Welcome to Retail Therapy by Prevention! In this series, our editors provide thoughtful, honest reviews of what we’ve been testing lately that we want you to know about—because we refuse to keep these game-changing finds all to ourselves. Whether you’re on a mission to find something specific or simply need a little retail therapy in the form of an impulse purchase, consider this your insider’s shopping guide to everything our team thinks is worth the buy.
I’m a terrible sleeper. Between work stress and life anxiety, trouble with nightmares, and living in an apartment building where my upstairs neighbor often decides that 2 a.m. is the perfect time to vacuum, getting adequate shut-eye feels like it’s my second full-time job. When I do manage to get eight in a row, my slept-through-the-night high is often ruined by neck pain from snoozing on pillows that don’t cater to my sleeping position, which means my head is often contorted or stuck in odd angles that end up causing me stiffness and pain.
It’s not that I haven’t taken time to explore sleep products that will help me create a comfy bedscape. I’ve found a mattress topper that’s the ideal firm-to-fluff ratio, I know which sheets feel good against my skin and help me not sweat through the night, and there’s always a spill-proof water bottle tucked in beside me (single life doesn’t have to mean sleeping alone, haha!). I’m also a self-professed “pillow queen” because I have a huge collection from trying to find the right one for me. But despite having enough head-resters to sleep a family of four—times three—the Goldilocks of pillows still eluded me.
That’s why I was so excited when I got the opportunity to test out the Pluto Pillow, which made waves on on Shark Tank for its totally custom pillow that’s built just for you. Read on for my experience creating my Pluto Pillow that’s one-of-a-kind, and find out if it helped me catch more ZZZs.
How I tested
I slept on my custom pillow for the last week and tracked how long it took to fall asleep, my sleep duration, as well as how I felt upon waking up each morning in terms of rest and neck pain.
Getting started
The first step to crafting your personalized pillow is to answer a short quiz. It asks you questions related to your body stats (like your height and weight), what position you sleep in (I usually start on my side, rotate like a rotisserie chicken all night, and wake up on my back), your preferred support level (I enjoy it slightly more fluff than firm), and what features you like or dislike about your existing pillows.
The quiz was simple and took less than five minutes to complete. At checkout you have the option to add-on a pillowcase for an additional charge, then your pillow ships free and you have 125 nights to decide if you like it—if it’s not your jam, you can return it for a refund. Another cool element is that the pillow is HSA/FSA eligible, because after all, sleep plays a crucial role in keeping us healthy from head-to-toe, impacting everything from heart and brain health to hormone regulation and organ function.
What I liked
It’s hard to surprise me, but consider me (pleasantly!) surprised—my Pluto Pillow arrived at my doorstep after just a few days (which felt pretty short, considering it was made just for me!). But more than that, this pillow is really comfy. It makes sense, since the Pluto team says it wored with sleep researchers and analyzed feedback from hundreds of sleepers to develop this “thoughtful pillow” and promises that it “bounces back” to its original shape after each sleep, as opposed to becoming misshapen, flat, or bunched in odd spots. And it does seem to pop back to its OG form—laying my head on it each night felt restful and refreshing, as I didn’t have to spend my first few minutes in bed punching and flipping my pillow until it felt comfortable enough for me to relax.
The construction seemed to mimic my sleeping habits, and I noticed less stiffness and no pain when I awoke each AM. It softly-yet-supportively cradled my head and neck when I was on my back. When I was side-sleeping, my head sunk into its plushness just enough while still offering neck support. The inner foam core is CertiPur-US certified and the pillow fill and surface of the pillow is certified OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 (both certifications mean they’ve undergone rigorous testing to ensure they’re free from harmful materials). The surface of the pillow is a quilted design that’s supposed to be “ultra-breathable” and “cool-to-the-touch”—I run hot, especially at night, and I was happy that I didn’t have to constantly flip this pillow to find the coolest side.
What I didn’t like
While I failed to sleep through every testing night, it wasn’t because of the pillow; in fact, it seemed like I was able to fall back to sleep faster than usual after nighttime awakenings because I didn’t have the frustration of spending so much time tussling with my pillow in an attempt to get comfortable all over again.
One last thing
If you’re picky with pillows and haven’t had luck with standard or adjustable ones, or if pre-pillows specifically for side sleepers or back sleepers haven’t fixed your neck pain, the Pluto Pillow might be worth a shot. I enjoyed it better than adjustable pillows that allow you to personalize at home by adding or removing fill. And hey, if it doesn’t provide the magical sleep touch that it did for me, no stress because of the 125-night trial. This pillow is definitely a worthwhile bedtime product with the potential to help you improve your sleep. Only time will tell if this pillow is the answer to my I just want to sleep prayers, but for now, I’m definitely not swapping it out!
SHOP THE PLUTO PILLOW NOW
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