This pillow usually provides all the support for my neck that I need. As time goes on I think about adding more hulls, though. On occasion, the pillow is too hard for me and I accept the lack of support in a softer pillow instead. Except for when I have a headache, this pillow is the best of both worlds. I never did expect a pillow to be so loud though!
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
The best neck support that I’ve found yet (and I’ve tried A LOT of pillows). The buckwheat fill makes the pillow endlessly adjustable, cool, and supportive. The materials are consistently high quality. Note that if you share a bed the gentle rustle of the buckwheat fill can rouse a very light sleeper.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I like the buckwheat pillow very much. I would have preferred less hulls in the pillow with extra hulls in a separate bag, because at first I slept on the original pillow as shipped for the first three nights. This led to a mildly sore neck, due to the pillow being too high and firm for me. I then took out some hulls and stored them in a plastic bag. Then the pillow was OK for me. I understand that everyone is different, but it seems that it would be better if the pillow was shipped with less hulls inside and some extra ones in a separate bag for people to add if they want to.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I bought a Hullo on a total impulse when I saw an advertisement for it on the listing for a podcast that I don’t even listen to. My wife and I most recently had gotten “pedic” brand cooling pillows and I wasn’t ever really happy with mine, so I figured I’d try something new and quirky. I already do other quirky things like unicycle and use words like “obsequious” online like people have any idea what I mean.
There’s nothing I can say about the pillow itself that hasn’t already been said in the product description and other reviews: those things are all true. Most importantly to my review, though, is to say that I was immediately surprised by how comfortable the pillow is to sleep on. It feels great when sleeping on my side, my face nuzzled into its cool-feeling surface. It’s not great at all when sleeping on my back, but I have a fairly thin foam pillow that goes over the top of the Hullo when I am sleeping on my back, and that works out great. I usually start the night on my back, with the foam pillow over the Hullo, and then part way through the night I switch to sleeping on my side and push the foam pillow out of the way and just use the Hullo.
If you’re weird and quirky and feel like a change of pace might be in order, you should try one of these out. Just know that the Hullo is about double the price you can pay elsewhere online for a buckwheat pillow, and that is why I have docked it one star. But I am relatively okay with this, as that extra money goes to podcast creators (in the most ideal context anyway). To be fair, I can’t speak based on experience whether the cheaper pillows are as nice, but as far as I can tell it’s just a bag full of buckwheat hulls, how much differentiation in quality can there be?
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I didn’t think I’d like this pillow. After all, how could buckwheat hulls be soft enough for a pillow? Well, it turns out that if you think of them more like a beanbag chair, then you get a better idea of how they can be comfortable. After the first two nights of good sleep, I was mostly convinced that these are just as good as a regular feather or memory foam pillows.
Sometimes you might get in a position where the pillow just feels hard, like a rock. But a little fluffing with your hands can fix that, so it’s not a big deal; your head will then sink right into that ‘rock.’ Definitely give it a try. It’s better than you might think.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
Both my wife and I were a little shocked with just how firm the pillows were when we received them, but after a few months now, it’s hard whenever we sleep on anything else.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I picked up a hullo after hearing about it on a podcast.
I got one night on it before my wife stole it. She does have trouble sometimes getting it to flow right but refuses to give it back.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
The Hullo pillow is comfortable and provides better support than the synthetic filling pillows I’ve used in the past. I have’t used it through the summer yet, but it seems to stay cool without having to turn it over constantly. It’s definitely noisier than other pillows but that hasn’t been an issue now that I’ve gotten used to it. The only downside I’ve found is that since it’s essentially a sack of buckwheat hulls it can’t be neatly propped up against a headboard and it can look lumpy if you don’t flatten it out. Those are entirely aesthetic issues though and only matter if you’re particular about making your bed.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I have tried several pillows over the last few years – all with mixed results. My head and neck get quite warm when sleeping and regular pillows trap heat exceptionally well, unfortunately. I’ve tried cooling pillows, but those only work so long. Heard about Hullo pillow on a podcast for several weeks in a row, so did a little investigating and eventually bought the small one – hoping to keep from having to share with my cats (they just ended up either pushing my head off most of the pillow or sleeping on my face). It seems unsubstantial until you put force on it, then it becomes quite firm, which I rather liked. Molds very easily to shape of your head or face. Does get a little bit warm and retains some heat, but not enough to make it necessary to flip the pillow halfway through the night. It is rather comfortable to sleep on, though on occasion I do wake up with neck pain, so I’m debating taking some of the hulls out to see if that eliminates that as the pillow can feel a little raised.
