Mattress Forum

I also have a couple memory foam pillows that are great for back sleeping if I use them one on top of the other.  got them really cheap from Ross, and I don't know who made them. The tag says they are 100% genuine polyurethane (yuck).

I love marketing BS.  Haha, sorry for my snide remarks.

Include Bergad Isoform and BedInABox in your research.

Bergad Isoform? Sounds like a Swedish movie star.

Anyway, as you know, I bought two king-sized Luna pillow protectors that zip up (like you would use if you suffer from allergies), then ordered shredded MF from foamdistributing.com to stuff them with.

That's perhaps more trouble than you want to go through, but what I really like about this is that you have total control over how thick or thin your pillow is. If it's too thin, add more SMF. If too thick, take some out. Also, since the pillow uses shredded foam, you can easily adjust ("fluff") your pillow so that it perfectly supports your neck and your head, rather than being locked into the pre-determined height/dimensions of a regular or even a contour MF or latex pillow. To my knowledge, you can't fluff them (unless of course they use shredded MF or shredded latex).

That said, I had pretty much decided I wanted a latex contour pillow and after some research was going to go for the LI Rejuvenite zoned firm latex contour pillow. They also make a zoned plush. Of course, they're not cheap, though I found a pretty decent price somewhere online. The only things that gave me any pause were the price and the concern that I might end up not liking it.

Still, I'm pretty sure I would've ended up ordering them had I not somehow discovered the shredded MF at FD. So I like your thinking! And if you go for the latex contour pillow, I for one would be very interested in your feedback once you've tried it for a bit.

Costs for my pillows were as follows. The pillow protectors cost me $13.99/pillow with a 10-year warranty, and since we would have bought them for any king pillow we used (my wife has allergies), it's really costing me just the price of the MF — or $22.50/pillow — to try my MF idea. Not many places you can get a good King pillow for $22.50 these days.

So far, so good (4 nights). I'm really happy!

My wife hasn't tried hers yet because we need to buy two more pillowcases. I put both of the ones from the set we bought over my pillow, since we always double-case our pillows to help keep them cleaner. I'm really curious to get her feedback once she tries hers.

Don't know about Amazon's bedding return policy. I looked closely at the pictures from your links, and they are definitely not the same pillow (too bad, that would be incredible to pick up a rebadged, LI-made pillow for $31 each). Look at the "larger-hole" corners and you'll see a difference.

That said, the LinenSpa gets great reviews on Amazon... only 2 out of 30 rate it below a 4 or 5. That's definitely seems like a worthwhile gamble to me. Hopefully odor won't be a significant problem. These may just end up being much more than a stop-gap measure. Let's hope, anyway!

However, Costco has Nature's Rest brand talalay latex pillows , which are Made in USA, for around $60. Not too bad for what are possibly LI-manufactured. LI's own Rejuvinite brand sells for twice that on their pillow website. I will probably try them, if the Amazon pillows turn out to have too much lead, sulfur, cadmium, pesticides, or melamine in them.

BTW, I did purchase a couple of 1" toppers from FBM to experiment with on my new TP bed, as a temp softening solution. It was threads like yours that gave me the confidence in their quality for my purpose. OTOH, it's that same thread that makes me not want to make my own pillows. 

You crack me up!!! (And hey, the pianoman can provide that ominous music... remember the old Dragnet theme... "daaah-da-dum-dum". Maybe you're not old enough???)

Here's a couple links to some discounted Rejuvenite zoned contour pillows...

Allergy Buyers Club (not sure whether plush or firm)

ebay (plush queen) and ebay (plush king)

sleeplikeabear.com plush and sleeplikeabear.com firm

I just ordered the "plush", so I can compare. (I probably should have ordered both at the same time. But, I was hoping the firm would do the trick.)

Thank goodness for Amazon's fast, free shipping and generous return policy.

I'm thinking of ordering the Nature's Rest zoned plush from Costco, as well. The free shipping is only Ground, and they charge tax. But, easy returns.

I have a weird feeling I will end up with a MF contour dealio after all is said and done, though.

Wouldn't be surprised if you do. My wife loves her MF contour pillow... I've tried hers once or twice and it was pretty comfortable once you get used to the MF feeling!

I purchased Nature's Rest zoned plush from Costco too but found that it was too high for my neck to rest comfortably.  As a back sleeper, my neck was at an angle.  As a side sleeper, it was very comfortable and positioned my neck well.  It was too springy, too high, and too expensive for what I needed. 

After returning the Nature's Rest pillow, I went for a contoured memory foam pillow.  The one at Costco felt cheap and thinned down, resulting in a very low profile.  Now I have the memory foam pillow from Overstock.com that had the highest reviews and it wasn't as impressive as the rating would lead you to believe.  It is still too low for me.  

Currently, I'm just using the shredded memory foam pillows I got from Costco a few months ago but the filling ends up being pushed back.  I don't think I will ever find the right pillow at this rate but I have sooo many pillows I'm too lazy to return so I never have to worry about having the right pillow for guests.  

I also ordered the LinenSpa zoned queen plush latex from Amazon. But, I have a feeling that won't do the trick either. 
I'm still somewhat shocked by just how bouncy and springy the "firm" model was. It was like a foam rubber ball! I can't believe anybody can sleep on that. NFW that I can.

