Shopping for a new mattress presents a plethora of options. Should you go for foam, springs or a mix of both? And which brand is better? As luck may have it, my search was refined a little in that the new mattress in question had to fit up the tinniest staircase and live in the loft. So with that in mind, this ruled out a fair few mattresses and focused the search around a 'mattress in a box' solution. With so many out there, it was tough deciding whether to go for a Simba, Eve, Leesa, Casper or Emma.
My advice? Go to your local retail park or bed store (checking first if they stock them) and trying as many as you can. Whilst many of these one box mattresses have a 100 day guarantee (you can return at any point in the 100 days, no questions asked), purely picking one out blind online and not trying them first, you won't get a sense of how they compare (some are foam only, some are hybrids i.e. foam AND spring-loaded). My original MVP was the Simba, but then I went to John Lewis and had a chance to try a try a few more of the others and then Casper came up on top.
Said Casper mattress has since arrived and as I didn't really see much in the way of Casper reviews online, I wanted to put my thoughts to paper (well screen) in case anyone else had any questions around the Casper range.These are the 10 things I have learnt from my Casper mattress:
I've never had a foam mattress before, but when I went to try out different mattresses locally, I learned that springs weren't for me (each to their own). I couldn't even get on with the hybrid versions (springs AND foam). My advice? Seek out these online brands and try each for yourself before you place that online order.
I only learned recently that you should replace your mattress every 8 years. The mattress I was using before was 13 years old (so hardly surprising that I started getting lower back pain!). I knew it was old, but I forgot quite how old and when it was no longer comfortable, I just stuck a mattress topper on it rather than addressing the problem head on like I should have done.
Since I've been sleeping on the Casper, my back pain has completely gone. Admittedly it was still a little sore on the first night (these things take time), but I find the new mattress is supporting me a lot better in the small of my back. When I went to John Lewis, they advised me to lay flat on my back and place my hands under the small of my back. Basically there shouldn't be a gap there, the bed needs to be supporting you in this crucial area. And that's exactly what the Casper does.
It's not just me who rates this mattress
My in-laws knew we were looking at the mattress in a box brands ("aren't they expensive?"). We told them how comfortable The Casper was (their mid range mattress) and how much of a difference it has made to us, and we just found out that they went to look at mattresses themselves and loved the Casper so much, they ordered one for themselves too!
It IS possible to have a hotel style bed at home
Never has my bed compared to the comfort of an exceptional hotel bed. The mattress topper I bought a couple of years back extended the life of my knackered former mattress a little longer, but it wasn't a permanent fix / solution. The Casper needed 24 hours to fully expand once released from the box, but I did cheekily have an initial lie down and I think my face says it all. ABSOLUTE BLISS
24 hours later the mattress was even thicker, but every bit as comfortable. I dressed the bed with a silky smooth fitted bed sheet and grey velvet Matalan bedding, and that night we had the best sleep we'd had in ages. I found myself sinking deliciously into the mattress - but not too much - whilst still being supported in all the right places.
It smells a bit funky
Having seen plenty of mattress in a box reviews and unboxing videos on Youtube, I was fully prepared for this. I'm not sure if it's the wrapping used or the machinery used to vacuum pack the mattress into the box, but something gives the mattress a distinct smell. It's strongest when you first open the box and unload the mattress, but I found the smell was still there even when I lifted onto the bed and added the fitted sheet and duvet (adding bedding doesn't seem to stem it). The scent does linger, however after a week of being in the room, I am noticing it less now. It only seems to resurface if I plonk down on the bed particularly heavily. I hear the smell goes in time, and obviously it's still early days yet.
The pets love it as much as I do
Cats are curious creatures so naturally they came in to investigate. They were sniffing around (clearly clocking the weird smell) and reluctant to jump up on the bed initially, but lately I've woken up to find two cats on the bed. One nestled in-between us and the other either in the bed or sleeping at my feet. They also love the box it came in (as I'm sure you will have seen here!).
How it fits in a box will blow your mind
The box was as big as I am, however I still couldn't get my head around the fact that a mattress was in there. Seriously impressive use of vacuum packing right there!
