Cut to 54 or 72 inches, in organic cotton sateen
Body pillows come in two common lengths and standard cases fit neither. Ours are cut to both, in the same 300 thread count long-staple organic cotton sateen as our sheets.
Measure your body pillow, then buy the case that matches. Ours come in two lengths: 20 by 54 inches, and 20 by 72 inches, which is the size of the body pillow we make. Both are 300 thread count long-staple organic cotton sateen in the natural undyed colour of the cotton, with a plain hemmed opening and no zip to press against you. The reason to care about the fiber rather than only the fit is that a body pillow puts far more cloth against you than a head pillow does, and a synthetic case will hold moisture at the surface where an organic cotton one lets it move away.
Most people arrive here having bought a body pillow and discovered that nothing in the linen cupboard fits it.
Cut to 54 or 72 inches in the same sateen as our sheets, with a plain hemmed opening. Measure your pillow and take the one that matches it rather than the one that nearly does.
Best for any body pillow, ours or one you already own
Full length at 20 by 72, with a zipper down the side so you can take fill out until it sits right between your knees. Cotton, wool, kapok and latex, and the fill decides the weight as much as the feel.
Best for side sleepers, pregnancy, and anyone whose lower back twists at night
A body pillow holds a lot of fill and takes a lot of contact, so it collects skin oil and moisture faster than a head pillow does. The protector is made at 20 by 72 to go underneath the case.
Best for keeping a body pillow's fill dry and clean
Why nothing in the cupboard fits
Head pillows settled on three sizes decades ago. Body pillows never did, so two pillows sold under the same name can be more than a foot apart.
1
Almost nobody buys the case at the same time. The pillow arrives, it goes on the bed bare, and the case becomes a later errand.
2
A king pillowcase is 36 inches, which is half the length of a full body pillow. It is the nearest thing most households own and it is not near.
3
The last stretch of the pillow is left bare, which is usually the part you hug, so it takes the most contact and gets least protection.
4
Skin oil and moisture go straight into the fill in the uncovered stretch, and that section ages faster than the rest of the pillow.
Measure your pillow, then match the case to it. Ours are 54 and 72 inches, which covers both of the lengths body pillows are usually made in.
Choosing between the two
Lay the pillow flat and measure it end to end before you order. A full-length body pillow is usually 72 inches, which is the size ours is made in, and it runs from your shoulder to below your feet. The shorter length is around 54 inches and is built to sit between the knees and under one arm without taking over the bed.
If the measurement lands between the two, take the longer case. A case that runs slightly over gathers at the end and nobody notices. A case that runs short leaves a foot of pillow out in the open, which is the situation you are trying to fix.
Why the fiber matters more here
A head pillow touches your face and one hand. A body pillow runs the length of you, so the case is against your chest, your arms and your legs for eight hours. Whatever that cloth does with heat and moisture, it does across a much larger area of skin.
That is the argument for organic cotton over a blend. Cotton moves moisture away from you and keeps moving it, where polyester holds it at the surface and turns clammy. Ours is long-staple, which means the fibers are long enough to tuck their ends into the yarn instead of working loose and pilling where the pillow rubs.
The opening
Zips and buttons belong on a duvet cover, where the closure sits at the foot of the bed and away from anyone. On a body pillow the closure ends up under an arm or against a knee, so ours is a plain hemmed opening with nothing hard in it.
It also means the case comes off in a second, which matters because this is the piece that gets washed most. Machine wash it warm or cool and tumble on low or hang it to dry. Skip the fabric softener, since softener coats the fibers and reduces how well the cloth breathes.