As it is made in China, there is a good chance it's synthetic as well, despite being sold as "natural". Shoot, there's a good chance it's made from Tiger marrow, used motor oil, and political prisoners.

I would compare the feeling of these pillows to resting one's head on a balloon. The plush is not inflated as much as the firm was. But, who really wants to sleep with their head on a balloon?

Also, the odor these pillows have, while faint, is not like a natural odor. It strikes me as more of a synthetic smell. Which makes me wonder if it's 100% natural talalay, as advertised.

I have also a plethora of slightly used pillows around here from different stages of my life, different beds, etc.  Not only are there always pillows for overnight guests, but I even donated some to the Red Cross when a fire swept through here a couple of years ago.  People who are fleeing their homes in panic don't remember to take their pillows.  So they helped people.

You can play with Target pillows rather cheaply.  There is a really nice one that is a firm, has a light green piping on the edge.  I've had a bunch of these, they work great until they go flat in the middle....but they are like seven bucks so who cares.  You an also buy foam in the appropriate thickness(between 4" and 5.5" it sounds like) from a foam source...and cut it with an electric carving knife to work for you.  You could even layer foam to your own imagination and glue it when you find the right combo.

Also, you could add a little layer of foam to the underside of the pillow you liked but was too short to make it perfect.  I've done this.  I have a little square of pink memory foam, a trial piece from Rocky Mountain Mattress, that I've used all over the place for different things.  Sometimes it is a chair cushion, a low back cushion, part of a pillow, many uses.

Chances of you finding the perfect pillow are somewhat slim.  You could spend thousands at the rate you are going.  Then if you did find the perfect pillow it might only work for a short time...things change with the body.

Currently I am sleeping with a little, ratty pillow that has some sort of shredded foam in it.  No idea where it came from, but it just works splendidly.  Found it in our closet from some past experiment or trial.  Kinda like down, but a bit more supportive. 

Good luck!\

Kait

Luckily, I've been buying from retailers that allow returns. So, no money lost so far. I've been able to return both LinenSpa pillows to Amazon. (The 2nd one is boxed up and ready to go.) The Costco pillow, which hasn't been shipped yet for some odd reason, can be brought back to my local Costco around the corner. And, I am about to pull the string on a Sensus 4.5" thick king contour pillow from absolutecomfortonsale, which has a 30 day comfort guarantee. I was even able to sell the TP Symphony pillow I got "free" with our bed thru Craigslist, so I got some money back on that one, as well.

I have a feeling the 4.5" thick Sensus pillow will do the trick, as my wife's Tempur contour pillow is almost perfect. It's just a scoshe too shallow at 4". But, they don't offer the 4.5" "large" in king, only queen. I prefer king. Plus,the TP queen large is $159. I understand that Sensus is the closest thing out there to Tempur foam. And, if it's also too short, I've already thought about adding a layer of MF at the bottom, like you suggest. (Great minds...) 

In the mean time, shaping my dense down pillows specifically for neck support has worked pretty well. The great thing is that I can use them for stomach sleeping too, which I can't do with MF contour pillows.

I'm a great fan of down/feather pillows for exactly that reason, you can shape them into the crook of your neck for support.  My husband has a latex pillow that he likes but makes my down ear and jaw hurt.  I luv down pillows!

Is that like a sweet tooth, except you love down instead of chocolate?

O.K., I confess,  luuvvvv down pillows AND the darkest of dark chocolate!
 

BTW, I would have ordered from RMM, as their CS was extremely responsive and helpful with my email questions. Unfortunately, RMM does not offer a comfort guarantee on pillows, and AC does. So, I chose AC based on that factor alone, as both vendors had the same product at the same price.

Definitely better than the two latex pillows I tried from Amazon. But, still not quite there for me.

Quality was good. Made in US by Latex International. (Cover made in China, though.) So, it's basically a Rejuvinite, at almost half the cost.

Don't understand what makes it "zoned". It was an even firmness throughout, from edge to edge. Holes were identical in size, uniformly spaced, as well.

For those that love latex pillows, this might be good for you. But, after the third try with them, I realize they are not for me.

Disappointed with a pillow purchase, yet again. At least they have a 30-day trial period. So, I can return it.

Their website says this pillow is "Made of Premium 5lb Foamex ® visco elastic memory foam", so I assumed it was Sensus. However, it certainly doesn't seem like what I was led to believe Sensus would be, from everything I have read about it.

-The foam in the pillow is light-salmon or peach colored. I thought Sensus was pink.

-The cells are of varying size and spacing. I thought it was of a higher physical quality than that.

-It has much less memory retention, that is much faster recovery time, than the 5lb Tempur foam in my wife's TP neck pillow. MUCH faster.

If this is Sensus, then Sensus is not all it's cracked up to be. If it isn't Sensus, I'm getting sick and tired of all of this deceptive advertising for pillows, mattresses, and toppers from all of these websites. (Then again, they only said 5lb Foamex, not specifically Sensus.) 

I guess I may have to break down and get the TP brand neck pillow. Why can't others make a MF like TP? Whats the friggin' problem? (I'm a little frustrated, yeah.)