Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Reviewing My Experience Of Bamboo Sheets And Bedding Sets

 

bamboo sheets

We started using bamboo bedding a couple of years ago. Prior to this, we had cotton sheets in summer and fleece bedding in winter. 

However, since I had a severe skin allergy and perimenopause my skin has become super sensitive and I cannot bear anything but the most silky soft materials next to it. 

So I was finding our old cotton sheets a bit too crisp and a little irritating and even itchy. The winter soft fleecy sheets were still OK but too warm and unbearable to use in the spring and summer. 

People often skimp on good bedding as it is not something people usually see but it is vital for our health. A good comfortable sleep is so important to our emotional and physical well-being. So I started researching alternatives and found that Bamboo bedding has become increasingly popular in the last ten or so years. Given the benefits of Bamboo bedding, we decided to try them


bamboo sheets

 

Our Experience of Sleeping on Bamboo Sheets and Pillowcases. 

I was incredibly happy the very first night with the bamboo sheets, duvet cover and pillowcases. They are so silky soft to the touch and did not irritate my skin at all. The pillowcases were lovely so soft and comfortable and had a nice cool feel to them against my face.  

It was a real pleasure to get into bed and an added bonus was that they seemed to regulate heat better.

My husband sleeps naturally cold and in recent years I have been throwing sheets and covers off me in the night due to getting too hot. 

However using Bamboo bedding for the sheets, duvet cover and pillowcases my husband is warm enough and while I cannot say I am completely cured of the night heat, it is significantly better.

We have bought them gradually and currently have two sets consisting of a duvet cover, a fitted sheet and two pillowcases, one is a light grey and one dark grey. Over time I would like four sets a white one and another dark grey or a soft colour so I can mix and match them. 


bamboo sheets

 

Why Is Bamboo Bedding A Good Choice

If we are concerned about sustainability and being friendly to the planet bamboo bedding can be a sensible choice. 

It grows very quickly and is a renewable resource that needs little water to grow. So if recurrent drought is going to be a factor in our future this is helpful. 

Being naturally pest resistant it does not require harmful pesticides to grow as a crop which is helpful to the creatures in nature and ourselves. 

Bamboo is resistant to dust mites, mildew and mould which is great for those of us who have to deal with sensitive, allergic skin or asthma. 

bamboo sheets hanging out to dry


I have found that the sizes easily fit our bed, duvet and pillows and with the Bamboo being so lightweight and easy to handle it is an easy task to make the bed. Ours came with a zip to close the duvet which is quick and easy and the sheets have an additional elastic strap and elastic edging, making it simple to fit and they never slip during the night. The pillowcases are a simple envelope fitting large enough to cover our pillows easily. 

Our Bamboo bedding is very lightweight and folds into a remarkably small package so even in a larger King size it does not take up much room in the linen cupboard.

Also now I have found bedding that works for us, if like me, you like to take your own bedding with you on trips away and holidays it is possible to do that. 


 


Care Of Bamboo Bedding

As I change our bedding at least once a week I need sheets and covers that are quick and easy to wash and dry all year round. 

Bamboo bedding fulfills these criteria easily. I simply put them in a 30-degree delicates machine wash. They are beautifully clean and washing at this low temperature saves electricity costs. 

For drying I hang on the washing line whenever it s not raining or hang over a clothes horse inside with the window open or our dehumidifier on and they dry very quickly.


sheet hanging on the line

 

I have also put them in the tumble dryer on occasion on delicate and they come out lovely, though I do not do this often due to the cost of running a tumble dryer these days! 

Whichever method you use to dry them there is no need to iron them which is a welcome bonus and they come out perfectly silky soft and gorgeous.

We have had our two sets for a couple of years now and they still look like new. Granted they are more expensive than our other sheets but they are stronger and look and feel significantly better for longer. They have not developed any holes or uncomfortable bobbles. If anything they feel softer now than they originally did and look beautiful on the bed.


 

So in my experience, Bamboo bedding is a great find and something we will continue to use for our sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases. 

It is one of the more eco-friendly choices, easy care, good for allergy sufferers and sensitive skin, beautiful to look at and feels so gorgeous against the skin.

They are incredibly comfortable and soothing to sleep on and have made a huge difference to our sleep comfort. 



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Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Ordering a Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Bed Online — A Candid Review

As I explained in the first post in this series, in 2021 my friend and former boss, the chief marketing officer at Saatva, invited me to choose, order, sleep on and keep a Saatva mattress of my choice in exchange for my detailed, honest feedback about my entire experience as a new customer, including any problems or issues I encountered and any recommendations for improving the shopping, buying and ownership experience for future Saatva customers. If my customer experience was mostly positive (which it was), I would also share a candid review of my first-time Saatva cutomer experience with others here on Review This Reviews—hence this Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper series of reviews.

In my last post, I discussed the in-depth product research I did so my husband and I could choose the best Saatva mattress for our needs and sleeping preferences. Today, I’ll share my experience with placing our online order for that mattress, which came with a free sheet set (because we chose the split-top "upper-flex" mattress option), an adjustable base and a mattress pad.