I can still use my same bedding
Some of the reviews I read for the other mattress in a box brands mentioned how the expansion of the mattress meant it was too thick to accommodate their existing bed sheets, so the reviewer(s) had to purchase new fitted sheets in a larger size. I was a little nervous about this because after an expensive mattress purchase, I didn't really want to be spending more money on bedding. As luck may have it, my existing bed sheets fit on the Casper like a dream (cue a big sigh of relief!)
It IS possible to get a mattress up an impossible staircase
When we first moved into our home, it was such a faff getting our mattress up the stairs. Our room is in the loft conversion with the narrowest, most awkward staircase known to man / woman. We caught the hallway walls on the way up (luckily we are due a refresh so this didn't matter!) and at one point were wedged into a corner. We learnt our lesson from this and when ordering furniture for our room, opted for flat pack furniture so we could get the components up the stairs easily and build in the room. When it came to replacing our mattress, the 'mattress in a box' solution was a great one for us. Yes the box was ridiculously heavy and quite awkward to get up the stairs on account of being as big as me, however it was much easier than a full sized mattress, let me know tell you that now.
A mattress in a box is expensive
Any of these brands will cost you a pretty penny and whilst I write about money saving tips, there are some things in life worth spending money on (anything to do with your health and well-being shouldn't be ignored). I could have bought a much cheaper mattress which wasn't half as comfortable, however I know people who have long term (and irreversible) back problems stemming from a poor mattress. So whilst this purchase was an eye watering one (I paid for the mattress myself and am not working with Casper or affiliated with them in any way), I knew that I needed to take action sharpish to nip any potential future back problems in the bud.
Saying that, there are ways to help reduce the cost of your new mattress. Casper had an online sale at the time so I managed to get a discount, plus I managed to get cashback as well. Definitely check out TopCashBack and Quidco who frequently have 10-15% cashback offers. My in-laws purchased their Casper mattress through John Lewis who gave them 15% off and a £100 John Lewis voucher so do check with your local store (our local John Lewis sadly didn't have this offer at the time of our visit which is unfortunate).
Update: be wary of TopCashBack as my cashback for Casper annoyingly never came through!
IN SUMMARY
It's easy to think all these 'mattress in a box' brands are all the same, but on the contrary, each have different ranges with different price bands, so it's worth doing the research and trying each of them out. Whilst I love my Casper, I'm not necessarily going to recommend them to you because what works for me won't necessarily work for you. But promise me one thing. Don't let your mattress reach it's 13th birthday like I did.
My advice? Go to your local retail park or bed store (checking first if they stock them) and trying as many as you can. Whilst many of these one box mattresses have a 100 day guarantee (you can return at any point in the 100 days, no questions asked), purely picking one out blind online and not trying them first, you won't get a sense of how they compare (some are foam only, some are hybrids i.e. foam AND spring-loaded). My original MVP was the Simba, but then I went to John Lewis and had a chance to try a try a few more of the others and then Casper came up on top.
Said Casper mattress has since arrived and as I didn't really see much in the way of Casper reviews online, I wanted to put my thoughts to paper (well screen) in case anyone else had any questions around the Casper range.These are the 10 things I have learnt from my Casper mattress:
That springs were not for me
I've never had a foam mattress before, but when I went to try out different mattresses locally, I learned that springs weren't for me (each to their own). I couldn't even get on with the hybrid versions (springs AND foam). My advice? Seek out these online brands and try each for yourself before you place that online order.
Quite how bad my previous mattress was
I only learned recently that you should replace your mattress every 8 years. The mattress I was using before was 13 years old (so hardly surprising that I started getting lower back pain!). I knew it was old, but I forgot quite how old and when it was no longer comfortable, I just stuck a mattress topper on it rather than addressing the problem head on like I should have done.
Since I've been sleeping on the Casper, my back pain has completely gone. Admittedly it was still a little sore on the first night (these things take time), but I find the new mattress is supporting me a lot better in the small of my back. When I went to John Lewis, they advised me to lay flat on my back and place my hands under the small of my back. Basically there shouldn't be a gap there, the bed needs to be supporting you in this crucial area. And that's exactly what the Casper does.
It's not just me who rates this mattress
My in-laws knew we were looking at the mattress in a box brands ("aren't they expensive?"). We told them how comfortable The Casper was (their mid range mattress) and how much of a difference it has made to us, and we just found out that they went to look at mattresses themselves and loved the Casper so much, they ordered one for themselves too!
