Bedding for people whose allergy is dust mites
Dust mites live on the skin we shed, and a bed collects more of it than anywhere else in the house. What they need to survive is moisture in the air, and a bed built from wool and washable cotton is short on both.
A wool duvet and a wool pillow, a waterproof protector under the pillowcase, and cotton sheets and covers you wash weekly. Dust mites cannot drink. They pull water out of the air around them, and they need it above roughly 50 percent humidity to hold their balance. Wool moves moisture off your skin and into the fiber, so the air under the duvet and around your head stays drier than that, with nothing sprayed on and nothing to wear off. The washable layers handle the rest, because a warm weekly wash removes the skin the mites feed on and the allergen they leave behind. None of this treats an allergy. It takes the load out of the one place you breathe for eight hours.
Three jobs, and each piece here does one of them. Nothing on this page has been treated with anything.
Hand-tufted organic wool that takes moisture off your skin into the fiber, so the air under the duvet stays too dry for dust mites to settle in. It is the fiber doing this, so it lasts the life of the duvet.
Best for the biggest surface in the bed
The same wool under your head, where you breathe all night. The wool sits inside an organic cotton cover you can machine wash, so the surface against you is cotton.
Best for a nose that is worst in the morning
Organic cotton on both faces with a bio-based waterproof layer sealed between them, zipped all the way round. Skin oil, sweat and shed skin stay on the washable side of it, and there is no crinkle.
Best for keeping the pillow itself clean for years
Neither duvet goes in the machine, so the cover is the part that does. Same organic cotton sateen both faces, zipper along one side, ties inside for the duvet loops.
Best for a weekly warm wash without touching the duvet
Fitted sheet, flat sheet and pillowcases in one undyed cloth. The fitted sheet is the largest surface you shed onto, and the 15 inch pocket keeps it flat over a deep mattress.
Best for the surfaces that collect the most skin
Slip-on organic cotton cases, no zip, sized to our pillows. Two in the pack means one is always clean while the other is in the wash.
Best for changing the case mid-week
What is in the bed
Dust mites feed on the dead skin every one of us sheds, and their droppings are what your body reacts to. Your face spends about eight hours a night pressed into the place where both collect.
1
Onto the pillow, the sheet and the inside of the duvet cover. That is the food supply, and a bed replenishes it every night.
2
Mites cannot drink, so this is the water supply. In bedding that holds moisture in the air, the humidity around your face sits above the level they need.
3
In a published twelve-month study of pillows on the same beds, the synthetic pillows ended up holding about three times the dust mite allergen the feather pillows did.
4
Because the highest concentration of the allergen in the house is the surface an inch from your nose.
Change what the bed offers them. Wool takes the moisture out of the air they need, a protector keeps the skin they feed on out of the pillow, and a weekly warm wash removes what has built up on the surfaces. It is not a cure, and it changes the one place you spend eight hours.
The humidity mechanism
Dust mites have no way to drink. They absorb water from the air through their bodies, and to hold their balance they need the humidity around them above roughly 50 percent. Bedding decides what that number is at your face. A synthetic pillow or duvet holds the moisture you give off in the air against you, which is exactly the damp, warm pocket mites do well in.
Wool moves that moisture off the surface and into the fiber, up to 30 percent of its own weight before it feels damp, so the air between you and the wool stays drier than mites can use. This is a property of the fiber. Nothing was sprayed on, so there is nothing to wash out, and the duvet and pillow do the same job in year ten as on night one.
The barrier
Whatever the pillow is made of, skin and sweat go into it through the case unless something stops them, and a pillow that has been fed for a few years is where the allergen builds up. Our protector zips all the way round the pillow. It is organic cotton on both faces with a bio-based waterproof layer sealed between them, so what you shed stays on the washable side, and it does not crinkle when you turn over.
In one published test, mites crossed a standard synthetic pillow ticking inside 24 hours, while a tighter weave was still holding them out at 48. A sealed protector under the pillowcase is the version of that idea you can wash. It is certified organic as a finished product and GreenGuard Gold, and it comes in every size we make a pillow in.
The wash
Sheets, pillowcases and the duvet cover are where the shed skin lands, and a warm weekly wash removes both the skin and the allergen that has built up on it. That is why everything here that touches you is organic cotton you can put in the machine, and why our duvets live inside a cover rather than being washed themselves. The cotton is undyed and unfinished, so there is no resin closing the weave and nothing added to react to.
Just under half of American beds carry more dust mite allergen than the level researchers use as a sensitization benchmark, and the bed is the one place in the house where the load is easy to bring down. Wash weekly, keep a second pillowcase in rotation, and air the wool duvet and pillow in a dry spot a few times a year.
Mites need food and moisture. Judge bedding by how much of each it gives them.
| Bedding | What it does | What that means for the mites |
|---|---|---|
| Organic wool duvet or pillow | Moves moisture off your skin into the fiber | Air too dry for them, from the fiber itself, for the life of the piece |
| Waterproof organic cotton protector | Seals the pillow, zipped all the way round | No food reaches the pillow, and the surface washes |
| Organic cotton sheets and cover | Absorb moisture and go through a warm wash weekly | Food and allergen removed every week |
| Synthetic pillow or duvet | Holds moisture in the air against you | Warm, damp and fed, which is why it measured three times the allergen |
| Down or feather | Absorbs moisture and holds it in the cluster | Damp inside, and a trigger in its own right for many people |
| Treated anti-allergy bedding | A finish applied to the fiber | A claim with a shelf life, washed out inside a year |
| Memory foam | Cannot be washed and holds heat and moisture at the surface | Warm and damp at the face, with no washable layer |
Start at the pillow. The wool pillow keeps the air at your face dry, and the protector under the case keeps the skin you shed out of it.