Ordering a Mattress and Adjustable Base on Saatva.com - My personal experience

Disclosure: I have joined the company’s affiliate program, which means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links in this post I may be eligible to receive a commission, at no cost to you. I highly recommend the Saatva company and its products for their excellent quality, performance, price and customer service. The opinions, product reviews and recommendations in this post are my own and are based on my personal experiences. The decision to click on those links to learn more about the company’s products or make a purchase is greatly appreciated, but entirely up to you.

Recap: Deciding to Try the Upper-Flex vs. Standard King Solaire Mattress

To recap our experience to this point (which I described in detail in the first two posts in this series), my husband and I started by identifying our key needs and wants and then thoroughly researching five Saatva mattress models we thought might work for us.

Ultimately, we chose a king size Saatva Solaire adjustable firmness air mattress, which came with a free organic cotton sateen sheet set, a quilted organic cotton mattress pad and a Saatva Adjustable Base Plus (then called a Lineal adjustable base), all in the “upper-flex” split-top configuration that would let either of us raise or lower the head of just our side of the bed.

Bed with Saatva Solaire mattress and adjustable base in the upper-flex configuration
An upper-flex Solaire mattress paired with an upper-flex Adjustable Base Plus (bed frame sold separately) allows sleeping partners to raise and lower the head of the bed on their respective sides

Although we were concerned about the gap along the top portion, we felt comfortable giving the split-top “upper-flex” configuration a try, knowing that if we didn’t love it we could exchange our upper-flex king Solaire mattress and mattress pad for the standard (solid) king versions without a hassle, thanks to Saatva’s generous home trial, return and exchange policies. If we did decide to exchange our upper-flex for a standard Solaire, we would be charged a $99 processing fee to cover Saatva’s cost of having the old mattress picked up and the new one delivered and set up for us. The adjustable base, although it could not be returned or exchanged, could quickly and easily be reconfigured to synchronize the remote controls for my husband’s and my sides of the bed if we decided to exchange the upper-flex for a solid king mattress.

There were two minor potential drawbacks to trying the upper-flex king configuration. First, the waterproof mattress protector that I wanted to protect our new mattress was not available for the upper-flex queen or king configuration. Second, if we decided to exchange our upper-flex Solaire mattress for the standard king version without a split top, our joined twin XL adjustable bases would not have the wall-hugging design feature of the standard king adjustable base.

Those were trade-offs we could live with.

Placing Our Saatva Mattress, Adjustable Bed and Mattress Pad Order Online

If we had chosen any Solaire mattress other than an upper-flex king or queen, placing our online order would have been a piece of cake. However, for some reason, the upper-flex option under “Select Size” is hidden by default.

Saatva Solaire mattress size selection - default view
Solaire size selections - default view

Only if you first click on “King” or “Queen” does a new feature box appear under the “Select Size” buttons with two additional options: standard (selected by default) and upper-flex (which you need to actively choose if you want the split top configuration rather than a solid mattress).

If you choose the upper-flex option, which requires a Adjustable Base Plus (formerly Lineal adjustable base), that base is also selected by default, as is a set of split-top sheets that is included free with the purchase of an upper-flex Solaire mattress. (If you already have a compatible adjustable base, you can easily deselect the checkbox for the base.)

Solaire size selection - standard vs. upper-flex options displayed
Standard vs. upper-flex options appear only after selecting queen or king size;if you select the upper-flex Solaire mattress, the required adjustable base and free upper-flex sheet set are selected by default 

Clicking on the Queen or King size selection button (which I think most people would assume means a standard, solid queen or king mattress) to get to the upper-flex option isn’t intuitive and selecting it requires an unnecessary extra step. Both the upper-flex and split king have the same overall dimensions as the standard king mattress, just as the split Cal king has the same dimensions as the regular Cal king, so why provide separate buttons for the split configurations but not the upper-flex?

Although I shared my feedback and recommendations for fixing this issue with Saatva, they haven’t yet taken me up on it. So, if you decide to order a queen or king upper-flex Solaire mattress, I hope that having shared what I learned I will save you some time and effort. It's very simple...as long as you know how the size selection interface works.

Saatva’s Follow-up Communications

Saatva prides itself on its superior customer service and the company was, indeed, proactively helpful and communicative from the moment I clicked on the “Place Order” button on April 24, 2021.

In addition to giving me my order number, order summary and link to “Print this receipt” if I wished, the order confirmation screen also provided an estimated shipping date range (May 2–May 15) and a “What’s Next?” section letting me know that my new mattress would be handcrafted to order and that I would be contacted when it was ready to arrange for delivery and set-up so I could “Enjoy your best sleep ever.”

Saatva mattress, adjustable base and bedding order checkout - order confirmation

It also offered me a choice of how I preferred to get updates on my order status: a “Create an account to track your order” button and a “Text me shipping updates” checkbox. I chose both.

Creating an Account and Tracking My Order

After clicking on the “Create an account to track your order” button, I checked my e-mail messages, as directed. There were two from Saatva, a “Thank you for your order!” purchase receipt and a request to confirm my email address to complete my account registration. 

After clicking on the second email, I logged into my new account and clicked on my order number. At first glance, I was surprised (and concerned) to see only the upper-flex king adjustable base and Solaire mattress. What happened to the organic mattress pad and free sheet set?

