Latex is back - this time, it's in your pillow and it's working wonders

I don't know about you, but when someone says latex to me, my mind goes to Madonna wiggling around on stage in a shiny, skimpy black one-piece. However, if you sat a sleep geek down, they'd skip past all the "Like A Virgin" riffs. They'd go straight to the bedroom and all they'd be thinking about is sleep. Latex is considered to be a cooling sleep essential and lots of luxury brands have started to offer latex pillows. It's crazy, but it's true and I'm fascinated with the latex rebrand. 

"How on earth can latex form the basis of the best cooling pillows?" I hear you ask. Thank you, you've taken my bait. It actually makes a lot of sense when you look into the science. Natural latex (slightly different from Madonna's outfits) is made from the sap of rubber trees. Luxury, eco-friendly brands such as Woolroom harvest, freeze, and bake this sap so that it forms an open sponge-like texture. The resulting pillow feels like memory foam and cools like wool. It's like a prayer was sent up to the sleep gods and they answered with this.

For all the excitement that latex pillows induce, I recommend that you proceed with caution. There aren’t many natural latex pillows that I’d recommend. Lots of companies disguise synthetics and cheap shortcuts with jargon, but the one brand that does latex the right way is Woolroom. Their organic, unbleached cotton and wool cases enclose a night-sweat saviour of a latex pillow. Ladies, if you’re struggling with hot sleep it might be time to reach for the latex (pillow). I did and here's what happened.

First impressions

The full name of the pillow that I tested is the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow, which is a bit of a mouthful, so I'll probably just call it the Woolroom Natural Latex Pillow for the rest of the review — assume the rest is implied. 

For this section, however, I won't be ignoring the 'washable wool' part of the name, because it's an important part of the first impression that this pillow makes. Woolroom delivers the full luxury experience with their pillow. It arrives in completely recyclable packaging and then, once you've opened the box, you'll see an unbleached organic cotton bag cradling your pillow. This is perfect for storing the pillow, carrying it around, or for using it to store old linen or an older pillow in. It's a touch that tells you this is a premium pillow. You don't get storage bags from every brand, trust me.

Once you've unzipped the bag, you'll see the Woolroom Natural Latex Pillow inside. It's encased in quilted material, which feels cool to the touch and it looks smart too. I'll explain more about this in the composition, but it's a clever little extra that Woolroom throws in to make sure that your pillow is keeping you as cool as possible during the night.

You'll also spot in my picture that there are a few cards. Woolroom offers care advice and gives you some notes on the pillow that you've bought, what it's made of and what to expect from it. I'll go into the composition in the next section. It's exciting.

Composition

I’ve already given you a bit of a backstory into natural latex and I’ll go into more detail in the eco-credentials, but if you get one of these, I urge you to unzip your pillow and take a look inside. 

Woolroom includes a note that explains the ‘perfectly imperfect’ look of the natural latex. They say:  Our latex pillow is made from Talalay natural latex, sourced from Hevea brasiliensis trees in FSC-certified forests. Each pillow is made individually in a mould, where it's expanded through a vacuum, flash frozen and 'baked' to form the best latex pillow and the secret to a good night's sleep." As a natural product, there's a lot of variability in how these bubbles form and appear, so if yours looks unusual and a bit, well, holy, that's normal.

Now, because you can’t do this through a screen — and because I’m still a child inside — I gave the latex a squeeze. It feels exactly like you would expect a rubber sponge to. It’s firm and springy, but I could still imagine feeling some glorious softness and pressure relief from it at the end of a long day. It won’t surprise you to know that’s exactly what latex is good for — it comes with all the benefits of memory foam but without the chemicals or insulating properties. Magic.

It’s also worth noting that the latex pillow comes in one of Woolroom’s signature washable cases. These are crafted from 200 thread count organic, unbleached cotton, which means that you get lots of lovely, natural materials on the outside of your pillow, which are also quilted and packed with a light layer of wool. 

Because it’s Woolroom, this isn’t any old wool. It’s all traceable grown and farmed on the Chatsworth Estate. This means that it’s local, OEKO TEX 100 certified and naturally hypoallergenic. In a nutshell, it’s the best that you can buy. And, as we’ll get into, wool is also a natural thermal regulator, so it’s really helpful if you have a pillow that is dedicated to every part of itself to cooling properties. 

Who would it suit?

If you suffer from back or shoulder pain, lots of people will recommend latex to you. It has all the properties of memory foam: pressure relief and good support, but without the chemicals. Woolroom says that the pillow "offers greater pressure relief and spinal alignment through its elasticity as well as being hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial."

It’s also a natural choice for eco-conscious sleepers because natural latex is essentially just sap from a tree that’s been baked into a shape. Woolroom is transparent about all aspects of the manufacturing process, so you’ll know exactly what you’re putting your money towards.

I also knew, from my first night of sleeping on the Woolroom Natural Latex Pillow, that it would’ve got a spot in my buying guide for the best cooling pillows. I’ve never experienced this kind of firmness and texture without having a pillow that’s as hot as sleeping in a big bundle of blankets. Woolroom has bucked the trend and I'm very happy about it.

