Pillow Description: How to Describe a Pillow or Cushion, With Examples

October 21, 2026

A good description of a pillow tells a buyer five things a photo cannot: the exact size, whether the insert is included, what the cover and the filling are made of, how the cover closes, and how to wash it. Get those right and most questions never arrive. This guide gives you the questions a pillow description has to answer, a fill-in template, six pillow and cushion description examples, the claims to make only when you can back them up, a full Etsy tag set, and a faster way to write descriptions when you list a whole collection at once.

The rule that matters most for pillows: say whether the insert is included, in the first lines. “Cover only” buried at the bottom is the single most common reason a buyer of a throw pillow feels misled, and the fix is one sentence near the top.

What the description of a pillow has to answer

Pillow buyers ask the same questions, in roughly this order:

1. What is it, and where does it go? A throw pillow for a sofa, a lumbar cushion for a bed, a floor cushion, a bed pillow for sleeping.
2. What size is it? The cover size, and the insert size it is made for.
3. Is the insert included? Cover only, or cover and insert.
4. What is it made of? Cover fabric, filling, and anything else like piping or tassels.
5. How does it close? Zip, envelope back, buttons, or sewn shut.
6. How do I clean it? Machine wash, spot clean only, remove the insert first.

A description that answers all six rarely gets a message. Cushion buyers usually own a sofa already, so they are matching a size and a colour they can picture. Give them what they need to check it.

Sizes: the part buyers read twice

Pillow sizes look simple and cause most of the returns. The usual confusion is between the cover size and the insert size, because most makers sew a cover slightly smaller than, or the same size as, the insert so the cushion looks full.

Give measurements in centimetres and inches if you sell internationally. For a cover sold alone, name the insert size you recommend, so the buyer does not buy a 45 cm insert for a 50 cm cover and get a flat, baggy cushion.

The claims to make only when they are true

Textile listings attract a handful of words that buyers read as promises. Some carry legal weight. Use them only when you can stand behind them.

“Insert included” is the claim buyers check first, and “linen” is the one they check second. A buyer who opens a parcel to find a polyester cover with a linen texture, after a listing said linen, leaves a review that every later buyer reads. A blend is perfectly sellable. Just say it is a blend.

A pillow description template

Fill the brackets. Leave a line out rather than guess.

[Pillow type and size], [cover fabric] in [colour or pattern], [one line on where it suits].

[Two sentences on how it looks and feels: texture, weave, print, the detail that makes it this pillow.]

Size: [Cover size.] [Recommended or included insert size.]

What’s included: [Cover only, or cover and insert.] [Single or set of two.]

Materials: [Cover fabric, front and back if they differ.] [Filling, if included.] [Trims.]

Closure: [Hidden zip, envelope back, buttons, or sewn shut.]

Care: [Wash temperature or spot clean.] [Remove the insert first.] [Iron or not.]

Six pillow description examples

These use the template on six common pillows and cushions. The facts are made up for illustration. Yours should come from your own fabric labels and tape measure.

A linen throw pillow cover

Square throw pillow cover, 45 x 45 cm, washed linen in sage green, for a sofa or reading chair.

A soft, slightly crumpled linen with a visible weave, the same fabric front and back.

Size: 45 x 45 cm (18 x 18 in). Fits a 45 cm or 50 cm insert for a fuller look.

What’s included: Cover only. Insert not included.

Materials: 100% linen, prewashed.

Closure: Hidden zip along the bottom edge.

Care: Machine wash cold, line dry. Iron on medium if you want it crisp.

A lumbar pillow with insert

Lumbar pillow, 30 x 50 cm, cream boucle, for the front of a bed or a single armchair.

A nubby, cloud-like boucle that catches the light, with a plain cotton back.

Size: 30 x 50 cm (12 x 20 in).

What’s included: Cover and polyester fibre insert.

Materials: Polyester boucle front, cotton back. Polyester fibre filling.

Closure: Hidden zip.

Care: Spot clean the cover. Do not machine wash the insert.

A hand-embroidered cushion

Hand-embroidered cushion cover, 40 x 40 cm, wildflower design on natural cotton.

Each cover is stitched by hand, so the flowers vary slightly from cover to cover. The one in the photos is an example of the design.

Size: 40 x 40 cm (16 x 16 in). Fits a 40 cm insert.

What’s included: Cover only.

Materials: Cotton canvas, cotton embroidery thread.

Closure: Envelope back, no zip.