My husband “borrowed” my pillow for a nap the other day and now is threatening to steal mine or buy his own.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
If you move around a lot in bed, constantly switching sides, then this pillow will tend to get harder. If you lay still for the most part, you shouldn’t have any trouble, but as someone who tosses and turns, the pillow is usually somewhat hard and flat by the time I wake up. That being said, it’s still my favorite pillow.
You’re not paying for cotton, feathers, or foam. You’re paying for a surprisingly comfortable bean bag designed with the head in mind. This is a premium pillow at a less-than-premium price.
So, what are buckwheat hulls? I don’t know, but they are so light in weight, that if you hold some in your hand and blow on them slightly, they will fly out of your hand. The closest thing I can compare them to is the thin, brown, plasticky material you pull out of your teeth after eating popcorn. The pillow, however, is pretty heavy, considering I just ordered the small one. That’s probably because of the shear quantity of material inside. The fabric that houses the hulls is very nice-feeling and relatively thick, too, and the zipper is very robust, so you shouldn’t have to worry about the hulls spilling out.
You can’t really prop up the Hullo to become a headrest to watch TV or use your phone in bed with the small pillow because it likes to abide by the laws of gravity. If you place it upright, it becomes a burrito shape, but if you keep it flat, it stays a pillow shape. I use a different pillow for sitting up. Bottom line: it’s a really good pillow, and a unique one at that. If you don’t like it, you can return it before 60 days.
I used a promo code for free shipping to order the small Hullo pillow. The medium is probably much better, but since the pillow retains its thickness throughout the night, there’s no need for me to upgrade, personally. The main reason why most people think they need a BIG pillow is because they want a thick pillow. As a wise man once said, it’s about the girth, not the length.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
This pillow is pretty much exactly as I expected it to be. It did not take long to get used to it, and after a few days I started taking hulls out, 2 cups at a time, to find what worked for me. This pillow provides good support. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is, I would like to have a little padding around the hulls. I think a pillow with hulls for the core and then a little padding around that would be ideal. I need support for my neck and back but also like a little cush around my head. Other than that, it’s exactly what I wanted.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I’m an extreme slide-sleeper. I only sleep on my back by accident. Hullo took 2-3 weeks to get used to – mainly it was a bit hard on my ear at the beginning but after a few weeks, no more. Clearly the human body is pretty adaptive (although I can’t train myself to sleep on my back). Hullo clearly supports my neck and my head, and is stable enough to keep my shoulder from digging in to the mattress & neck and cause day-long pain. Without Hullo, my shoulder would ALWAYS end up hurting by the morning as it took the brunt of my head’s weight and more. I figure this is because most pillows compress into hard as a rock over night – Buckwheat does not.
The trick is to have a thin bit of Hullo rest between my head and my shoulder, and bam, the pressure is off my shoulder and I feel no pain by the end of the night. My head doesn’t slowly sink. It stays where it needs to. Some buckwheat hulls may migrate elsewhere, but a quick “fluff” puts them back. As a side sleeper, it could use a bit more hulls than what is shipped by default but usually it’s enough. I tried to remove some hulls and that did not work for me. Guess I’m a hard core side sleeper. Anyway, this is so far the best pillow I’ve used and I’ve been through far too many.
This seems like it may be the last type of pillow to try; I’m very happy with it and it’s typically quite comfortable. Off-nights are to be expected, but more often than not, Hullo keeps my neck and shoulder from hurting! Yay!
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I ordered a buckwheat pillow per the request of a practitioner who was helping me with some back and neck injuries. While I place a high value on good sleep products, I was skeptical about the value of this option. (I was already donning a very comfortable latex pillow.)
The initial experience was based mainly on intrigue. I found the idea of the pillow interesting and, while the noise generated when shifting and adjusting was a bit bothersome, it didn’t deter me from continuing to explore the pillow’s potential.
The Hullo pillow quickly grew on me. I realized that it could help shape to any need I had and for any position I found myself wanting to lay in. I was no longer finding myself sticking a hand under my head or using my arms for additional pillow support. And as I shifted in the night it shifted to meet my needs.
I now recommend it to anyone who talks to me about pillows. It’s expensive and that is a deterrent for many, but I also like that it’s mainly plastic-free in its materials (aside from the shipping packaging which I think they should consider changing for the sake of being completely plastic-free).