What is it like to sleep on?

I just gave the game away with what this is like to sleep on for one night, but there’s a lot more that you’ll enjoy hearing about, I’m sure. I’m naturally someone who prefers a thin pillow, so I was a little apprehensive about sleeping on a pillow as firm as this. It was great for when I wanted to be propped up, reading in bed. The firmness gave me great support without feeling like I was leaning against the headboard. If you’re a back or side sleeper who normally opts for memory foam and thicker pillows, you’ll love this. For me, a side and front sleeper (we're a rare breed) it was just a little too high. Nonetheless, I got some great sleep on this, especially from a temperature regulation perspective. 

I’ve never had memory foam comfort without ending up feeling a bit sweaty. The combination of wool, cotton, and latex worked a treat. However, I’ve got a whole section on what this was like with thoughts from me, a hot sleeper, and my mum, who gets proper night sweats. She doesn’t mind me sharing it with you, don’t worry.

Is it cooling?

I’ve already given you a little insight into what this was like for me, a hot sleeper. My skin felt fresh when I woke up in the morning and I didn’t have the same clammy or sweaty feelings that I often get from normal pillows. I expected this because the case felt cool to touch anyway, but it’s nice to have a treat this rare: a memory foam pillow without the chemicals or the heat. 

Once I had slept on this for a while I, rather reluctantly, passed the pillow-shaped baton onto my mum who tells me that she hasn’t had a sweat-free sleep in decades.She’s always liked firmer pillows than me and tends to sleep on her back or her side and I can’t emphasise how hard it was to pry this back off her when our tests were done. 

“It’s done everything that I would want my pillow to,” she beamed at me, “I love the balance of firmness and squishiness. Should I find a more technical term?" For the pedants, it's loft, but who's keeping score? Mum, or Sally to you, carried on, "I have never felt better in my shoulders and neck. Normally I wake up with crick or ache somewhere in my upper body, but I actually felt younger and much more mobile.”

 When I asked her to keep a score of how she felt heat-wise, she said “oh I should have started with that. It’s amazing. It doesn’t cool me like a fan or a bucket of ice would, but I didn’t get as many hot flushes in the night and there were even some evenings where I didn’t wake up at all.” I think that should tell you all you need to know about the Woolroom Natural Latex Pillow.

What are the eco-credentials?

Natural latex has some impressive eco-credentials in and of itself and Woolroom only enhances how well this comes off. The unbleached, organic cotton case gets a big tick from me. Most brands would choose plastic for their material, so chemical-free cotton is a wonderful alternative. 

The fact that the wool filling is farmed in the UK on the Chatsworth estate is also another feather in the cap (if we're on the wool, feather theme) for the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow. The wool does a great job of thermal regulation, but it's also completely naturally produced and biodegradable.

Now, for the latex. As you might have expected, not all latex is natural or biodegradable. However, Woolroom's natural rubber latex is certified as free from toxic chemicals and sourced from FSC-certified forests. Woolroom also says that "no harmful chemicals or fire retardant sprays are used in the pillows", which is why they're OEKO TEX 100 Certified. 

How does it compare?

Woolroom also, as you may have guessed from the name, makes a wool pillow. The outside, which is a washable case is identical, but the filling is more of the traceable Chatsworth wool. You can adjust the filling much better, so those who think they might want a flatter pillow will be better off with this one. It’s also a great temperature regulator and I found it comfier to sleep on, especially on my side, but if you want more spring and support, you’re better off with the latex pillow. 

On the other hand, if you're not fussed about temperature regulation there are some great memory foam pillows on the market. In particular, the Soak & Sleep Cooling Memory Foam Pillow. This has the iconic memory foam pillow: your head will sink into it whilst it cradles your neck and shoulders. It's not particularly cooling in comparison to the wool pillows, but it's cooling for a memory foam pillow.

Should you buy it?

Before sleeping on the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow, I thought of latex only in the context of squeaky, sweaty outfits that I've always regretted wearing. However, after one month of sleeping on this natural latex pillow, I'm a convert. Woolroom is proving that it's the best alternative to memory foam, especially for hot sleepers. Latex is back and it's better than ever.

How we test

At woman&home every pillow that you read about has been slept on by at least two of us. We're all sleep geeks who like to get more than our forty winks, so if someone promises us a way to improve the quality or depth of our sleep, we'll jump at it.

The review is structured on my in-person experience of sleeping on the pillow for one month. Physiotherapists recommend waiting for two weeks before you announce any amazing results, so I double it to make completely sure that the pillows can work magic. It also means that I've used the pillow throughout all stages of the month.

If a pillow promises to address pain points, I always make sure to test those. In the case of the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow, I wanted to pressure test the cooling properties of the pillow. It's important that this can really help you, especially if you have night sweats.

My reviews also cover composition, eco-credentials and other factors that I think are important to making the review as comprehensive as possible. If you want to find out more, please don't hesitate to email me or you can check out our page, which is dedicated to how we test pillows.