Update 10/29/15 - Increased from 2 stars to 5

Shortly after posting my review, I noticed a response from T&N. Their customer service agents were quick to follow up to my subsequent inquiry and got me set up with a topper to help remedy the too firm mattress. It might seem silly that someone would buy a new mattress just to turn around and throw a topper over it. I thought the same at first but was willing to give it a shot. I picked up a 2" topper at the recommendation of the T&N service agent (the cost of the topper was covered by T&N). Having slept on the toppered mattress for a week now, I can say with certainty that I have never slept on a better bed than what we have now. In addition to the 2" ventilated 15-ILD Talalay latex topper (from Ultimate Sleep) we outfitted the bed with Protech Performance sheets. The Protech sheets are made of a material that is very similar to exercise stretch clothing - thin, silky, and a bit stretchy. The slight stretchiness of the sheets is what allows the topper to fully conform where as conventional cotton cloth sheets would tend to stiffen up the foam topper response.

Imagine a bed that is firm enough to fully support your body so you don't sag in the mid-section, yet feels cushy enough that it feels like you're sleeping on clouds, and all at the same time breathes amazingly well. The impossible combination of characteristics in the holy grail of beds! Although intuitively, it would not seem like the T&N mattress itself contributes much, it does make a difference. Out of curiosity, we tried just the topper on the carpet floor in our bedroom - the floor was just too stiff and even with the topper, it was uncomfortable after 10-15 minutes. Next, we tried the topper on our old spring mattress - too much sag, not enough support led to our mid-section sagging into the bed (Both my wife and I are 5'6" and around 150 lbs). The T&N mattress provides that middle ground of a supportive base with enough give to really bring it all together for us.

Also, the service agents at T&N were super pleasant to talk to and helped make this a fantastic purchase experience.

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I purchased the 10" Cal King mattress and it arrived about a week ago. Packaging was good, and getting the compressed mattress rolled out and released from it's plastic vacuum bag proved easier than expected. It more or less fully expanded within the first minute or two. Over the next few hours, it might've puffed up just a touch more.

The outer fabric case has a nice velvety feel and initially, the compression/softness felt pretty good. After airing out for a few hours, I got a mattress protector on it, and some sheets. Sleeping on it the first night, was unfortunately, quite uncomfortable. While it felt cushy enough at first, it firms up with just a little compression. Over a few hours, my wife and I were both feeling sore. Felt almost like sleeping on a carpet floor. Just a bit of cush, and then surprisingly firm.

The instructions said to give the mattress a week to break in so here we are, a week later. I can't say it's been the best week of sleep. I'm still waking up sore every morning. We ended up removing the mattress protector and eventually, even the mattress sheet in order to improve the cushiness. Additional layers of sheet tend to stiffen up the response of foam mattresses.

I'm a back sleeper, occasionally I'll rotate to my side during the night. This is definitely NOT a the mattress you want if you're a side sleeper. It'll work it you over undoubtedly.

Aside from the intense firmness however, I do like that the mattress breathes very well. I don't over heat sleeping on this mattress. But unfortunately, I also don't stay asleep much either.

At this point, I'm thinking I might be returning this mattress. I really wanted to love it but it's just tooooo firm!

Delivered and set up when the said, as they said, with smiles

NOTE: This review was written by my husband Thomas MacEntee

Sleep Wanted: Why I Chose the Tuft & Needle Mattress

So you may be wondering . . . what does sleep and a new mattress have to do with genealogy? Well, let me tell you, this genealogist has suffered through years of sleep deprivation and issues due to various causes. Over the past few years I've worked on tackling many of these causes (such as losing over 110 lbs) and recently in June 2017, I tackled another: getting a better mattress. I had heard friends and family talk about different online mattress vendors and I didn't believe that making a major bedding purchase this way would work. But it did and I opted to get a Tuft & Needle mattress via Amazon. Here's my experience:

Death to the Mattress Store

I HATE shopping for a mattress and as I get older, I just hate shopping in-person. Period. [Insert "cranky old man, get off my front lawn" comment]. My husband George and I purchase almost everything we need on Amazon (cereal, tea, coffee, shampoo, and clothing). We get so many deliveries from Amazon via UPS that one week when we had nothing delivered the UPS man did a "wellness check" on us. For realz.

