What it's made of
Nodpod's fill is “100% Polyethylene (PE)”, which Nodpod's website calls “plastic pellets, which is the most common plastic in use today.” The pellets are packed into pods that rest over your eyes all night.
Nodpod's website and box call one side of the fabric “Soft-Touch Velvet”. The label lists it as “Microfleece: 95% Polyester 5% Spandex”. The other side is cotton.
So two of Nodpod's three materials are plastic: polyester fleece on the outside and polyethylene beads inside. Both are typically made from petrochemicals, which come from oil and natural gas.
Ours is New Zealand-grown flaxseed with dried lavender flowers mixed through, in a stonewashed Turkish linen shell. That's 195 grams of gentle, even weight, and there's nothing against your skin that isn't a natural fiber. The lavender is real flowers, not a fragrance oil. You can also have it without lavender.
If you're working to get plastic out of your bedroom, start with the thing that sits on your face for eight hours a night.
Warm it up
Put our mask in the microwave for 20 to 35 seconds, depending on wattage. (Always read and follow the full heating instructions first.) Flaxseed holds heat, so the warmth stays with you as you settle in and drift off: gentle weight and warm lavender across your brow and cheekbones.
Warm it up, lie back, and feel the day fall away. You have to feel it to believe it.
Don't try this with a Nodpod. In Nodpod's own words: “The plastic beads are not rated for the microwave and they will melt.”
Prefer it cold? Both masks go in the freezer. Put ours in a sealed bag and chill it for at least an hour.
Where the weight sits
Nodpod puts its weight on your eyes. Nodpod describes “four weighted pods” that lie across your face, with pods resting over your eyes, and says “the microbeads contour to your eyes”. Side sleepers are told to “use the last two pods over your eyes”.
Ours keeps the weight off your eyes. The upper channel rests along your brow bone and the lower channels settle on your cheekbones, so the 195 grams sit on the bone around your eyes, not on your eyelids. Your eyes sit in the space between, covered but not pressed. That's why it stays comfortable all night.
Fit and light
Nodpod is a 29-inch strip that drapes across your face. There are no straps, so nothing touches your hair or the back of your head. It stays on by its own weight. Nodpod says it blocks light “Completely”.
Ours is deliberately oversized, temple to temple and brow to cheekbone, and the brow and cheekbone channels form a light-tight seal. Twin straps hold that seal in place when you roll over at 3am or the sun comes up at 5. They knot to fit your head, and if they stretch you can replace them through the side channels.
If you sleep through sunrise, move around a lot, or share a room with someone who reads late, the straps are crucial.
Side sleepers
Nodpod suggests side sleepers use the last two pods over their eyes and rest their head on the hollow end.
Ours is strapped, so it stays where you put it. The flaxseed contours to your face, and many side sleepers wear it all night. Some customers prefer a lighter mask for side sleeping. For them, our 25g Linen & Wisewool™ Sleep Mask is the gentler option.
What Nodpod does better
To be fair, three things:
- Price. Nodpod is $38. Ours is $70.
- Washing. Nodpod goes in the washing machine; plastic beads don't mind water. Flaxseed does, so ours is spot clean only with a damp cloth.
- No straps. If anything around your head bothers you, a drape-on mask avoids that completely.
Which should you choose?
Choose Nodpod if price comes first, you need to machine wash your mask, or you can't stand straps.
Choose the Do Not Disturb Weighted Eye Mask if you want a natural fill instead of plastic, want a mask you can warm, want the weight on your brow and cheekbones rather than your eyes, or want the light kept out all night.
Try it for 30 nights. If it isn't helping you sleep, we'll send a prepaid return label and refund you in full.
