Buckwheat Fill? Who would have thought.

No, you can’t nibble your buckwheat pillow in an emergency snack attack. 

The buckwheat fill is made from the husk of the fruit (it isn’t a grain, and it’s unrelated to wheat). The husk is crisp and slightly springy, and it’s removed in the milling process that makes buckwheat flour. It would be destined for the compost heap, except—

—Except that several centuries back, Asian cultures discovered that the husks make amazing pillows. And they have real advantages over feather, down, or foam pillows.

Buckwheat fill automatically conforms to the natural shape of your head, neck, or whatever anatomical component plops into it, instead of resisting and pushing back. The miniature triangle-like husks make air space between them, which naturally ventilates the pillow, leaving it cool and nonstuffy.

And buckwheat is one of the planet’s most sustainable and hardy crops. It grows organically in a wide range of environments thanks to its natural resistance to insects and disease. It doesn’t need chemical fertilizers.

No animals are harmed, or even mildly annoyed, in the making of a buckwheat pillow.

Bucky makes a variety of fine pillows with buckwheat fill. The Utopia Neck Pillow offers cozy, relaxing comfort and stress relief. It’s ideal for travel, reading, or simple relaxing. The Buckwheat Bed Pillow is infinitely customizable for thickness and density by unzipping and adding or subtracting fill. The Duo Buckwheat/Millet Bed Pillow has a buckwheat chamber on one side and millet on the other. The smaller millet hull gives a creamier feel with less ventilation, so it warms with body heat.

Never slept with a buckwheat pillow? Can’t imagine such a thing?

Emily G. wrote us to admit that when she received a Bucky neck pillow as a high school graduation gift, “I – in typical 18-year-old fashion – thought it was one of the weirdest gifts I’d ever received.” But a few months later, she used it to relieve the stress of her 1,000-mile car trip to college, and fell in love: with a pillow.

“I sleep with my Bucky every night. I take it with me on EVERY trip, no matter if it’s just one night or two months abroad. My pillow has been to Texas, South Carolina, France, Scotland, Los Angeles, Quebec, Boston, Las Vegas, and many more places in-between. I use it every night while reading or tooling around on the internet.

“... My old family friend had no idea that her graduation present would be the only one of the many I would still use daily more than a decade later, but here we are.”

And Jamie K., a massage therapist, reported that she personally loves her Duo Buckwheat/Millet Bed Pillow and is now recommending it to all her clients who suffer with chronic neck pain.

And—we hadn’t thought of this, honestly— she added that “It does not retain heat like some pillows, so great for hot flash sufferers.”