As a pillow, it’s fantastic. And as a product, it’s almost perfect. 4.5-stars is the real review value.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I searched about the benefits of buckwheat pillow before making the purchase. No complaints there.
The pillow arrived with very less buckwheat. I called hullo and had to wait for more buckwheat to arrive before I can use my pillow. It would be better if they send more to everyone instead of less. The buckwheat crushes with use and I find myself adding more every few months. I recommended to a friend and he also had to wait for more buckwheat to arrive before he can use the pillow.
I like the material of the pillow case but they sewed over the zipper, so I had to remove stitches to unzip the pillow case. Small details but it creates hassle for the customers.
Note, this pillow is not for everyone. First, the bad:
Now, the good:
Oh, unexpected bonus. Wife had Hullo over her abdomen when our toddler leapt on her knees-first. Hullo completely absorbed and dissipated the impact.
So, more bad points than good points, but the good points completely overwhelm the bad points for me. In short, it comes down to personal preference. You spend a few extra seconds getting it in the right position when you first bed down, but then you don’t need to move it all night, which is good b/c if you needed to, it’s heavy and noisy.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
As far back as I can remember using a pillow at night, I’ve used a feather pillow. Pillows stuffed with the softest down have been my default, my go to. I haughtily looked down on pillows of any other type. This was even though I’d been growing more dissatisfied with my feather pillow’s tendency to wake me in the middle of the night because it’s lofty support had degraded and squished away through after a few hours.
Well, then I heard some ad-reads for the Hullo Pillow on The Talk Show podcast. I decided to give a buckwheat pillow a try. It seemed relatively risk-free.
The first week was difficult. I was so used to the soft, plushness of feather pillows: the buckwheat pillow felt like a slab of concrete in comparison.
But, then the second week hit. By then, my muscles were well adjusted. The pillow start to feel supportive rather than hard. I was a convert! This pillow is great.
This pillow excels at all-night-long support and good breathability. Unlike my feather pillows of the past, this pillow works with/for me, rather than against me.
What a fantastic pillow!
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I like a hard pillow. I don’t want to spend lots of $ to get one. After dealing with a chunky inconsistent pillow for too long I saw the Hullo pillow on a frequented website and said, what the heck, give it a shot.
The greatest think about the pillow is that I can adjust it anyway I want; harder, softer, build it up, sink it down. It’s not just a hard pillow—it’s a pillow to meet any need.
I’m quite happy with it.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I just ordered an other pillow for my wife, and that is a complement to Hullo for a fine product.
Thank you,
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I’ve never cared for regular pillows as I find they get too warm under my head. I like to use the Hullo pillow snugly under my neck. It provides great support and doesn’t get warm. I gave it four stars because the price is somewhat high.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I start out sleeping on my back but tend to sleep on my side as well. The Hullo supports both very well. I’ve been pleased with the Hullo and the support and coolness it gives my head and neck. The biggest challenge I have with it is getting it into the pillowcase (due to the weight and mass) but that is a very minor thing. I would recommend the pillow to others.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I love and like this pillow. It feels REALLY wonderful when I go to sleep, especially when I’m on my back. My only issue with it is that I start out the night feeling supported, but I will wake up on the edge of the pillow, my neck kind of crooked up to one side. All the buckwheat will have moved during the night and my neck is no longer supported. I haven’t taken any buckwheat out yet, maybe that will help? It’s better than soft pillows though, that’s for sure. My children keep stealing it from me!
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I had slept on buckwheat hulled pillows in Japan, liked them but they are traditionally smaller than US bed pillows so thought I’d try the Hullos. I love the pillows, despite little buckwheat seeds(?) falling through the fabric even when the case it tightly zipped. I had a neck injury from a car accident years ago and regular pillows don’t give me the support I need. The buckwheats do. The only real criticism is that they weigh a ton! Don’t use them for pillow fights, they would do serious damage (can’t image anyone actually doing this). Don’t think Hullo could fix this but it would be a definite benefit.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I’m a side sleeper, and my arm and shoulder would lose circulation and get the familiar “pins and needles” feeling. No more with the Hullo pillow.
As others have mentioned, it is loud when you move it around, but once you settle in it is fine. It seems to dissipate heat well too.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.
I’ve never had a pillow like this before so I’m still getting used to it.
Hullo delivered on time and the quality is of the pillow is really good. I would recommend it.
I would recommend Hullo to a friend.