Mattress stores seem to spawn overnight on every street corner here in Chicago. To me, they are just one step above used car lots. The process of making a purchase is a nightmare and I've always felt "dirty" just walking in the showroom.

And what about those prices and so-called "deals" you see in the paper or during television commercials? It seems that the model in the ad is never available or that each store seems to have its own special model of a known mattress brand so it isn't easy to compare.

And finally, one of the shady practices is not accepting returns very easily. If you read the contract that a mattress store has you sign, there are many hoops you need to jump through: you have to have a certain type of frame and forget it if you try to just get the mattress and use your own box spring. The mattress stores have set themselves up to never fail at the expense of the consumer.

A Better Mattress Buying Process

Over the past few years, one of the industries that have gone through major "disruption" is the mattress industry. I was very hesitant when I started seeing ads online for basically "mail order" bedding. And we're not talking a process where you buy a mattress at say Costco and then have it delivered with "white glove service" at an extra charge. We are talking ordering a mattress "“ sight unseen "“ on Amazon and having it delivered via UPS or Fedex.

Could this really work? What if I didn't like the mattress? Why didn't I need a box spring? Would the mattress work with my current bed frame? I had lots of questions and I was able to get all the answers I needed at Tuft & Needle.

Well, imagine ordering the mattress you want, having it delivered for FREE (thanks to Amazon Prime) in just two days, and getting a great night's sleep within another two days?

Here's How My Tuft & Needle Experience Unfolded

It literally unfolded. The package with my Tuft & Needle Full mattress was delivered via Fedex to my doorstep and it weighed 57 pounds. After I dragged it up two flights of stairs, it was removed from the packaging. I followed the instructions to let the mattress "come alive" once the vacuum package was opened. The recommendation is to wait 48 hours before using the Tuft & Needle mattress so that it can fully come into its own form. After that, it was easily to lift and place into my new bed frame/foundation.

And My Sleep Results with Tuft & Needle?

I couldn't be happier with this amazing mattress. It is firm in all the right places. It is comfortable and fully supportive. While I know it won't cure my arthritis, I am not in as much pain when I get out of bed each morning. And no more "coil noise" with this memory foam mattress.

I'm now looking at purchasing another Tuft & Needle mattress for the other bedroom and even for the condo in Palm Springs.

Recommendation: Zinus SmartBase Mattress Foundation

As part of the ordering process via Amazon, I determined that my current bed frame "“ while it would have accommodated my new Tuft & Needle mattress, was too low to the ground. Without a conventional bed spring I would have had difficulty getting out of bed (due to severe osteo-arthritis). I shopped around at Amazon and I purchased the Zinus SmartBase Mattress Foundation for $79 and had it also delivered for free via Amazon Prime.

The frame was so easy to set up (it folds "“ nothing to screw together!) and it sits 14 inches off the ground. This means I get to store more crap under the bed! It is the perfect companion to the Tuft & Needle mattress and I highly recommend making this purchase along with the mattress.

Why I am Impressed with Tuft & Needle

I'm very impressed with Tuft & Needle as a company and with their product. And check out this recent review at Consumer Reports. This was the first mention of Tuft & Needle when I was researching online and the information led me to do some more research and ultimately make my Tuft & Needle purchase via Amazon.

Other things that impressed me about Tuft & Needle:

Returns were easy and guaranteed via Amazon for the first 100 nights' sleep.

The company has ethics and provides great customer service: one woman recounted via an Amazon review how she needed more time to test the mattress (she and her husband traveled a lot) and ultimately they were not happy with it. Tuft & Needle said, "no problem" and had the woman donate the mattress to the local Salvation Army. Once she sent Tuft & Needle the receipt for the donation, she got a full refund. Now how's that for customer service?

