Roper Poll: Americans Appreciate Good Pillow But, Replace Pillows Every 2 Years; Spring Cleaning 'Wakes Up' Bed Pillows, Promotes Better Sleep

5/3/2004

From: Kirk Monroe, 202-248-4608 or kirk@kmcpr.com Web: http://www.sleepbetter.org

RICHMOND, Va., May 3 -- A just released Roper poll shows that while 70 percent of American adults say a comfortable pillow is "very important" to a good night's sleep, most Americans are probably sleeping on a pillow that is old, needs to be washed and is therefore not nearly as clean and comfortable as it could be.

In fact, the poll reveals that the average American's pillow is more than two years old and washed less than once a month. People age 65 and over are likely to have the oldest pillows at nearly three years old. Nearly one in three Americans (30 percent) do not replace their pillows sooner than every three years. Women (73 percent) and people age 35 to 49 (82 percent) rated pillow comfort very important, but were also the groups most likely to wait more than a month to wash their pillow.

The poll was sponsored by Carpenter Company, makers of comfort products that bear the Sleep Better(r) seal, and a leader in national sales of pillows, mattress pads, and memory foam sleep products. For over 50 years, Carpenter Company has provided hundreds of thousands of consumers with cutting-edge science for comfort technology. With the industry's only dedicated research and development facility, Carpenter Company's ideas and innovations support such comfort brand leaders as Sealy, Lazy Boy, Serta, Kingsdown, Broyhill, and Basset.

For the poll, Roper interviewed by telephone a nationally representative sample of 1,016 Americans ages 18 or older, between March 12, 2004 and March 14, 2004. Roper used a Random Digit Dialing (RDD) technique that ensures respondents with both listed and unlisted numbers are reached across regions and demography. One interview was conducted per household. To ensure a reliable and accurate representation of the total national adult population, completed interviews were weighted slightly to Census norms for age, gender, geographic region, race, and education norms. The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

For complete poll details and graphs and charts visit the press page at http://www.sleepbetter.org