Walmart has backed a new online mattress startup - I slept on one of the mattresses for 45 nights and my body is thanking me
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- As more and more Americans become fed up with the high-pressure, less-than-honest in-person mattress shopping experience, they are turning to online mattress brands.
- With the backing of Walmart, Allswell launched in February as a design-centric home brand with a focus on the bedroom. It immediately entered the fairly saturated "bed-in-a-box" space.
- I was impressed with how easy it was to set up the Allswell mattress and how firm the mattress is compared to other memory foam options.
- The Allswell Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress is affordable for a luxury mattress (it's currently $585 for a queen size on the Allswell website), and it is backed by a 10-year warranty and 100-night risk-free trial.
"You spend a third of your life sleeping." We've all heard this worn-out cliché. And, as a writer, I'm not supposed to trot it out. But, judging by how many people deal with restless nights of unsatisfying sleep, few of us truly take this saying to heart. How much would you spend and how much research would you do to ensure that a third of your life was relaxing and productive? The chances are your answer is "quite a bit." This is why choosing a quality mattress is one of the most important decisions you can make.
When shopping for products I'm going to sleep on, I pay more attention to quality than price. That's because I will use these items frequently, and since they will likely last for a decade or longer, the cost is relatively insignificant. So, when a representative from Allswell contacted me a few months ago to see if I wanted to try out their Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress for free, I took the opportunity seriously.
Below, I will explore some of the features of the mattress, share my experiences sleeping on it, and let you know who it is best suited for.
Why consider Allswell?
Before they contacted me, I hadn't heard of Allswell. That's because this design-centric, online-only home brand first launched in February of 2018 with the backing of the largest retailer in the United States.
With the goal of cutting into the market share of the bed-in-a-box heavy-hitters, like Leesa and Casper, Allswell's first collection aims to create a seamless digital experience for consumers crafting their dream bed. They've enlisted the help of top names in interior design, including Jeremiah Brent and Genevieve Gorder. Currently, Allswell offers an array of bedding solutions, including blankets, throws, duvet covers, pillows, and sheets.
What's special about the Allswell Luxe Classic mattresses?
Allswell offers two types of mattresses:
The "Allswell Luxe Classic" is their signature mattress and is designed to meet the needs of most sleepers. There are layers of memory foam along with a plush topper. It's rated as a medium-to-soft firmness.
The "Allswell Luxe Classic Firmer" is slightly firmer than the signature mattress. This is a hybrid mattress featuring memory foam and hundreds of individually wrapped coils that curb motion transfer and up the firmness. This is the mattress I tested.
Both mattresses come in Twin, Full, Queen, and King, which they call "Supreme Queen." I tested the Queen. All of the sizes are 12" thick. As a heavier person, I've found mattresses that are any less than 10" thick tend not to be supportive enough.
AllswellAll of the mattress sizes are 12" thick.
One of the most important bed-in-a-box features is the trial period. Though there are brands that give you up to a year, Allswell is closer to the industry standard with its 100-night trial policy. The return process is also quite easy: You contact them, and they send one of their partners to come pick up the mattress. In other words, you don't have to worry about somehow stuffing the mattress back in the box and handing it over to the UPS person.
Both mattresses are backed by a 10-year warranty, which covers significant mattress deterioration, physical flaws, and defects.
Lastly, having the right foundation for your mattress is a major factor in your overall comfort. To ensure I was getting the most out of their mattress, I contacted a representative for Allswell to find out which platform would be ideal. She informed me it was all about personal preference and that both a box spring and slats would work well for their mattresses. I went with the Zinus Modern Studio 14" Platform Metal Bed Frame and was happy with my decision.
My first experiences with the Allswell Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress
Allswell offers a "White Glove" delivery option. For $99 in select areas, you can have someone carry the mattress into your room, unbox it, put it on the frame, and clean up the packaging. If you agree to waive the 100-day trial, they will also remove your old mattress. Or, you can pay $149 for the mattress removal and retain your trial period.
Since I wanted to get the full buyer experience, I waived the opportunity for the white glove treatment. The mattress arrived in a battered box that was the size of a mini fridge and weighed about 90 pounds. I'm a strong guy, but I had someone help me carry it up the two flights of winding stairs to our bedroom.
When opening the box, the first thing you find is an Allswell pouch with documents thanking you for your purchase, a branded eye mask, and a letter opener. My wife has found the eye mask to be an invaluable tool for mornings when she wants to sleep in. The envelope slitter-style letter opener is a nice touch because it gives you a sharp edge to easily cut open the plastic surrounding the mattress without fear of slicing into the mattress, which is always a risk with scissors or knives.
Once the seal was broken, the mattress immediately started inflating. I opened the mattress on my own, but I would recommend that you get help if you are opening anything larger than a full-size mattress. There's no sense in risking unnecessary back pain, but for me, setup was painless.
