People shocked after realising pillows ‘expire’ and there’s a way you can find out

Apparently your pillows can 'expire', and people online are losing their minds over it.

Yeah, you read that right. Your beloved pillow that you’ve been snoozing on for the past decade is probably well overdue its expiration.

While you may have never considered the fact that your cotton or synthetic pillow could essentially go out of date, there apparently is a way for you to tell whether it needs tossing into the bin.

Do you know how to tell if your pillow has expired? (Getty Stock Images)

Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s unsafe to use or that it’s going to start smelling or decomposing, but there are noticeable changes to a

pillow once it has reached its end date, and you should look to replace it as soon as possible.

This is because once it reaches a certain amount of use, it’ll stop supporting your head and neck appropriately, which is probably why you wake up with a crick in your neck most days.

If you’re running to your room now to see if you can tell that it’s due a change, you might want to do the test that an Instagram user has shared, as it’ll help you determine which ones can stay, and what’s got to go.

Stef Orsello posted a short clip which shows her going through all of the pillows on her bed, which left her with one pillow that needs to be chucked, and the rest which can peacefully stay on her bed for a while longer.

Stef Orsello posted a clip to Instagram (Instagram/@stef.orsello)

First, she laid her pillow out, and then she folded it in half.

If the pillow bounces back, then it’s all good to keep.

But if it stays in the same folded position, it’s time to chuck.

According to PimaCott, a pillow manufacturer, your pillow needs to be replaced as often as every ‘six to 12 months for synthetic fill pillows, and every two to three years for down pillows’.

But if you find that you pillow isn’t giving you the support you need unless you manipulate it, you should opt to replace it anyway, even if it’s later or earlier than that timeline.

Many people have a real attachment to their pillows, and when you find a great one, it can be hard to say goodbye to it.

That’s probably why people in the comments of Stef’s video have been shocked to hear that their pillow has an 'expiration' date.

One person wrote: “yeah pillows are fkn expensive. I think I'll keep my soggy ones.”

Another said: “Nooo that's a perfectly seasoned pillow.”

Someone else wrote: “Maybe I’m wrong, but I just thought this meant they’re dirty and it’s time to wash them?”

Then, there was someone who vowed to never throw hers away, writing: “I have a 20+ year old down pillow…. You’d have to pry it out of my cold dead hands. I literally can’t sleep without it and it could never be replaced. It even comes with me when we travel- in my carry on because literally everything can be replaced. MY pillow can not.”

I guess it’s up to you whether you choose to keep or chuck... but you've been warned.

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