The 10 in. Tuft & Needle Diary

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
292

Hi sdotlow,

I hope so as well. They certainly use high quality and durable materials in their mattress but as you know high quality and durable materials doesn’t mean that the mattress will work well for you in terms of PPP and the only way to know how well you will sleep on any mattress you purchase and how suitable it is for your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences will be based on your own personal experience so I’m looking forward to your comments after you receive it.

The good news is that there is little risk to trying it since they have a great return policy.

Phoenix

293

Greetings, everyone!

I just received my Tuft & Needle 10-Inch Mattress, Queen on 01-02-2015 and I would like to share my experience and also I have questions.

My bed setup:

SafeRest Premium Hypoallergenic Waterproof Mattress Protector - Vinyl, PVC and Phthalate Free
by SafeRest
Link: https://amzn.com/B003PWNH4Q

Sleep Revolution Faux Leather Platform Bed with Wooden Slats, QUEEN
by Sleep Revolution
Link: https://amzn.com/B00R6OX5IM

Like many others have said, the queen was just around 67lbs according to FedEx. It came in a large rectangular box with the tightly sealed mattress inside. It was very well protected with the plastic, so out the box, I had no complaints. I put it on my old box spring (which I just ordered a slatted frame platform) and I began to remove the plastic. Immediately when I broke the seal, it inflated and I let it sit for about an hour while I went to run some errands. Also, I noticed that this was the newer model that I got which was mentioned by other people in this thread.

When I came back, I dropped everything and laid on it for a couple minutes to see how it was. My first reaction was this was pretty firm. Usually I like it on the soft-med side since I’m a side / stomach sleeper, but I’ve read in a lot of reviews to let it fully inflate for a week and give it a legitimate 2 weeks before deciding to keep it or donate it. Also, my old mattress I had was about 15 years old and my parents bought it for $100, so I’ve been sleeping on that for almost half of my life. My body was probably not really acclimated to a quality mattress.

Now to the sleep part! I’ve only slept on it for 3 days, but so far, my body hasn’t adjusted to it yet. I wanted my girlfriend to monitor me and see how much I toss and turn throughout the night. The first night, she said I moved a LOT. I woke up a lot and had trouble finding that sweet spot which I had with my old mattress (which wasn’t very sweet at all in the first place). I had no aches on my body at all which was awesome but I felt like I didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

The next night was a little better as my girlfriend also monitored me. I didn’t toss and turn as much as the first night, but was still not a full night’s sleep in my opinion. Again, I’m giving this a benefit of a doubt since this was my first true quality mattress and my body wasn’t adjusted to it yet. Although I didn’t get a good full night’s sleep, I still felt energized and had no aches on my body with the exception to my neck which I’m still on the hunt for that perfect pillow.

The third and final update of sleep was with me alone in bed. This was a lot better than the first two nights. I actually feel asleep pretty quickly and only woke up once (I had to pee). The mattress is still a little firm for my taste, but I’m being patient to break in and let the mattress fully expand. I still feel a little sore in the neck area, but I felt like that was the best sleep I’ve had in a while. It wasn’t perfect, but good enough for me to continue my trial of this mattress.

I’ve had a few questions though:

  1. Does it make a difference with me having that mattress protector on it? I’ve heard it affects the way the mattress interacts with your body. See the bed setup above to see what mattress protector I’m using.

  2. Does the platform I just bought (still waiting for it to be delivered) will affect it in anyway? I’m currently using a box spring.

I appreciate the feedback and hope this Tuft and Needle mattress helps me achieve a better good night’s sleep!

294

tjtoste-

We’ve had our Tuft and Needle for about 3 weeks now.

The first week, I had sleep similar to yours- tossed and turned a bit, felt kind of “strange” on the mattress- feels like I’m floating on the surface, and it’s very different than all the other mattresses I’ve had before (innerspring mattresses). However, like you, that first week, I didn’t feel like I was getting a full night of sleep, but woke up rested and without any aches.

This is the third week. The odor of the mattress is mostly gone. I feel like it has softened up just a bit. I feel like my body has adjusted to the new surface.

