Pillows

Pillows are small (and usually soft) support for the head, usually used while sleeping in a bed, or for the body as used on a couch or chair. There are also throw pillows (also called toss pillows), which are pillows that are purely decorative and not designed for support or comfort. more...

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There also exist "novelty pillows", (which can be throw or body pillows), which are designed often as licensed products. Such pillows include the popular "Fish Pillow" - a large body pillow that is made to look like a trout.

By analogy, in engineering and construction, supporting elements may also be called pillows.

Pillow construction and parts

Internally, a pillow comprises a filler made from foam, synthetic fills, feathers, or down. Traditionally straw was a filler, but this is uncomfortable and rarely used today. Feathers and down were the choice of the rich; today artificial fills are the most common because they tend to be firmer and also softer than feathers. Buckwheat is somewhat common in Asia, as are plastic imitations. Such pillows tend to be smaller than a standard Western pillow.

The fill is then surrounded with a cover or shell made of cloth or silk, known as the pillow case or pillow slip. House pillows (also called cushions) often include a zipper in this cover so that the fill can be removed and the covering laundered. Bed pillows do not have this feature, and instead a pillow case goes over the pillow, that can be washed. Even with regular washing, pillows tend to accumulate large amounts of dust and vast numbers of microbes among the fill and it is recommended that they be replaced every few years, especially for those with allergies.

The classic bed pillow shape is a square or golden rectangle with four corners reminiscent of the shape of the ears of a cat. Each corner of a pillow is referred to as a nib. When a pillow is placed on a flat surface the "poof point" is the crest of the pillow roundness.

Types of pillows

A pillow is designed to provide support and comfort to the body. There are three main types of pillows; Bed Pillows, Orthopedic Pillows and Decorative Pillows, with some overlapping of use between these.

A husband pillow (also known as a bedrest or a boyfriend pillow) is a good example of how these categories overlap. It is a large, high-backed pillow with two "arms". It is used to prop the user upright while in bed or on the floor, as for reading or watching television. Since it is not typically used when sleeping, it does not fit neatly as a Bed Pillow. Since it is only generally designed for support and not to address some specific medical condition, it does not neatly fit as an Orthopedic Pillow. Since it is more functional than decorative, it does not fit neatly as a Decorative Pillow.
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Nevertheless, the three categories may be further broken down as follows:

Read more at Wikipedia.org