Eventually I realized that this order lookup page contained three shipments and only the products in “Shipment 1 of 3” were displayed by default. I would need to scroll down and click the light gray buttons for “Shipment 2 of 3” and “Shipment 3 of 3” to view the mattress pad and sheet set.

Saatva online order lookup
The order was broken into multiple shipments and there was no way to view all the products in all the shipments at one time

When I look up an order I have placed online, I expect to see all the products in my order, not to have some of them displayed and some up them hidden, forcing me to click on each shipment button to see what products are in those shipments and their status.

On the other hand, however, I really liked being able to see a timeline with all the order status update milestones and showing the status of the products in that shipment, especially since each Saatva mattress is made to order.

Follow-up Communications From Saatva

As I expected, I also got an email confirmation after placing my order.

A few hours later, I got another email with the subject line “Your new mattress deserves new bedding” and featuring sheets, pillows, mattress toppers, and other Saatva bedding products, followed by subsequent periodic emails suggesting specific bedding items to complement my new mattress.

I also received an email containing a personal refer-a-friend link. If I shared it with my friends and family and any of them used it to make a purchase, we would each receive a $100 Saatva gift card.

The Right Way to Notify a Customer of Delays

Four days after I had placed my order, I got an email confirming what I had already guessed, i.e., that the system-generated one- to three-week delivery estimate on the order confirmation screen for my made-to-order Solaire mattress and adjustable base had been overly optimistic, given the global supply chain and manufacturing issues at the time (April 2021).

This well written email update did a nice job of resetting my expectations, given the unpredictability of the potential pandemic-related delays.

Follow-up email notification of order delay
This email helped set my expectations appropriately regarding supply chain and manufacturing delays caused by COVID-19 related supply chain issues in spring 2021

A little more than three weeks later, I received another email update letting me know that my Solaire mattress order would probably be delayed another two to three weeks, thanks to additional pandemic-related disruptions to the global supply chain.

This one came directly from the general manager of the Saatva Solaire division. It assured me that the company would continue to provide updates on the progress of my order, offered both an email address and a phone number if I had any questions and thanked me for my continued patience.

Email order update from Saatva Solaire's general manager
I was impressed and appreciative that this second email update about the continued delay in fulfilling my mattress order came directly from Saatva's general manager for the Solaire line

There’s nothing worse than the deafening silence of a delay with no updates, and Saatva’s proactive communications were welcome and reassuring as I waited for my new mattress.

I also appreciated that the Saatva bedding, which was not made to order, was delivered very quickly while I was waiting for my Solaire mattress and Adjustable Bed Plus to arrive.

Next Up: My Saatva Bedding Review

I’ll share the unboxing and product review of my Saatva quilted organic cotton mattress pad and organic cotton sateen sheet set in my next post.

Be sure to subscribe* to Review This Reviews to be notified when new posts in this Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper series (and my popular keto diet success series) are published!

*See the email subscription box in the sidebar; if you are viewing on a mobile device and don't see the sidebar in your browser, click on "View web version" at the bottom of the page.

Ordering a Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Bed Online — A Candid Review by Margaret Schindel

Posts in This Series

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 1: The Journey Begins

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 2: How to Choose the Best Saatva Mattress for Your Needs

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 3: Ordering a Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Bed Online — A Candid Review

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 4: Saatva Organic Cotton Mattress Pad and Sheet Set Product Reviews

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 5: Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Base White Glove Delivery and Setup

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 6: Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base Plus Product Reviews

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 7: Exchanging a Saatva Mattress: My Personal Experience

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 8: Which Queen or King Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base to Buy

Read more product reviews from our Contributors at ReviewThisProductReviews.com.





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Sunday, March 5, 2023

How to Choose the Best Saatva Mattress for Your Needs

In 2021, my husband and I became the proud owners of a Saatva mattress. This post is the second in a series of candid, in-depth reviews in which I share our personal experiences as a couple shopping for, choosing, ordering and sleeping on our first Saatva mattress, adjustable base and bedding, as well as exchanging the split-top mattress we initially chose for a standard (solid) version of the same model.

In part one of this series I explained why we wanted to replace our old mattress with a Saatva, the unexpected opportunity that enabled us to shop for one sooner than expected, our most important needs and wants and the models we considered based on those criteria.

In today’s post I’ll share the extensive product research I conducted to help us choose the best Saatva mattress for our needs and my experiences interacting with both the company’s website and its customer service representatives, as well as my favorite third-party expert mattress review sites.

How to Choose the Right Saatva Mattress for you and your partner

Disclosure: I have joined the company’s affiliate program, which means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links in this post I may be eligible to receive a commission, at no cost to you. I highly recommend the Saatva company and its products for their excellent quality, performance, price and customer service. The opinions, product reviews and recommendations in this post are my own and are based on my personal experiences. The decision to click on those links to learn more about the company’s products or make a purchase is greatly appreciated, but entirely up to you.

