Tuft and Needle is on the firm side for us...what next?

Hi,
I did what I thought was a lot of research before finding your site. I am impressed with all the detail and time that you have put into it. My husband and I have had a foam mattress for about 11 years (I don’t recall the brand; it was purchased at a PM Bedroom Gallery [now Penny Mustard] store in Wisconsin. It was memory foam but with a quilted mattress top. I found it to be very comfortable, but the heat was a problem for my husband. Thus began our quest for a new mattress. We liked the comfort of memory foam but were looking for the cooling factor. So far we have tried a Tuft and Needle. The cooling has been wonderful, however, it is a little too firm for both of us. Many of the mattresses that we are considering next appear to have similar firmness, which is making me leery of trying another one. I am looking for suggestions. Our budget is probably around $1000.

I also appreciate that you suggest local products where possible. I don’t know if any local products would fit what we are looking for, but we live in mid-Michigan.

Thanks for any advice!

Hi Arial36,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

Thank you!

The Tuft and Needle doesn’t contain any memory foam, so it would tend to be more “breathable” and less “heat retentive” than an item using memory foam in the upper layers. I’m not sure if you’re looking for an all polyfoam mattress like the Tuft and Needle, or if you’re considering other options like innerspring or latex.

I’m not sure how long you’ve had your Tuft and Needle (or if you still have it), but all mattresses will go through an initial “break-in” period where they become a bit more plush, usually most evident in the first six months or so.

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site (you said you’ve been doing some reading but I’m not sure if that applies to this site or others) but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

As you stated that you’re looking to stay local, and you’re in mid-Michigan.so subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list you wish to deal with is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your specific criteria and the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Lansing, MI area are listed in post #2 here. The list for the Grand Rapids/Holland area is in post #273 here. There are also lists for the Detroit/Ann Arbor areas in post #2 here and for the Portage/Kalamazoo area in post #2 here and

If you are near Lansing, you may wish to consider:

www.capitolbedding.com Lansing, MI. Regional wholesale manufacturer that has been making mattresses for over 65 years and make a wide range of good quality/value mattresses that would be well worth considering. They are also transparent about the materials they use inside their mattresses. They are sold through retailers in the area and have a store finder on their site (the ones that are closest to Lansing are included in this list). They make a wide variety of mattresses, including polyfoam, and if you’re looking for something specific they might be quite helpful for you.

I’ll be interested in learning about your progress.

Phoenix

Wow, thank you for your very thorough answer! First, sorry about my mislabeling the foam in Tuft and Needle. I have not looked at all the different types of foam that can be in mattresses and I ignorantly mislabeled the T&N. Second, we have had our T&N for approximately 6 weeks. We both agree it is on the firm side, although my husband says it isn’t too bad. Do you think that will change after a few more months?

Third, I will be honest, I had only skimmed the mattress tutorial. I felt that since we knew we wanted foam and have a general idea of what we like that it would be more information than I could handle. That said, I have since started reading it per your recommendation and I can see where it will be helpful. I am going to follow the advice to read it all first then go back to the links and threads that are pertinent. I know that we would like to avoid the innerspring. We have had foam in the past but are open to considering latex, so I will be reading the links pertaining to those types. I will also try the durability link(s) in order to help make a decision. The reason we haven’t tried another mattress yet is that we had it narrowed down to a few, but couldn’t figure out how to decide. I think the tutorial will help there as well.

Fourth, I also wanted to clarify that I am not necessarily looking to stay local…we were mainly looking at the mattresses available on-line, such as Ghost Bed, Loom and Leaf, Purple, Brooklyn Bedding, and Amerisleep (to name a few!!). However, after looking at your site and noticing that you recommend specific local retailers, I thought perhaps we should look into this. So I appreciate all of the links to the Michigan locations! I am in Saginaw, so Lansing would be the closest at about an hour and a half distance. That might end up being a bit too far to drive, but since you give strong recommendation to certain places, it might be worth it for us to look into.

Thank you again for your thorough response. I will be reading up on the tutorial over the next week and trying to figure out what we should do next (if anything!). I will keep you posted. I appreciate your time!

