Novosbed reviews

I work for a company that sells all sorts of air treatment products online including air purifiers. I’m not joking when I tell you that we have people who return air purifiers back to us because when they are running they irritate the people’s sinuses, throats, or bodies.

Pretty much anything that is synthetic might offgas something… now for most people that doesn’t matter as they do not have any particular sensitivity to that certain something. But for a very small minority of people - it is a disaster. Those people typically have some variant of MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity). This is not some make believe condition - many of the things in our everyday lives bother these folks.

There is a wide-range of severity amongst MCS sufferers. Some can use an air purifier after letting it offgas for a couple of days or even weeks. Others will not be able to use a high-end ($800) air purifier no matter how long they wait… and for those folks we can upgrade them to very very specialized air purifier ($2000) built for MCS sufferers… and even then, it isn’t a 100% guarantee that there will not be an issue.

Long story short, I would let your mattress air out a little before sleeping on it. Even if you aren’t sensitive to anything off gassing, probably not a bad idea and it will smell better when you do decide to sleep on it. I don’t think this is anything particular to Novosbed. I don’t know much about the Certipure thing, but it sounds like Novosbed may actually be better than most in terms of off-gassing.

Hi dontletthembite,

I appreciate you taking the time to share your expertise as well :slight_smile:

As you mentioned MCS is a very real condition and there are many people that have posted on the forum over the years that have MCS and have real challenges with products or materials that the vast majority of people don’t have to think twice about.

It must be especially frustrating to be sensitive to an air purifier that they would have purchased in the belief that it would solve their sensitivity issues rather than making them worse and I suspect that you would need a great deal of compassion and patience when you talk to them after their purchase.

Phoenix

Hi Sam,

I really appreciate your respond in such a short time frame. This is part of the reason I purchase from Novosbed because I know if anything goes wrong, it will be addressed.

You maybe right that I am those small amount of people that is more sensitive than the others. Please treat my report as a suggestion on how to improve customer satisfaction.

It is clear to me that the Certi-Pur certification is a measurement but it doesn’t serve good for the minority like me. I am completely on the same wavelength with dontletthembite, a message on the package and in the unpacking instruction to warn people about the possible irritation from the odor will do the trick. We would be warned and will decide on our own whether to wait before using it. What annoys me is your statement of claim that it is not harmful (being Certi-Pur does not 100% guaranty this), even worst, your customer service was encouraging me to use it right away, by continue to do so is a discrimination action to the minority like me.

After all, the reason why I spend so much time to reply is that the odor reaction is severe, it is now 2:30pm the next day and I am still having watery eyes and mild headache, I hope it will not repeat to the others.

I hope you will take our suggestion seriously and take appropriate action on your post-sales procedure.

Thanks!
Fencor

Hi Fencor,

I strongly sympathize with what you’re going through. I have added to our quarterly product review meeting your suggestion that we modify our usage instructions to include explicit accommodation for MCS sufferers. I can’t speak to exactly what our formal recommendations will be after that meeting but they will likely include (but not be limited to) one or more of the following (that you can try in your case):

  • Ensure the mattress is on a ventilated platform (such as a slatted foundation) with airflow beneath
  • Remove all sheets, and the washable top cover
  • Walk on the mattress (the “white sock” treatment) to force more air through it
  • Open all windows in the room (weather permitting)
  • Place a cup of vinegar near the mattress (some folks have reported that this helps, but others have said it doesn’t. I still need to understand the science behind it, or lack thereof, before adopting this one fully)
  • Attempt these suggestions in a warm room
  • Store your mattress upright (with air circulation on both sides) in your garage, or in a protected area outside, for a few days

If you decide to try one or more of these techniques, please keep us posted. As always, please contact us if there are any questions.

All the best,
Sam

Does anybody own a Novosbed firm? Can you please share your experiences with it? I’m really hesitant between a firm and a medium. I’m 5’8 155 pounds and my partner is 5"5 125 pounds and we both sleep on our backs. All recommendations point to a medium but we both really like our mattresses firm. We now own the firmest version of the Helix and we would keep it if it wasn’t so bouncy. Would appreciate any help!

Serge

Hi SergeSurge,

While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here). There are just too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a mattress for someone else to make specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or theory at a distance that would be more accurate than your own personal testing.

Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.

The Novosbed is a very different construction from the Helix, in that it uses (in the medium) two layers of memory foam over a polyfoam core. This would differ from the Helix, which uses latex and microcoils in the upper layers, which are quite resilient and would be more “bouncy” as you described as compared to the Helix. The Novosbed would certainly have a more “dead” feel to it, and you’ll tend to sink in a bit more with memory foam than with latex.

When you can’t test a mattress in person, then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc.) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs, options, and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else. I would phone Novosbed and let them know the specific Helix configuration that you currently have and then let them know you prefer a very firm mattress and they would best be able to recommend the product in their lineup that they think would best have the chance of being successful for you. They may also be able to recommend particular mattress to try locally to compare to their product, as using memory foam in the upper comfort layers of a mattress has a much different feel than using latex and microcoils. Novosbed also has a 120 night sleep trial should you purchase one and it doesn’t turn out as well as you would have hoped.

