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Sleep peace may be just a pillow away.
For years, Lloyd Ecker’s snoring was so loud his wife Susan banished him to the couch. He tried everything — nasal strips, mouthpieces, adjustable beds — but nothing worked. One night, he stumbled across a medical reference to the Fowler’s position, a steep reclining angle hospitals use to help patients breathe more easily. The next night, he stacked pillows to mimic it — and finally slept through without waking himself up.
That late-night experiment led to months of tinkering in the garage. Lloyd shaped and reshaped foam into angled blocks, trying over a dozen variations before finding the version that actually worked. The result became the Snorinator, a wedge-style anti-snoring pillow that supports the head and torso at a 60–66° angle to help keep airways open.
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Unlike high-tech sleep devices, the Snorinator has no electronics or moving parts. It’s made of CertiPUR-US certified high-density memory foam, topped with a removable cover. Users lean back against it — placed on the bed against a headboard or wall — and the angled design supports both the lower back and head cradle.
The Eckers, who once ran a novelty maternity hat business and children’s media company, took the same hands-on, grassroots approach here. They self-funded, filmed their own demos, launched a crowdfunding campaign, and reinvested those early orders into manufacturing. Today, they still run the business themselves — Lloyd designing the pillow, Susan handling operations — and every Snorinator ships from the same U.S. foam factory that cut their very first batch.
The couple is careful to note that the Snorinator isn’t a medical device and doesn’t claim to treat sleep apnea. Instead, it’s aimed at one simple goal: helping people snore less so they can sleep beside their partners again.
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The Snorinator is sold directly online at thesnorinator.com, complete with instructions and a card explaining the Fowler’s position that inspired its design. And on October 1, the product gets its biggest spotlight yet — on Shark Tank.
What to Know
- The Inspiration: Lloyd discovered the hospital “Fowler’s position” and adapted it for home use.
- The Design: High-density memory foam wedge at a 60–66° angle with head cradle and lumbar support.
- The Mission: Not a medical device — just a snoring solution to bring couples back to the same bed.
- The Spotlight: Featured on Shark Tank as the Eckers pitch their home-grown business.
Shark Tank airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
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