regaphysics

t1_izatcwe wrote

Reply to comment by in BIFL Request: Side sleeper pillows that will last at least 5 years by

If you actually look at most serious bedding forums and discussions, down isn’t considered a very good pillow fill. Similarly it’s a bad mattress material. Feather beds are a thing too - but again they’re objectively not a good bedding material. It is mostly a relic of the past; down pillows are easier to make than more modern latex and/or wool combination pillows. It has also been something of a status symbol, since it’s soft and used to be costly to obtain long ago.

But again, if you like it, you do you.

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t1_izaog0p wrote

Reply to comment by in BIFL Request: Side sleeper pillows that will last at least 5 years by

>A fold test is far more simple than you think.

This is pretty minimal. You have likely lost way more resilience than you think if that is your only metric. But whatever.

>Saying down is "simply not a good pillow material", when it's the top pillow material used in five-star hotels and by luxury bedding companies, is your opinion.

It is an opinion based on the mechanical properties of the material. Concrete isn't a good bedding material and while that's my opinion, it is informed by the mechanical properties of concrete. Down will lose more resilience than latex (and it has much less to begin with), is less thermo regulating than kapok or wool, and is more or less impossible to replace easily (or adjust). If you like it that is fine, but mechanically it is inferior for what most consider the goals of a pillow. Whether "luxury" bedding companies use it doesn't mean much. Luxury bedding has always been sub-par pillows and mattresses, dressed up with marketing to make it seem exclusive and fancy. Might as well say luxury companies use 1000 threat count sheets, too.

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t1_iz9tojd wrote

Reply to comment by in BIFL Request: Side sleeper pillows that will last at least 5 years by

>You're not doing something correctly if you're only getting five years on a down fold compression test. It should be longer.

(1) Have any evidence to support that? Using what testing procedures? How many compressions? With how much loss in resilience?

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>If you don't think people have to worry about offgassing you are the same sort of person who said leaded gas and paint are fine. You don't know. It's okay to not know things. Also it's okay for me to only put organic products next to my families breathing holes, as people have done for thousands of years, and ignore petroleum byproduct foams that have existed for, like, a minute.

(2) Some chemicals are of concern, especially during and immediately after manufacture. Luckily these products have not been around a minute, and the problematic ones are tested and certified to not be used. And generally, offgassing is overwhelmingly in the first days to weeks of a products lifetime. Usually that is before it is even sold. I worked in automotive safety where vehicle foams sit in the hottest harshest environments for hours and hours. They are required to be tested for offgassing in accelerated aging tests and when they come out of the factory. They are stable after a few weeks.

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>You also said that you are sleeping on goosedown. If you believe in foam so much, why aren't you sleeping on it?

I've had both. Currently I sleep on a Co-op shredded memory foam pillow, which is greengaurd gold certified. I don't worry about it at all. Ultimately, I wouldn't buy another down pillow because ultimately - even if I wanted a natural product - it is just about the worst option. Not only does it sleep hot and provide little support - it also lasts less long than other options. Latex would be my first choice, then buckwheat / millet, then an easily replaceable fiber like Kapok or wool. Down is right down at the bottom - it simply is not a good pillow material.

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>To end, why do you think chemicals are on any cotton in my home?

Funny you would say this: VOCs are more easily removed than the things they use on cotton. Studies on pesticides show that they are not all removed by washing. Furthermore, the chemical finishes manufacturers put on many fibers (to make them shine, make them soft, make them wrinkle less, etc etc) are specifically designed not to wash out.

Don't fool yourself - there is nothing safe about uncertified cotton. You are 100% reliant on certifications to avoid those chemicals. And they are more persistent than the VOCs you'd find in foams.

Edit: I bring up the other things because you seem not to appreciate how ubiquitous they are. Industrial solvents and petrochemicals are in your house. They are in your room - even if they were simply there when the house was built (or if you live in an apartment - they are constantly blown in from the rest of the building). You are not avoiding them just mitigating them - which is fine. But the notion that you avoid petro (and industrial) chemicals is just not accurate at all. If you look at blood testing - its in us all in relatively similar (elevated) amounts.

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t1_iz1isb0 wrote

Reply to comment by in Lasko/Galaxy 3150/2150 12" oscillating fans circa 70s-80s. I've had the blue one for several years and just got the amber one to complete the set. Quiet, powerful, and efficient, they perform just as good as they look. by

Yeah they definitely never used earth tones before the 70s….

In any event, on trend means little to nothing to me. Whatever floats your boat, I still think it’s ugly af.

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t1_iz07aoi wrote

Reply to comment by in BIFL Request: Side sleeper pillows that will last at least 5 years by

(1) I wash mine in down wash the right way, I know what I’m doing. It isn’t that long. Down doesn’t hold up to repeated compression that long.

(2) memory foams aren’t unknown polymers, and if you get a certified one (greengaurd/centipur), you don’t need to worry about off gassing. 15 years ago if you got a random piece of uncertified foam it could be a concern, not anymore. No more than you could have an issue with a cotton pillow case covered in unknown chemicals.

Edit: btw, any time release capsule has a tartaric acid-based polymer - which is a petrochemical. Ditto for about a zillion things. Hand sanitizer? Yup. Analgesic gel? Aspirin? Most creams.

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