Nolah Mattress Review

The Nolah mattress is a bed-in-a-box foam mattress that is sold exclusively online.

At first glance Nolah didn’t seem too different from other mattresses on the market, but after sleeping on it for a few weeks I think it does have some unique features that should intrigue some mattress shoppers (see how Nolah compares HERE) and is great for someone looking for something cooler and bit softer.  I think it offers a great value and has a pretty cool feel to it that I think a lot of people will like.

Overall I liked the mattress, but had some complaints as well.  Read on for my full Nolah mattress review.

You will love Nolah if you…

• Are a side sleeper – I found Nolah to be softer than the average bed-in-a-box (note firmness is subjective, but that’s my take), making it ideal for side sleepers.
• Want good value – Nolah sells only online, using the ecommerce mattress model to provide as much value to consumers as possible.
• Want to sleep cool – I’m not sure what makes up the proprietary Air Flow foam they use in the top layer, but in my experience it did sleep quite cool (for a foam mattress).
• Want a little bit of bounce – the second layer of foam is Avena foam, which I’ve only seen used in the Leesa before.  This is a latex-like foam, which has more bounce than memory foam.  When used as the second layer, it gives the mattress just a little bit of bounce.

Get $125 Off Nolah with coupon code “MATTRESSCLARITY“

You may not like the Nolah mattress if you…

• Want a mattress with a lot of bounce – though the mattress has Avena foam, the top layer feels most like memory foam.  If you want a full latex foam feel, this is not the right choice.
• Want a firm mattress – firmness is subjective, but I think most fill find the Nolah to be softer than average (aka not my choice for stomach sleepers)

Firmness and Feel

Firmness is always a subjective measure (every mattress will feel different to each person based on their sleeping position, weight, etc), but generally I feel the mattress to be softer than average.

As you can see in the video, it’s fairly easy to push down on the mattress, I think it’s a good option for side sleepers, but maybe not the best option for stomach sleepers.

The mattress also feels mostly like a memory foam mattress, but has more resilience due to the Avena foam as the second layer.  This might be best for a person that likes the memory foam feel, but wants to avoid a little bit of the “stuck in the mattress” feeling.

Motion Transfer

Though the foam is a proprietary make-up, in terms of feel and motion transfer it feels the most similar to memory foam.

As expected, the mattress performs very well in the motion transfer test, this will be a fine mattress option for couples.

The mattress size shown in the video is a Queen, but I expect motion transfer should be similar across all other sizes.

Mattress Construction

The mattress is 10.25 inches thick in total, consisting of three foam layers:

• 2 inches of Air Foam comfort layer (2.75 lb/sqft)
• 1 inch of Avena foam transition layer (4 lb/sqft)
• 7.25 inches of polyfoam (1.8 lb/sqft)

The cover is a knitted viscose cover (non-removable), I found it to be soft to the touch.

My Experience

First thing to note is that for every mattress purchased, Nolah “adopts” a wild animal, which means they spend some money to help protect wildlife communities (7% of their profit).  During the checkout process, you choose an animal to protect – I chose the Bison.  Very unique and very cool in my opinion.  Check out my adoption certificate below:

I slept on the Nolah for two weeks in the NYC summer heat, a great (and pretty extreme) environment to test!  I’m a side sleeper myself, so the softness of the mattress really resonated with me.  I think it does a great job of pressure relief, especially on my shoulder, which tends to be a problem spot for some mattresses.  I would absolutely recommend this mattress for side sleepers.

Though I was in hot conditions, the mattress does sleep cool, and it will do a better job than a lot of the other bed-in-a-box options in the market.

I originally reviewed this mattress as the company was started, and now I can say that their customer service is really great.

Other things to note

• Nolah has a 120 night sleep trial (100% refund for returns during this time)
• The mattress is made 100% in the USA
• 15 year warranty and free shipping

Final Recommendation

Overall I think the mattress is good quality and is great at pressure relief, making it a great choice for side sleepers.  I really like the animal protection donation (very unique and cool), though I don’t think that should make/break a mattress purchase, but a good cherry on top for those of you that already are looking to buy Nolah.  Overall I think if you’ve made it this far, Nolah is worth a try.

Get $125 Off Nolah with coupon code “MATTRESSCLARITY“

This post was last updated on December 27th, 2017 at 10:47 am