My Old Pillows

Posted on: 05 Nov 2026
tags: sleep, consumerism, health

I'm not, and haven't ever been, someone to feel the need to replace my pillows. I got used to how they feel, I ordered the two of them one on top of the other, alternating sometimes, and that was that. I struggle to sleep on other pillows. They feel almost alien to me, and yet I'm told that you should replace your pillows after a year or two. Maybe I live in ignorance, but that just feels excessive to me. My old pillows, an age beyond something I can recall, still perform just fine. They are washed, alongside their pillowcases (which also get switched around occasionally), and put back into service later in the day.

Maybe I'm just gross. But I've never had issues where I get sick from my pillows, or they host some evil disease in them that I disperse every time I lay down. Either way though, I've been pushed hard enough by someone who was so bothered by this that I've been convinced to be a consumer. I bought two new pillows that have good reviews, and we'll see how they match up.

I tend to use things until they wear out. The pillows inside a pillowcase are rather separated from the world, and I have never really had the thought "I should replace these on a cycle". I replace or dispose of my sheets, pillows, clothes, and belongings when they rip, break, stop functioning, or are so aged that it is no longer useful and I must move on.

Pillows don't exactly have a Pillow 2.0 to replace them with. They don't break. They can rip, and these have not. They could become flat or lumpy, and these have not done so to a degree that they become uncomfortable. So I keep using them. I wash my bedstuffs biweekly. Sure, some people say to do it weekly, but I have *some* semblance of a life. I also don't touch my bed or any of my stuff without changing into clothes that haven't been outside since they were last washed. Call it being a germaphobe or contamination OCD, but it keeps my things away from all the dog and not dog shit that must collect on my shoes, and all the nasty stuff that collects on my coat from the bus seats I sit in.

Whatever. I'll try the new pillows. I think if you're not having crazy breakouts and feel like death after sleeping, then you're fine. But apparently, "experts" disagree. Sometimes I lay down without any pillows. Works well for my back and shoulders. How's that for economical? Can't have pillows to lose firmness in if I have no pillows.

I'm still going to keep my old pillows though. If these newfangled pillows are uncomfortable, they're getting put into storage immediately.