A plant in place of polyester
A down alternative pillow that feels like down.
Most down alternatives are polyester. Kapok is the lightest natural fiber on Earth, and it feels as soft as down.
Inside most down alternatives
Most down alternative pillows are polyester, a plastic fiber.
Polyester fiberfill is what most pillows sold as a down alternative hold. Researchers have looked inside used pillows, and the synthetic ones do not come out well.
Made from petroleum
Polyester is spun from oil. It is the same family of plastic as a water bottle, a few inches from your face all night.
Three times the mite allergen
After twelve months in the same bedrooms, synthetic pillows held about three times the dust mite allergen that feather pillows did (Rains, 1999).
More kinds of mold
Every used pillow in one study carried four to sixteen kinds of fungus, and the synthetic pillows carried more of them (Woodcock, 2006).
Kapok gives you the soft, light feel people buy down for, and it grows inside a seed pod.
Why kapok feels like down
Kapok lands under your head like a cloud.
Kapok is the softest, lightest pillow we make, and the closest thing to down without a single feather.
Kapok is the lightest natural fiber on Earth. Each strand is a hollow tube, mostly air, so a handful weighs almost nothing and springs back into a soft cushion. Air moves through it as well, so it stays cool under your cheek.
Each fiber also carries a natural waxy coat that makes water bead up and roll off. Mold and dust mites both need moisture, and kapok gives them none to work with. Because it is a plant, there are no feather allergens at all.
The cover is organic cotton, and the pillow rests so lightly on your ear and jaw that you feel the softness more than the weight.
Where it comes from
Gathered from pods that fall on their own.
Kapok grows inside the seed pods of a rainforest tree in Indonesia. The pods ripen, split and fall, and people gather them by hand. The tree is never cut down.
Pick your softness
Softest, or a little firmer.
Kapok is the softest pillow we make. If you want that softness with a little more hold, latex is a soft, bouncy hug, and wool is springy past it.
Wild-Harvested Kapok Pillow
Light and cloud-like, the softest we make.
The fluffiest pillow we make. It molds around your head and springs back with a quick shake each day, pushing the edges to the center. Back and stomach sleepers keep it lower. Side sleepers keep it fuller.
Organic Wool Pillow
Soft and springy, a little firmer.
Wool gives under your head and springs back, and it holds its shape with no daily fluffing. It keeps you one temperature through the night too. Wool comes from sheep, so choose kapok if you want a vegan pillow.
What buyers say
From people who left down behind.
I ordered this pillow to replace my very old (but beloved) down pillow and I'm so glad I did.
It has that soft, almost down-like fluffiness without using down.
It's firm enough to support my neck while being soft and moldable at the same time.
The list most pillow makers hope you never read. None of it is in a Circadian pillow.
Real people, real pillows
Tap any one to see where they posted it.
Make it yours
Set it in the first few nights.
It arrives full
About a third more kapok than most people keep, so you only ever take some out.
Open the zipper a little
Hold the open zipper inside a large bag and ease some kapok out. The fiber is so light it would float into the room in the open air.
Shake it into a mound
Push the edges to the center each day. The pillow stays full and feels the same every night.
Judge it over weeks
Sleep on a height for a few nights before you change it, then give it a few weeks before you decide.
Side by side
What is inside each kind of soft pillow.
| Question | Kapok pillow | Polyester down alternative | Down pillow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made from | Fiber from the seed pod of a tree | Polyester, a plastic spun from oil | Duck or goose down and feathers |
| Plant-based and vegan | Yes | Vegan, not plant-based | No |
| Feel | Soft, light, springs back | Soft | Soft, light |
| Height | You set it through the zipper | Varies | Varies |
From the founder
Every pillow I tried either flattened in three months or hid a list of chemicals you'd need a glossary to read, so we built one that doesn't do either.Jacob, founder of Circadian
The same hands have been making pillows in this New Jersey workshop since 1981.
A few last questions
Before you decide.
Does a kapok pillow feel like down?
Close to it. Kapok is soft, light and lofty, and it gives gently under your head the way down does. The difference is where it comes from: a seed pod, with no animal in it.
Is kapok organic?
Kapok is wild-harvested, gathered from the pods of trees that are left standing. No organic certification covers the fiber, so we call it wild-harvested kapok. The cotton cover around it is certified organic.
Is a kapok pillow vegan?
Yes. The fill is plant fiber and the cover is organic cotton.
Does kapok need fluffing?
Yes, a quick shake each day. Push the edges toward the center to build a soft mound for your head. It takes a few seconds and keeps the pillow full.
Can side sleepers use a kapok pillow?
Yes. Keep it fuller so it fills the space between your ear and shoulder. If you want more hold than kapok gives, the Tree-Tapped Latex Pillow is one step firmer, a soft, bouncy hug. The Organic Wool Pillow is one step past it, soft and springy.
Does kapok go flat?
It sits a little lower over months of nightly use. The daily shake keeps it full, and you can add more through the zipper with a kapok refill. Most people get three to five years from it.
What if it isn't right for me?
Sleep on it for 60 nights. If it isn't your pillow, send it back for a full refund. Most orders arrive in 5 to 10 business days.
Not sure which fits you
Answer a few questions and we'll point you to your pillow.
Take the 60-second quizThe softness of down, grown on a tree.
Wild-harvested kapok in an organic cotton cover, sewn by hand in New Jersey and shipped free.
Shop the kapok pillow From $79 · free shipping