Review: Mattress-In-A-Box

I appreciate when Facebook reminds me of my life major milestones. Like that time I bought a mattress from Walmart and it arrived in a plastic tube.

Skills: Decision-making.

During the renovation of the Babe Cave, a new mattress to raise me up from floor, blow-up bed and couch sleeping had the same importance of say, picking out a new kidney.

If I recall, when it was recommended I buy a mattress from WALMART...my exact response was, "You're an idiot."

My last mattress came from a showroom and cost $800 - considered to be a DEAL. I spent weeks (weeks!) driving store to store, awkwardly laying on uncovered mattresses. A salesman standing over me while I pretend-slept in positions that don't actually occur in nature.

These have coils and springs, pillow tops and adjustable firmness. You have to GO. You have to BE there and try every single one and after all that, you may still hate it in three weeks when you actually sleep on it.

Minus $1,000.

We do this because this is how we've always done it.

Bullshit.

I know. I know. You're friend bought one of those "other" fancy "bed-in-a-boxes." You're friend now "hasn't slept this great in years."

They tell you all about it, repeatedly, on social media.

Their life is so much better than yours now that $900 bought them a trendy mattress with a cool name they can find new hashtags for.

Well I paid $250 for my Walmart mattress-in-a-box and it IS the best sleep I've ever had and I am PROUD to say I bought it from the same store that I buy ketchup from and a year later, it is STILL in great shape.

With one improvement made.

Read on.

I bought the bed online at Walmart.com HERE.

I figured even if I hated it at most I'm in the hole $250. Not $900.

I knew that with a 100% foam mattress I would not be using a box spring. Buy for thickness. I chose the 12" thick option and have zero regrets. I also weight about 115lbs so I probably could have gotten away with 8" or 10" but why not sleep on a cloud?

The mattress arrived in a few days and just as I was warned, came vacuum sealed in a big plastic tube.

Oh. The anticipation...

Carefully cutting the plastic off, a sound rippled out similar to what I imagine NASA hears when they open up the ship to take a moon stroll.

GUSSSSSSHHHHHH!

Peeling off her tubing, she was already getting bigger.

You see, they suck all the air out of the foam, compress it down to nothing and then send it to you. Can you imagine shipping a full mattress?

(LOL. Jokes on you...mail man.)

I am secure enough with myself to say that I poured a cup of tea, sat down on the floor and intently watched it unfold itself and expand.

DO NOT SLEEP ON IT FOR 48 HOURS.

So very tempting, but it takes a while for all the air to get back in and your big body is not helpful.

For the next two mornings, just like Christmas, I hauled ass down the stairs to push a ruler up to her. When we had hit 12" I knew she was ready.

Welcome to the Babe Cave, baby!

Soon she was in the newly-constructed floating bed upstairs, which is suspended from the ceiling. (Princess Points: +100)

This was in March. It was cold as hell. So everything was fine.

Until I noticed that I was waking up DRENCHED in sweat. Night after night.

I prayed my house wasn't actually haunted. And then, I Googled it.

Unlike a traditional mattress that has coils (allowing air to pass through) a 100% foam mattress is dense as all hell. No air flow means the heat coming off of your body stays right there - on your body.

The internet was filled with cries for help. Left without an answer I felt like I would surely dehydrate in the middle of the night and die. Let me be clear, this isn't "hot sleeper" this was waking up SOAKED with sweat.

Sexy. Right?

The solution I found was simple and inexpensive.

I needed a barrier between me and the foam. While you will find plenty of expensive "cool sleeping" topper, I used a bamboo mattress cover. You can get it HERE.

The Red Nomad cover actually feels cool just holding it. I had already put a standard mattress cover on the Walmart mattress (good for keeping it clean) and this slipped right over.

A year later, since adding the cover, I have not had a single sweat spell and it is still the most comfortable mattress I have ever slept on. It has not compressed, it has not slumped at the corners.

There's a reason it's so highly reviewed. And, should something go wrong, you can return it. It would just be a logistical nightmare since you can't roll it back up.

All in my investment is less than $300 for a huge improvement in sleep and savings.

Other readers have had similar success on Amazon at even less cost. Fellow workaholic Billy Perterson uses THESE in his rentals for a fraction of what even mine cost and is singing their soft praises.

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