Casper vs Tuft & Needle--my evaluation

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
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Today is the first day of my evaluating Casper and T&N against each other. I bought a twin XL of each and installed them together to form a king size bed for myself and my wife.

My thought was, I/we could like both, either/or, or neither. I have about 60 days to find out, as that’s the shorter of the two evaluation periods.

My wife and I will be the prime evaluators, although our youngish daughter–who spends time on mom’s side watching TV in the evening and weekends–will also provide input.

The Casper arrived Friday, the T&N today (Monday). We’re moving from a memory foam mattress that’s about 6-7 years old, bought from a local small retailer. Both my wife and I are side sleepers that end up with some hip and shoulder pain after about 4 hours. I’ve done some local retail browsing and discovered that I might like something with a little more give, but I don’t know for sure.

We have these on a rigid platform instead of real box springs; we think we might want adjustable platforms, so I thought this was the best way to evaluate how these would feel under that situation. If we decide soon that we won’t ever go the adjustable bed route, I may go ahead and buy good box springs.

This idea came about slowly. My brother tried a queen size Casper because of the return policy, and he says after about a week or so of not being sure, he came to like it. I’ve done some lurking and research here and I also took a close look at a local retailer. I figured I could try out the two mail order pieces without risk, and move to the local retailer if I neither of those worked out (decently higher price at the local retailer, 66% higher than two Caspers). I could also simply go back to my old and known memory foam piece and think about it before I did anything else and/or spent more money.

I know to give each of these at least a week before really thinking about it. I’ve also created a rotation schedule as well as marking them for switching after 4 weeks, so that each of us gets a good try on each one. By early May it’ll be 53 days, and I hope I have decent information to work with to make a decision.

In the meantime we will both see what we think. I’ll pop in here occasionally to provide ongoing feedback.

All thoughts and comments are welcome.

2

Hi adam1991,

I’m looking forward to your ongoing comments about each of them over the course of the first few weeks as you go through the break in and adjustment period.

All of these mattresses (and foam mattresses in general) would generally do best on a rigid non flexing support system such as a slatted foundation or platform bed rather than a box spring (with actual springs) which is more commonly used with some types of innerspring mattresses. If a support system has any flex then it can change the feel and performance of the mattress compared to the design goals of the mattress.

Phoenix

3

OK, it’s been three nights now. Initial impressions:

let’s start with the unboxing. (Oh, how I hate that concept…) Both units were packaged the same and weighed about the same–maybe a few pounds difference. The T&N mattress came out and unrolled and popped up once the plastic was off, and there it was. No big deal. Uneventful. The cover is very plain, with unfinished edges–pretty much what I would expect.

The Casper came out with a nice little silly booklet, and a small letter opener stuck to a card–which you’re to use safely to slit the plastic to unpack the mattress. Nice touch–the goal here is to eliminate the chance of sticking the mattress with the pointy end of a pair of scissors.

The Casper cover is very nice–soft on top, with blue denim-like sides and piping around the edges. It gives a nicer impression, anyway. Don’t know if it’s any more sturdy.

Me: using the T&N side. For better or for worse, the T&N seems to be 100% identical to our previous memory foam mattress that it replaced. I sleep (or not!) exactly the same on it. But, it’s only been a few days. I want to give it some time.

I can say, it’s very warm–what I would call typical memory foam warm.

The wife is on the Casper. She hasn’t complained, but I don’t know that she’s particularly any happier with it than with the old one. Again, it’s only been a few days.

My initial impression matches that which has been stated in other posts: the T&N seems very firm right at first touch, while the Casper seems “springier” (for lack of a better word). It seems to have more give. I know that when I walked on it, it definitely gave quite easily, right until I hit the support layer.

Neither mattress had ANY odor at all, which is great.

I’m still pondering adjustable bases. (If anyone knows where to get a decent L&P setup, let me know. I think I found a pair for $1800 shipped on either Amazon or Ebay.)

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Hi adam1991,

Thanks for the initial update and feedback :slight_smile:

There is more about choosing an adjustable bed in post #3 here and the adjustable bed topic that it links to that can help you choose an adjustable bed based on price vs features comparisons and also includes some retailers that you can use as good sources of information about the features of the adjustable beds they carry and as pricing references as well (in post #6 in the main adjustable bed topic).