How to Choose the Best Saatva Mattress for Your Sleeping Preferences and Needs

I have been buying online since 1995, not long after Amazon launched. One of the things I love most about shopping online is how easy it is to research and compare products before deciding which ones to purchase. Since our sleep quality has a profound effect on our quality of life, I put even more time and effort than usual into researching which Saatva mattress would best meet both my and my husband’s needs and sleeping preferences.

Here are the resources I used to evaluate in depth the five mattress models we considered and finalize our decision on which would work best for us as a couple.

Mattress Buying Guide

Saatva's Mattress Buying Guide is a great place to start your mattress selection journey, regardless of which brand of mattress you decide to purchase.

It explains the four main mattress types (innerspring, memory foam, latex and hybrid) and compares them according to six key criteria: price, lifespan, firmness levels, motion transfer (a major consideration if you sleep with a partner), edge support and which sleeping position(s) each type is best suited to.

The Saatva Mattress Buying Guide also walks you through five key high-level decisions: choosing the type of mattress you want, determining your ideal firmness level, picking the right size, deciding on a mattress base, and (last, but not least) reading the fine print. It also answers a few FAQ and recommends taking the mattress quiz.

Although my husband and I struggled a bit with some of these decisions, since we have different preferences for firmness and sleep positions, this buying guide really helped us begin to narrow and prioritize our list of models to consider.

Mattress Quiz

Armed with our requirements and preferences wish list and what I learned from the Ultimate Mattress Buying Guide, my next step was to take the Saatva Mattress Quiz.

I admit to having been a bit skeptical about the results since it only asked about my weight range, how I like my mattress to feel and my sleep concerns, not those of my sleeping partner, although I could tell it that my husband and I had different firmness preferences and different preferred sleep positions.

However, the recommendations it offered were surprisingly appropriate, and I moved the Loom & Leaf Relaxed Firm memory foam mattress and the Saatva Solaire to the top of our “short list” of contenders.

Sleep Enlightened Blog

Saatva’s Sleep Enlightened blog is dedicated to educating people about how to choose the best mattress for their needs, the importance of sleep and how to get a great night’s sleep, regardless of which mattress brand, type or model they sleep on.

It includes thoughtful, well-researched and well-written posts about how to choose a mattress as well as about sleep health, sleep-related lifestyle tips and other valuable content.

This blog is well worth the read for anyone who could benefit from more restful, refreshing and restorative sleep (i.e., nearly everyone!).

Product Information

Saatva does a terrific job with its product pages. They are designed to give visitors the most important information about each product as clearly and concisely as possible, keeping the details hidden until the site visitor chooses to click to learn more about something on the page.

I loved the use of exploded views to show the anatomy of each mattress model, including the different layers, materials, construction and the role that each layer plays in providing comfort, support, durability and other desirable characteristics.

Exploded view diagram of Saatva Solaire mattress
The product page for each mattress model includes an exploded view diagram showing all the layers and explaining the function and purpose of each

The clean, uncluttered product page design has a lot going for it, but also one significant drawback for a product research junkie like me: There is no way to view all the product information about a particular mattress at one time. Since I wanted to do an in-depth comparison of different models in our consideration set, I tried to create my own side-by-side comparison chart by going to each model's product page, clicking on each topic, drilling down through each clickable element and copying and pasting the details into a table, but I finally gave up. (That said, however, most mattress shoppers probably neither want nor need as much granular detail as I did when comparing different models.)

Thanks in part to the candid feedback I shared with my friend Joe, Saatva’s chief marketing officer, the product pages are now more helpful and consistent in their layout, making it easier to compare product information about different models. The company also added a comparison page that let customers easily compare Saatva models side-by-side based on mattress type, firmness, sleep surface materials, core and base support, cooling levels and other key features and attributes.

I also had a hard time finding detailed information about the differences between an upper-flex king and a split king Solaire mattress and their respective advantages, limitations and other key considerations, such as needing to use special split-top sheets for an upper-flex mattress and requiring a compatibly configured adjustable base for either an upper-flex or a split king.

Now, the Saatva Solaire mattress product page now contains a new section that provides a lot more information about the upper-flex option and adjustable bases in a much more visible location.

Solaire Upper-Flex Mattress + Adjustable Base Plus
The Solaire mattress product page now makes it easier to learn about the split-top “upper-flex” option, which needs to be paired with an upper-flex Adjustable Base Plus

Note: I will also provide detailed side-by-side comparisons of all the queen and king Saatva Solaire mattress configuration options in the last post in this series.

Customer Reviews and Questions

Reading customer product reviews is always a key part of my pre-purchase online research. Since I knew that (unlike some companies) Saatva doesn’t edit or filter their customer reviews, I felt confident that the reviews were authentic.

I spent quite a bit of time reading the customer reviews on saatva.com for the five mattress models on my list and was impressed by the overwhelmingly positive feedback. An impressive number of customers complimented not only the quality and comfort of the Saatva mattresses they purchased but also the outstanding customer service they received. Even buyers who ultimately decided to return their mattresses during the generous trial period were effusive in their praise of the company and its products!

I also looked at the customer questions and the answers provided by a Saatva representative, which were clear, helpful and timely. Most of the questions I looked at had received same-day answers. In retrospect, I wish I had taken advantage of the “Ask a question” button when I was doing my product research!

