June 2, 2014September 20, 2015theSurlyBiker489 Comments

Tuft & Needle’s 10″ mattress: a review (and a new IKEA bed frame!)

UPDATE Sept 2015: Tuft & Needle has a new mattress – and we got one! I‘ve posted a short written review and a comprehensive video review! This post is a little out of date, though some of the info is still good. So make sure to check out the new review! Thanks.

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Buying a new mattress is usually a pain in the ass. First you have to bounce around to a handful of mattress stores where salespeople hound you, you flop down on dozens of different mattresses that really don’t feel any different, and they are freakin expensive. And worst of all how can you be sure the mattress is actually comfortable and suits your sleeping needs until you’ve slept on it for a while? A lot of mattress stores have horrible return policies, and when you’ve just shelled out $3000 for a Tempur Pedic memory foam mattress that isn’t quite what you imagine and you can’t return it – you’re just plain screwed.

But we found a solution; Tuft & Needle.
(Seriously, click the link and explore all the info.)

Tuft & Needle hand makes their mattresses in California, and sells directly to you. One of the reasons mattresses are so expensive is all the middle-man crap, and retail markup. Without this, Tuft & Needle is able to offer a quality product and keep their prices highly competitive. Our queen size mattress was $500, with free shipping (all orders are free shipping). In super-cool space-age form, the mattress showed up on our doorstep rolled up and vacuum packed in a very manageably sized box. At first I didn’t think we had received the correct size and thickness, but once we cut open the vacuum sealed plastic cover, it expanded and filled out. I wish I had taken some pics or a video of that because it was definitely really cool. Yes, I am easily amused.

Check out how Tuft & Needle makes their mattresses completely here in the US from start to finish.

After we put it in the bed frame. It’s super soft to the touch.

Tuft & Needle makes their mattresses in two sizes: 5″ thick, and 10″ thick. Personally, I don’t think a 5″ thick mattress would be very comfortable no matter what you’re made out of. Also since we were going with a lower bed frame, and no box spring, I wanted a little more height from the mattress, so we ordered the 10″ thick version.

The mattress is made of a “Triple-layer blended foam designed by and proprietary to Tuft & Needle.” All of their mattresses share the same firmness, so there is no messing about wondering which version to order. The company has settled on a medium-firm level that offers excellent support while at the same time gives just enough to shape to your body. I’ve been sleeping on ours for just over a week now and it’s the best rest I’ve had in quite a while (our previous mattress was quite uncomfortable, even with a foam mattress topper/pad we added).

Tuft & Needle now offers a 100-day sleep trial period and should we decide it doesn’t quite suit our need we can send it back at no cost. There is also a 7-year warranty on any defects or material malfunctions. It’s the #1 rated mattress on Amazon, and if you check out some of the reviews you can see their custom service is awesome. Unfortunately, Amazon only offers the 5″ version; the 10″ model must be ordered directly from Tuft & Needle’s website. We went this way and it was an incredibly easy transaction.

Tuft & Needle 10″ Queen mattress in new IKEA Nyvoll bed frame.

As I said, it’s only been a week, but I’m confident the mattress is going to work out quite well. We’re already sleeping better. My main concern is will the mattress indent where we lay most often. Most pillow-top mattresses are guilty of this – which is why pillow-tops are terrible (also they just aren’t that comfy). Spring mattresses do it as well when the coils begin to fatigue over time. I’m hopeful the foam here will not deteriorate and begin to rut.

Either way, I want to compliment Tuft & Needle on creating a hell of a product and making buying a mattress stupid easy.

If you’re in the market for a new mattress and I’ve convinced you to give these guys a try, please click the picture below. It’s a referral link from our purchase and it’ll get you $50 off your purchase! (it also gives us $50 back as well. It’s WIN/WIN!!)
Do it! Do it! Do it!

[Referral link removed – you guys got us a full refund! Awesome! If you need a code, use the link at the top of this post to my update for a whole bunch of them, and get some other people refunds! Go HERE for a list of codes to use to help others get money back!]

As I mentioned in the title, and as you saw in the photo in my ramblings, we also got a new bed frame from IKEA to fit our new mattress. Our old frame/mattress was a full size, and we went up to a queen so we needed new everything! Thankfully, IKEA is super awesome and super affordable. We got the Nyvoll bed frame. It’s low profile, a great color, and the headboard is tilted back slightly to make sitting up in bed and reading (or eating, or watching TV) more comfortable then being crunched against a vertical headboard.
There is no box spring (thankfully) so the mattress is supported by a system of slats that lay across the metal supports tying the frame together. I didn’t take a photo of it while we were putting it together so I found some online.

The 'Sultan Luroy' slats come packaged like this. — The ‘Sultan Luroy’ slats come packaged like this.

Grand total for the frame and slats was: $250. Add that to the price of the mattress, and we have a brand new bed set for $750 – about $700 less than the Tempur-Pedic mattress alone we were looking at. I’d call that a win.

Even Chainsaw loves it. He can jump up and down on his own now without hurting himself – he is 13 after all!