How the Allswell Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress performed
I'm a side sleeper, and I'm used to sleeping on a soft coil mattress with a memory foam topper. In theory, a mattress this firm would not provide much pressure relief. However, I did not find this to be the case. I'm pretty hard on my body: I bike, run, and play roller derby. I take a beating. Yet, the Luxe Classic Firmer gave my hips, knees, and shoulders cushy support. My wife, a back sleeper, also enjoyed the comfort, though she would have preferred something softer.
I'm also an incredibly light sleeper. If a bed has poor motion transfer, I will wake up when my wife moves, my preschooler hops in bed, or a cat decides to sneak in. With the Allswell Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress, this wasn't an issue. I would often wake up in the morning to find that my wife had already started her day. I was completely undisturbed.
To further test the motion transfer abilities, I placed a full bowl of cereal on the mattress and punched all around it. This was basically my impromptu version of the classic Bowling Ball Test. I had to punch pretty hard within inches of the bowl to cause any spillage. This demonstrated that the individually-wrapped coils were able to provide unwavering support even when the nearby coils were disturbed. Again, this is important for an undisturbed night sleep.
My wife and I are both bigger than average. And, when you add in a full-body pillow and our kid occasionally sneaking in, the queen-sized mattress gets a bit crowded. Fortunately, thanks to the excellent edge support of the mattress, I never felt like I was about to fall off the bed.
I've only had the mattress for about a month and a half so it's hard to comment on durability. However, I haven't noticed any degradation of the mattress. There are no sunken spots where we usually sleep. And, visually, it looks the same as the day it arrived.
Before I get into the problem areas, I would be remiss if I didn't touch on one of the more important uses of a mattress. According to Sleepopolis, the best mattresses for romantic intimacy allow for easy movement, bouncing, edge support, comfort, and they don't produce much noise. Thanks to the combination of firmness and memory foam cushioning, the Allswell mattress performed well in each of these areas.
AllswellSeveral of the expert sleep sites recommend the Allswell mattress.
Some concerns about the mattress
For the most part, I was impressed with the performance of this mattress, but it wasn't flawless. The biggest problem I had was the odor. With any memory foam product, you are going to have "off-gassing" when you first release it from the vacuum seal. Usually, the smell dissipates within a few days. However, I was still catching whiffs of it two weeks later.
I contacted a representative for Allswell about this, and she assured me that the odor wasn't harmful in any way. It comes from how the foam is made, how long it is left to cure, and how long it is in the package. They are attempting to mitigate the scent by adding active charcoal and green tea extract. But, if you want to get rid of the stench faster, she recommends leaving the mattress in a well-ventilated space for three days after unboxing it as well as using charcoal odor eliminators or Febreze.
As mentioned previously, I was used to a softer bed, and I needed a couple weeks to get used to the mattress. However, I did not have any problems sleeping. It was simply a comfort issue. If you have scoliosis, rheumatism, arthritis, or other lower back problems, you may want to steer clear of firm mattresses. The softer Luxe Classic may be the better option.
My third concern isn't really Allswell's fault. It's more of a cautionary tale. If you are a bigger person and share your bed with someone, I'd recommend going with the Supreme Queen mattress. The Queen got crowded at times, but it should be plenty big if you have it to yourself.
What others are saying about the mattress
Several of the expert sleep sites recommend the Allswell mattress. Sleepopolis appreciated that this mattress provides a luxury experience at a value price. The reviewer found it was especially good for stomach sleepers since it left the spine aligned nicely. It also gave excellent support for heavier individuals in their tests. Our Sleep Guide recommends the Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress because it has minimal motion transfer, provides strong edge support, and is made of high-quality materials. Lastly, Sleep Sherpa was also impressed with how the mattress handled motion transfer.
On the Allswell website, the Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress has an average customer rating of 4.7 stars. The most helpful reviewer would recommend it because of the simple ordering and unpacking process. They also appreciated the firmness and the eye mask that came with the mattress. However, after two weeks, they were still bothered by the off-gassing. The most common pros were that the mattress provided good support and prevented motion transfer. The biggest negative is the odor that seems to linger.
Bottom line
Overall, the Allswell mattress is an excellent buy. Considering you spend approximately a third of your life on your bed, it's worth putting thought and spending a little extra on a mattress that is as comfortable for your specific sleeping habits as possible. The biggest downfall is the initial odor, which is non-toxic and does dissipate eventually.
Though the Allswell Luxe Classic Firmer Mattress is affordable for a luxury mattress, it's still fairly expensive. Fortunately, you get a 100-night trial period to find out if the mattress is right for you, and the 10-year warranty should also help you sleep comfortably.