Online Chat

Next, I decided to use the website’s online chat option to speak with a Saatva Sleep Guide (customer support representative) to get more personalized recommendations based on more detailed input, especially since I wanted to find a mattress that would meet both my and my husband’s different needs.

After the representative listened to our list of wants and needs, I was surprised and impressed that she initially suggested we might want to consider buying just a Saatva latex mattress topper or memory foam topper rather than a whole new mattress, which would be considerably less expensive, since our mattress wasn’t that old. That’s just one of many examples I encountered that proved the authenticity of Saatva’s “How can I help you?” versus “What can I sell you?” philosophy.  However, since our mattress sagged so badly, my husband and I wanted to replace it rather than trying to get by for another year or two with just a new topper.

The more I spoke with the representative, the more I leaned toward the Saatva Solaire mattress, since each side could be customized to my husband's and my individual firmness preferences and the air chambers would make the center sagging that we typically experienced with our mattresses less of an issue (as long as we didn’t set the firmness settings on our respective sides too far apart).

The representative also made a good case for the Zenhaven dual-sided natural latex mattress, which has both a Luxury Plush side with a medium (4–5) firmness and a Gentle Firm side with a firmer (7–8) firmness. She recommended using it with the Luxury Plush side up for us, which “contours to your body effortlessly to relieve pressure points from all sleep positions” and would work whether my husband and I were in the “spoon” position on our sides or whether we turned on our backs or stomachs.

Third-Party Mattress Review Sites and Buying Guides

Years ago, when I was doing market research into the mattress industry, I found out that many of these types of sites are owned by media companies that are paid to promote more obscure mattress brands while purporting to be objective in their reviews and recommendations. (No wonder mattress shopping can be so confusing! It's hard to know whom to trust.)

Fortunately, even though virtually all the review sites and buying guides receive free products for review and use affiliate links to support themselves, there are sites such as Mattress Clarity, The Sleep Judge, Good Bed and Sleepopolis that provide in-depth, expert reviews using pressure mapping technology and other objective tests as well as subjective evaluations. Some also include balanced, detailed video reviews along with their written reviews. 

Reading and watching their Saatva product reviews reinforced that either the Solaire or the Zenhaven would be the best mattress choice for my husband’s and my needs.

Phone Calls With a Saatva Mattress Showroom Manager

I had one advantage over the typical online Saatva mattress buyer: My friend Joe at Saatva arranged for my husband and me to have a phone conversation with Michael, the manager of the flagship Saatva Viewing Room showroom in New York City, to help us finalize our choice between the Solaire and the Zenhaven.

Saatva Viewing Room flagship showroom in New York City
Saatva’s flagship Viewing Room in New York City, one of six (soon to be eight) showrooms across the U.S. where you can view, touch and try out different Saatva mattresses, adjustable bases, bedding and other products in person

Joe and I had agreed that no one should know I had any contacts at Saatva. We wanted to ensure that I would not get preferential treatment, since our goal was for me to give him objective feedback on my experience as a first-time Saatva customer. However, since Michael’s job is to help in-person visitors to the Saatva NYC showroom, there would have been no reason for a remote customer to call him for advice. So, as a favor to me, Joe asked Michael if he would be willing to help some friends (i.e., my husband and me) choose between two Saatva mattresses we were considering and to provide his thoughts on whether an adjustable base would be a worthwhile investment for us.

Michael was kind enough to make time to speak with us on his day off. He was incredibly knowledgeable, extremely helpful and very patient with our many questions. He recommended a Solaire for us over a Zenhaven.

When we asked about whether an adjustable base would be worth the cost for us, he asked us several questions to determine how much we would likely use and benefit from the additional features the adjustable base provides. Based on lifestyle and health considerations, such as my husband’s and my different sleeping and waking times, my frequent insomnia and our common back and joint pain, he felt that the adjustable base would provide significant benefits, especially in the top-split “upper flex” configuration that would allow either of us to raise the head of just our side of the bed without affecting our partner's side.

Choosing Between a Standard and Upper-Flex King Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base

After discussing our needs, wants and concerns in detail with Michael, he ultimately recommended a king Saatva Solaire mattress in the upper-flex configuration with the Saatva Adjustable Base Plus (which was then called the Lineal adjustable base), with the understanding that the upper-flex king Adjustable Base Plus would be a final sale purchase.

When we raised our concerns about the width of the center gap down the upper third of the mattress, since we sleep in the “spoon” position for part of every night, Michael said he thought it probably wouldn’t bother us much, especially if we also ordered the diamond-quilted upper-flex king organic cotton mattress pad that he also recommended for us, which would provide added comfort, protect the mattress and fill in the center split somewhat. He also pointed out that if we ordered the king upper-flex and the split turned out to be a problem, we could exchange it for a solid king Solaire mattress within the extremely generous Saatva home trial period (which was 180 nights and is now 365 nights — one full year to try out your new mattress!).

