Here I’m looking at the Nectar memory foam pillow.
Some of you may already be familiar with Nectar for its cheeky advertisements and very popular nectar mattress.
However, here I’m focusing specifically on the pillow. I’m going to show you what it’s made of, pros and cons, pretty much everything you need to know.
Table of Contents
Construction
The first thing I love is the cover fabric. It’s quilted. It’s super soft, I can’t stop rubbing my hands all over the material.
But on the inside, I’m feeling really cushy feel, a balance between plush and supportive.
The cover fabric is made from a blend of polyester and Tencel. Polyester is really soft to the touch but also naturally moisture wicking. Tencel is a sustainable material made from dissolving wood pulp and Tencel is known for its super smooth feel and also its ability to sleep cool and wick moisture.
So between the polyester and the Tencel, you have a very moisture wicking cover fabric.
What’s interesting about this cover fabric, aside from its quilted design, is that it’s actually filled with a thin layer of foam.
So folks at Nectar describe it as a pillow in a pillow design, because not only are you getting this really soft cover fabric, but the cover fabric itself is bringing a little extra cushy comfort to the game.
It is a traditionally shaped pillow. So if you want to cover it with a pillowcase, you totally can, but personally, like I said, I love the cover fabric. So I sleep on it without a pillowcase.
Inside this pillow is 100% shredded memory foam.
It’s actually a blend of two different kinds of memory foam, but it is shredded. which is enhancing breathability because the individual pieces of foam are able to move individually within the pillow, helping it to not retain your body heat as solid pieces of memory foam tend to do.
Another difference between a solid piece of memory foam and shredded memory foam is that with one solid piece you often get a little bit slower response to pressure, a little bit more of a tight and moldable conformance to pressure. But with shredded memory foam, it’s a little bit bouncier than what you might necessarily associate with memory foam.
It is still giving you that nice contoured support, but it is gonna offer a little bit of a quicker response to pressure.
Something that I prefer about shredded memory foam as compared to a solid piece is that you often have the option to adjust it. What I mean by that is with this pillow you can unzip the cover fabric, unzip the polyester casing in which the shredded memory foam is contained, and just reach in and remove as much of the fill as you like.
The purpose behind this is to play around with the firmness, adjust the loft, if you think this is too lofty. Just unzip, reach in and adjust it to your liking.
Speaking of firmness, I would put this right between soft and firm and rank it as a medium on the firmness scale.
It does have this really plush cushy support, but it’s not so soft that it’s easily compressed or flattened into a super low loft.
It is a pretty lofty pillow with a profile of about 5 inches high.
So now that we know the specs about what this pillow was made of and the dimensions of the loft, let’s take a closer look at how it works for each sleeping position.
Shredded Memory Foam Pillow With Bamboo Cover
Sleeping Positions
I have tested the Nectar pillow in every position.
I’m calling the Nectar pillow a great pillow for back and side sleepers.
First of all, you’ve got the nice lofty profile of about 5 inches. It’s really relieving pressure at the shoulder and hips when you’re on your side.
It also helps to keep your head, neck and spine all in neutral alignment, because it does have a medium level of firmness, so it’s not compressing over the course of the night and taking your head down with it.
Same thing with backs leapers. You could really enjoy how tightly the shredded memory foam conforms to your head and neck.
It makes you feel like you’re being comfortably cradled by foam, which, if you are a memory foam lover, is going to be particularly beneficial for you.
When it comes to stomach sleeping on the other hand, I’m finding it to be too firm and too lofty. Yes, you could reach in and remove a considerable amount of fill to reduce that loft and make it suitable for stomach sleepers.
But remember when you are sleeping on your stomach, you really need a pillow with a loft of 2 inches or fewer in order to make sure that your head and neck are not being craned upward out of alignment with your spine.
That said, in my experience, I had to remove a ton of internal fill in order to get it to a low enough profile in order to keep me comfortable in the stomach sleeping position.
So back and side sleepers two thumbs up. Stomach sleepers, you might want to take advantage of the trial period first.
Pros
There’s a lot to like about the Nectar pillow and like I said, I think memory foam fans who are back and side sleepers are going to be most compatible with it, but allow me to highlight a few of my favorite features.
First of all, I’m surprised by how breathable and cooling it is, because like I said, memory foam pillows do tend to trap heat a little bit more.
You’ve got the cover fabric that’s working to wick moisture and feels nice and cool and breathable.
You’ve also got those individual pieces of foam that are working to promote breathability rather than trap and store your body heat.
So if you like memory foam, but you wish it didn’t always sleep so warm, you might want to give the Nectar pillow a try.
Additionally, I was really impressed by how well the nectar pillow maintained its shape and didn’t flatten while I was using it.
Something that always eases the purchasing pressure a little bit for me is a nice trial period. With the Nectar pillow you get free shipping, free returns and a generous trial period of 50 nights.
You’ve got 50 nights to get the feel for the pillow, see how you like it and within that time frame, if you decide that it’s not the pillow for you, just contact Nectar and you’ll be fully refunded.
Cons
There are a few things to consider about the Nectar pillow before you make your purchase.
First of all, stomach sleepers, I would definitely take advantage of that trial period because in my experience, I just find it to be a little too lofty, a little too firm.
If you are a stomach sleeper, you want a pillow with a very soft level of firmness and a super low and compressible loft in order to maintain spine alignment, and I just didn’t find that here.
Of course, you can adjust it, but in order to really achieve a low enough loft you really do have to go in and pull out a considerable amount of stuffing.
Another thing to consider is that, like I said, the folks at Nectar refer to this pillow as having a pillow in a pillow design. I will say that I think it’s a little bit misleading, because I have tested pillows that have a dual design, wherein an inner pillow is zipped up in an outer pillow, but this pillow’s cover in my opinion is just not lofty enough.
It’s filled with a very thin layer of foam that if you were to remove the inner pillow you’d be left with just sort of a plush cover fabric.
So if you’re thinking that this is actually an outer pillow, it’s got a pillow inside, that’s not the case. It’s really just a plush cover fabric with the shredded fill inside.
And last but not least is wash care.
Unfortunately, no part of this pillow is machine washable, and it’s spot-clean only. Some of you might find that this is easier. Personally, I like a pillow that you can throw in the washer and dryer. This is damp cloth, mild detergent and just spot clean or else you could damage the foam inside.
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Alex P. Davis has a BA in Interior Design from The New York School of Interior Design and 10 years of experience expertly designing sophisticated interiors.