How often should you replace your pillow? The fold test and 5 other signs

Most fibre and down pillows need replacing every one to two years. The exact moment depends on the fill, how you wash it and how you sleep, so the calendar matters less than the pillow itself. These checks tell you where yours stands.

The fold test

Fold the pillow in half and let go. A healthy pillow springs back open on its own. If it stays folded, or opens slowly and sags, the fill has lost its loft and it is time for a new one.

For a king size pillow, fold it in thirds. For a pillow you suspect is borderline, put a shoe on the folded pillow: if it pushes the shoe off, it still has life in it.

The fold test works for down, feather and fibre pillows. It does not work for solid memory foam or latex, which do not fold. For those, look for a permanent dip where your head rests.

Five other signs your pillow is finished

• Lumps and empty corners. The fill has clumped and no amount of shaking spreads it back out.
• You fold it or stack a second pillow to get the height you need.
• Yellow stains that do not wash out. Years of sweat and skin oil have soaked into the fill, not only the cover.
• It smells even after washing and airing.
• You wake up stiff or keep turning it over looking for the cool, full side.

How long each type of pillow lasts

These are typical ranges, not promises. A pillow that is washed and fully dried twice a year, and kept in a protector, sits at the long end.

How to make a pillow last longer

• Use a pillow protector under the pillowcase and wash it every few weeks.
• Wash the pillow itself two to three times a year, following its care label.
• Dry it completely, on low heat, with two or three dryer balls to break up clumps. A damp pillow clumps and smells.
• Fluff it every morning when you make the bed. Ten seconds of squeezing and shaking puts air back into the fill.
• Air it by an open window or outside on a dry day now and then.

What hotels do

Hotels change pillow protectors and cases with every guest and replace pillows on a fixed cycle, often more often than people do at home. That is part of why a hotel pillow feels full: it rarely gets old enough to go flat.