Hello Arial36,

Ironically, I just ordered the Tuft & Needle because I prefer a firm mattress. I haven’t tried it out yet though. It’s still in the box until the bed frame comes in. Anyhow, before I made my decision to buy the Tuft & Needle, I came across mattresses that I thought might be too soft for me, so maybe they would work well for you. They aren’t popular models listed on this site, but you can check out reviews elsewhere. They are the Nolah Mattress and Dromma Bed. Good luck in your continued search for the perfect mattress. I can only HOPE the T&N will work for me because the research is overwhelming!

The research is overwhelming; you are right about that! Thanks for the recommendation. Hope you enjoy your Tuft & Needle. I think it’s actually pretty comfortable…just since we were paying for a brand new mattress we wanted to see if there might be a better one for us. But we both agreed we would recommend it highly.

Hi Arial36,

You’re very welcome.

[quote]First, sorry about my mislabeling the foam in Tuft and Needle. I have not looked at all the different types of foam that can be in mattresses and I ignorantly mislabeled the T&N[/quote].

There’s no worries about that! The information I give in my answers is just to help you out as you go through your decision-making process, and to also educate others who will read through your posts about the actual componentry within your mattress. Your labeling of the foam of the Tuft and Needle isn’t being ignorant. You’re actually being the opposite of that, as you’re taking the time to ask important questions and then being responsible and doing a bit of learning in order to make an educated decision. Ignorant would be doing the exact opposite of this – ignoring objective information, not being bothered to learn and instead relying upon “reviews” and “recommendations”. You’re doing great! :wink:

Thank you for that additional information. You have a 100-night return policy, and the mattress should still go through some loss of the “false firmness.” At least you still have some more time to see if you want to stay with this product.

I’m glad you’re taking some time to read through it. There are sections that will be germane to what you’re looking to do, and of course other sections that won’t be as important. Of course, there is a “simpler” and “simplest” version of the tutorial near the end of the article I linked if you want to be a bit more basic in your search.

The nice thing about latex, as far as durability goes, is that latex in general (all types and blends) tends to be a very high quality and durable material.

When you’ve narrowed it down to a few finalists, post #2 here can be very helpful in assisting you in deciding between a few “finalists” and separating one from another as they relate to your personal value equation. I often find it quite helpful to take a legal pad and make a Pros/Cons list for the mattresses on your list and it helps seeing everything in front of you in black and white (and maybe yellow). :lol:

The advantage of looking at something locally is that nothing can replace your actual experience testing out a product in person. There are online manufacturing members on this site, as well as local “brick and mortar” members, and other local store that offer good quality products. It all comes down to your personal preference. If you decide to look at something online, the expertise of the members listed in post #21 here, who are all very experienced and knowledgeable and specialize in providing the type of help and guidance on the phone that you need, can help you make good choices. There are a wide range of latex and other options included in the choices there and I believe that all of them compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.

You certainly can do a search on the site about some of the brands you mentioned for my comments about those specific brands. I would be more cautious with Amerisleep, as they tend to use some lower quality materials than what I would normally suggest in the durability guidelines.

I would recommend that your first step be deciding whether or not you’re going to keep your current mattress, and of course you have some time to figure this out, which is nice. If you’re going to decide to return the product, then you would want to go back through the steps in the tutorial (and you’ve already narrowed that down to foam (no memory foam or innerspring) or perhaps latex) and then maybe find someplace local if you can to try out some of the foams about which you’re curious. Then if you do find something you like, you can then make your decision of whether to stay local or look online. Post #2 here and this topic have more about the pros and cons of a local vs an online purchase.

I’ll look forward to learning about your progress.

Phoenix

An update: Per your recommendation of trying it longer, we gave the T&N 70 days and it still seemed on the firm side. However, we contacted their customer service, and while they were happy to let us return the mattress, they first offered a two inch topper for us to try, free of charge. Not only that, but they sent the topper the same day we decided we would try it. I am very impressed with the customer service they offer! They are also extending our 100 night trial another 30 nights while we try the topper. Just thought I would share our progress.

Hi Arial36,

Thank you for the update!

I’m sorry your Tuft & Needle mattress was still a bit firm for you, but I’m happy to hear about them sending you out a topper to help with the surface comfort, and the extension of your trial by another 30 days. That’s great to hear.

Let us know if things get better with the topper. I’m hoping they will.

Phoenix