It’s hard to keep your pillows nice and fluffy in a world that just wants to smash and flatten pillows.  My family is full of pillow users and abusers.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I think decorative throw pillows are much happier being used than being protected as if they are an endangered species.  Even though we call them decorative throw pillows the truth is, they are there to serve us, not just look pretty.

cheap throw pillows

Crystal, there is a secret.

You know how I show you all my yard sale and thrift store finds but then I also talk about investment pieces?  Like how it’s worth it to pay for a good rug?  Same goes for a bed–you spend a big percentage of your life on a bed, get a good one.

I feel the same way about pillows, or at least, what goes inside a pillow.

You Need Feather inserts (down alternative if you have allergies).

You know how you have a pretty fabric on the outside of the pillow but the outside isn’t the only part of the pillow?  There is something inside too. It’s the insert.

Sometimes I’m in a thrift store and I hopefully pick up a pillow and it’s all weirdly lumpy and eerily close to only being two-dimensional.  Oftentimes it’s a homemade pillow that someone stuffed with batting.  Batting or poly-fill is okay for stuffed toys or a decorative tooth fairy pillow for your daughter’s bed.  But it won’t hold up to being used day after day.  And batting certainly won’t re-fluff.

My favorite, most fluffable, abuse-taking pillow inserts have always been feather filled. The kind where every now and then, you’ll feel a sharp end of a feather poking through the insert into a fleshy part of your body.  That’s the stuff. Just pull that feather out and let it fall to the floor, you’ll vacuum it up next time around.

Feather pillow inserts will take all of your (and your family’s) abuse and then obediently fluff back up every time.  For years. I’ve washed my inserts in the washer and dried them in the dryer. You can be fancy and order feather inserts from Amazon or do what I do and next time you are at Home Goods buy a few pillows you like but make sure they are feather pillows with removable covers.

Yes, the cover is the other part of the pillow and you want to make sure the cover is removable. Check for a zipper on the outside pillow cover to make sure you can easily remove the insert. This allows you to reuse the insert and wash the pillow cover when needed, or switch out your pillow covers seasonally if you need a little pattern or color change up.

So that’s the secret pillow policy.  It’s not about how you abuse your pillow, it’s about putting the right thing inside them so you can abuse them. Use feather inserts. I even look for them now when I’m thrifting.  Sometimes you’ll find an ugly $1 pillow but inside is a lovely feather pillow insert.  I’ll buy that right up and get home and throw away the ugly cover and wash the insert in super hot water and dry it and it’s as good as new.

Read More: My fall and winter pillow covers