What is the best vegan pillow for sleep? The answer to that question, as you’ll discover as you read on, depends on a number of factors; the type of sleeper you are, the sleep problems you are hoping to solve, how much you want to spend on a pillow and even perhaps what your personal definition of vegan is.
For our money, the best overall vegan pillow for sleep is the Plushbeds Wool Pillow. That choice may raise a few eyebrows though. However, veganism means different things to different people, when it comes to home goods at least. Generally, it’s taken to mean products that do not cause harm to animals.
This means that materials like leather are completely out of the question for vegans, while things like wool may or may not be acceptable (more on that later.) In answering this question and preparing this list we’ve tried to include options for everyone, no matter what their personal definition of veganism is. Here’s a much closer look at our top picks for best vegan pillow for sleep.
Best Overall Vegan Pillow For Sleep: PlushBeds Wool Pillow
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Why You’ll Love It: The pillow offers luxurious support and comfort and is sustainably and kindly produced to leave a minimal footprint on the environment and cause zero harm to sheep.
Plushbeds is a leading name in the sleep industry, which means you can expect that this pillow will be of the highest quality before you even take it out of the box. And it does not disappoint.
A hand-stitched cotton pillow outer cover is filled with all-natural wool that is free from any dyes, preservatives, colors or other allergens. It comes in standard, queen and king. The wool itself is certified to come only from farms that practice the highest standards in humane wool-gathering and whose animals live a cruelty-free, free roaming life.
In terms of sleeping comfort the very fluffy wool is not only soft and supportive but the wool’s natural cooling and moisture wicking properties – the reasons why sheep can live comfortably in very hot places like the Australian outback – means you’ll get a cool, dry night’s sleep as well as a comfortable one.
Pros: 100% organic and natural wool sourced humanely, 3-year warranty, naturally moisture wicking and cooling, cotton cover sleeps cool too, free shipping, hypoallergenic, filling can be removed easily if needed to match your personal pillow preferences
Cons: some people do not consider wool a real vegan option, is one of the more expensive vegan pillows on our list
Best Kapok Pillow: Bean Products Organic Kapok Pillow
Why You’ll Love It: A true vegan alternative to standard pillows this is a cool sleeping, comfortable pillow that should be acceptable to everyone.
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Kapok, for those who don’t know, is a natural, cotton like substance that is plucked from trees that are native to the Caribbean and South America. It’s been used in household products there for centuries but has only more recently become popular in North America as people began to seek out healthier, more humane and sustainable alternatives to standard materials.
The kapok used in this pillow is sustainably sourced and remains fluffy and supportive even when used as pillow stuffing. It is chemical free and contains no dyes or additives, making it a great choice for those with allergies. The pillow cover is made from 100% organic cotton and is soft and silky, thanks to higher thread count. It’s available in sizes standard, queen, king, toddler, travel and Japanese.
Pros: a truly vegan product, made in the USA, hypoallergenic, feels soft to sleep in but provides excellent head and neck support, stuffing can be removed to create a personalized pillow that suits your tastes
Cons: kapok is not quite as naturally cooling as wool, or as long-lasting
Best Pillow for Neck Pain: White Lotus Ka-Pillow Kapok Contour Pillow
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Why You’ll Love It: This is a kapok pillow that offers specialized neck support to help you wake up pain free.
For some it can seem like neck pain is just something they have to live with. Past injuries, or hours a day spent sitting at a keyboard, even conditions like arthritis, can all lead to chronic neck pain. The right pillow can help though, while the wrong one can make waking neck pain ten times (at least) worse.
The White Lotus pillow is stuffed with organic, 100% natural kapok, which is naturally supportive, but is also shaped in a way that is specifically designed to provide additional neck support. By making use of clever stitching in the center of the pillow a ‘well’ is created that cradles the head and neck and helps you stay neck pain free and can even, for some, help relieve the pain they are already trying to live with.
It’s available in sizes: standard , queen and king and available in three firmness levels – soft, medium and firm.
Pros: specially designed to provide extra support for the head and neck, made using sustainably sourced 100% vegan, hypoallergenic kapok, firmness can be adjusted to suit your tastes by removing stuffing
Cons: those who move a lot in their sleep may not get the full benefit of the ‘built in’ neck well
Best for Cooler Sleep: Sobakawa Traditional Buckwheat Pillow
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Why You’ll Love It: If you are a hot sleeper who needs a cooling pillow but don’t consider any wool, however ethically sourced, vegan then this pillow is a great choice.
A hot, sticky, even wet, pillow is not at all conducive to a good night’s sleep, so if you already tend to get very warm in bed a cooling pillow is practically a must. The all-natural buckwheat that this pillow is stuffed with has great natural cooling and moisture wicking properties that should help you sleep better.
In addition, buckwheat molds naturally to the shape of your head and neck, providing ‘instant’ personalized support that will help you sleep in a healthier, more comfortable way too. The all-natural cotton cover is very soft too. Available in sizes standard and queen.
