Buckwheat pillows, also known as Sobakawa in their native Japan, are traditional Japanese pillows that have been used for centuries in the East but are finally making their way to other countries and generating a lot of interest. Made with buckwheat hulls, these pillows are able to offer a lot of advantages over traditional pillows. They can provide stronger, contouring support, reducing tension and strain in the muscles, boosting spinal alignment, reducing snoring, and giving you a better night’s rest overall.
This list and buying guide will focus on the best buckwheat pillow options you might like to consider, including pillows such as our Editor’s Choice, the Hullo Buckwheat Pillow. In order to identify and highlight the best buckwheat pillows, we considered several key factors including their size, weight, the material used to make their covers, and any extra features they claimed to provide. All of these aspects need to be taken into account when buying buckwheat pillows in order to choose the best one for you.
For the purposes of this buying guide, we looked at a lot of different user and critical opinions, closely studying the best buckwheat pillow reviews in order to find the top models to recommend to you. Below, you’ll find a simple comparison table with the names and ratings of our chosen buckwheat pillows. After that, you can read more detailed reviews of each of these pillows, complete with specifications and feature lists. Finally, you’ll find a buying guide and FAQ section with more information on how to choose the best buckwheat pillow for you.
Extra features: adjustable loft; made in the USA
Our number one pick for the best buckwheat pillow is most definitely the Hullo Buckwheat Pillow. One of the most eco-friendly options in the pillow world right now, this buckwheat pillow is made with a 100% organic twill cover and the finest pillow-grade buckwheat hulls that are all grown and milled in the USA. So if you care about the environment and like to make use of organic and eco-friendly products whenever possible, this is a big winner.
The Hullo Buckwheat Pillow is also exceptionally comfortable. It offers premium levels of support and contouring care for your muscles and has been proven to reduce snoring and eliminate migraines for many users. It features a highly breathable cover too, and one of the best advantages of this buckwheat pillow is just how cool it stays all through the night, so you never have to worry about waking up and feeling a hot and sticky pillow beneath your head. It’s good for all kinds of sleepers too, nicely adapting to suit various sleeping styles and positions.
A unique feature of this buckwheat pillow is its hidden zipper that allows you to adjust the loft as desired to meet your needs, and this just makes the Hullo Buckwheat Pillow even more flexible and enjoyable to use. It’s a great pillow no matter how you look at it, and the only minor flaw we could find is its high price tag. However, the quality of this pillow goes a long way to justifying its cost.
Extra features: made in the USA from organically-grown buckwheat and natural unbleached cotton
The heaviest pillow on our list, the Beans72 Organic Buckwheat Pillow definitely feels quite big and hefty when you first get a hold of it. This means it can take a little getting used to, especially if you’re switching from a standard pillow or a much lighter buckwheat pillow. However, once you’ve spent a couple of nights on this pillow, you’ll start to see all it has to offer and realize how effective it can be.
Out of all the buckwheat pillows on our list today, the Beans72 Organic Buckwheat Pillow arguably offers the strongest levels of support. Packed full of buckwheat hulls, this pillow can reduce snoring, make migraines disappear, and help out with spinal alignment, neck pain, sleeping difficulties, and many other common issues people face when trying to get a good night’s rest. It offers extraordinary levels of support and serves as an amazing example of what buckwheat pillows are capable of.
This buckwheat pillow also comes in a good range of sizes to suit all beds and sleepers, and it works well for all kinds of sleepers too, thanks to its strong levels of support. As a nice bonus, the buckwheat hulls used in this pillow are 100% organic, so it’s a very eco-friendly option as well. The only downside, apart from the weight of this pillow, is that it can have quite a strong odor for the first few weeks. This is common of many buckwheat pillows, however, and the smell will fade away within the first month of use.
Extra features: organic buckwheat hull fill; hidden side zipper for adjusting height; extra 1 lb. of hulls included; hulls treated at high temperature
The USlixury Organic Buckwheat Pillow works on the same principle as the rest of our picks: a hull fill that holds its shape under your head instead of flattening out halfway through the night. A hidden side zipper lets you add or take out hulls, and the extra pound of organic buckwheat hulls that comes in the box means you can build the loft up rather than go hunting for more fill later, which is the part most people get wrong with their first buckwheat pillow.
The shell is unbleached organic cotton, soft enough to sleep against directly, and a second organic cotton pillowcase is included so you can strip it off and machine wash it without taking the pillow apart. Four sizes are offered, from the 14 x 20 inch standard up to a 20 x 26 inch body pillow, and the smaller the pillow the firmer it feels, so the standard size is the one to pick if precise neck support is what you are after.
Extra features: height adjustable, made in Japan
Next up on our list of the best buckwheat pillows is a model that comes to us from Japan, the home of the buckwheat pillow. It is stuffed with buckwheat husks that breathe and draw moisture away as you sleep, so it stays cool rather than trapping heat under your head, which makes it a good match for warm summer nights.
The height is adjustable, so you can set the loft to suit your neck and your usual sleeping position. EMOOR puts the life of the husk fill at six months to a year, and no cover fabric or standard size is given for it, so measure the pillow before you order extra cases.
