For all the talk of so-called disruption in other industries, there may be no bigger movement than the mattress in a box industry that sprang up practically overnight.
The idea is simple. Instead of spending thousands of dollars for a mattress that has been marked up by numerous middlemen, you can instead buy your mattress directly from the manufacturer, who will then ship you your mattress in a box. No fuss, no muss.
But, is the mattress in a box concept for real, or is mattress in a box another internet scam?
Internet Mattresses Review
This Nolah mattress review is unique as far as I know. I actually bought the Nolah mattress, and slept on it for 30+ days before returning it. I ordered two other mattresses before realizing what I had in the Nolah mattress. I returned both of those as well, before re-ordering (and keeping) the Nolah mattress.
Check out my Credit Karma review here.
The trick to online mattress in a box is that you can’t test the mattress before you buy it. Since what a person likes in a mattress is a fairly personal thing, one wonders how the online mattress industry works.
The reality is that most people keep a mattress way too long. While experts recommend you replace your mattress every 8 to 10 years, the reality is that most people wait until their mattress begins to actually break down and cause them discomfort. That means that when you finally get around to ordering and using a new mattress, it is almost guaranteed to seem more comfortable and more supportive than what you already had. Add to that the requirement that you must keep the mattress for 30 days before returning it, and you have a recipe for the vast majority of customers keeping the mattress they order, whatever it is.
The Nolah Mattress Review
I feel like the best mattress reviews just tell you what the experience is. If you want a break down of what kind of materials, and foam, and whatever is in the Nolah mattress, you’ll have to go Google.
I ordered a king-size Nolah mattress when we bought a new house. The idea was, instead of moving the old (11+ years) mattress, we would just order a new mattress in a box and pop it on the bed in the new house. This didn’t actually work out, but I had already committed to a new mattress, and there was no stopping me.
I can’t remember exactly what made me want the Nolah mattress other than it was a bit off brand from the Casper mattress. The Casper mattress is the original, as far as I know, company to popularize the online mattress in a box concept. However, I find this mattress review website that mentioned that after publishing a review the Casper people sued him. That says, something to hide in my book, so I looked elsewhere. (Ironically, since then, the Casper company bought that website, and surprise, surprise, it has much better reviews now.)
The Nolah mattress website mentioned that it had a perforated cooling layer that kept the mattress from being hot. That, plus all of the features pretty much every other mattress claims, sold me and we ordered.
Here is my Acorns app review.
Nolah Mattress First Impressions
When you go from an inner-spring (normal) mattress to a foam mattress, it is a pretty big change. This is probably one of the reasons all mattress-in-a-box companies insist you keep your mattress for at least 30 days to “adjust” to it.
My wife’s first impression was that it felt like a camping mattress, albeit a big, thick, motion absorbing camping mattress. As we slept on it, it turned out we really liked it. The Nolah is firmer than your average foam mattress (we like that a lot), but it does allow you to sink into it as well. This, it turns out, is a tricky combo to find.
In addition, the Nolah absorbs almost all motion. Most mattresses talk about not having enough motion transfer to bother a spouse, but the Nolah has so little motion transfer, you almost can’t feel it yourself. It sounds strange, but it reminds me of the feeling of those lead vests they put on your chest at the dentist when you do x-rays. It just absorbs any movement with a density.
Not only did we like the support, with sink in absorption, it even stopped me from snoring!
I don’t know exactly how or why, but on the old mattress, my wife would have to nudge (push) me, and ask me to put on a Breathe Right strip to help control the snoring all the time. With the Nolah, it just stopped. No more snoring. Maybe it was the better support. I don’t really know.
Why We Sent Our Nolah Back
By now, you are wondering if we liked it so much why we sent it back. The answer is, that I thought it was sleeping hot. I thought it was making me sweat at night, and I figured another mattress might do better. The reality is, that with a new house at the beginning of summer, I was still figuring out the nighttime cooling, and air conditioner settings. It was probably fine all along, but I didn’t know that yet.
Lucky for us, that gives me a chance to review the Nolah return policy. Basically, the procedure to return the Nolah mattress is to email the help address and tell them you want to return it.
I sent an email saying we wanted to return the mattress. I didn’t give them much info, because I expected some sort of push back. Instead, the person who responded said that they were sorry it didn’t work out. Then, they asked me which of a few different days would work best for the return. I picked a day. They scheduled the return.
We left it out on the front porch. It was gone when I got home that afternoon. The refund showed up on my credit card a few days later.
It couldn’t have been simpler.
Can We Have The Nolah Back?
I went on to order a Leesa mattress (too soft), and a Helix mattress (ok, but I don’t like springs in my mattress any more.) After the Leesa, my wife wanted to go right back to the Nolah. I was worried they wouldn’t like me ordered a second Nolah after returning the first, so I talked her into doing a Helix mattress. She wanted the Nolah back, and so did I.
We got our second Nolah mattress in the box a few weeks ago. We are definitely not returning it. It seems a little less dense than the last one, but all of the good features are still there. It is supportive while letting you sink into it. It is not too warm. (The waterproof, terry cloth mattress pad I had might have been part of the problem.) And it soaks up any motion so you fall asleep and stay asleep.
If you don’t like soft mattresses, and you want something with support but comfort, I highly recommend the Nolah mattress.