Pros: all-natural filling is 100% vegan, support is ‘instantly’ personalized as the buckwheat shifts to suit you, filling can be removed if needed, muslin cotton cover is light and breathable.
Cons: some people find buckwheat disconcerting to sleep on, can rustle as you move, which may disturb light sleepers.
Best Vegan Pillow for Sleep Apnea: Coop Home Goods Eden Pillow
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Why You’ll Love It: A pillow that offers excellent, all-night support is a must for those who suffer with sleep apnea, and this one made out of memory foam fits the bill and is vegan friendly to boot!
Perhaps more than anyone else those who suffer from sleep apnea really need a pillow that provides adequate head and neck support, as sleeping in the right position – with their airways as clear as possible – makes a big difference to the quality of their sleep and the frequency of apnea episodes throughout the night.
This pillow makes use of a memory foam, but one that is ‘green guard certified’, meaning it causes minimal environmental harm. It comes with additional stuffing that can be added if needed and its cover is crafted from a partially bamboo derived material that is both naturally cooling and hypoallergenic.
Available in sizes, standard, queen and king.
Pros: offers excellent, adjustable head and neck support, makes use of eco-friendly memory foam and purchase includes extra filling, bamboo derived pillow cover helps you stay cool while sleeping, 100% vegan, made in USA, 5-year warranty
Cons: not the right choice for those who prefer to only buy all natural/organic products
Best for Combination Sleepers: Snuggle Pedic Pillow
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Why You’ll Love This: If you shift from position to position all night, this pillow made of bamboo and shredded memory foam can keep up, and provide comfort and support however you sleep!
This is another eco-friendly memory pillow that, while obviously not an all-natural choice is certified green friendly. It’s crafted from a shredded memory foam that is partially made of bamboo, something that lends the fill the natural cooling and antibacterial properties that bamboo naturally boasts.
As the fill is designed not to flatten easily, it’s great for those who change sleeping positions a lot. Often combination sleepers find that certain sleep styles flatten their pillow and leave their head and neck poorly supported, but that is not the case here.
It’s fully machine washable and is available in sizes standard, queen and king.
Pros: eco friendly, vegan friendly shredded memory foam contains bamboo fibers, which are naturally cooling and anti-microbial, pillow’s loft can be changed by removing filling, won’t go flat fast even if you move around a LOT at night
Cons: not an all-natural or organic choice
Best Organic Budget Buy: BioPedic Eco-Classic
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Why You’ll Love This: If you want a vegan friendly organic pillow, but do not want to spend too much to get one, this pillow made from recycle polyester fiber fill is a good choice.
Everyone is aware of the benefits of recycling, and the fact that the polyester fill used in this pillow is recycled is a definite plus. The recycling process ‘re-fluffs’ the fill so it offers great loft and is hypoallergenic and vegan safe. To get a more customized sleeping experience you can add or remove fill easily and the high thread count cotton pillow cover is soft and naturally cooling.
Pros: recycled polyester fill is lofty, eco-friendly and meets even strict vegan standards, cotton pillow cover is soft and silky, offers good, customizable head and neck support, comes in a pack of 4 pillows, 250TC cotton cover, machine-washable
Cons: Is not all-natural, some people prefer a firmer level of support than this pillow can provide, only available in standard size
Best Pillow for Toddlers: Zack & Ali Toddler Pillow
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Why You’ll Love This: Even toddlers need a good, supportive pillow that safely cradles their head and neck while they sleep, and this one made out of 100% organic cotton is even vegan-friendly!
Shopping for a good toddler pillow can be tough. Ideally they need more neck and head support than a flat crib pillow supplies but a standard youth pillow is just too big for them (and their beds) This pillow is perfectly sized for toddler sized heads and the fill is a vegan friendly down alternative that offers all the loft and softness of real down without the feathers!
Pros: down alternative fill is soft and supportive, hypoallergenic and vegan friendly, perfectly sized for toddlers, cool organic cotton pillow cover, made in the USA
Cons: more expensive than a standard toddler pillow.
Your Pillowcase Matters Too
All the pillows we have highlighted here – like all pillows – need to be covered by a pillowcase to keep them clean. What pillowcase you choose really matters though.
The ideal pillowcase is sized so it fits your pillow snuggly, but without bunching, will sleep cool and is relatively easy to launder. Durability counts for a lot too.
Whichever vegan pillow you choose – whether it’s one from this list or not – choosing the wrong pillowcase can mask some of their best benefits, especially when it comes to cooling. We recommend the Eucalyptus Tencel Pillowcase Set from SIJO available here.
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They are crafted from 100% eucalyptus lyocell Tencel made from sustainably farmed eucalyptus trees in Austria – which is a vegan fabric – fit well on the pillow itself and are ultra cooling and very very soft to sleep on. The pack of 2 is available in several sizes and in 7 neutral colors to any bedroom decor.