Your layers are pretty thin. You could try taking off the mattress protector and sleeping with just a sheet to see how it feels. I do notice that our thin layers affect the foam just a little, but not as much as when I had a thick mattress pad on it (see my posts above).

The first week we were on our old foundation (a “flexible” slat foundation) and went to a knock down wood slat foundation. The mattress is firmer on the new foundation. It took me about two nights to get used to it, and now I don’t remember how it was on the old foundation.

One thing that I do think has helped break in the mattress faster, is I’ve walked on it several times. Seriously, walked all over the surface of the mattress, bobbing side to side. Good workout! Got that recommendation here on MU somewhere.

Thanks to Phoenix, I have kept in mind that the first month on a mattress involves the mattress breaking in, and our bodies adjusting to the new surface… If I had tried this mattress in the store, I probably would have walked away, it’s so different from what I was used to. Even the first week, I was sleeping “okay” no pressure point pain, but the experience is so different, I might have exchanged it for another if I had gotten it locally. But here we are just passing the third week, and realizing this is a great mattress for me. I still miss a bit of a “cuddly” pillowtop feeling, but I’m sleeping soundly without pain, and can’t complain.

The nice thing is if the mattress doesn’t work out for you, TN has a good return policy. At this point, unless something radically changes in the next week or two, we’ll be keeping this mattress!

295

sheep123-

Yeah, I figured that my mattress protector was thin enough to not make a difference, but I will take your advice and try it out. I want to preserve it as much as possible, so ideally I would like to protect the mattress. As of right now though, my main priority is to get my body adjusted to this bed before I worry about protecting it :).

Interesting on the walking over the mattress! I will definitely give that a go and report back in.

I figured I would be an extreme case as I went from sleeping on the same crappy innerspring mattress for 15 years to a quality foam mattress, but I am giving this a shot to let my body do its thing and adjust to it :). It’s definitely a weird sensation like you described it as I do not feel any aches when I wake up, yet I toss and turn a lot for the first few nights. Then again, I’ve only slept on it for 3 days so I will continue to document my journey and hopefully share it with other people that are on the fence with purchasing this mattress!

Thank you for the response!

296

New member here!

After a decent amount of research, my wife and I decided to purchase a Casper mattress. It seemed like the best of both worlds - latex support and breathability with memory foam for comfort. However, since we’ve slept on the new mattress (about a month now), I’ve woken up with pretty noticeable upper and lower back pain. As a primarily stomach and side sleeper, I’ve often felt a lot of pressure in my back, particularly between my shoulders.

Since this isn’t a review of the Casper, I am wondering - can anyone compare the new T&N with the Casper in terms of firmness or pressure relief? Both claim to have pressure relief, but after reading some of these posts, I am starting to think that perhaps having the 3" of proprietary polyfoam in the T&N might be a better option for pressure relief and support. Thanks!

297

Hi caldwa,

I would be very cautious about using someone else’s experience on any mattress (either positive or negative) as a meaningful source of guidance about how a mattress will feel for you because firmness and softness is very subjective and relative to different people (a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel soft for someone else) and each person can be very different. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be more or less sensitive to (see post #15 here) and a mattress that is a “perfect” match for one person in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, or Personal preferences) may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on … even if they are in similar weight ranges. Using other people’s mattress reviews or experiences as a meaningful source of research and information can often be more misleading than helpful (see post #13 here).

There is also more about the more common “symptoms” that people may experience on a mattress and some of the more common reasons for them in post #2 here.

There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief”. The upper layers of a mattress (the synthetic latex and 4 lb memory foam layers in the Casper and the high density polyfoam in the Tuft & Needle) provides most of the pressure relief and “feel” of a mattress and the deeper layers (the 1.8 lb polyfoam) provides most of the support.

Post #2 here also has more about the different ways to choose a mattress (either locally or online) that can help to minimize the risks involved with each of them and there is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses without having to rely on anyone else’s experience that may be very different from your own.

If your Casper mattress is too firm for you there are some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful and I also understand that they provide their customers with a topper as an option if they need some additional pressure relief but if neither of these work then of course the only alternative would be to return it and start over again.

