a good night’s sleep

loom & leaf mattress review

| My Loom & Leaf mattress posing with my world-famous ginger scones. How much do I love those glasses? Quite a lot. |

As most of you know by now, I have a few little health glitches to deal with from time to time. (Said the girl currently rocking a case of hives that would make the Elephant Man hightail it to the nearest exit.) Anyway, the latest in this Lifetime miniseries is a star-studded cast of inflammatory hijinks which generally add up to a pretty uncomfortable life more often than not. Joints spontaneously swell, muscles ache despite my total aversion to physical activity, and pain pops up in the most random of places (who in the world gets sore toes, for Pete’s sake?).

A few months ago, I started noticing that things were remarkably, undeniably worse when I first woke up in the morning. Initially, I blamed it on my pain meds…how dare they wear off! But slowly, I came to terms with the fact that it might be my mattress.

Now I loved my mattress, as you might remember. But my body was telling me that a change was needed – and frankly, it was pretty darn insistent. After striking out at roughly 17 mattress stores and testing just about every other mattress in creation (including those hideously expensive Sleep Number numbers), I called my friends at Saatva and told them my woes. And can I just say, they were so unbelievably kind about the whole thing! So kind, in fact, that they said, “Hey, can we send you our new Loom & Leaf memory foam mattress to try instead?”

Tempting, right? And yet, I was hesitant. Not just because in general I was skeptical of the whole ‘foam mattress’ thing (though that’s true too), but because I had actually already tried a foam mattress from another company. Which, careful observers will note, did not get reviewed here. There was nothing wrong with that mattress at all, for the record. It was fine…just not for me. (And PS, nothing more awkward than the conversation you have to have with a brand when you don’t love their product.)

Given that, when Saatva suggested I try Loom & Leaf, I was wary. But, I read up on what they’re doing, and as usual, they’re miles ahead of the pack. I saw that they’d made several key improvements no other foam mattress brand has figured out. A few different firmness levels to choose from, for one. Thicker mattresses, which are key for me. And a mix of different foams, so it’s not too quicksand-y (if you’ve ever slept on one of the original Tempurpedics, you’ll know what I mean by that). Also, not being dropped at my front door in a giant, fume-filled box, but instead being brought in, unpacked and installed by two friendly men with actual white gloves was a major plus.

So, given all of that, I decided to give my friends the benefit of the doubt and give Loom & Leaf a test drive. (After issuing a pretty severe warning that it was entirely possible – likely, even – that I’d hate it and make them come pick it up. “Not a problem at all!”, they cheerfully said. Seriously, seriously nice people at Saatva.)

The big thing to know here is that foam mattresses take some getting used to. Those of us who have been sleeping on innersprings since birth will wonder what the hell is happening at first. The biggest difference is that there’s no bounce. No playing trampoline on a foam mattress, friends – I’ve tried. Instead, you just lie down and sort of…float. Think of it as choosing a hammock over an air mattress. Instead of your body weight having to force down the padding, a foam mattress just sort of gently melds to your form, making room for your butt or your shoulder or whatever.

To be honest, I do miss the bounce a tiny little bit. But. The tradeoff is that I’m sleeping better, since no bounce means considerably less motion transfer (a certain spouse of mine likes to practice his Rockettes audition routine while sleeping). That’s great and all, but here’s why ditching the bounce is totally, 110% worth it to me: My body doesn’t hurt any more when I wake up in the morning.

!!!

I can’t explain it. Maybe the foam is better for side sleepers (which I happen to be) since it supports your body more evenly than all of those springs. Or maybe the foam has actual magical powers. I have no idea. Whatever the reason, I was waking up most mornings on the verge of tears, friends. And now I’m not. So…something’s working. And honestly, that’s pretty much the best endorsement I could ever write.


 (PS: Since we just talked about this whole “bloggers getting things for free” business, let me just say that yes, Loom & Leaf sent me a mattress. And I’m super grateful. But given the fact that I kicked one of their competitors to the curb, I hope you’ll believe me when I say I’d have had no hesitation about doing the same thing again if I hadn’t genuinely liked this mattress.)
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6 comments on “a good night’s sleep

  1. Joe

    Very nice review. Thanks for your honesty! I’m curious if you still feel the same now that it has been a couple of months since the initial review? Do you still like it as much?

  2. shoppingsmycardio Post author

    Joe: Good question! I do still like it – I’ve discovered a few things I could gripe about if I were being really picky, but overall, it’s great. I find it holds onto heat and therefore sleeps much warmer than I was expecting, which is a little bit of a negative. Along those lines, in warmer weather, it’s softer/less supportive than it is on cooler nights. But other than those little issues, I’m a fan…and my back is still doing better!

  3. Chad

    Thinking about purchasing one for my back pain as well. I am used to memory foam as I have had one for 6 years now that it wearing out. Given that you are looking at a year with the Loom and Leaf, how is it holding up? Still doing well for back issues?

  4. Shopping's My Cardio

    Hi Chad: You know, it’s still fine for me, but my husband’s side has started to sag pretty considerably, so he’s no longer as comfortable. I’ve put in a couple of emails to the company about it, but haven’t gotten a response – this is a different scenario than a typical purchase, of course, so perhaps they’d have a better response for a regular customer. Since I haven’t heard from them, we’ve started shopping for a different mattress. But…it definitely adds a few reservations to my original enthusiasm. Hope that helps!

  5. Chad

    This helps greatly. I would hope that after a year a mattress would see little change other than original break in, and finding reviews on L&L after the initial purchase is very difficult. I was extremely close to purchasing this bed today, but may weigh my options further. Too bad, because I was extremely excited to buy a bed with such rave reviews on it’s cooling abilities.

  6. Shopping's My Cardio

    **UPDATE** I wanted to let you all know that I heard from the Saatva/Loom & Leaf team shortly after my previous comment. They were incredibly gracious and apologetic about the communication issues, and solved the problem by replacing my mattress at no charge and in record time. In my book, all’s well that ends well – and I’m so glad to be able to report that Saatva’s customer service is as exceptional as always! -B

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