The other important consideration was that the Adjustable Base Plus for the king upper-flex Solaire mattress would be two Twin XL adjustable bases that would be joined during the delivery and set-up process. If we decided to exchange the king upper-flex mattress for a solid one, the bases could be reconfigured during the delivery and set-up of the new mattress so that both the head and the foot of the entire bed would be raised and lowered in sync. However, unlike the standard Twin XL bases used with a standard king Solaire mattress, the bases used in the upper-flex configuration would not have the wall-hugger technology that simultaneously glides you back toward the wall as you raise the head of the bed, keeping your bedside table, remote, lamp, etc., in easy reach. Since the adjustable bases are final sale, if we went with the upper-flex base, we wouldn’t be able to exchange it for the standard king with the wall-hugger capability if we decided to exchange our upper-flex Solaire mattress for the standard version.

After much discussion, my husband and I finally decided that if we didn’t give the upper-flex option a try, we would always wonder whether we had made the right choice.

Ordering Online and Updates

In my next post I’ll share my experience with placing our Solaire mattress, Adjustable Base Plus and mattress pad order online.

Be sure to subscribe* to Review This Reviews to be notified when new posts in this Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper series (and my popular keto diet success series) are published!

*See the email subscription box in the sidebar; if you are viewing on a mobile device and don't see the sidebar in your browser, click on "View web version" at the bottom of the page.

How to Choose the Best Mattress for Your Needs by Margaret Schindel

Posts in This Series

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 1: The Journey Begins

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 2: How to Choose the Best Saatva Mattress for Your Needs

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 3: Ordering a Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Bed Online — A Candid Review

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 4: Saatva Organic Cotton Mattress Pad and Sheet Set Product Reviews

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 5: Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Base White Glove Delivery and Setup

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 6: Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base Plus Product Reviews

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 7: Exchanging a Saatva Mattress: My Personal Experience

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 8: Which Queen or King Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base to Buy

Read more product reviews from our Contributors at ReviewThisProductReviews.com.





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper: The Journey Begins

Sleep plays a vital role in our physical and mental health and emotional and psychological wellbeing, so it’s important to choose a mattress that will help you fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up rested, refreshed and ready to make the most of the day. Luxury mattress models are usually more comfortable, offer better support and use higher quality materials and construction, so they won’t break down as quickly and won’t need to be replaced as often. Some models are compatible with an adjustable base. Others have air chambers that can be inflated or deflated to make the mattress firmer or softer to suit your preference and sleeping positions.

Saatva manufactures and sells high-quality luxury mattresses directly to consumers for significantly less than comparable models from big name brands sold in department stores and mattress stores. In 2021, my husband and I ordered a Saatva mattress and were extremely impressed with the entire customer experience.

This is the first in a series of detailed reviews in which I will share our customer experience shopping for, choosing, ordering and sleeping on a Saatva luxury mattress, bedding and adjustable base, as well as the white glove delivery and set-up, exchanging the first mattress we chose for a different configuration, and in-depth product reviews of the Saatva Solaire customizable firmness air bed mattress, Saatva Adjustable Base Plus (formerly Lineal adjustable base) and bedding we ordered.

Adventures in Mattress Shopping: An in-depth, personal review of my Saatva customer experience

Disclosure: I have joined the company’s affiliate program, which means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links in this post I may be eligible to receive a commission, at no cost to you. I highly recommend the Saatva company and its products for their excellent quality, performance, price and customer service. The opinions, product reviews and recommendations in this post are my own and are based on my personal experiences. The decision to click on those links to learn more about the company’s products or make a purchase is greatly appreciated, but entirely up to you.

Why We Chose a Saatva Mattress

I first heard about Saatva in 2017, about a year after our previous mattress purchase, when my friend and former boss joined the company and asked me to do some freelance marketing research for them. In the process, I gained a valuable and eye-opening education about the mattress industry’s marketing and sales practices as well as mattress types, materials, construction, quality and pricing.

My husband and I had always bought good quality, moderately priced mattresses. We couldn’t justify spending a lot more money on a high-priced luxury mattress. We thoroughly researched product reviews before making a mattress purchase, and they all felt comfortable and supportive after we brought them home…for a while. However, John and I are “spooners” and after two or three years, each mattress would start to sag around the edges and develop a trough in the center. After I shared with him the new insights into mattresses and mattress shopping I had gained from my research project, we agreed that we wanted our next mattress to be a Saatva and started saving up for one.

Not long after our last mattress started breaking down and we were waking up more and more tired and with muscle aches, I got a call from my friend Joe at Saatva. His timing couldn’t have been better.

Joe and I had worked together closely for many years and conducted many customer experience audits for clients, and he also was familiar with my product reviews here on Review This Reviews. He asked whether I might be interested in ordering a Saatva mattress of my and my husband’s choosing, which we could keep, in exchange for providing detailed and candid customer feedback on my Saatva purchasing experience that he could share with his team. If we had a good customer experience and were pleased with the mattress, I also would write an unbiased, in-depth product review to share on Review This Reviews. If we were disappointed by the mattress or our customer experience, I would not publish a review, but Saatva could use the candid feedback I provided to improve their products and customer experience. Either way, the mattress would be ours to keep.