The only way to know whether any mattress will be a good match for you in terms of PPP with any certainty will be based on your own testing or sleeping experience. With a “one size fits all” mattress where there is only one firmness option you will generally find that it will be the “best” match for a relatively small percentage of the population, a “good” match for a larger percentage, an “OK” match for a larger percentage yet … and for those where it’s not a “good enough” match then they all have a good return policy that lets you start all over again choosing another mattress with little risk outside of the time you spent trying the mattress or returning it.

Phoenix

298

Thanks Phoenix!

Thank you for this advice…I’ll make sure to heed it moving forward!

Read these posts, very helpful. I think I was able to diagnose some of the issues that I’ve had with the Casper.

299

After sleeping on the new version of the 5" Queen for awhile, I wanted to contribute with a short review.

My boyfriend and I both find it to be extremely comfortable. I know it’s very subjective but I think it’s a nice medium-firm. It was actually softer than I thought it would be because I read so many opinions about the old version being too firm. I shift positions when I sleep and it was very comfortable and supportive in any position. I guess the claims of better pressure relief in the new foam could be true. I also might not find it as firm as others because I’m just used to sleeping on a slightly firmer mattress.

We used the mattress on the floor for a few days before getting our slatted IKEA bed and we didn’t feel too much of a difference between the two. It is very comfortable used either way.

I think the only thing about the mattress that bugs me is that I can still smell the new chemical smell even after 2 weeks. I found it rather strong on the first several days but it has definitely lessened. I hope it will be gone soon.

As for customer service, Tuft & Needle are very pleasant to deal with. I’m from Canada so I got my order shipped to the border and had a few questions for them. Their answers were always very thorough and amicably written.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my mattress.

300

After having another tough night on our current Casper, we decided to go ahead and order a T&N. Looking forward to trying their new mattress design!

Fortunately, Casper has been great throughout the whole process, even if their mattress didn’t work for me personally. I talked with them this morning about returning the mattress, and they were very understanding and accommodating. Interestingly, I was told that they are working on developing their own mattress topper (currently they offer a gel-infused mattress topper) for people who find the mattress too firm, but their own topper won’t be available at least until the end of the month. Still, I don’t regret taking a chance on the Casper.

301

Poiyo,

We just passed the third week on the Tuft and Needle, and it’s only been in the last 2 to 3 days that I haven’t smelled the odor of the mattress when getting into bed. Days 3 and 4 of the mattress, the odor was the strongest for us. One thing I did the first week was walk on the mattress, take off all bedding during the day to air out, and had a fan blowing over the surface. I’m pretty sensitive to smells, and I think you will notice a diminishing smell over the next week. Tuft and Needle said for most people, the odor goes away between one and two weeks.

302

Caldwa,

I am glad to hear that Casper was responsive. My friend who decided to return her Casper said the same. Interesting to hear that they are designing their own topper. I wonder what material it will be made of.

I personally find the Casper and Tuft and Needle feel very different, even though they are both foam, I prefer the TN. But I was only on the Casper about 30 min.

Please post a review of your impressions after getting the TN, I’ll be curious what you think!

303

Hi poiyo,

Thanks for taking the time to share your comments and feedback about the Tuft & Needle Five … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

Phoenix

304

sheep123,

Thanks for the tips! I’ll try taking the bedding off during the day so air can circulate a bit easier.

305

Reporting back on my T&N 10 inch king mattress after 3 nights of use.

Before I get into the mattress, I have to comment on the shipping. The box seemed okay, but was literally broken in half. It looked like 2 boxes were put on each end of the mattress, with a 1-2 inch gap in the middle where the box broke the entire way around. The FedEx guy was blase’ about it, shrugged, and asked if I wanted to decline. I inspected the mattress before signing and there wasn’t any damage. I feel the packaging was definitely sub par.

Now, on to the mattress itself…

Heavy and cumbersome. Moving it in to my bedroom solo was a pain. It wasn’t so much the weight, but the shape and weight distribution. Inflated to full size in 10-20 seconds.

Night 1 - Enormous difference from our pillowtop, nationwide chain brand (can’t recall). Very firm. I can’t believe this is the new, softer version and that there was a more firm version. Wow. This is not a complaint though, we both loved how firm it is. We both had a disruptive night, tossing and turning constantly. Woke up feeling tired, we definitely noticed the sleep loss. No smell noticed.

