This 30-second trick tells you if you need a new pillow — and the ones to buy in the Presidents’ Day sales, based on our testing

A hand tests a pillow at a testing studio. In a circular frame placed in the top left foreground, a pillow is shown at a tester's home. In the bottom right-hand corner, there is a Presidents' Day deals badge. — (Image credit: Future)

Investing in a high-quality pillow can bring amazing sleep benefits — while sleeping on one that needs replacing can cause neck pain and interrupted sleep. But how do you know when it's time to replace your old pillow?

This quick and easy test can help you determine just that. All you have to do is fold your pillow in half and see what happens... don't worry, we'll walk you through it in more detail below.

The 30-second trick to tell if your pillow needs replacing

To conduct a 30-second pillow test to determine whether your pillow should be replaced, you should first fold the pillow in half (after taking off the pillow's cover). Hold the folded pillow in place for 30 seconds before letting go.

A supportive pillow with an even fill distribution will be hard to fold in half and will bounce back almost immediately when you let go. That's a pass!

A woman's hands get ready to fold a pillow in half to test if it needs replacing. — (Image credit: Future)

An unsupportive pillow that folds over easily and stays in that position (or slowly regains its original shape) after letting go means it has lost some of the fill or the fill is sagging. That's a fail.

A pillow with uneven or lumpy fill won't be supportive enough to keep your neck in proper alignment, leading to neck and shoulder pain. That means it's time to replace it, especially if it's older than 1-2 years (that's when experts recommend replacing your pillow).

If your pillow failed the test, the good news is that now is a great time to buy a new one. The Presidents' Day sales are in full swing, and the below four options have all been tested and approved by our team of experts.

Our top 4 pillows to shop in the Presidents’ Day deals

Alexis recently joined the Tom's Guide Sleep Team as a Deals Writer. She is passionate about helping others get better sleep and even more passionate about finding a great deal, whether that's on some of the top mattress brands out there like Saatva, Nectar and DreamCloud, or on leading sleep tech like smart trackers. She is an experienced writer and editor in the lifestyle industry and has worked on major UK and US publications, including Daily Mail, Space.com, and Black Women Rising Magazine.