Extra features: comes in different colors; removable and washable outer cover
Our Budget Pick for this list of best buckwheat pillows is the JOERRES Buckwheat Pillow. A very interesting and affordable pillow for people in need of extra support, this model is formed in a long, narrow, slender shape, so it’s a bit different to some of the larger and chunkier pillows we’ve seen above. It’s also the most lightweight option on our list.
The unique shape and form of this buckwheat pillow offers both advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, the pillow’s form factor gives it more flexibility for use under the neck or even beneath or between the knees for spinal alignment. On the other hand, the narrow style of this pillow makes it harder to fit comfortably under the head, and the coarse, denim cover isn’t particularly soft or smooth on the skin either. However, the cover is very breathable and comes in a great range of color options.
Another big advantage of the JOERRES Buckwheat Pillow is that it features both an outer cover and an inner cover. The inner cover keeps the buckwheat hulls in place at all times, while the outer cover can be washed and changed with ease. This is a great feature as some buckwheat pillows can be very awkward to clean and change. All in all, despite a few little drawbacks, including a noticeable odor for the first couple of weeks, this affordable buckwheat pillow is a fine choice.
Extra features: adjustable fill through a zippered inner compartment; carry handle
The Retrospec Sedona Buckwheat Meditation Cushion closes out our list, and it is the one to look at if you want buckwheat support for sitting rather than sleeping. The hulls hold their shape under your weight, so your hips stay lifted and your spine stays stacked through a long session.
The inner compartment unzips so you can add or remove hulls until the firmness suits you, and the 100% cotton cover is machine washable. A sturdy handle makes it easy to carry between rooms, and the low price makes it a painless addition to a bedroom or a practice space.
Now that we’ve seen some examples of the best buckwheat pillows for you, it’s time to take a look at the various factors and aspects you need to consider when actually shopping for a buckwheat pillow and choosing a model that works for you. There are quite a lot of things to think about, including the size, cost, weight, and features of your chosen pillow, and some models will be much better-suited for certain individuals than others.
So why are so many people choosing to switch to buckwheat pillows from standard pillows? Well, there are many advantages to consider:
As stated above, there are several different features to think about when shopping for your next buckwheat pillow. The size, price, and weight of the pillow are two obvious factors to consider, but you’ll also want to look into the materials being used, how adjustable the pillow is, and what kind of cover it uses, as well as any other extra features it might have.
When shopping for most pillows, you don’t need to worry too much about the size options as you can usually find standard sizes to suit whatever kind of bed you have. Many buckwheat pillows come from Japan, however, so the sizes aren’t quite the same, as seen with the Sobakawa Traditional Buckwheat Pillow. Fortunately, many American brands are making buckwheat pillows too and offer a good range of sizes, with the Beans72 Organic Buckwheat Pillow being a good example. You can also find specialized buckwheat pillows made in unique shapes and sizes like the Retrospec Sedona Meditation Cushion.
The buckwheat hulls are the key ingredient in any buckwheat pillow, but hulls come in different levels of quality, and you really can tell the difference when low quality hulls are used compared to the stronger hulls seen in something like the Hullo Buckwheat Pillow. You’ll need to look into where the hulls are produced and how the buckwheat was grown. Many quality buckwheat pillows, like the USlixury Organic Buckwheat Pillow, use organic buckwheat.
Good quality buckwheat pillows will often allow you to adjust the loft in order to get the pillow in just the right shape to suit your sleeping style and needs. The Hullo Buckwheat Pillow is one example of a buckwheat pillow offering this feature.
When you first lift a buckwheat pillow, you’ll notice it’s a lot heavier than a regular pillow, and this is something to bear in mind. Heavier pillows, like the Beans72 Organic Buckwheat Pillow, for example, are typically filled with more hulls and offer extra support, but they’re a bit less practical to carry around or take on a trip.
The covers of buckwheat pillows are a big factor to consider and a lot of different styles of cover can be used. The JOERRES Pillow, for example, features quite a coarse, denim cover, while the USlixury Organic Buckwheat Pillow comes with a soft, unbleached organic cotton cover. Think about what kind of material you like the most on your skin, and also look into how easy the cover is to remove and clean, as well as whether or not it’s hypoallergenic.
Overall, the Hullo Buckwheat Pillow was our number one pick and Editor’s Choice for this list. It comes at a high price but offers the firmness, support, and comfort that so many sleepers crave, making it one of the best quality buckwheat pillows money can buy.
Next came the Beans72 Organic Buckwheat Pillow. A heavy pillow filled with organic buckwheat hulls and available in several different sizes, this strong buckwheat pillow is a good option for those who struggle with aches, pains, snoring, and other issues.
Finally, our third favorite option on the list of best buckwheat pillows was the USlixury Organic Buckwheat Pillow. With its soft organic cotton cover and organic buckwheat hulls, this pillow offers excellent levels of comfort and sleeping satisfaction to the user.
Find TalkAboutSleep first in Google Search.