Care: Hand wash cold, dry flat, iron on the reverse.

A velvet cushion set

Set of two velvet cushions, 50 x 50 cm, deep rust, for a large sofa or a bed.

A short-pile velvet that shifts colour as you brush it, finished with matching piping.

Size: 50 x 50 cm (20 x 20 in) each.

What’s included: Two covers and two feather inserts.

Materials: Polyester velvet cover. Inserts filled with duck feather in a cotton casing.

Closure: Hidden zip.

Care: Dry clean the covers. Air the inserts regularly.

A floor cushion

Round floor cushion, 70 cm across and 15 cm deep, chunky knit in charcoal, for a reading corner or a kids’ room.

What’s included: Knitted cover and a removable inner cushion filled with polyester fibre.

Materials: Acrylic yarn cover. Cotton inner casing.

Closure: The knitted cover laces closed underneath.

Care: Hand wash the cover cold and dry flat. Do not tumble dry.

A personalised pillow

Personalised name pillow cover, 40 x 40 cm, printed with your name in a serif font, a gift for a new baby or a housewarming.

Personalisation: Add the name in the personalisation box, up to 12 characters. We send a proof before printing.

What’s included: Cover only.

Materials: Polyester canvas, printed in house.

Care: Machine wash cold inside out. Do not iron over the print.

For the same moves on other kinds of product, the six Etsy description examples show before-and-after rewrites, and the crochet description guide covers handmade textiles in detail.

A 13-tag Etsy set for a pillow listing

On Etsy, the title and tags get the pillow found and the description sells it once someone clicks. Here is a full set for the linen throw pillow cover above, each tag under Etsy’s 20-character limit:

There is no “organic linen” or “eco pillow” tag because the notes never said so. The thinking behind a set like this is in how to use all 13 Etsy tags, and the free Etsy tag generator drafts a set from your notes.

Writing pillow descriptions faster

One description by hand is fine. A collection in eight colours and three sizes is where it gets slow, and where copy-paste errors creep in: the 50 cm velvet cover that still says “40 x 40 cm” because it started as the embroidered listing.

A description generator helps when you feed it the facts the template asks for. Here is the whole job, with ListingBrief AI as the example.

1. Write short notes per pillow. “lumbar pillow 30x50cm, cream boucle front, cotton back, polyester insert included, hidden zip, spot clean only” is enough.
2. Paste them into the free Shopify description generator for one description plus a page title and meta description, no account needed. For Etsy, the ListingBrief AI dashboard returns a title, 13 tags and the description from the same notes.
3. Choose a tone. Simple suits everyday covers, premium suits velvet and linen, and handmade suits embroidered and knitted work. Playful and the default are there too.
4. Check the draft against your fabric label, your tape measure and the claims table above.
5. Paste it into the listing, with your standard shipping and returns text if it lives elsewhere.

ListingBrief AI is written not to add a material, a size or a claim your notes do not contain. “Organic”, “hypoallergenic”, “recycled”, “non-toxic” and “eco friendly” are among the terms it strips mechanically when your notes do not state them, and the validation panel tells you what was removed. “Linen” and “insert included” fall under the same writing rule rather than that removal list, so read every draft for them yourself. If a claim is true, add it to your notes and generate again.

How to check a pillow description before it goes live

• The size matches the cover, with the insert size beside it.
• “Cover only” or “insert included” is near the top, not at the bottom.
• Fabric and filling are named honestly. A blend is a blend, and polyester fibre fill is a normal sentence.
• The closure is stated. Buyers who want to wash covers look for a zip.
• Care instructions match the label. Velvet that says machine wash is a dispute waiting to happen.
• No filler. “Elevate your space” tells a buyer nothing. A size does.

When writing by hand is enough

A generator earns its place on volume. Skip it if:

• You make a handful of one-off cushions. Each deserves its own line about the fabric and where it came from.
• You sell vintage textiles one at a time. The history of the fabric is the selling point, and the template takes ten minutes.
• Your words are part of the brand. If buyers follow you for how you write about cloth, keep writing.

The rest of the listing

The description is one of three fields. The title does most of the search work on Etsy, so read how to write an Etsy title before you rename a whole cushion collection. Etsy’s attributes matter for home decor filters too, and Etsy attributes explained covers every one. If you sell furniture or ceramics beside your pillows, the furniture description guide and the pottery description guide cover those claims.

When you are ready, paste one pillow’s notes into the free description generator, measure the cover once more, and check the draft against the list above.