It's taken me five years, but I've *finally* found the perfect pillow for side sleeping – its latex core has solved my neck pain

In this review, I put the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow to the test to see how it compares to the best pillows on the market.

In a nutshell

As Ideal Home's Sleep Editor, I've spent the past five years testing out all kinds of pillows, and it's a testament to how tricky choosing the right pillow can be that in all of that time I *still* hadn't found the perfect pillow for me. A lot of options came close, but there was always a downside that meant they didn't quite fulfil my needs.

That was, until I spent the past two weeks sleeping on the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow. I think I've now *finally* found my dream pillow.

This pillow comes in two height options, a 15cm depth and an 18cm depth, and as a side sleeper, I've found the deepest of the two to be the absolute dream height for supporting my head and neck in good alignment during the night. And unlike pretty much every other pillow I've tested, I haven't had to compromise on comfort or overheating to achieve that.

Support-wise, nearly all of the best pillows for side sleepers are made from foam or memory foam, so whilst they've kept my head at the right height, I've found them very dense and 'block-like' under my head, and their synthetic fill pretty much always becomes uncomfortably warm during the night.

In contrast, this Woolroom pillow is made with a latex fill and a cotton and wool cover. That means brilliant temperature regulation – my head stayed cool and comfortable every night of testing – and also a completely different feel than foam or memory foam provides.

Sleeping on a latex pillow feels a little like resting my head on a firmly set jelly, and as it turns out, I find that *far* more comfortable than denser foam or memory foam. It means that the pillow surface offers brilliant support, but still has a slight give and bounce to it that feels really good under the head. Woolroom describes it as a 'weightless' sensation, and I agree.

The only downside is the price. This pillow costs £113.99, and that's a *lot* of money in my book. However, after struggling with neck pain caused by so many 'wrong' pillows, for me, that's money worth investing in a pain-free sleep, and Woolroom's 30-night sleep trial also makes that investment a little less risky.

Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow review

Specifications

• RRP: £113.99
• Best for: side or back sleepers
• Materials: inner: Talalay latex, cover: organic cotton and British wool
• Dimensions: H15 or H18 x L74 x W48cm
• Care instructions: cover machine washable at 40°C on a delicate/wool wash, line dry only
• Manufacturer sleep trial: 30-night

Comfort

Like many of us, I'm a side sleeper, and that can mean finding the right pillow takes a little trial and error. This is because side sleepers need a pillow that fills the gap between their ear and the mattress surface perfectly.

The idea is that when we're lying on our side, our neck and spine should be in the same neutral alignment that they would be when we were standing up straight. So the best pillow for a side sleeper should be roughly the same depth as the length of one shoulder.

Where it gets tricky is that all of us have different shoulder widths. Plus, the tension of our mattress also plays a part. A softer or more cushioned mattress surface will mean your shoulder sinks in more, and you need a slightly lower pillow to keep the head, neck, and spine aligned, whereas a firmer mattress usually requires a deeper pillow.

The Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow turns out to be the absolute Goldilocks of pillows for me. It's not too low, and not too high. I'm 5'10" with fairly wide shoulders and I sleep on a medium-firm mattress. I tested the 18cm deep pillow (there is also a 15cm deep alternative) and found it fitted my shoulder width and mattress type perfectly.

Lying on my side, my head felt supported at just the right height, but what I particularly loved was the feel of the latex core. I've tested foam pillows for side sleeping, such as the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow, which did a brilliant job of supporting my head at the right height but felt very firm and 'block-like' under my head.

I've also tested many of the best memory foam pillows – a filling often recommended for side sleepers as it keeps the head well supported. However, as this material slowly softens when exposed to body heat in order to 'mould' to the head, I often found the pillow would slowly sink during the night, putting strain on my neck.

Latex seems to solve both of these problems. The best way I can describe it is like resting my head on firm jelly. It has a lovely bit of give and 'jiggle', but it remains at one steady height all through the night. That means it's brilliantly supportive *and* still feels a lot softer and more luxurious than most other side sleeping pillows.

As I've mentioned, Woolroom describes the sensation of sleeping on latex as a feeling of 'weightlessness' for the head, and although it's difficult to explain without experiencing it, that is the effect it seems to achieve.

Temperature regulation

As a hot sleeper, I really value a pillow that offers good temperature regulation, and this is definitely one of the areas where the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow excels.

I've been sleeping on this pillow for the past two weeks, and I've never once had to flip it over to find the cool side. I've found it stays perfectly neutral in temperature all night long – hallelujah.

No doubt that's thanks to three main factors. First, latex is naturally more temperature-neutral than the filling most firmer side-sleeping pillows are filled with: memory foam.

Second, Woolroom has added small airholes to the latex core to increase air circulation and allow body heat to disperse.

And third, the brand has also wrapped this pillow in an organic cotton and British wool cover. Both of these materials are great for temperature regulation, with wool an especially useful material for helping hot sleepers sleep cooler.

Ease of care

Similar to foam and memory foam pillows, the inner latex core of this pillow can't be washed, but the quilted wool and cotton cover can be removed and freshened up on a delicate wool machine cycle.

This does mean it requires a little more TLC to look after than a synthetic polyester pillow – most of which can be shoved in the washing machine and washed fully without too much thought.

For me, this extra TLC is worth it for what the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow offers in terms of comfort and support. However, I probably wouldn't be choosing this pillow for a guest bed or kids' bed where I knew I'd want to wash the bedding more thoroughly.

Sleep trial

Where possible, I always recommend opting for a pillow that comes with a sleep trial, and Woolroom offers a 30-night sleep trial with the Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow.

As I've mentioned, it can be really tricky to tell whether a pillow will be right for your body before you've actually slept on it, and even though *I* love this pillow, it doesn't necessarily follow that it will be right for you.

That 30-night sleep trial makes this investment a lot less risky, as if it isn't the one for you, there is an opportunity to return it.

Value for money

There's no denying that £113.99 for a pillow is a lot of money. But when you think that you sleep on a pillow every single night, the cost per use does get put into perspective a little.

And, expensive as it is, that price is around average for a pillow of this quality and construction. For reference, Simba's bestselling pillow, the Simba Hybrid Pillow, costs £109, and a top-of-the-range feather-and-down pillow, such as the scooms Hungarian Goose Down Pillow, costs £100.

Compared to other latex pillows, Woolroom's latex pillow is also pretty reasonably priced. You could opt for the Relyon Superior Comfort Deep Latex Pillow (another great latex option for side sleepers) for £133 or the Hypnos High Profile Latex Pillow, which costs £140. However, as you'll notice, these competitors are more expensive, and few of these comparable latex options offer sleep trials.

For me at least, that makes the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow one of the best value latex pillows on the market. And finding a pillow that's the right height, offers the right support to eliminate my neck pain, feels lovely to sleep on, sleeps cool, *and* is made from natural, chemical-free materials, for me, is pretty much priceless.

How I tested

Amy Lockwood

I'm Amy, and as Ideal Home's Sleep Editor and certified Sleep Expert, I've spent the last five years testing sleep products by night and sharing my findings with our readers by day. That includes sleep-testing more than fifty different pillows on my own bed. I'm a side sleeper, and for this review, I tested out the Woolroom Natural Latex Washable Wool Pillow.

In order to test out this pillow, I slept on it for two weeks on my own bed to assess its comfort and temperature regulation. I also assessed its ease of care, any sleep trials available, and how it compares to similar products on the market to see if it offers good value for money.