Are you a hot sleeper hitting the hay? I tried hitting the wool instead and here's what happened

Putnams Height Adjustable Wool Pillow | £49.21 at Putnams

The best, most reliable place to pick up this pillow is from Putnams themselves. Standard delivery (2nd class Royal Mail) is free and if you want it the next day, you'll need to pay £8.

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A good pillow keeps you aligned, supported, and it'll relieve any pressure on your neck, shoulders, hips, and back. An even better pillow will be chemical-free, naturally hypoallergenic, and a good thermal regulator. The best pillow will do all of those, whilst also looking after the environment. What's it called? Putnams Height Adjustable British Wool Pillow. It's a bit of a mouthful, but you'll want to get familiar with it.

Finding a pillow that ticks every box for your sleeping needs is a task tough enough to warrant some sleepless nights. However, whilst I've been on the hunt for the best cooling pillows on the market, I've come across pillows that you'll want to pack into your suitcase and carry around. Forever. This is certainly one of them.

The Putnams Height Adjustable Wool Pillow ticks all of my boxes: the wool comes from Devon, it's top-quality, and a dream to sleep on. Where pillows with similar promises get expensive, this is reasonable value, especially when you consider what’s on offer. I’m smitten.

First impressions

This section is really all about how the pillow arrives and what kind of care the brand has put into the packaging. The Putnams Height Adjustable Wool Pillow arrived in what looks like a plastic bag, but it’s actually completely biodegradable. Putnams include some little notes on maintenance, care, and the origins of the cushion too, which is a handy touch.

The pillow was in perfect condition: the quilting on the washable wool external case was immaculate and cool to touch. I placed a hand in the middle of the lofty pillow and pushed down, feeling air woosh out of the sides as my hand sunk into the soft filling. What's nice about the pushness of the pillow is that it still felt supportive. Balancing softness and support can be tricky, but this has the balance just right. We'll get deeper into those details further down the review though.

There was a slightly earthy smell coming from the pillow, but Putnams says this is very normal for a wool pillow. It is. I've tested my fair share of wool pillows and it would seem that they're like cheese in that the stinkier ones are the better ones. The only difference is that cheese will keep you up at night and these will keep you sound asleep.

Composition

I unzipped the pillowcase to have a peep inside and could see that the pillow was filled with fluffy wool — that explains why this feels so gorgeous. You can easily reach in and scoop some of the wool out, or add some in, if you want to adjust the firmness of the pillow, which is really nice to have as an option. 

You can see that the pillow filling is almost made up of six blankets of wool that help to keep the shape of the pillow even as you take layers to change up the loft and firmness. This is a great sign that the Putnams is a high-quality wool pillow, as the very best options let you customise your loft and firmness.

Putnams doesn’t sell extra bags of their wool, because they send it to you at the firmest that they believe the pillow should be. If you want the firmest wool pillow possible, you can buy extra wool filling. This won't be from Putnams, but Woolroom, who make a very similar pillow do. All of their wool comes from the Chatsworth Estate too, so you know it’s good quality.

The Putnams wool is all British and then the pillows are made in Devon, so you’re keeping things very local as far as pillows go. The good news is that the wool is all hypoallergenic and OEKO TEX Standard 100 certified, so it’s safe and gentle to use on even the most sensitive skin. If you're not familiar with OEKO TEX Standard 100 certification, it means that the wool has been tested and verified as free from harmful substances at all stages for production. It's a globally recognised award that the materials are safe for human health, environmental standards, and allergy sufferers.

The outer case of the pillow has lovely quilting. It’s crafted from pure cotton, which helps to keep your pillow breathable, a big plus if you suffer from night sweats. We've got more on that later on though.

Who would it suit?

The Putnams Wool Pillow has a few main appeals: it’s wool, it's adjustable, it’s all made in the UK, and it’s affordable when you account for the two former factors. Let’s work through them one at a time.

Wool is a popular choice for hot sleepers because it naturally helps to regulate your body temperature. It’s often the filling of choice that’s recommended by industry experts, so it’s seeing a huge surge in popularity for women who are going through menopause and suffering from night sweats. The beauty of wool is also that it’s easy to adjust the filling of your pillow by just pulling out or adding in handfuls.

The Putnams pillow is particularly special because you can take and remove six different layers of wool. This means that you can make it really thin, perfect if you're a front sleeper like me. Or, you can pack it full and have it medium-firm, which is quite unusual for a wool pillow.

It’s quite hard to find sleep products that are made in the UK — we’re only a little island — but if you are looking for that it’s probably because you’re thinking about the environment (this is a great pillow for the eco-conscious sleepers) or because you’re trying to keep things local. This is great for both.

To get a natural pillow that’s cooling and made in the UK can be tricky. It’s even harder to find one at a reasonable price. Of all the research that I’ve done, this is one of the lowest prices that you’ll find without having your compromise on where your pillow has come from or the quality of the wool. By that standard, I think things are going well here.

What is it like to sleep on?