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix,

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. I definitely found your advice useful. There’s no escaping the fact that mattress comfort is a highly personal thing, so there’s no way to know how comfortable you will be on a particular mattress from other people’s opinions. I went with the king medium based on novosbed website and and online chat with them. I also made sure to replace their regular discount code with MU100 :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot!

Serge

Hi Sergesurge,

I’m happy that the information was useful for you – I appreciate the feedback.

You’re exactly correct. Your opinion is the one that matters.

I’m glad you were able to chat with the people at Novosbed and use their guidance in selecting your mattress. And at least you know you have the ability to try out the product for up to 120 days for your sleep trial should your purchase not turn out as well as you might hope.

And lastly, congratulations on your new mattress! :cheer: You certainly made a good quality/value choice and I’ll be interested in your feedback once you’ve had a chance to use the mattress for a while.

Phoenix

Uh oh :frowning: So I got my new Novosbed mattress about 10 days ago. At first, when I unpacked it and let it expand, it looked like it expanded unevenly on the sides. I contacted Novosbed and was told to wait 48 hours. After about 10 days, it still looks slightly uneven. I’m not sure it affects the sleeping area but it just doesn’t feel good knowing that it might be slightly defective.

Apart from that, the mattress is softer than I would like. I started waking up with back and neck pain in the morning. I wish I had ordered the firm like I initially wanted. I contacted the company to see if they can do something because I don’t feel like waking up in pain for the next 50 days. I also don’t want the Comfort + topper since a) it would add 2 inches to my mattress and that may make it harder for me to get it into my building’s elevator in case I want to return it (Novosbed wants you to bring the mattress to the ground floor for returns). And b) in my opinion, adding the topper that’s not memory foam kinda defies the purpose of purchasing a memory foam mattress in the first place.

I tried to research other options but can’t find anything other than Novosbed that would fit my needs (memory foam mattress with a firm option, reasonable price, good trial period, comes compressed, recommended for durability and materials by Mattress Underground ::slight_smile: ) I still have faith in Novosbed as a company and still think their mattresses and business model are great. I really hope they would be able to accommodate me because this whole mattress search experience has proved to be stressful.

Hi SergeSurge,

I’m sorry your mattress purchase isn’t turning out as well as you wanted it to. :frowning:

Please keep us updated on your adjustment to the new mattress, if the one side expands to its proper height, and if you decide to make an exchange to the firmer mattress. I’ll be interested to know what you end up doing.

Phoenix

Hi SergeSurge,

I wanted to reach out and address your concerns, one-by-one:

First off: if your mattress still appears to be uneven then please contact us. Though we rarely have issues, defects do happen and we’d like to make sure you’re well looked-after.

Second, with respect to the Comfort+ making transportation more difficult. This shouldn’t be an issue as the Comfort+ is removed as easily as it is added to your Novosbed. If it doesn’t fit in the elevator then we’d ask that you remove it and make two trips :slight_smile:

Third: You are right that the Comfort+ is a non-memory foam. This is a very deliberate design choice driven by reams of test data. The short explanation as to why we approach it like this is that it’s most effective to modify the firmness of a mattress with elastic-only foam. Where the response of elastic foam is purely elastic, the response from memory foam is a combination of elastic and viscosity. Given that we only have 2" to work with, we find that adding an additional viscosity component to the mattress can reduce the efficacy of the Comfort+ layer. You will find, should you adjust the firmness with a Comfort+, that you will still get the memory foam response, but that it will be noticeably firmer or softer (depending on which you choose).

Fourth: We ask that all customers wait for 30 days before ordering a Comfort+ as it takes about this amount of time for a high density foam mattress to fully “break in”. Many customers in your position find that after 30 days they no longer need a Comfort+ at all.

Should you need assistance, please feel free to phone, text, chat, email, or even respond in this thread. We’re here to help!

Cheers,
The Novosbed Team

Hi Novosbed,

Thank you for taking the time to monitor the forum and respond directly to SergeSurge’s comments!

Phoenix

Serge, I’m surprised the topper that was provided to you was not memory foam, especially if you’re trying to soften the mattress. Did they specify what type of foam the topper was made out of?

Hi SleepyAl,

The design of the Novosbed Comfort+ system is such that they use a high-density polyfoam that provides a softer overall top comfort for this application. They actually explained this in a previous post:

You are right that the Comfort+ is a non-memory foam. This is a very deliberate design choice driven by reams of test data. The short explanation as to why we approach it like this is that it’s most effective to modify the firmness of a mattress with elastic-only foam. Where the response of elastic foam is purely elastic, the response from memory foam is a combination of elastic and viscosity. Given that we only have 2" to work with, we find that adding an additional viscosity component to the mattress can reduce the efficacy of the Comfort+ layer. You will find, should you adjust the firmness with a Comfort+, that you will still get the memory foam response, but that it will be noticeably firmer or softer (depending on which you choose).

Phoenix

First, I’d like to thank Novosbed for replying to my message in detail. I really appreciate it. I did not know that polyfoam in Comfort+ was a deliberate choice based on research. It definitely makes me more confident in possibly trying it out.