Length is the obvious one and it is not the only one that decides whether the case is still in use a year from now.
| What to check | Circadian | Typical body pillow case |
|---|---|---|
| Lengths offered | 54 and 72 inches, to match both common pillow sizes | Frequently one length, with the measurement left vague |
| Fiber | Long-staple organic cotton | Often a cotton and polyester blend, or microfiber |
| Weave | 300 thread count sateen, soft without a chemical finish | Softness often comes from a finish that washes out |
| Opening | Plain hemmed, nothing hard against you | Commonly a zip, which ends up under an arm |
| Colour | The natural undyed colour of the cotton | Dyed, which is the heaviest step in finishing a cloth |
| How it wears | Sateen softens with washing rather than degrading | Blends pill where the pillow rubs against you |
| Certification | Certified organic, licence GOTS-10229 | Usually none, or a claim about the fabric only |
| Where it is sewn | Cut and sewn by hand in New Jersey | Almost always imported finished |
Take the 72 inch case. Ours is made at 20 by 72 and the case is cut to it, so there is no gathering at the end and no stretch across the middle.
Organic Cotton Body Pillow Case ›Measure it flat, end to end, before you order. Most fall near 54 or 72 inches. If yours lands between the two, take the longer one and let it gather.
Organic Cotton Body Pillow Case ›Take the 72 inch case with it, and pick the fill by weight as much as by feel. Cotton is the firmest and holds its shape between the knees. Kapok is the easiest to move without waking up properly.
Body Pillow ›Put the protector on first, in body size, then the case over it. A body pillow takes contact along its whole length, so it collects more skin oil and moisture than a head pillow ever does.
Waterproof Pillow Protector ›There are two common sizes and ours are made in both: 20 by 54 inches and 20 by 72 inches. Body pillows never settled on a single standard the way head pillows did, so measure your pillow flat before ordering rather than assuming.
No. A king case is 20 by 36 inches, which is half the length of a full body pillow, so roughly three feet of the pillow would be left bare. It is the nearest thing most households already own and it is nowhere near long enough.
In practice the two words get used for the same thing, and the difference that matters is how it closes. Ours has a plain hemmed opening with no zip, because on a body pillow the closure ends up under an arm or against a knee rather than out of the way at the foot of the bed.
The 54 inch case. That shorter length is the one built to sit between the knees and under one arm without taking over the bed, and a case cut to it will not gather or slide.
Yes, under licence GOTS-10229 issued by Oregon Tilth. The certification follows the cotton through processing rather than stopping at the farm. For cloth your skin is against all night, processing is where most of the difference is made.
Machine wash warm or cool and tumble on low or hang it to dry. Skip the fabric softener, because softener coats the fibers and reduces how well the cloth breathes. Sateen softens with washing rather than degrading, so it improves for a long time before it starts to age.
300, in long-staple organic cotton sateen. Thread count is useful up to roughly that point and misleading above it, because higher numbers are usually reached by counting plied yarns several times over. Staple length is the figure that predicts how the cloth wears.
That is what cotton smells like. Unbleached and unscented cotton has a faint sweet, slightly dusty smell of the plant, and it fades within a wash or two. Nothing was added to create it and nothing was added to cover it up.
It is worth more here than on a head pillow. A body pillow is against you along its whole length, so it takes on skin oil and moisture over a much larger area, and that is what shortens the life of a natural fill. The protector is made in body size at 20 by 72 and goes on under the case.
These are the natural undyed colour of the cotton, which is a soft off-white rather than a bright one. Dyeing is one of the heaviest steps in textile processing and bleaching to a true white is heavier still, so the cloth is left as it comes.
Fifty-four inches and seventy-two inches, in the same cloth as the sheets. Free shipping. Cut and sewn by hand in our New Jersey workshop.
See the body pillow casesYour first pillow
Leave your email and the code comes right over, along with the two-minute quiz that matches you to one of the six fills.
60-night trial · Handmade in New Jersey
Where to send it
The $10 code and the quiz link land in your inbox in about a minute.
From Jacob, the founder. One email, unsubscribe anytime.
That email doesn't look right. Mind checking it?
Done
Check your inbox in a minute. If you want a head start, the quiz takes two.
Start the quiz60-night trial · Handmade in New Jersey