I’m not sure which model you are looking at but there are some (including the S-Cape) I’ve seen that are less than this and of course many that are more depending on the store and the model.

Phoenix

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OK, I’m now two weeks into this experiment.

So far, nothing’s changed. I still hold that the T&N on which I sleep is functionally identical to the older memory foam mattress it replaced, and it’s just as warm. It still feels as stiff to my shoulder as well (I’m a side sleeper).

My wife seems to like the Casper. However, sometimes as I rouse in the middle of the night I find that she’s up and gone downstairs. I don’t know how much of that is the bed and how much is something else. But, she’s eager to have me try it for a few nights.

That’s in the cards soon enough. We’ll rotate them again tomorrow as part of the break-in process.

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Hi adam1991,

Thanks for taking the time to share another update … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

Just out of curiosity … what type of mattress protector/mattress pad and sheets are you using (they can make a significant difference in the feel and performance of a mattress and with temperature regulation as well)?

Phoenix

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Hi,

Like lot of people here I’m trying to know more about these 2 brands : Casper and TN. I would be very happy to have more feedback on your experiment :wink:

Thanks for this wonderful website which contains lot of information (for those interested in Capser, TN you should also have a look on this thread :https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/tuft-needle-casper-leesa )

Thanks, Charles

8

Sorry for the delay. We have a thin mattress protector, and on top of that a cotton mattress pad. These are single king size pieces, so they’re over both mattresses.

Sheets are nice cotton sheets, nothing cheap, nothing extravagant. Higher middle of the road.

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Hi adam1991,

The sheets would normally only have a small effect on the mattress and if the mattress protector has some stretch to it then it would also have a relatively small effect as well but a thicker mattress pad can have a more significant effect on the feel and performance of a mattress which can be helpful or detrimental depending on the person. Depending on the specifics of the pad … it can provide some additional “surface” softness but at the same time it can also reduce the ability of foam materials underneath it to contour to the shape of your body and relieve pressure which can also make it feel firmer as well. You can see an example of what I mean from one of the members here that was sleeping on the Tuft & Needle with a mattress pad in post #231 here and this topic.

It may be an idea to remove the mattress pad to get a better idea of how both mattresses feel and perform without it and you can also add it back again if you feel that it’s an improvement on either one or both of your mattresses.

Phoenix

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OK, the grand experiment has ended. Here’s what we came up with.

Both the T&N and the Casper seem to be well made pieces. As we continued to use them and swapped them side to side, nothing changed our minds about the T&N being functionally identical to the older mattress we were no longer happy sleeping on. It felt identical, and therefore not suitable for our purposes.

The Casper has a little more give and that made a difference to my shoulder (side sleeper here), and my wife also decided she liked the Casper better.

Fortunately for T&N, my son’s mattress was pretty old and worn and he decided he would like the T&N for himself. So we re-purposed the T&N over to his room, and bought another Casper twin XL. The master bedroom king bed is now two Casper mattresses, and my growing 16 year old boy is now the proud owner of a new twin XL T&N plus a new box spring (along with new longer rails) we bought locally at The Mattress Factory.

Speaking of The Mattress Factory, I did debate at the end sending both the Casper and the T&N back, because TMF has a wonderful two-sided latex product that we both really liked at first blush–$1000 per side. But I decided I would rather have the perfectly fine Casper that we’re used to now, and add an adjustable base to it if I felt the need to do something else right now. I think the bang for the buck would be the base.

TMF was great to deal with. They had the twin XL rails we needed as well as the low profile box spring we wanted, and the guy taking care of us was really nice. They also have a decent price on the L&P S-Cape base, decent enough that I’d be happy to pay the tax and the delivery that includes putting everything together and in place.

By the way, T&N was superb in all of this. I wanted to make sure that I got the full Mattress Underground 60 day eval period, so I dropped them a quick note. They got right back to me, AND gave me a few percent off for being a MU member.

As for Casper, I never had any reason to deal with them other than buying both mattresses–but those were good experiences overall. Very quick shipping, with items as expected. (I’m older and cynical, so “no surprises” actually exceeds expectations…)

I would happily buy from either of those places again.

I would say all’s well that ends well.

11

Hi adam1991,

Thanks for taking the time to share all your comments and feedback about your experiment … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

Phoenix