Our Must-Have and Nice-to-Have Mattress Requirements

My husband John and I agreed on the following priorities for choosing our new mattress:

  • King size
  • Excellent neck, hip and back support
    • Areas where we are both prone to joint pain and muscle aches
  • Durable materials and construction
    • Will resist sagging and furrowing, especially around the edges and in the center, where we sleep in the spoon position
  • Good for multiple sleeping positions
    • We both are side sleepers for the most part, but John also likes to take naps on his stomach.
  • Comfortable
    • Preferably cushiony enough to contour to our bodies, especially for side sleeping, but also firm enough to provide good support in any sleeping position
  • Compatibility with an adjustable base preferred, but not essential
    • An adjustable base had been on our wish list for many years, since one or both of us often need to lie on our backs with our heads elevated (because of my bad seasonal and indoor allergies and John’s mild sleep apnea) or to elevate our lower legs to relieve back pain. If we did end up getting one, we knew we would make good use of it.
  • Minimum 15-year warranty
    • This wouldn’t be a problem for any Saatva mattress we chose, thanks to the remarkable Saatva Friends for Life Lifetime Warranty. “From the moment our white-glove crew delivers it to you, fresh from the factory, we guarantee that it will be free from defects for as long as you own it. And if you ever have a problem, we’ll take care of it hassle-free.” Product warranties, especially for big-ticket purchases, don’t get much better than that!
  • Generous in-home trial period
    • At the time we ordered our mattress last year, Saatva’s in-home trial period was a generous 180 days. It has since been increased to a full year, giving customers 365 nights to sleep on their new Saatva mattress at home before deciding whether it is right for them! As a Saatva customer, if you decide to return or exchange your mattress for another Saatva mattress during that home trial period, you can just call the company and have them pick up the used mattress and refund the purchase price, less a $99 processing fee (to cover the cost the company pays to the carrier to have your mattress picked up and transported from your home).

How We Decided Which Mattresses to Consider

Since we hoped to be sleeping on our new Saatva mattress for many years to come, I wanted to be very thorough in my due diligence to make sure we chose the best model for our needs. Armed with our requirements list, I decided to start by refreshing my memory about the different types of mattresses Saatva makes and the sleeping positions and preferences each is best suited to, as well as learning about the newer products the company had added since I worked on my research project for them in 2017.

At the time (February 2021), There were eight mattress models available (the new Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress had not yet been introduced). Three of the mattresses were easy to exclude from consideration: The dual-sided Saatva Youth (for kids), the Crib Mattress and the Saatva HD mattress designed for larger/heavier bodies.

That left five potential candidates to explore.

Saatva Solaire Precision Adjustable Air Mattress

I asked Joe which mattresses he and his wife had chosen Joe for their own home, and he said they owned two Saatva Classic innerspring mattresses (one “luxury firm” and one “firm”) and one Zenhaven all-latex on an adjustable base, which let them elevate the head or foot of the mattress (or both). He also suggested that John and I look at the Saatva Solaire mattress, a newer model that I was not yet familiar with and the one that Saatva’s president and CEO and his wife had chosen for their bedroom, along with the “upper-flex” configuration and an adjustable base.

The Solaire's key feature is a layer of individual air chambers that can be inflated or deflated with the remote control to make the mattress firmer or softer. There are 50 firmness settings so you can fine-tune the firmness to your precise preference if you wish. On a king Solaire each side can be adjusted independently, so spouses or sleeping partners can customize the firmness to their individual preferences on their respective sides of the mattress.

In the “upper-flex” option (available for queen and king sizes only), the upper part of the mattress is split down the center to allow the head of each side to be raised or lowered independently when paired with a compatible adjustable base, such as the Saatva Adjustable Base Plus, that has been configured for a top-split mattress. (“Upper-flex is Saatva’s term for this upper-split configuration, which is more commonly referred to as split-head, head split, split-top or top split).

"Upper-flex" Saatva Solaire mattress
In the "upper-flex" configuration of the Saatva Solaire mattress, the uppr portion is split to allow each side of the head of the bed to be raised and lowered separately, when paired with a compatible adjustable base

Since John and I often go to sleep and wake up at different times, the ability to elevate the head of the bed on our side without disturbing the other’s sleep was very appealing. Our only hesitation about getting the split-top, upper-flex king Solaire instead of the standard, solid king was whether one of us might end up with an arm stuck in the narrow gap along the top-center split. In addition, since we had never slept on an adjustable air bed type, we had no idea what it would feel like or how comfortable or supportive we would find it.

Loom & Leaf Memory Foam Mattress

John and I preferred the feel of a memory foam mattress to any other type we had tried, so we were pretty sure we would be comfortable on a Loom & Leaf memory foam mattress…at least, until the sagging and furrowing started, if it behaved like our previous memory foam mattresses. We liked that, unlike our previous memory foam mattresses, the Loom & Leaf has a high-density foam base underneath the memory foam layers, which are topped with a cooling gel-infused foam layer for added comfort and spinal support.

Given our chronic joint pain and backaches, reading that the Loom & Leaf’s ultra-premium 5-lb. memory foam, which adds durability and support, “conforms to your body and helps to relieve joint and back pain while keeping your spine in neutral alignment” definitely struck a positive chord. Maybe the combination of this denser memory foam and high-density foam base would resist sagging and furrowing better than our less expensive memory foam mattresses?