It IS possible to have a hotel style bed at home
Never has my bed compared to the comfort of an exceptional hotel bed. The mattress topper I bought a couple of years back extended the life of my knackered former mattress a little longer, but it wasn't a permanent fix / solution. The Casper needed 24 hours to fully expand once released from the box, but I did cheekily have an initial lie down and I think my face says it all. ABSOLUTE BLISS
24 hours later the mattress was even thicker, but every bit as comfortable. I dressed the bed with a silky smooth fitted bed sheet and grey velvet Matalan bedding, and that night we had the best sleep we'd had in ages. I found myself sinking deliciously into the mattress - but not too much - whilst still being supported in all the right places.
It smells a bit funky
Having seen plenty of mattress in a box reviews and unboxing videos on Youtube, I was fully prepared for this. I'm not sure if it's the wrapping used or the machinery used to vacuum pack the mattress into the box, but something gives the mattress a distinct smell. It's strongest when you first open the box and unload the mattress, but I found the smell was still there even when I lifted onto the bed and added the fitted sheet and duvet (adding bedding doesn't seem to stem it). The scent does linger, however after a week of being in the room, I am noticing it less now. It only seems to resurface if I plonk down on the bed particularly heavily. I hear the smell goes in time, and obviously it's still early days yet.
The pets love it as much as I do
Cats are curious creatures so naturally they came in to investigate. They were sniffing around (clearly clocking the weird smell) and reluctant to jump up on the bed initially, but lately I've woken up to find two cats on the bed. One nestled in-between us and the other either in the bed or sleeping at my feet. They also love the box it came in (as I'm sure you will have seen here!).
How it fits in a box will blow your mind
The box was as big as I am, however I still couldn't get my head around the fact that a mattress was in there. Seriously impressive use of vacuum packing right there!
Some of the reviews I read for the other mattress in a box brands mentioned how the expansion of the mattress meant it was too thick to accommodate their existing bed sheets, so the reviewer(s) had to purchase new fitted sheets in a larger size. I was a little nervous about this because after an expensive mattress purchase, I didn't really want to be spending more money on bedding. As luck may have it, my existing bed sheets fit on the Casper like a dream (cue a big sigh of relief!)
It IS possible to get a mattress up an impossible staircase
When we first moved into our home, it was such a faff getting our mattress up the stairs. Our room is in the loft conversion with the narrowest, most awkward staircase known to man / woman. We caught the hallway walls on the way up (luckily we are due a refresh so this didn't matter!) and at one point were wedged into a corner. We learnt our lesson from this and when ordering furniture for our room, opted for flat pack furniture so we could get the components up the stairs easily and build in the room. When it came to replacing our mattress, the 'mattress in a box' solution was a great one for us. Yes the box was ridiculously heavy and quite awkward to get up the stairs on account of being as big as me, however it was much easier than a full sized mattress, let me know tell you that now.
A mattress in a box is expensive
Any of these brands will cost you a pretty penny and whilst I write about money saving tips, there are some things in life worth spending money on (anything to do with your health and well-being shouldn't be ignored). I could have bought a much cheaper mattress which wasn't half as comfortable, however I know people who have long term (and irreversible) back problems stemming from a poor mattress. So whilst this purchase was an eye watering one (I paid for the mattress myself and am not working with Casper or affiliated with them in any way), I knew that I needed to take action sharpish to nip any potential future back problems in the bud.
Saying that, there are ways to help reduce the cost of your new mattress. Casper had an online sale at the time so I managed to get a discount, plus I managed to get cashback as well. Definitely check out TopCashBack and Quidco who frequently have 10-15% cashback offers. My in-laws purchased their Casper mattress through John Lewis who gave them 15% off and a £100 John Lewis voucher so do check with your local store (our local John Lewis sadly didn't have this offer at the time of our visit which is unfortunate).
Update: be wary of TopCashBack as my cashback for Casper annoyingly never came through!
IN SUMMARY
It's easy to think all these 'mattress in a box' brands are all the same, but on the contrary, each have different ranges with different price bands, so it's worth doing the research and trying each of them out. Whilst I love my Casper, I'm not necessarily going to recommend them to you because what works for me won't necessarily work for you. But promise me one thing. Don't let your mattress reach it's 13th birthday like I did.
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