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  • What is Brooklinen?

  • What is the Brooklinen pillow protector and how did we test it?

  • What we like about the Brooklinen pillow protector

  • What we don’t like about the Brooklinen pillow protector

  • What are current owners saying?

  • Is buying a Brooklinen pillow protector worth it?

  • Related content

  • What is Brooklinen?
  • What is the Brooklinen pillow protector and how did we test it?
  • What we like about the Brooklinen pillow protector
  • What we don’t like about the Brooklinen pillow protector
  • What are current owners saying?
  • Is buying a Brooklinen pillow protector worth it?
  • Related content

Pros

  • High quality

  • Smooth cotton

  • Minimal staining

Cons

  • Not AAFA-certified

What is Brooklinen?

This online bedding brand has been around since 2014 and aims to provide “simple, high-quality home essentials at a fair price.” (Yes, we know that its prices aren’t the lowest, but in our testing the quality spoke for itself.) Brooklinen products run the gamut from down pillows to our favorite bed sheets, the Lux Core set. The company even sells loungewear and bath towels.

What is the Brooklinen pillow protector and how did we test it?

Brooklinen’s pillow protector is a simple machine-washable cover with a zipper on one end. It’s made of 500 thread count cotton and comes in packs of two. The standard size will work for most pillows (including those marked as queen sized), and it’s also available in king size.

We tested this product the same way we test most others that pass through the Reviewed labs and testers’ homes. As the sleep writer, I had the pleasure of using the Brooklinen pillow protector for several nights, during which I assessed it for noisiness, comfort, and fit on my pillow. I even sat on my couch zipping and unzipping the thing 10 times in a row to make sure it could withstand repeated use.

From there, I took it into the lab to check how well it held up through five wash and dry cycles, watching for things like pilling and shrinking. I also stained it with one of those liquids that’s infamously difficult to get out of fabrics: pomegranate juice.

What we like about the Brooklinen pillow protector

brooklinen pillow protector under a pillow case
Credit: Brooklinen

Pillow protectors, which are used beneath pillowcases, can improve the lifespan of your pillow.

You’ll barely notice it

One of the most irksome and perhaps deterring factors of using a pillow protector is how much they can interfere with your sleep. For example, many waterproof pillow protectors feature vinyl or plastic linings to protect against sweat and drool, but these materials may disrupt your sleep because they’re noisy or hot.

I’m happy to inform you the Brooklinen pillow protector isn’t one of those. In fact, it’s great because of how little you notice it. The fabric and design don’t add bulk to your pillow like some of the others we tested, including the pillow protector from our favorite pillow brand Coop Home Goods.

As it’s made of cotton, the Brooklinen pillow protector also doesn’t make noise when you move your head throughout the night.

It’s high quality

There was little to differentiate the 10 or so pillow protectors I tested. They’re all essentially the same: rectangular and white with a zipper on one end.

Yet somehow the Brooklinen pillow protector set itself apart. A couple of others had slight monochromatic patterns, but I could only fairly easily differentiate one from the rest without checking the tag, and that was the one from Brooklinen. The fabric had a slight sheen and a distinct smoothness that made it stand out from the pack.

The zipper was also incredibly easy to use. It was smooth and consistently easy to pull open and shut—I never struggled or found myself yanking at it to get it moving again.

The size is perfect for most pillows

The Brooklinen pillow protector was one of a handful that didn’t noticeably shrink or warp after washing—which is great, because it was already the perfect size for most pillows. Many of the other pillow protectors that I tested had far too much or a skosh too little fabric to work with a variety of pillows. The Brooklinen worked with everything.

It’s not prone to staining

One pipette-full of pomegranate juice and a wash and dry cycle later, the Brooklinen pillow protector looked almost identical to when we put it into the wash. It had an ever-so-faint stain that was visible when I held it in the right light setting—otherwise, it would be easy to miss with the bare eye. So if worse comes to worst and you wind up spilling on the pillow, fear not—a wash cycle with a bit of stain remover should rectify the issue. And remember, a pillowcase will hide remaining splotches anyhow.

What we don’t like about the Brooklinen pillow protector

the zipper on a brooklinen pillow protector opened to reveal the tag on a pillow beneath
Credit: Brooklinen

Brooklinen's pillow protectors may not provide top-notch allergy protection.

One of the biggest downsides of the Brooklinen pillow protector is that it’s not likely to provide ample or particularly strong allergy protection.

The best way to guarantee a pillow protector provides adequate protection is to check for certification from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). The AAFA subjects certified products to rigorous testing that covers everything—including whether a pillow protector will be less effective when stretched, which can make the fabric’s pores (or gaps between the threads) bigger, allowing more allergens to pass through.

What are current owners saying?

a person's hands hold the brooklinen pillow protector over a pillow
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

Reviewers love the Brooklinen pillow protector, too.

The Brooklinen pillow protector hasn’t amassed a huge number of reviews to date, though customers who write about it rave. It has an average of 4.8 stars from 87 reviews.

A few, like me, were surprised by how unnoticeable it is when in use, and many praise the fit and quality. “The pillow protectors from Brooklinen are well constructed and will keep our new down pillows clean and fresh. They fit well and are designed with an invisible zipper to streamline the cover,” one writes.

Is buying a Brooklinen pillow protector worth it?

two pillows stacked atop one another with brooklinen pillow protectors
Credit: Brooklinen

Each package comes with not one, but two pillow protectors.

If it wasn’t already clear, my answer is a resounding yes. With a set of two standard size Brooklinen pillow protectors ringing up for $28, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Plus, I’d imagine one could last you through several pillows (it’s plain old cotton, after all, and if anything can be taken from cotton sheets, I’d assume it’ll be useful for years).

What’s more, if on a slim chance you get the pillow protector and don’t like it, the company’s customer service and return policy make it easy to rectify. You can simply return it for a refund to your original form of payment—and you have a generous 365 days from your purchase to complete the process.

The one pitfall of this pillow protector is that it doesn’t provide certifiable allergy protection. But if you don’t have severe allergies, and aren’t using something to protect your pillow already, I can confidently say that this one won’t disappoint.

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Meet the tester

Lindsey Vickers

Lindsey Vickers

Senior Staff Writer, Sleep

@lindseyvix

Lindsey writes about sleep, lifestyle, and more for Reviewed. In her waking hours, she likes to spend time outside, read, cook, and bake. She holds a master’s in journalism from Boston University and bachelors' degrees in English Literature and Anthropology from the University of Utah.

See all of Lindsey Vickers's reviews

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