Hi loraxc,
Thanks for sharing a 7 month update and it’s great to hear that you are still sleeping well on your mattress 
Phoenix
Hi,
1st time leaving a post in this site. I’m leaning towards purchasing the Novosbed Medium, in a king. I was hoping to see if dontletthembite had any updates in regards to their purchase.
Here is how everything panned out.
TL;DR: I like the bed.
EXPERIENCE:
I received tracking promptly. The bed was left by a small package carrier (UPS?) at my front door. The box was pretty huge - although small considering it contained a king size mattress. I am pretty independent and usually try to get things done myself… but there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to haul that box up my staircase without risking injury. Called a friend over and we hauled the mattress up - not bad with two people to lift.
Upon unboxing and unwrapping - the bed did give off an odor. Gradually dissipated over a couple of days. If you have the ability - I would wait two days to use it to let the odor decrease. I let the bed fully “inflate” for a couple of hours that first evening before laying on it. I had read that walking on the bed would help to speed up the break-in process so I did that as well.
The first night - right off the bat - my wife liked the bed. Thought it was the perfect firmness. I liked the bed but felt it was slightly firmer than I wanted. That first night I woke up several times and I felt a little hot the whole night. During the course of a week my sleep got better (less wake-ups) but I still felt a little warm and resorted to wearing less clothing to bed. I had been having some back pain in the morning due to my last mattress not offering proper support - that back pain was gone immediately. In addition there were many less occurrences of my wife and I waking each other up - as the bed transmits very little motion from someone getting up / getting into the bed or from tossing and turning.
Now many weeks later I sleep very well with no wake-ups and love the mattress. Wife still loves the mattress as well. I don’t feel hot anymore - although I do wear less clothing to bed as my new norm. My back pain has not returned. I think I prefer something just a tad softer (slight preference) so I contacted Novosbed to send me out the additional comfort layer to add to the top of the bed - it is on the way. I’ll add it to the bed and see if my wife and I both like it better or worse. If worse - I won’t use the extra layer and I will sleep well regardless as the bed is very comfortable as is.
Not only is the bed comfortable and will likely hold up well - but I also sleep better knowing that I saved a good deal of money over the overpriced alternative in the store!
Hi dontletthembite,
Thanks for taking the time to share an update with your comments and feedback … I appreciate it
It’s great to see that your choice worked out well for you.
I’m also looking forward to any additional updates you have the chance to share once you’ve received your comfort + attachment and had the chance to try it out as well.
Phoenix
I am writing this post just to warn everyone who ordered a Novosbed.
I unpacked the bed, customer service said it can be used right away. I know that off gassing is a common issue for memory foam mattresses. I smelt it and I don’t mind the smell, so I slept on it the first night after unpacking. Let me tell you, it was a mistake.
5am in the Morning, I woke up with a painful burning nose inside my nasal and on my throat. I immediately switched to my old bed in the same room for the rest of 2 hours sleep, the pain was significantly reduced. It is clear to me that the chemical is being evaporated during the first 48 hours and this vapor is harmful to human beings.
What Novosbed should have done is to warn people about it instead of advising us to use it right away.
Regardless the bed’s quality, my first night is unhappy at the moment. Whether this experience left prolong or permanent damage to my health is remain to be seen.
Hi Fencor,
I’m sorry to hear about your experience and I can certainly sympathize with it since I also had a similar experience a number of years ago on a different memory foam formulation and it wasn’t pleasant at all (although it has never happened on any memory foam that I have slept on since).
There are thousands of people who have slept on their Novosbed the first night they received it without any ill effects and they are also CertiPUR certified for harmful substances and VOC’s but it’s always possible that a very few people are sensitive to a material that would be fine for the very large majority of people.
It certainly isn’t necessary for either you or Nobosbed to “warn” people because this would mean that every mattress in the industry would need a warning because of the possibility that a very few people may be sensitive to the materials that they use but for those that are more sensitive or that are uncertain it can be a good idea to let a mattress that has been compressed and wrapped in plastic for shipping air out for 48 hours before you use it.so that any offgassing that you may be sensitive to is greatly reduced.
Phoenix
Hi Fencor,
I’m Sam Prochazka, president of Novosbed.
First things first: As mentioned by Phoenix, all foams used in Novosbeds are Certi-Pur certified foams. This means that they have been tested, and proven to contain no harmful chemicals. Also - our foams come from the same American factories that produce for Tempur-Sealy, GM, Toyota, and many other well-known companies around the world. If you have been in a car, sat on furniture, stood on airport security foam pads, or used foam in any other application (including in hospitals) then there is a good chance it came from the same factories. All foams go through rigorous quality testing to ensure that they are safe and that they meet their design specifications; foams that fail are tagged and recycled. They are safe.
Now, about the smell: we have observed over the years that, to a tiny percentage of our customers, new foams smell bad. Over the years we have investigated these extremely rare cases by picking up the mattresses, cutting out samples from them, bagging them (to preserve the odor during transportation), and sending to a lab for analysis. In every case the results showed that the foam was normal and safe. We further analyzed these issues to see if we had received a suspiciously high number of complaints within a single shipment of mattresses, as this could indicate a problem within a batch. We found no issues.
Although not yet scientifically proven, we hypothesize that there are a very small number of folks that are bothered by the smell of new foam in a similar way that a small number of people find that cilantro tastes like soap. This would explain why these issues are so erratic. For the record, I am one of these people, which is one of the reasons we have done such a large amount of due-diligence on the subject.
I hope this addresses your concerns. If you would like to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Warmest regards,
Sam
Hi Sam,
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed reply and explain the lengths you go to to make sure your customers are happy with their mattress … I appreciate it
Phoenix
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
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
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 
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 : ) 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.
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
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