Five Star Down Alternative Pillow

The Five Star Down Alternative Pillow has a crisp cotton outer cover and filled with hypoallergenic polyester filling. It falls lower on the firmness and support scale, which may make it a better fit for stomach sleepers than others.
Mattress Clarity Score
4.30 / 5
Read Full ReviewFive Star Down Alternative Pillow Video Review
Five Star Down Alternative Pillow Review: Key Features
- Sizes: Standard, Queen, King, and Euro Size
- 100% cotton cover – called Damask fabric with satin piping
- 300 thread count
- 2.9 lbs (Standard size)
- 1.5″ gusset for maximum loft
- 100% polyester fibers (down-like filling)
- Hypoallergenic
- Not vacuum sealed
- Machine Wash on a cool setting
- Made by Mastertex
- Flat and formed – cannot be scrunched up like a down pillow
Who Makes It?
The Five Star Down Alternative Pillow is part of the Five Star Pillow Collection made by a company called Mastertex, Inc. Mastertex focuses on the design, manufacture, and sale of bedding products like duvets, sheets, mattress pads, pillows and more. The company actually operates five separate bedding brands, including Five Star. The pillow is made my Mastertex but the pillow I received was sold on Amazon by a company called Right Choice Bedding (and fulfilled by Amazon). RELATED: Best Pillows for Side Sleepers
Pillow Construction
Five Star’s Down Alternative Pillow is fairly simple in its construction. It comes fully expanded in a traditional pillow shape. The outside is a soft 100% cotton damask fabric cover (non-removable). The fabric is white and it has a light design printed on it. Inside the pillow are polyester fibers. This is designed to provide the feeling of soft down, but it won’t separate or bunch up the way a down pillow might. The outer cover cannot be removed nor any of the filling inside the pillow. However, it can be fully machine washed and dried or dry cleaned.Pros
- Easy to care for
- Lightweight
- Soft breathable outer fabric
- Affordable
- Hypoallergenic
- Euro size option available
Cons
- Does not come with a trial period or warranty options (unless retailer specifies a policy)
- Slight off-gassing odor before washing

My Experience
I found this down alternative pillow to be simple and comfortable. It’s comparable to a down pillow in terms of softness and those with allergies will benefit from the hypoallergenic nature of the polyester fibers. The 100% cotton outer cover fabric gives the pillow a crisp and clean feeling – the bright white color doesn’t hurt either.Care
The care for the pillow is also simple and easy. Either send it off to be professionally cleaned or wash it on a gentle cold cycle with some other delicates to balance the load and then throw it in the dryer for a low tumble dry.
Firmness
Because the pillow comes fully expanded – as opposed to vacuum-sealed – customers can get an immediate idea of its firmness level. This down alternative pillow does not feel overstuffed and so the firmness is quite low, it’s fairly easy to apply pressure with the hand all the way down on this pillow (please see photo below).

Five Star Down Alternative Pillow

The Five Star Down Alternative Pillow has a crisp cotton outer cover and filled with hypoallergenic polyester filling. It falls lower on the firmness and support scale, which may make it a better fit for stomach sleepers than others.