Night 2 - Much better this night. It’s obvious both of our bodies are adjusting from 6 years of sleeping on a horrible mattress. At a weight of 230-240, and being 6’2, the mattress barely dips down when I lay on it. Tossed and turned a little, but far better than the first night. No smell noticed.

Night 3 - Arrived home in the evening to find our cat had gotten sick on our sheets. Luna mattress protector did it’s job and nothing penetrated to the mattress. When removing the sheets and mattress protector, I could definitely smell the odor coming from the mattress. I’m kind of curious if I should be letting it breathe more, but I didn’t see anything from T&N about that being needed. Put on some new flannel sheets I had ordered for the new bed (-8 out last night, sigh) and had the most amazing night of sleep I’ve had since I could remember. My body seems to have adjusted a bit to the mattress. I’m noticing much less back/neck pain. My girlfriend says hers has diminished to almost nothing, and she’s completely in love with the mattress. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a mattress and felt all of the muscles in my back scream out in ecstasy. It appears my back has gone a long time laying in beds that don’t let it relax like it should. Quite the experience/feeling.

All in all, very happy with the purchase so far. I’m interested to see just how broken in this mattress gets, and what changes will take place, because I’m very happy with it how it is currently. While this level of firm may not be for everyone, it’s definitely a mattress I will likely be suggesting to those I know that end up in the market.

I feel like an idiot for not doing proper research when we bought our previous mattress, wasting all of that money.

I’ll post again after a bit more time.

306

Hi sdotlow,

Thanks for the detailed comments and feedback … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

It’s also good to see that your adjustment period is going fairly quickly

Any odor will go away on its own without doing anything special but there are some suggestions in post #3 here (particularly the first two) that may speed up the process.

Phoenix

307

sdotlow-

We are just over 3 weeks on the new 10" tuft and needle.

Like you, the odor of the foam was barely there the first two nights. Day 3 and 4 the odor was the strongest. Still had a slight odor up until a few nights ago, but now I get into bed and don’t detect anything. The first week, I kept the bedding off during the day, walked on the surface to help break the foam in, and placed a fan on the surface. I’m a little sensitive to smells, so it may not bother other people as much.

Tuft and Needle said, and I found this to be true, that the mattress takes a couple or few days to warm up because it’s been on a cold truck, and when it warms up, it softens a bit. It has continued to soften over the past 3 weeks, but in a good way, not in a bad way. For us, the support is still there, just the foam is not quite as “stiff”.

We’re sleeping pretty well too. The first week we tossed and turned a bit too, but week 3, going into week 4, we are sleeping more soundly.

308

Hi all. A lot of great info here. Thanks to all.
I thought I would let people in on something I discovered after talking to T&N.
Currently Amazon is only selling the 5" version and listing the 10" as not available. Per the rep I spoke to this will be rectified by approximately the end of January. It all has to do with the new style mattress.
If I buy this mattress it will be through Amazon due to their financing option if you have their Store card. At this price point I believe its 12 months 0 % interest. (Used this card a lot over the 3 years I have had it :lol: )

They also confirmed that anything Amazon sells is going to be the new style only.

Keith

309

Hi kiphoto7,

Thanks for the heads up :slight_smile:

Phoenix

310

Thanks everyone for their posts here. I found this forum after Tuft and Needle pointed me towards it during a chat support session. We are returning our Stearns and Foster Emelia Rose Lux after about 40 days. The smell was initially almost unbearable. And strangely the mattress feels more firm on one side over the other. Luckily a friend told us about Tuft and Needle so we’re going to give it a shot and hopefully it works out. I found out that their return policy is also really great…instead of shipping it back, they work with you to donate it to a local charity and they issue you a refund with proof of the donation receipt. How awesome is that?

311

Hi mo9090x,

As you know I think highly of Tuft and Needle and they are certainly a good quality/value choice (especially with their new design … see posts #2 and #6 in this topic.

Congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

This would be true with almost every mainstream mattress you can buy or any mattress that is made one sided (including the Tuft & Needle) because the bottom layers are firmer for support and aren’t designed to sleep on and the upper layers are softer for “comfort” (they don’t have layers that are designed to sleep on on both sides of the mattress).

Phoenix