The Loom & Leaf mattress’s comfort level is described as “Relaxed Firm,” combining “plush comfort and contouring support” with a medium firmness, making it “a great option for solo sleepers or couples (especially ones who snooze in different sleep positions).” So, the Loom & Leaf seemed to tick several boxes on our wish list. It was also compatible with an adjustable base.

Saatva Classic Innerspring

When we were kids, John and I slept on traditional innerspring mattresses. We’ve also slept on them together during various hotel stays over the past 27 years and never found them to be particularly comfortable. However, we have never tried a hybrid innerspring. I knew that the original, flagship Saatva Classic innerspring mattress introduced in 2011 remains the company’s best-selling mattress and had earned many thousands of rave customer reviews. So, we decided to keep an open mind and learn more about this hybrid innerspring.

Saatva Classic innerspring mattress cross-section cutaway
This cutaway section shows the layers, materials and construction of this Saatva Classic luxury hybrid innerspring mattress, from the heavy-gauge tempered steel coils to the plush, 3-inch Euro pillow top

The Saatva Classic’s dual-coil system includes a support base of heavy-gauge, tempered, recycled steel coils that provide stability and resist sagging and a second layer of individually wrapped, pocketed coils that conform to the body, relieve pressure points and reduce motion transfer (so turning over or getting out of bed is less likely to disturb a partner). John and I both have back problems, so the pairing of the company’s patented spinal zone active wire with premium high-density memory foam for enhanced lower back support and pressure relief in the center of the mattress sounded great for us. The memory foam and the 3-inch, organic cotton, quilted Euro pillow top layer filled with a mix of plush fibers and comfort foams would likely make this hybrid innerspring a lot more comfortable than the older, traditional innerspring mattresses we had tried. 

The Saatva Classic also offers a choice of two heights (11.5 inches or 14.5 inches) and three comfort levels (Plush Soft, Luxury Firm or Firm). Luxury Firm, the most popular firmness level choice by far, was “designed to replicate the comfort level used in luxury hotels” and provide “a perfect balance of comfort and uplifting support,” which made it suitable for any sleep style and a good option for couples like us who prefer different firmness levels.

The 11.5-inch Saatva Classic is compatible with an adjustable base, although the thicker 14.5-inch model is not.

Zenhaven Natural Latex

John and I tried a latex mattress (the one we were sleeping on at the time) because latex is supposed to retain its resilience and supportiveness longer than memory foam. Although ours had, indeed, held up a couple of years longer than our previous mattresses, it was much less comfortable and didn’t provide the contoured support of its memory foam predecessors and we were tired of waking up with sore muscles and aching joints. Initially, I hadn’t planned to include it on our list of potential candidates, but I decided to refresh my memory about this model.

I remembered that, unlike our old latex mattress, Saatva’s Zenhaven natural all-latex mattress is dual-sided and can be flipped with either the softer Luxury Plush side or the Gentle Firm side facing up. There was a good chance that at least one of the sides would be more comfortable than our old latex mattress. Better yet, if we found the other side reasonably comfortable as well, when the side we were sleeping on eventually started to sag we could flip it to the other side, effectively doubling its useful life.

In addition, natural latex is naturally hypoallergenic, antimicrobial and resistant to dust mites, mold and other common indoor allergens, and the natural latex used in the Zenhaven is also certified free of harmful chemicals. Since John and I both suffer from a plethora of allergies including pollen, dust and mold, that was an important consideration that earned this natural all-latex mattress a place on our list of models to consider. The Zenhaven was also compatible with an adjustable base.

Saatva Latex Hybrid

The last option we considered was the Saatva Latex Hybrid mattress, which pairs a support base of individually wrapped recycled steel coils, like the Saatva Classic hybrid innerspring, with a 3" layer of 5-zone natural latex that conforms to and supports the body and provides enhanced lumbar support and pressure relief. According to the product description, the Saatva Latex Hybrid’s “luxury plush” feel and firmness make this mattress a good choice for any sleeping position, which was one of our key requirements.

Even though we weren’t big fans of the latex or innerspring mattresses we had slept on, we had never tried a latex and innerspring hybrid, so I decided to keep this one on our initial list of options. It was also compatible with an adjustable base.

Next Step: Culling the Herd

In my next post in this series, I’ll share the factors we considered, the steps we took and our interactions with customer support that helped us narrow these choices and, ultimately, finalize our decision on the best Saatva mattress for our needs.

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Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper: The Journey Begins by Margaret Schindel

Posts in This Series

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 1: The Journey Begins

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 2: How to Choose the Best Saatva Mattress for Your Needs

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 3: Ordering a Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Bed Online — A Candid Review

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 4: Saatva Organic Cotton Mattress Pad and Sheet Set Product Reviews

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 5: Saatva Mattress and Adjustable Base White Glove Delivery and Setup

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 6: Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base Plus Product Reviews

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 7: Exchanging a Saatva Mattress: My Personal Experience

Confessions of a Saatva Mattress Shopper, Part 8: Which Queen or King Saatva Solaire Mattress and Adjustable Base to Buy

Read more product reviews from our Contributors at ReviewThisProductReviews.com.





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


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