Certified organic, licence GOTS-10229
The common trick in this category is to certify the outer fabric and describe the whole pillow as organic. Ours is a finished-product certification on the cotton and the wool, which covers the material inside as well as the cover.
The Organic Cotton pillow and the Organic Wool pillow are GOTS Certified Organic as finished products under licence GOTS-10229, issued by Oregon Tilth and audited in person every year. Finished product is the important phrase: it means the fiber inside the pillow is covered, not only the cloth on the outside. Our duvets and bedding carry the same certification. The other pillows do not, and we say so rather than stretching the label across the catalogue.
Two pillows, both duvets and the bedding range. Everything else we make is described by exactly what is in it instead.
Texas-grown organic cotton as the fill and the cover, certified as a finished product. Dense, silent and holds its shape for years.
Best for the strongest certification we hold, in our best-selling pillow
New Zealand wool under the same finished-product certification, in an organic cotton cover.
Best for warm sleepers who want the certification too
Hand-tufted organic cotton with corner-loop tufts tied by hand, so the fill stays spread instead of migrating to one end.
Best for year-round bedding
The same construction in organic wool, which moves moisture across the whole bed rather than only under your head.
Best for couples running at different temperatures
300 thread count long-staple organic cotton sateen, cut and sewn by hand in New Jersey rather than imported finished.
Best for bedding from the same certified supply chain
The same sateen as the sheets, sold as a pair, with a plain slip-on opening and no zip against your face.
Best for not undoing the pillow with a synthetic case
Why the label is worth reading closely
The certification itself is rigorous. What varies enormously is how much of a given product it was applied to, and that part is rarely on the front of the package.
1
A real certificate, correctly issued, covering the woven cloth on the outside of the pillow.
2
Which is where most of the material is, and which is what your head is resting on all night.
3
Legally defensible, and it describes a fraction of the object you are buying.
4
Unless you ask for the certificate and read the scope on it, which almost nobody does.
So ask. Ask us, and ask anyone else you are considering. A maker with a finished-product certification will send it without hesitating, and the answer you get to that question tells you more than any adjective on the packaging.
What the standard requires
A lot of people assume organic in textiles means the crop was grown without pesticides and that is the end of it. The standard goes considerably further, because a fiber can be grown cleanly and then bleached, finished and dyed into something quite different.
It bans chlorine bleaching outright and permits only oxygen-based methods. It restricts dyes and finishes. It requires wastewater treatment at every wet-processing facility the material passes through. And it applies at every stage rather than only at the field.
What finished product means
Certification can be issued at several levels, and the level is the whole story. A certified fabric means the cloth qualifies. A certified finished product means the object you receive qualifies, fill included.
Ours is the second. Under licence GOTS-10229 the cotton inside the Organic Cotton pillow and the wool inside the Organic Wool pillow are both covered, along with the covers on each. That is the claim worth checking on any brand, because the two versions sound identical in marketing copy and are not remotely the same thing.
Where we do not claim it
Wild-harvested fiber falls outside farming standards altogether, because those standards are written for farms. The hulls in our firmest pillow are cleaned with air and ultraviolet light rather than chemistry, and the pillow sits outside our certified scope. So does the hybrid.
None of that makes them worse pillows and two of them are among our most popular. Stretching a certificate issued for cotton across a pillow full of hulls would simply be untrue, and the whole value of a certificate is that it means something specific.
The distinction almost nobody explains, and the one that decides what you are buying.
| What is covered | Finished product, which is ours | Fabric only, which is common |
|---|---|---|
| The cover cloth | Covered | Covered |
| The fill inside | Covered | Not covered |
| What you may call it | A certified organic pillow | A pillow with a certified organic cover |
| What tends to get printed | The same words | The same words |
| Wet processing | Restricted at every facility the material passes | Restricted for the fabric only |
| How to tell them apart | Ask for the certificate and read the scope | Ask for the certificate and read the scope |
| Our licence | GOTS-10229, Oregon Tilth | Ask for theirs |
The Organic Cotton pillow, our best seller. Texas-grown cotton inside and out, certified as a finished product.
Organic Cotton Pillow ›The Organic Wool pillow. Same certification, and wool moves moisture off your skin so you wake dry.
Organic Wool Pillow ›The sheet set and a duvet. Same supply chain, cut and sewn by hand in New Jersey.
Organic Cotton Sheet Set ›Write to us and we will send the certificate. It is the most useful question you can put to anyone selling certified bedding.
Organic Cotton Pillow ›It is a textile standard that follows the material through the whole supply chain rather than stopping at the farm. It bans chlorine bleaching, permits only oxygen-based methods, restricts dyes and finishes, and requires wastewater treatment at every wet-processing facility the fiber passes through.
The Organic Cotton pillow, the Organic Wool pillow, both duvets, the sheet set, the fitted and flat sheets, the duvet cover and the pillowcases. All under licence GOTS-10229, issued by Oregon Tilth.
GOTS-10229, issued by Oregon Tilth and audited in person every year. Write to us and we will send the certificate itself rather than asking you to take the number on trust.
Everything, and it is the distinction the category relies on. Certified fabric means the cloth on the outside qualifies. Certified finished product means the whole object qualifies, fill included. Both get described as an organic pillow, and only one of them means the material under your head was covered.
Because they do not qualify and we would rather say so. Wild-harvested fiber sits outside standards written for farms. The hulls in our firmest pillow are cleaned with air and ultraviolet light and the pillow sits outside our certified scope, as does the hybrid. All three are excellent and none of them can wear that particular label.
The whole pillow, which is the point of a finished-product certification. It covers the material inside and the cover together rather than the outer fabric alone, and that is the distinction worth checking on any brand, because both versions get described in the same words.
Not exactly, and the difference matters if you are sensitive. The standard tells you which processes were permitted and which were banned, which is a real restriction rather than a marketing line. It does not tell you nothing was used. If you need that, look at our kapok pillow, which reaches you without any chemical processing at all.
Yes, in person, once a year. That is one of the more useful features of this particular standard, because a certificate nobody re-checks is worth very little a few years after it is issued.
Yes. Ask and we will send it, and you should ask the same of anyone else you are considering. How readily a company produces the document, and what scope it turns out to cover, tells you more than the front of the packaging ever will.
The standard covers the material and its processing, including social criteria at the facilities involved. Where our products are made is a separate fact: everything is cut and sewn by hand in a small workshop in New Jersey, which has been making pillows since 1981.
Then ask everyone else you are considering, and compare what the scope on each one covers. Sixty nights to be sure.
See the certified pillows183 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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