To adjust a buckwheat pillow's firmness, unzip the cover and either remove a handful of hulls to make it softer and lower, or add hulls to make it firmer and higher. It's a simple, physical adjustment you can repeat as often as you like, and it's the main reason people choose buckwheat over a fixed-firmness foam or down pillow.
Why These Pillows Are Adjustable in the First Place
A buckwheat pillow's firmness comes entirely from how many hulls are packed inside the cover. More hulls means a fuller, firmer, higher pillow; fewer hulls means a softer, lower one. Because the fill is loose rather than a single molded piece, changing the amount inside is straightforward, and it doesn't damage the pillow — it's simply how the pillow is meant to be used. On most of our pillows, the cover unzips to reach the fill directly; on some styles there's a zippered inner liner underneath a decorative outer cover, which just adds one extra step of unzipping before you reach the hulls.
Tools That Make It Easier
You don't need anything special to adjust a buckwheat pillow, but a few household items help keep it tidy: a large bowl or tray to catch hulls as you remove them, a dry measuring cup so you can track roughly how much you've taken out or added, and a resealable bag or container for any hulls you're not putting back right away. Doing this over a tray or on a hard floor makes cleanup easier if a few hulls escape. None of this needs to be precise — you're aiming for a feel you like, not an exact measurement.
Softening a Pillow That Feels Too Firm
- Unzip the cover, or the inner liner if your pillow has one.
- Scoop out a small amount of hulls — a cup or two at a time is a reasonable starting point — into a bowl or bag.
- Zip the pillow back up and try it for a night or two before removing more.
- Keep the hulls you removed in a sealed container or bag in case you want to add them back later.
It's easier to remove a little at a time than to take out too much at once, since adding hulls back is simple but you'll want to know roughly how much you removed to get back to where you started.
Firming Up a Pillow That Feels Too Soft
- Unzip the cover or liner the same way as above.
- Add hulls gradually, a cup or two at a time, repacking and testing as you go.
- Distribute the hulls evenly before zipping the pillow closed, so one area isn't noticeably fuller than another.
If you've used up any hulls you saved from softening the pillow earlier, or you simply want more fill than came with it, our buckwheat hulls are sold separately from 3 lb bags up to 500 lb, for anyone filling multiple pillows or cushions.
Fluffing Without Changing the Amount of Fill
Not every firmness issue means you need more or less fill — sometimes the hulls have simply settled unevenly. Before adding or removing anything, try kneading the pillow with both hands and shaking it out the way you would a down pillow. This redistributes hulls that have clumped to one side or end and often solves the problem on its own.
A Few Real Adjustment Situations
A pillow that feels notably firmer than expected straight out of the packaging is common, since it usually arrives filled to a standard level rather than to your personal preference — removing a cup or two and testing it for a night is a reasonable first move. A pillow that felt right for months and has gradually started to feel a little low usually just needs a top-up rather than any troubleshooting. And a pillow that feels lumpy or uneven on one side, rather than uniformly too firm or too soft, is more often solved by kneading and redistributing the hulls than by changing the amount inside.
Matching Firmness to How You Sleep
Side sleepers generally want more fill for a taller pillow that fills the gap at the shoulder. Back sleepers tend to prefer a medium amount that keeps the head level with the spine. Stomach sleepers usually want the least fill of the three, sometimes removing quite a bit from a pillow that arrived at a standard level. Our Sleep Position Guide goes through this in more depth if you're not sure where to start.
How Often You'll Need to Adjust
Most people adjust a new pillow once or twice in the first couple of weeks and then leave it alone for a long stretch. Over months and years, hulls can compress very slightly with regular use, so if a pillow that once felt right starts to feel a little low, that's a sign to top it up rather than a sign anything has gone wrong. There's no set schedule to follow — let how the pillow feels be the guide.
Storing Extra Hulls
Keep any hulls you're not using in a sealed bag or airtight container, somewhere dry. Buckwheat hulls hold up well in storage as long as they stay dry, so there's no rush to use them right away. A labeled bag noting which pillow the hulls came from can save some guesswork if you ever set fill aside from more than one pillow at a time.
Need a general refresher on fill amounts by size first? Our Firmness & Fill Guide is the quickest place to check.