When I moved into my new apartment, I bought a mattress off of a friend to save some money. It felt great when I tested it at his house, but after the first night, I realized it was too soft. I woke up sore, particularly in my lower back. I realized this was because the mattress was so soft I was arching my back in my sleep. I thought, at first, I only needed to give it time, and I’d get used to the mattress. But after a full month with lower back pain, I realized getting used to the mattress was not going to happen. Then I discovered the Sweetnight Mattress.
Once again I was in the market for a new mattress. This time, however, I considered a memory foam option. Eventually, I came across Sweetnight, which kindly sent me a mattress to test and review for editorial consideration. I had never heard of the brand before, but after researching their mattress, I found they had solid reviews across the board, and wanted to give their memory foam mattress a chance.
What Makes Gel Memory Foam Unique?
The model sent to me was their Queen-size Gel Memory Foam mattress. The mattress is made up of three layers of memory foam for support, but also to help dissipate heat. For those who have never slept on a memory foam mattress before, they can get incredibly hot. This tends to be the case with most memory foam mattresses because they are too dense. The denser the foam the better the support, but that density leaves less room for air to get out, which causes your mattress to absorb and retain your body heat. Luckily for me (a resident of a warmer-than-average city and someone who runs particularly hot), Sweetnight’s mattress includes two thin top layers made specifically to prevent overheating. The first is a two-inch thick ventilated layer of cotton to let the mattress breath better, and the second is a two-inch layer made up of gel memory foam packed with cooling beads to help reduce your overall body temperature. The combination of the two make for an altogether less dense top, while the rest of the mattress is still plenty dense and firm. In other words, memory foam support without memory foam heat.
Related Stories
The 10-inch thick mattress has a handful of other features which piqued my fancy. For starters, it’s hypo-allergenic. As an asthmatic, this is huge for me. I own a dust-mite cover for my mattress which isn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep with, but thanks to the foam being hypo-allergenic from the get go, I was thankfully okay to toss it away. Next, the mattress is double sided, that is to say, there’s no right way up. One side (with the zipper) is softer, while the other side is a bit firmer. For those waffling between mattress choices online and are unsure which to purchase without testing, this is a game changer. You can buy with confidence knowing that one side of this mattress will likely suit your needs. Finally, the mattress comes with a 10-year warranty. Aside from the fact that 10 years is an extremely long time for a mattress that costs less than $500, the length offered gave me confidence I was getting a quality product.
Unboxing the Sweetnight Mattress
Sweetnight, like many a mattress in 2019, arrives at your door in a box. Using a compression technique, the company squeezes and squishes the mattress down and then rolls it, making a seriously dense package and a somewhat difficult one to carry. On the box itself Sweetnight recommends carrying your mattress with two people, and it’s sound advice. This mattress is heavy.
After wheeling it into my apartment (in lieu of a second person, I opted for a hand truck) I tore down the box and unrolled the mattress so it lay flat on my floor. Then next step in the process was to slice open the compression bag and let the mattress inflate back to its original size.
If you’ve ever purchased a mattress online, this part comes pretty standard. You grab a knife or pair of scissors, slice open the bag carefully and then let the mattress sit for a few days before sleeping on it. What I enjoyed about Sweetnight is that they put a lot of thought and effort into the opening process. For starters, inside my box was a small, felt envelope which came with a warranty card, instructions for opening my mattress and even a tool specifically designed to slice open the packaging. This is a minor addition but it’s appreciated. Not only is the presentation nice, I’ve always resorted to scissors when opening mattresses of this kind, and I’ve always worried about cutting into my mattress unintentionally. This tool houses a small blade within a plastic sheath, so you’re never in danger of cutting the mattress while cutting open its plastic casing.
After slicing the mattress free, I let it air out for a few days. A full 72 hours is recommended, so I followed it and then some, leaving it to sit on my floor for 81 hours (a full weekend and then one day of work).
Once fully inflated, I swapped my old mattress for the new one, and got ready to give the mattress a go!
Memory Foam First Impressions
The only issue I had with the mattress came in the first two nights. Though it had now been airing out for well over three days, I noticed the mattress still carried that “chemical-y” smell that is often associated with memory foam mattresses. Never before has that bothered me, but as I laid on my mattress on night one, I could smell that packaging smell through my sheets. Too lazy and tired to swap my mattresses again (a difficult task alone), I decided to ignore the smell and sleep through it, hoping it was soon dissipate. Though it took another full day before the smell was gone, it did finally vanish, leaving me with a firm but pliable foam mattress.
From there, I noticed myself really enjoying the mattress. My second and third nights not only brought refreshing sleep, I fell asleep much quicker than I used to with my old mattress. Finding a comfortable spot on a memory foam mattress, as it turns out, is pretty easy. Covers up and lights off, I was drifting away to sleep after only a few minutes.
Verdict
After 30 days on the Sweetnight, I’ve noticed I wake up refreshed whereas my old mattress left me groggy. Sweetnight’s Gel Memory Foam mattress provides firm yet comfortable support, striking a great balance between too hard and too soft. As such, my lower back no longer hurts in the mornings. Another surprising response to the new mattress, I don’t toss and turn as much as I used to. I generally sleep on my right side, and nearly every morning during my 30 days, I woke up facing that same way. Gone are the days I’d wake up perpendicular to my bed halfway through the night (not a joke, I used to do this).
For the price point, and the convenience of having it shipped to your door, I can’t recommend Sweetnight enough. They have figured out and fined tuned the process of buying a mattress online. And thanks to their layering techniques with gel foam and a breathable top cover, I never dealt with a hot mattress. The chemical smell was annoying in that it took so long to dissipate, but with just a few more days of airing out, that problem (and all my previous mattress-related issues) faded away.