The real question is: What makes a pillow a cooling pillow? “Cooling pillows help provide a cool or temperature-neutral sleep surface through a two-stage process,” Vice President Of Product & Merchandising at luxury bedding company Saatva, Byron Golub, tells Refinery29. That means it can either draw heat away or have better airflow than traditional pillows — or both. Golub says that natural latex, graphite-infused memory foam, shredded memory foam, or down alternative synthetic polyester materials are your best bet for a cooling pillow that truly delivers.