All Tuft & Needle products are made in the United States
They even offer an 18% discount at Amazon if you feel comfortable purchasing returned Tuft & Needle mattresses. Click here for more information.

Conclusion

For someone in the late Baby Boomer generation (born in 1962), I tend to be torn between traditional methods of doing something and taking a chance on a new process. I'm glad I was willing to try out the Tuft & Needle mattress on Amazon and I will NEVER go back to purchasing a mattress through a furniture store or one of those horrid mattress stores.

Now if there were only an online solution to getting rid of an old mattress and box spring. Perhaps the folks at Tuft & Needle can come up with a solution?

Can't say much other than it's as good as the day I bought it

Update 12/27/17: Alight, I've had this mattress only week, but already I feel it necessary to update this review. I still wish my box was complete with instructions, it was a very stressful start but I'm beginning to LOVE this mattress. It was supposed to come with a warrant and I didn't receive any paper work. I need information about that. The first couple nights were really rough but it's gotten better! I think I hurt my back pretty bad pulling the mattress out of the box by myself. I'd highly recommend having someone help you set up the mattress; it's a two person job, unless you're a big strapping lad. I slept terrible the first couple nights. I don't know if that's from hurting my back or just needing time to adjust to a drasticly different mattress type or maybe the mattress needed time to firm up. I have to say, I've been sleeping so good the last few nights and feel like I'm climbing into a luxurious bed at a five star hotel. I find myself at work thinking about how I can't wait to go home and lay on my new bed. When my mind drifts I'm thinking about how well I sleep and how I should have gotten this mattress a lot sooner.

I've always been one to wake up 5 to 10 times a night... my whole life. I've simply attributed this to my small bladder because I have to get up a lot. The mattress is the only thing I've changed and now I've only been waking up 1 to 2 times at night. Three times at the very most. That probably doesn't sound like a big deal to most of you but for me that has made a huge difference in my quality of sleep. I hope the bed holds up well over time but right now it feels like a worthwhile purchase. If I were to buy it again, I'd buy it from Tuft and needle directly because the return situation would be easier if any problems did arise, but overall I'm very pleased with this Amazon purchase!

Update: The mattress comes so compressed I thought that I had the wrong size mattress. This was a stressful situation that would have been easily alleviated by Tuft and Needle simply including instructions. For an item that costs hundreds of dollars the least I'd expect is a simple b&w instructions print out. I was able to wiggle the folded up compressed mattress tag around while keeping the mattress still compressed. This took a lot of careful wiggling and prying in order to not puncture the plastic compressing the mattress. I finally got the tag flat enough to read the 60X80 size description. I went on google and looked up a standard queen mattress size. Cool the size matched. At that point I felt comfortable to cut the plastic off my mattress since I realized they did in fact put the correct size mattress in my box even though my box was missing the piece of cardboard inside to stabilize the box as well as it was missing any directions. The length of this queen mattress was much more compressed than the width which I wouldn't have imagined. As I didn't have instructions I went on YouTube to watch other people open their mattresses which was how I realized my box was incomplete. On YouTube, the length of the queen mattresses did not seem nearly as compressed as mine was. I wasted a lot of extra time and worry on something that would have been easily remedied by having received complete instructions to begin with. I'm adding a star to my review as the mattress did expand to the correct size. It looks really nice now that it's expanded and after I've slept on it a bit I intend to update this review again. A stressful start but hopefully good nights of sleep!

Original Review: My mattress came with no paperwork. No instructions. I unrolled it and to me it appears to be a full size mattress but I ordered a queen mattress. I thought without having to undo the packaging my mattress size would be clearly labeled. I have no way of knowing how much it's supposed to expand without removing the vacuum seal and I'm scared to do that because if it is the wrong size I'd have no way of getting it back in the box to return it to Amazon once it's unsealed. It doesn't appear to be long enough for my queen size frame. I researched Tuffed & Needle on consumer reports and felt confident and so so excited about this purchase. I'm very surprised this item didn't at the very least come with instructions. Unfortunately I'm going to have to figure out how to return this item.