcase. In fact, I’m not sure I moved at all through the night. I was definitely comfortable and never noticed any sort of heat entrapment if it ever occurred.

Result: Comfortable pillow and no body heat retention noticeable.

• Hot Room/Cotton Casing
  I couldn’t sleep comfortable at all in this warm of a room, but it was simply due to air temperature, and not at all due to any sort of heat retention around my head or body. I woke a few times in the night and finally turned the overhead fan on for a bit of relief, but never at any time did I notice that I had been sweating or felt stifled by the pillow my head was resting upon.

Result: The pillow did not seem to be retaining any sort of body heat despite the warmer atmosphere. It stayed a comforting choice through the warm night.

• Hot Room/Microfiber Casing
  I’m going to admit that this didn’t last but about one hour of tossing and turning as I attempted to get to sleep. I felt stifled by the air in the room and also felt as if every breath I exhaled shot heat right back to me. The temperature in the room was actually a few degrees cooler than my cotton casing trial, and yet I felt as if I was resting my head on flannel despite it being a very soft microfiber case.

Result: The pillowcase in this trial was definitely an issue, and my results indicate that the pillow does have good airflow due to my prior results, but your thread count and material choice definitely is going to make a difference and keep you from reaping the benefits of body heat dissipation.

My Opinion

I actually slept multiple nights with the pillow other than just within my controlled environments, and pretty much came up with the same results no matter what I did. My opinion is of such that this pillow has very good airflow qualities for a person who doesn’t warm too easily. My discomfort only aroused when I had a pillowcase of exceptionally tight fabric weave, so it seems the claims made by this company concerning the pillow are at least true for my scenarios.

Second Opinion

Of course I have to get a second opinion since not everyone is the same body shape as me, or sleeps without generating extra heat. I sought out a friend to help me with this trial and asked them to just go ahead and sleep with the pillow ( I did supply a low thread count cotton casing and microfiber to see if he noticed the difference).

This sleeper is an average male who complains often how hot he sleeps, even with an AC temperature in the 60’s with a fan blowing because he regularly wakes sweating from his head. I sent him home with the pillow and asked him to at least keep his fan off during the nights he tried the pillow out to see if it made any difference.

His results concerning comfort (he is a side sleeper) were the same as mine, and he was impressed with his overall sleep quality. He assured me the fan did stay off, and that although he did wake warm a few time each night, he didn’t feel as if any heat retention was occurring only around or at his head level, but rather was more due to his natural tendency to sleep hot. When I traded out pillowcases for the microfiber, he said he couldn’t even get to sleep as he felt too warm.

Result: Comfortable sleep with good pillow breathability with the correct pillowcase choice. Hot sleepers may not be comfortable due to this pillow, but won’t be more uncomfortable because of it.

Conclusion

Even though this pillow doesn’t incorporate any sort of gel or padding that is unable to hold heat of any kind, the combination of natural fibers, the fabric weave, and the air pockets created by the shredded memory foam allow for plenty of breathability and the effective dissipation of body heat. Hot sleepers may find there are better choices for them on the market, but this is certainly one of our top picks for an overall cooler night’s sleep.

This is a decent, comfortable choice for any sleeper, but you do need to be aware that as you take out filling the firmness level drops off significantly. If you are a back sleeper and want more than a soft support, this may not be the best pillow for you. You also will experience a deeper sink the lower your loft is, and the material does come up around your head a bit.

If you have been on the hunt for a proper pillow that reduces heat retention and helps keep a heat sink from occurring, then the Coop Home Goods Adjustable Bamboo Cooling Pillow may be just the pillow you have been looking for. The 30 day sleep trial guarantees that you have a risk free experience, and the adjustable loft to any sleep style is a great selling point as well.

I was happy with my experience and am excited to see if it will keep its overall loft and shape over time. The fact that it survived my washing machine test proves it is a fairly durable product, and should stick around for the average pillow life expectancy, at least.

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