Forget fancy sheets and down-filled duvets, the perfect pillow is the key to a good night’s sleep. On average, we rest our weary heads on our pillows for more than 2,500 hours — or the equivalent of more than 100 days and nights — per year, so it’s certainly worth getting the right one. And while once our choice was limited to feather or fibre, the shops are now stuffed with everything from water pillows to scented pillows, and even one which is wired for sound. But which is a pain in the neck and which is a dream come true? SUPER COOL . Buckwheat Hull Pillow, £22.99, livingiseasy.co.uk . In Tudor times, buckwheat pillows were so prized that grandmothers handed them down to their grandchildren. My children aren’t quite as easily pleased. When I showed them this thick, heavy pillow with an industrial-looking cotton cover, they weren’t impressed. This feels like a giant, heavy beanbag and looks like a prop from Wolf Hall. Billed as the ultimate eco-pillow, it’s filled with the tiny husks which protect the kernel of the buckwheat grain. In summer, you can chill it in the fridge for a few hours to keep you cool throughout the night. It also soothes stiff muscles — as the chill will reduce inflammation and help numb any pain. It doesn’t look impressive, but it shapes beautifully around my shoulders and neck. It makes a slight rustling as the tiny hulls shift, but I had a great night’s sleep. All I needed was Mark Rylance beside me, and my dream would have been complete. 4/5 . MARRIAGE SAVERS . Reversible Foam Pillow, £35, marksandspencer.com . I’ve had some spectacular rows over pillows. My husband, Ray, likes a firmer pillow, while I like a lovely soft one, but I hate buying different types as we inevitably get them mixed up and we both have a bad night. Can M&S solve the dilemma with this unique two-sided pillow? One side — made from a very firm memory foam — suits Ray perfectly, but is far too rigid for me. The other side, made from synthetic microfibre filling, is perfectly soft and squishy. At 6in thick, it’s a little higher than some we tried, but this clever pillow still gave me a good night’s sleep. We both woke up happy, and that’s good enough for me! 4/5 . A SMELLY SNOOZE . Silent Night Febreze Pillow, £9.99, argos.co.uk . I was hoping for the soft scent of lavender gently lulling me to sleep, but instead I got a rather sickly synthetic pong wafting up from the filling. Definitely more lavatory than lavender. The lightweight pillow made of polyester didn’t improve my sleep any more than any other ones I tried. Synthetic fillings are the most popular type of pillows in the UK, because they are cheap. But let’s face it, if I wanted the scent of Febreze at bedtime, I’d be better off spraying Ray as he lay beside me snoring. At 3.5in thick, it is soft but offers little support, and I woke feeling uncomfortable and grumpy. 1/5 . SO SOFT. . . AND CHEAP! Lidl Microfibre Pillows, £3.49, Lidl . Budget pillows tend to be thin, bounce-free and crackling with static electricity. So I was delighted to find these bargain-basement microfibre-filled pillows are generously stuffed and incredibly silky to touch. Because they are filled with bundles of ultra-fine synthetic fibre, the pillows are wonderfully soft. My 16-year-old daughter, Ruby, the fussiest sleeper since the princess and the pea, declared it the best pillow she had ever tried. A similar synthetic pillow from John Lewis would set me back £35, which makes this — at under a fiver — a total winner. Synthetic pillows have the shortest lifespan of all — from six months to two years before they flatten or fall out of shape — but at this price, who cares. This pillow is just under 4in thick, but flattens due to the synthetic filling, so if you prefer height you’ll need two. 5/5 . WHEEZE-FREE SLEEP . Sleepangel Memory Foam Filter Pillow, £59, sleepangelworld.com . More dust mites live in the bedroom than anywhere else in the house — and they make a beeline for warm bedding. This anti-allergy pillow contains a four-layer filter designed to block germs, bacteria, mould and allergens. The waterproof, wipe-clean cover is heat-sealed, with no seams or needle marks to let in germs. It sounds impressive, but to test the effectiveness I used a pillow for three months before sending it to an independent laboratory. Scientists took samples of the foam filling and confirmed it was completely free of any nasties. With a 13-year-old son who suffers from asthma — a condition often triggered by mould and dust mites — this was reassuring. It is 3.5in thick, with little give thanks to the memory foam filling. The price tag is hefty, but totally worth it for a wheeze-free son. I’ve passed this on to Charlie for an unbroken night of sleep. 4/5 . MUSIC TO MY EARS . Sound Asleep Pillow, £17.99 firebox.com . Since my three children became teenagers, the task of persuading them to go to bed at night has become my worst nightmare. Could this high-tech pillow — wired for sound as they plug in their iPods to the external lead which connects to a speaker hidden inside — work miracles? Certainly, it’s the only time I’ve ever seen them excited about going to bed, and I was stunned to see my son Archie jump in before I’d issued a single threat. But the sort of music I hear thumping out of his pillow minutes later isn’t exactly restful! Luckily, the pillow muffles the sound for the rest of us. The pillow is not very thick (at 3in deep) or supportive. A winner for anyone aged 13-19 and for parents who are desperate for peace and quiet! 3/5 . THE GOLDEN GOOSE . Hungarian Goose Down Pillow, £88 For Two, soakandsleep.com . Down pillows are the softest and most luxurious type available and often come with a price tag to match. These ones are made by a small family firm in Hungary. The filling is washed in thermal spring water — so there are no nasty chemicals involved. Each pillow is double-stitched for strength and edged with gold piping for luxury you’ve never seen outside a five-star hotel. No wonder these pillows have amassed their own online following — as well as demand from top hotels around the world. Feels like sleeping on a giant marshmallow — it really is a luxury treat. Just one sumptuous pillow, measuring 5in thick — was enough for a perfect night’s sleep. 5/5 . LIKE SLEEPING ON A SPACE HOPPER . Mediflow Waterbase Pillow, £39.99, amazon.co.uk . Water pillows are fast becoming a trend — to keep cool or help sore necks and shoulders. They contain a pouch that you fill with water by opening the rubber seal, and pouring your water in. This means you can actually choose the height of your own pillow, depending on how you sleep best. My first attempt at filling it goes wrong. I pour so much water inside that it feels like I’m sleeping on a Space Hopper. A thermal insulator keeps the water cool, while an anti-allergy cushion of polyester fibres surround the inner water chamber, making it look and feel like any other pillow. The first night didn’t go well, as my neck felt too high. But I simply let water out the next day, taking the pillow from 5in thick to 3in, and I slept like a baby. 3/5 . WOOLLY WONDER . Fogarty Wool Pillow, £24.99, dunelm-mill.com . Wool is nature’s best temperature regulator — staying cool in summer and warm in winter. But can a pillow stuffed with wiry wool instead of lovely bouncy feathers offer as much comfort? The answer is yes. As I sink into the warm pillow I feel instantly comforted. Wool naturally absorbs moisture and scientists say the average sleeper gives off nearly a pint of water vapour. If you suffer from menopausal night sweats, this can rise to well over that. Once absorbed, the moisture quickly evaporates from the porous wool cells, so what looks like a normal pillow is actually a natural air conditioning unit. at 3in thick, this pillow is thinner and has less give, but it supported my sore neck — strained as I walked the dog — well. I slept well and woke feeling cool and refreshed. 3/5 .
Does finding the perfect pillow really need to break the bank?
Our Femail tester put a selection of the best pillows to ultimate sleep test .
Lidl's £3.49 microfibre pillow performed just as well as luxury goose down!