Now, we get to the good part — sleeping. The first time that my head hit the Putnams pillow, it felt wonderfully soft. However, it didn’t take long for my head to feel a little overly supported when I was lying on my side or on my back. This actually isn’t a problem for the Putnams pillow, because I just took three pieces of the wool out for the next night. I spent the week shuffling layers of wool in and out of the pillow until I found my perfect filling — which is about one-third of what they gave me.

It’s highly likely you’ll find good comfort and support with more filing; I need thin pillows to keep my body aligned and comfortable. This got me thinking though. Lots of pillows become redundant when you can’t sleep on them because you don’t have any control over the filling. The versatility on offer from the Putnams was really helpful for me — I liked having choice and I liked how soft and even the pillow felt under my neck. I have a whole section dedicated to whether this is cooling or not, but I managed to enjoy some deep, uninterrupted sleep with the Putnams pillow, which says a lot: I’m a hot and very fussy sleeper.

Is it cooling?

Compared to a normal, feather pillow, this felt like magic. I’m a hot sleeper and I often wake up feeling like my skin is a little bit clammy, but with the Putnams my skin always felt refreshed. In fact, I found that I was staying more still and getting much better quality sleep, which is a nice change for me. 

I am just a generically hot sleeper though, so what if you’re suffering from night sweats? I pass the baton onto my mum for this bit, as it’s an issue that keeps her up at night. She tested out the Putnams and moved it to the top spot in her rankings for me. “When I first felt how soft and squishy this was, my instant response was just no. I thought that my head would just be sat in a warm pile of wool, but it surprised me. I found that, whilst I was still hot in the night, the severity and frequency with which I was waking up reduced by a lot. It’s nice and I definitely won’t be going back to my old pillow now.” She re-emphasised my sentiments of her skin feeling 'fresher' and cleaner when she woke up which, let's face it, is a big win for any hot sleeper.

What are the eco-credentials?

You've probably already guessed from the biodegradable packaging that Putnams are a brand that keep the environment as front-of-mind as they do sleep. Wool is eco-friendly by default, as it's a natural alternative to synthetic fillings, so just choosing one of their wool pillows is, by default a good choice. You've also go the fact that the pillows come from Devon, so they've not got any air miles winging their way to your home.

On their site, Putnams says "wool is sustainable, environmentally friendly, and biodegradable at end-of-life", which is good reassurance for sustainable sleepers. They'll also plant a tree for every order over £60, which is a little more than the cost of one pillow, but if you're buying two for your bed, you're also planting a tree, which is nice to know.

There are some tiny tweaks that really fussy people might point out. For example, the cotton casing, whilst natural, isn't listed as unbleached and organic, so there will have been some chemicals involved in the process. However, that's real nit-picking. This is, after all OKEO TEX 100 certified, which means that there aren't any damaging chemicals lurking inside your pillow. All in all, this scores well as a sustainable pillow.

How does it compare?

There are lots of wool pillows popping onto the market and the price points really vary. I’ll pick up two for you so that you can see where this sits in the market.

The more expensive alternative to the Putnams pillow is Woolroom’s. This is almost double the price, but it was my mum’s favourite for helping her out with her night sweats. “It just takes the edge,” she says,” because I had some nights where I felt sane — no night sweats, no nothing.” You also get a few nice extras, including a storage bag and a really nice quality pillowcase.

Your other alternative is to switch out a wool pillow for an alternative filling. If you want the support of the full wool pillow, you could look at Soak & Sleep's Cooling Memory Foam Pillow. Whilst this is cooling in the context of memory foam, it's not a particularly cool sleep compared to the wool pillow. However, the pressure relief that it offers is second-to-none.

Should you buy it?

If you want an all-natural cooling pillow that's safe for sensitive skin, I can't recommend the Putnams Height Adjustable Wool Pillow enough. It's one of my favourite pillows of all time, because it feels like you can really personalize the firmness without having to pay for a custom-made price. It might not look like a bargain, but this really is.

How we test

At woman&home we have a rigorous process for how we test pillows. I'm always on the lookout for the best cooling pillows, whether they're making use of the latest gels and structures or going back to basics with some natural options. I speak with the sleep experts and triple-check every claim made by a brand before putting a popular pillow to the test.

To get a review, I sleep on these pillows for at least one month. Physiotherapists say it takes two weeks to see results, so I double it to make twice as sure that what I'm telling you is accurate. I look for support, alignment, and comfort as the three basic factors that a pillow should cover. Then, once those are covered, I'll have a think about the sleep position that the pillow suits as well as the ailments and issues that it would be helpful for. In the case of the Woolroom, I'm looking for a cooling pillow, so I dedicate a special section to thermal regulation. However, I'll also be thinking about neck and back pain too. 

Aside from the practicalities, I'll also look into the composition and eco-credentials, so that you know everything that you'd possibly need to before coming to a conclusion about whether the pillow is worth investing in. If you still have questions, don't hesitate to email me. That's exactly why I am a sleep geek.