Pillow guide
What loft means, how mattress firmness changes it, why creep matters, and how to tell when your pillow is the wrong height.
What this guide covers
Most pillow shopping asks you to translate symptoms ("my neck hurts") into product labels ("medium loft, plush feel") that don't agree across brands. These guides explain the variables that actually change pillow fit, in plain language, so you can read a product page without having to guess what the words mean.
Guides
Apply it to a real pillow
Landing
Why side sleeping needs the most loft, and how shoulder width changes the target.
Landing
Medium loft that supports the natural neck curve without pushing the chin forward.
Landing
The lowest loft in the lineup — built for face-down sleeping.
Landing
Neck support is a height + firmness + creep problem, not a contour problem.
Frequently asked
Loft is the height of the pillow when there's nothing on it. It's a useful spec but not a complete one — a pillow that measures 150 mm uncompressed might compress to 80 mm under your head. The number that matters for fit is height-under-load, not uncompressed loft.
Loft is height; firmness is how hard the pillow pushes back. Two pillows can share the same loft and feel completely different at the head. Maple specifies both with measured numbers (loft in mm, firmness as IFD25 in newtons) so you can compare across our profiles.
Yes — significantly. A softer mattress lets the shoulder sink with the head, raising the head relative to the spine. That changes how much loft the pillow needs to provide. Maple's fit logic adjusts the recommended loft by ±8 mm based on mattress firmness.