Is this New Zealand wool pillow the answer to naturally tackling night sweats?

Wool seems to be en vogue for anyone suffering with night sweats. You’ll find all sorts of variations on wool pillows that claim to help with menopause symptoms, but each credential seems to add a zero to the price tag, which can be pretty horrifying when you’re just desperate for a place to lay your sweaty head. With that in mind, I did some research and found the wool pillow that delivers value for money: Soak & Sleep’s New Zealand Wool Pillow.

If you’re familiar with our pillow content, you’ll know that this has defended a spot on our buying guide for the best thin pillows for years. And yet, the combination of breathable fill, comfortable filling, and quality makes it a really compelling choice for lots of different sleepers, not just those looking for a thin pillow.

I’ve tested wool pillows from lots of other leading brands, so I put this one to the test to find out whether it’s still worth buying three years on from our original tests. Is it still a good way to sleep in the heat?

Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow review

Who would the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow suit?

With a set fill, this pillow is brilliant for those looking for some cushion, but also with a balance of sink-in softness. That means it's perfect for back and side sleepers who want to keep spinal alignment. If you often sleep on your front, this will be too much.

Soak & Sleep also label this 'medium-firm' which I think is really fair. It's stuffed really well with wool, so you won't find the sides of your pillow creeping around your ears, but it will still mould to your head. Again, this reinforces its status as a good option for back and side sleepers.

There's also all the sustainability and allergy credentials to account for. Using wool to fill your pillow is brilliant if you want a natural pillow that isn't packed with chemicals. This is specifically New Zealand wool, which is famous for its quality and long fibres that make it more durable. Our tester who used this three years ago still has hers and promises the fill is "as good as ever."

Soak & Sleep also explain that the pillow is naturally cooling and hypoallergenic, which is great if you have sensitive skin and you're suffering from night swears.

Unboxing the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow

Soak & Sleep are great with their packaging. Their no-nonsense approach will give you complete simplicity and practicality. The New Zealand Wool Pillow arrived in its case, which has a handle on, making it easy to carry and useful for storage.

Once you unzip the case, the pillow comes out. You can read about some of the credentials — hypoallergenic, all-natural, gently cooling — on the bag, but the pillow itself is ready for sleep from the get-go.

Unlike lots of other wool pillows, the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow doesn’t have a farm-like or earthy scent, which is really nice. Whilst this will often fade in time anyway, it’s much more pleasant not to have to sleep in what smells like a barn for a week or so.

What is the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow like to sleep on?

I started the tests on myself: a hot, side and front sleeper. I tend to like thin pillows that can cushion my head, but only very slightly and subtly. The Soak & Sleep pillow was perfect for the nights when I slept on my side, offering enough sink-in softness to feel like I was getting the luxury hotel experience without losing my head in the depth of the pillow. It kept me cool night after night. Even when I did wake up hot, it wasn’t the sweaty, clammy kind of heat that I often experience with synthetic pillows, so it definitely scores points for breathability.

The nights when I slept on my front proved a little trickier. The pillow is a touch too plush to give me good spinal alignment, so I found myself at an odd angle. It’s no bad thing to be forced to sleep on my side, but it’s worth noting that if you want a really thin pillow, this might not be for you.

My mum is going through the menopause and she’s a back sleeper, which means that she’s a really handy person to have reviewing pillows alongside me. Similarly to me, she found that the wool was great for heat transfer at night. “I still woke up hot, but I didn’t have a sheen of sweat across my forehead," she says, "I didn’t think it could be from the pillow, but I’ve been playing with switching them in and out and have found that this is the pillow that makes my skin feel fresh.”

She also thinks that this is a pillow designed for back sleepers like her. “As someone who gets sciatica and needs really careful spinal alignment when I sleep, I’m often hesitant to change my pillow, but I felt really confident that this one is offering support. My neck and shoulders felt really relaxed in the morning and I didn’t find myself waking up stiff or anything.”

We both agreed that it would generally nice to have options that enabled us to change the fill of our pillows, so that it could suit our sleeping positions, but this is still one of both of our favourites.

Cleaning the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow

Before you go throwing this into the wash, it's worth really understanding how to clean a pillow. Soak & Sleep says that this is machine washable at 40 degrees, but not to tumble dry, as this will ruin the wool inside.

Their website actually has lots of useful information on cleaning, but if you're using pillow protectors and pillow cases, you probably won't need to wash this for six months.

How does the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow compare?

If you like the idea of the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow, but, like me, wanted something with adjustable fill, it’s your lucky day. The Woolroom Deluxe Washable Wool Pillow offers all the same benefits of the Soak & Sleep Pillow, except that you can change the fill.

Simply unzip the inner case and take out or add in handfuls of wool. This is brilliant for any sleeper, because pillows aren’t really a one-size-fits-all kind of product, even though we often treat them like that. This is a little more expensive, because the wool is British and traceable and the case is made from unbleached cotton. If you’ve got more budget and you put sustainability high up on your pillow needs, this is worth some extra money.

It’s also worth noting that the pillow case is removable and washable, which makes it a lot easier to have a hygienic pillows the Soak & Sleep which requires a little more effort to clean.

Should you buy the Soak & Sleep New Zealand Wool Pillow?

If you’re looking for a naturally cool pillow that will help you to wake up feeling dewy rather than damp, this is perfect. It’s ideal for back sleepers, but can also keep side sleepers in brilliant alignment. I’m certainly sold on it.

How we test pillows

At woman&home, we have a standardised process for how we test pillows. Before a review can go live, we'll use the pillow for a month of sleep, so we get a full cycle of hormones and different body changes. Physiotherapists normally say that any physical changes to your bed will manifest within two weeks, so we double it to be sure.

I test all of our pillows, so that I can be the sense-check for how they compare. As a naturally hot sleeper, I can comment on their breathability, but they do also have to go through a much tougher test. We find women struggling with night sweats and ask them to sleep on these, so they can let us know whether they still get hot flushes or not.

I'll also walk you through cleaning as well as how your pillow compares to other ones that are on the market. By the end of a review, you should know everything you'd possibly need to (and more), but if you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask me.