Second, I wanted to update on my experience with Novosbed. After emailing the company about my potentially defective mattress, they quickly confirmed it and arranged for a replacement and old mattress pickup. The best part is that I was able to get a firm version instead of the medium one I had previously. Also, they assured me the replacement mattress would have a new 120-day trial, which is awesome.

Having gotten the firm Novosbed and put it on the non-flexible slats, the bed is definitely very firm. I’m even starting to think it might be too firm for me. The first night I did wake up with pain in my back and neck but I think it might be due to my high pillow. Experimenting with different pillows now :slight_smile: I’m definitely gonna try out the new mattress and let it break in properly before making any further decisions. It is possible that I will order the Comfort+ to soften it up a bit.

Boy, I wish how much went into being comfortable in your bed! Not only do you have to worry about the mattress itself but also about the mattress support (flexible vs non-flexible, breathable, proper distance between slats, etc) and pillows for proper spine alignment. It’s absolutely crazy and I feel a bit bad being so picky and trying several mattresses and returning them. I do care about the environment and don’t want all those mattresses to go to waste (which is what happens in NYC as far as I understand). The good news is that Novosbed seems to be very accommodating and I’m sure they deal with pickier people all the time. I just really hope I don’t have to return and buy any more mattresses :slight_smile:

Also, out of curiosity, why does Novosbed medium have 5lb density foam in the comfort layer and the firm version has 4lb density foam? I’m sure it was a deliberate choice but it does seem counterintuitive. Would be curious to find out.

Hi SergeSurge,

Thanks for your update!

I’m glad that Novosbed was able to get you another product. The new firm model that you received will certainly break-in over time, especially after the first 30 days, so hopefully after that time the mattress has adjusted a bit to you and you’ve also adjusted a bit to the mattress. Of course, you always have the option of the Comfort+ should you need a little extra plushness.

You are correct that your pillow may very well be the issue now for your cervical/upper thoracic region. A firmer mattress will usually not allow you to sink in quite as much, effectively making your pillow sleep a little thicker than it would in a softer mattress. So, you’ll definitely want to do some experimenting with you pillow to make sure that it isn’t too thick for your preferred sleeping posture. There’s some good information about pillows here.

Let us know about you progress with this new mattress after you’ve had a chance to sleep on it for a while and allow it to break in.

Phoenix

Hi SergeSurge,

Remember that density and firmness aren’t necessarily correlated. Memory foam is unique in that all of it is considered “soft”, and it’s more the “range of soft” that a particular layer falls into that would be a better descriptor.

While the research used to create the specific comfort layers Novosbed uses in their mattresses is of course proprietary, as is the formulation of the different memory foams they use, in general one of the strangest things about memory foam is that the higher density foams … even those that feel firmer and more “stiff” with lower temperatures (and which people may call too hard or feel like it traps them) can also be the most pressure relieving once they have enough time to take on the shape of the body and redistribute the body weight. The more of the heavier chemicals there are in foam that give it more viscosity, the more it can conform more precisely to the shape of your body. The problem is that it may take more time to get there and to change into a new shape if you move so people often don’t like the feeling of firmness and motion restriction even though it may be more pressure relieving. So in effect … the firmer higher density foams (or at least the ones that take longer to get softer) are the most pressure relieving once they take on your shape but are slow to conform to a new shape when you change position or when they are colder so they can feel firmer. So, in effect, a mattress could use a less dense memory foam in an upper layer which would “expose” you sooner to the deep down feel of the firmer support polyfoam core, which could ultimately create a mattress that overall feels firmer.

Phoenix

Hello,

I’m glad I found this forum and this review topic. I ordered the Novosbed King medium firm on Thursday. I live in Montreal, QC and got it delivered Friday afternoon, which is extremely fast. So the delivery experience was great. Only downside is that, I was expecting Fedex to deliver (tracking number with Fedex) but then “Discount” company delivered and they were like “if the client doesn’t help us move the mattress out of the truck, we will return it to Fedex”. Anyhow, they placed the box in my garage and later on I asked a friend to help me take the box upstairs. It’s a very heavy box so make sure you have someone to help and it will still be heavy.

The mattress took full shape in like 3-4 hours, it does have a slight smell but it’s nothing serious, I believe this is normal and I expect it to go away in few days. I didn’t yet try sleeping on it, so I will report my findings when I do.

Again, thank you all for sharing your honest opinions which helped me decide on purchasing this brand.

Hi tonybat,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! And congratulations on your new mattress! :cheer: You certainly made a good quality/value choice.

Regarding your delivery, I’m not sure why it was delivered by another company, as FedEx is specified on their site, so you may want to let them know about that. Delivery of these items is usually “threshold” – to the door. Some companies will offer you a White Glove service (for an extra fee) where the delivery team will bring the item into your master bedroom and even unwrap it. Novosbed’s normal delivery method is the FedEx Ground which would be to your door/garage.

Your odor comment is also normal and as you mentioned it will dissipate in a few days.

I’m looking forward to your comments on your new mattress once you’ve had a chance to sleep on it a while. Congratulations again.

Phoenix