My Cloudpillo Original review puts this relatively affordable adjustable pillow through its paces to see if it can really deliver a sleep surface that suits side, back, *and* side sleepers.
After testing, I think it's one of the best pillows you can buy if you want a multipurpose pillow that suits a range of sleepers – or if you just want a pillow you can tailor to your exact preferences. Here's why.
In a nutshell
As a mother of two children, I know from experience that not everyone likes the same pillow height and firmness. My youngest son loves a firm thick pillow, my eldest a thin soft one, and my husband and I are somewhere in between.
When it comes to how to choose the right pillow, height really does have such a huge impact on well how you sleep at night. Indeed, as someone who often hosts guests to stay over, I’ve had visitors tell me that they've had an awful night's sleep at our house before, due to the pillows! So when I learnt that the Cloudpillo Original is totally adjustable in height and firmness, I was intrigued.
The fact that it’s filled with shredded memory foam encased inside an inner cover means that you can remove handfuls of the filling to suit your personal preference. What a brilliant idea! Even better, is the fact that the filling is made from recycled memory foam, which the manufacturer tells me ‘are discards from high-quality memory foam mattresses that would otherwise be discarded and burnt.’
Another innovative idea is that the outer cover of the pillowcase features cooling fabric on one side, and a fluffier fabric designed for warmth and cosiness on the other.
All in all, its adaptability means I think this is a great pillow, and its £69.95 price point beats that of its competitors on the market, such as the adjustable Simba Hybrid Pillow that will set you back £109, or the similarly adaptable Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow at £89.
Cloudpillo Original pillow review
Specifications
- Best for: adjustable fill, so suitable for side, back, and front sleepers
- Materials: cover: polyester and cotton, inner: shredded memory foam
- Dimensions: 48 x 74cm
- Care instructions: the removable cover is machine-washable, the memory foam core can't be washed
- Manufacturer sleep trial: 100 night
Comfort
Because its shredded memory foam filling is adjustable, the Cloudpillo is designed to suit all pillow height and firmness preferences, so whether you're a side, back, or front sleeper, Cloudpillo says this is the pillow for you.
As such, I was keen to discover whether it would suit mine, my husband's, and my children’s needs, seeing as between us we seem to cover every pillow preference going!
I’m usually a side sleeper,and I prefer a medium level of firmness and a mid-height pillow. According to the manufacturer’s guidelines, a side-sleeper wanting a firm pillow should remove 0-2 handfuls of the shredded memory-foam filling, whilst one desiring a soft pillow should remove 4-6 handfuls.
I decided to give the pillow a try as it came to start with, and I found that it was a bit too firm for my preference, but the beauty was that I could easily remove a few handfuls (four to be exact, but I have small hands!) of the shredded memory-foam stuffing. It then felt perfect in terms of firmness and height.
I liked the way my head sank into the pillow a bit, so it wasn’t perched on top of it like some of the more rigid pillows I’ve slept on. But, at the same time, it offered a good level of support, meaning my head didn’t sink too far, and it kept my neck and spine in alignment.
One of my sons usually sleeps on a very firm, high pillow, which he loves, but I find more akin to a foam brick. However, when he too tested this pillow, he enjoyed the fact that the memory foam moulded to his head more and didn’t keep his head so high.
My other son, who usually sleeps on a very thin, soft pillow, also liked sleeping on it. Although he removed five more fistfuls of stuffing to get it to his preferred height.
Overall, in our house, this pillow was a winner with a lot of different sleepers with different needs and preferences.
Temperature regulation
Another of the Cloudpillo's unique selling points is the fact that its cover has a two-sided design. The blue side is made with Cloupillo's ‘signature Ice Silk’ fabric, which the brand says ‘keeps you cool even during hot summer nights.’ Whilst the ‘fluffy’ white side offers ‘ultimate warmth and comfort’, for when it’s colder.
I found the ‘fluffy’ side didn’t feel particularly fluffy, it’s just softer and less shiny than the other. But both felt comfortable next to my skin.
I decided to try sleeping on this pillow without a pillow case for maximum impact, and also because the texture of the 'Ice Silk' side feels really soft and silky to touch. I often overheat during the night, so I opted to sleep on the cool side first, and when the side of my face and neck rested against the pillow, it felt pleasantly cool, and I drifted off to sleep quickly.
I often wake up in the morning feeling hot and clammy, but when I slept on this pillow, I didn’t, which suggests it has good temperature regulation.
I tried the other side of the pillow too, but aside from a difference in the texture of the fabric, I didn’t notice much difference in the temperature. However, to caveat this, I did test the pillow during a particularly warm spell, which probably negated the need for the warming side!
Ease of care
This pillow comes in two cases, the inner case which holds the shredded memory foam and then the outer case with the cooling and warming fabrics on either side.
Whilst you can't wash the inner pillow, the outer cover is machine washable which means you can sleep on it without an additional pillow case if you want to in order to experience the maximum effect of the cooling fabric and texture.
I was impressed and how well it washed, and how quickly it dried too. It also retained its shape well after washing – something not all pillowcases do.
Another lovely touch which added bonus points for me was the fact that the pillow comes vacuum packed in a small box and you can keep this box to store the shredded memory-foam inners that you remove.
This said, I did find it quite messy removing handfuls of the memory-foam filling and was left with a bed covered in small crumbs of memory-foam!
Sleep trial
I found that with an adaptable pillow like this, it took a bit of time to establish exactly what felt best for my sleeping position and personal preference in terms of how much filling I left in or removed.
For this reason, the fact that Cloudpillo comes with a 100-night sleep trial is ideal. A sleep trial is something that is typically found when buying a new mattress, but many brands are now extending them to pillows, too. After all, it's only by actually sleeping on a pillow that you really discover how it impacts your sleep.
Based on my family's testing experiences, I suspect not many people will want to part with this pillow after their sleep trial!
Value for money
There aren't that many pillows on the market that have this level of adjustability. There's the Simba Hybrid Pillow, which costs £109, and the Aeyla Adjustable FOAMO Pillow, which costs £89.
In comparison, the Cloudpillow Original costs £69.95 at full price, and I've seen it reduced fairly regularly to around the £50 mark, which I think makes it very good value indeed.
If you're looking for a decent pillow for your guest bedroom, this pillow also offers a lot better value for money than trying to stock up on high, low, firm, and soft pillows to try and predict your guests' preferences!
How I tested
In order to test out this pillow, I slept on it for two weeks on my own bed to assess its comfort and temperature regulation. Plus, I loaned it to my two sons and my husband to see how it suited them. I also assessed its ease of care, any sleep trials available, and how it compares to similar products on the market to see if it offered good value for money.