Organic Wool Pillow ›The wool duvet in a cotton cover you wash weekly. The duvet keeps the air under it dry, and the cover carries the shed skin away in the wash.
Organic Wool Duvet ›Add the protector and change the wash. A sealed protector keeps the pillow itself clean, and the sheets and cases need a warm weekly wash, not a monthly one.
Waterproof Pillow Protector ›Sheet set first, since it is the largest surface, then the wool duvet and cover, then the wool pillow and protector. Our complete bed page goes through it in order.
Organic Cotton Sheet Set ›A wool duvet and a wool pillow, a sealed protector under the pillowcase, and cotton sheets and covers you wash warm every week. Dust mites need the humidity around them above roughly 50 percent, and wool moves moisture off your skin into the fiber so the air stays drier than that. The washable layers remove the skin they feed on and the allergen they leave behind.
It is the fiber we point people to first. Dust mites cannot drink and take water from the air, and wool holds the air around you too dry for them to settle in. That comes from the fiber rather than from a spray, so it does not wash out. The wool sits inside an organic cotton cover, so the surface against you is cotton you can wash.
Down absorbs moisture and holds it in the cluster, which keeps the air under the duvet damp, and damp is what mites need. Wool takes the moisture into the fiber and away from the air. Many people with a dust mite allergy also find feather and down bedding itself is a trigger, which is another reason to move away from it.
No. Nothing on this page has been sprayed with anything. An antimicrobial or anti-mite finish is a treatment that washes out over a year and gives you a claim with a shelf life. The way wool behaves is a property of the fiber, and it is the same in year ten.
Every week for the layers that touch you, which is the fitted sheet, the pillowcase and the duvet cover, in warm water. Keep two pillowcases in rotation. The wool duvet and pillow do not go in the machine, which is why they live inside washable cotton, and a few hours in a dry spot a couple of times a year keeps them fresh.
A sealed protector still earns its place under the pillowcase, because it keeps skin oil and sweat out of the pillow entirely, and a pillow that never gets fed stays clean for years. Ours is organic cotton on both faces with a waterproof layer sealed between, zipped all the way round, and it does not crinkle.
They are the right washable layer. Cotton takes moisture off your skin, it goes through a warm wash every week without wearing out, and ours is undyed and unfinished, so there is no resin closing the weave and nothing added to react to. The certification limits every input in the cloth to a pre-approved list.
No, and we would rather say so. It lowers the load in the one place you breathe for eight hours, which is what most people notice in the mornings. It does not treat the allergy itself. If your symptoms are heavy, see an allergist, and use bedding as one part of what they suggest.
In the published measurements it is. Synthetic pillows on the same beds for twelve months held about three times the dust mite allergen of feather pillows, and in a separate test mites crossed a standard synthetic ticking inside 24 hours. Polyester holds moisture in the air against you, which is the condition mites do best in.
Send it back inside 60 nights, and free shipping applies. Most people with a dust mite allergy know inside two or three weeks of washing weekly whether the mornings have changed.
Hand-tufted organic wool that keeps the air around you dry, under organic cotton you wash every week. Handmade in our New Jersey workshop.
See the picks178 verified reviews
If you've sent more pillows back than you've kept, you're our customer.
“I have owned more pillows than I have owned houses and I have owned 12 houses.” This is by far the only pillow to use if you don’t want to wake up with sore shoulders or neck. I have replaced all the pillows in my house with this pillow.
I have compressed discs in my neck, and I have spent hundreds of dollars over the past 6 months trying to find one that will help me sleep. Every pillow I bought caused me to wake up in even more pain than the night before!! The buckwheat pillow is life-changing!! I have slept through the night and wake up with no pain!!
I was leery to try another expensive pillow without some sort of trial period after being very let down by a different company's natural fiber pillow… I don't hear anything at all with the buckwheat! It does stay fresh and cool as well, but most importantly it actually holds my head/neck up and in place. Which allows me to actually get rest instead of always adjusting.
I've been a buckwheat pillow customer for the last 7 years and I can say that Circadian has the highest standards of quality paired with incredible customer service. Very very impressed and would not hesitate to send anyone their way.
I have spent years searching for a pillow that feels supportive and comfortable all night. I have finally found it. I absolutely love the Buckwool pillow. I removed a bit of the material to get it to exactly how I want it… I rarely wake up with neck pain now.
I find myself switching between the two and loving the feel of both. I haven't woken up with a sweaty head with either and that's an amazing feeling especially in the AZ summer. The buckwheat side is a lot quieter and more comfy/soft than others I've tried in the past.
I have tried at least 10 different pillows in the last 3 years. Nothing has worked out except for this wool pillow. I have chronic neck pain which has been greatly reduced. I am very happy with my new pillow.
I have pretty bad chemical sensitivity (housebound most of the time)… I try to only buy totally safe, non-toxic products. I found this pillow to be very safe and non-toxic, and the packaging was fragrance free which is always a huge plus.
I ordered this pillow to replace my very old (but beloved) down pillow and I'm so glad I did. It is heavenly!… I advise you to heed the recommendation given by the quiz. I ordered cotton initially despite the quiz giving me kapok as a result… the quiz was right.
The quality craftsmanship and materials is evident… when I asked if extra stuffing were available for the second one I'm using as a knee pillow, they not only pointed me to the right place on their site, but also created a new, smaller 1-lb. refill size based on my request.
The three-star ones are in there too. Read all of them
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