The "Pillow Lottery": Why Your New Shredded Foam Pillow is Flat or Smells (And How to Fix It)

You’ve done your research. You find a body pillow with hundreds of 5-star ratings. You place the order, and a small, heavy box arrives. You open it, and out slides a compressed, lumpy, or—worst of all—completely “flat” pillow that smells like a chemical factory.

This is the “pillow lottery,” and it’s one of the most frustrating consumer experiences in modern bedding. Users leave 1-star reviews claiming “deceptive companies” are selling “pathetic examples of a ‘body pillow’.”

Here’s the industry secret: In most cases, you haven’t been deceived. You’re just the victim of the science of vacuum-compression logistics. The good news is, you can almost always fix it. Using a popular pillow like the WhatsBedding Shredded Memory Foam Body Pillow as our case study, let’s deconstruct what’s happening and how to guarantee you get the fluffy pillow you paid for.

The Promise: Why Shredded Foam Is Superior (In Theory)

First, understand why shredded memory foam is used. Unlike a solid block of foam (which can be hot and rigid), a pillow filled with “unique shredded memory foam” is a far more advanced design.

1. It’s Adjustable: The fill is “fluffy” and moldable, allowing you to “adjust the level of pillows in certain space.” You can bunch it, shape it, and make it contour to your body’s curves—a huge win for side sleepers and pregnant women.
2. It Breathes: The space between the shreds allows air to circulate, solving the “hot pillow” problem that plagues solid memory foam.
3. It’s Stable (When Quilted): A high-quality shredded foam pillow, like the WhatsBedding model, uses a “diamond shape quilted” outer cover. This isn’t just for looks. This stitching creates small chambers that “prevent the fillings from clumping or shifting,” which is essential for a 54-inch long pillow.

This is the pillow you should receive. The problem is that to ship it to you for $30, it has to be put through a machine that flattens it with tons of pressure and seals it in a tiny plastic bag.

The Problem #1: “It’s Completely Flat!”

When a user complains their pillow is “completely flat,” they are experiencing a “compression set.” The shredded foam pieces, trapped in the bag for weeks or months, have become stuck together. The manufacturer’s advice to “allow 24hrs to restore” is often passive and insufficient.

You must be active. Here is the professional guide to fluffing a compressed foam pillow.

1. The 48-Hour Wait (Passive): As the instructions state, let it sit for at least 24-48 hours. This allows the majority of the expansion. But it won’t be enough if the foam is badly clumped.
2. The Manual Massage (Active): You must manually break up the foam. Open the cover (if possible) and dig your hands into the foam. Find the large, hard clumps of shredded foam and aggressively tear them apart with your fingers. Do this for the entire pillow.
3. The Dryer Trick (The “Secret Weapon”): This is the most important step. The WhatsBedding pillow’s care instructions are the key: it “can be machine… dried.” Put the entire pillow in your dryer on a LOW HEAT or NO HEAT setting. Add two or three dryer balls (or tennis balls in clean socks).

Run it for 20-30 minutes. The tumbling action, combined with the dryer balls, will violently separate every last clump of foam, while the gentle air circulates and expands the foam to its maximum, intended loft. This single step will, in 99% of cases, turn a “flat, 1-star POS” into the 5-star fluffy pillow you were promised.

The Problem #2: “Horrible Chemical Smell”

When a user complains of a “‘permanent marker’ chemical smell,” they are experiencing off-gassing.

• What it is: Memory foam is a polyurethane product. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are a normal byproduct of its manufacturing.
• Why it’s strong: When the pillow is sealed in a vacuum bag right off the assembly line, those harmless (but smelly) gases are trapped and concentrated. When you cut the bag, you’re releasing months of built-up, concentrated odor.

This is not “permanent.” It just needs to be properly ventilated.

1. Deconstruct: Immediately remove the outer quilted cover from the inner pillow (which contains the foam).
2. Ventilate: Place the inner foam pillow in a separate, well-ventilated room. A garage, a porch, or a room with an open window and a fan is ideal. Do not put it on your bed.
3. Wash: Wash the outer cover separately, according to its care instructions.
4. Wait: Let the foam core air out for 24-48 hours. The smell will dissipate completely as the VOCs escape.

Conclusion: Finishing the Job

A vacuum-packed shredded foam pillow is a marvel of modern logistics. It allows you to buy a large, supportive, 54-inch body pillow for a very low price. The trade-off is that you, the consumer, must often complete the final 5% of the “manufacturing” process at home.

The “lottery” isn’t about getting a good pillow or a bad one. It’s about knowing how to properly “activate” the product you received. By aggressively fluffing it (using the dryer) and properly off-gassing it, you can turn that initial 1-star disappointment into the 5-star sleep companion you were promised.