Too many of us do not sleep well. This is a problem for countless people and for countless reasons.

And when I say it’s a problem, I mean it’s a serious problem. Most of us are incredibly overworked and highly stressed in our jobs. We work long hours, we work incredibly hard, and then we come home and we crash out on the sofa. That is after we’ve made dinner, had an argument with the other half/kids, paid bills, looked at the broken boiler…

Sleep is essential to our recovery, and while you might not realise it, psychological stress demands recovery. If you aren’t recovering properly, then you risk adrenal fatigue and burnout.

And it only takes a few good decisions to make a big difference. Moreover, it often takes a good investment – particularly an investment in yourself. That means getting a good mattress, which might be expensive but can considerably improve the way you feel and your health in the long term.

The Puffy mattress uses a simple design as mentioned. It is memory foam and has just two layers. The first is a thick memory foam and the other is a high density poly foam. This is a little simplistic perhaps on the face of it. After all, there are countless mattresses out there that use a ridiculous number of over the top materials: mattresses that combine layers of foam with individual pocket springs, with ‘air flow layers’, with special supportive bases…

It’s all good marketing but the argument that Puffy Mattress would make is that you don’t need all that. In fact, many of these features might in fact be primarily marketing gimmicks that add to the price without really adding all that much to the value. If you take memory foam and then place it underneath individual pocket springs, the benefits of that foam are going to be significantly subdued.

To more closely inspect those different layers, let’s look a little closer.

The cover is made from polyester which is soft and very elastic. The result is that airflow does travel through the mattress well. That said, some people aren’t a huge fan of polyester.

The comfort layer meanwhile uses 4n inches of gel memory foam. Gel memory foam is particularly good for cooling and that means you might experience a little less of the issues associated with clawing heat that can sometimes be associated with foam.

This gel takes that to another level as it has been infused with cooling ingredients to help dissipate heat.

Beneath that is the support layer. This support layer is 6” thick, which makes this quite a thick mattress when you combine the two. It’s puffy you could say!

The support layer is not as conforming as the gel layer, and that means that it provides the all important stable base and prevents your mattress from taking on the shape of the frame underneath.

The two layers that you find in the Puffy mattress are thick and the gel is particularly soft with its cooling infusion. This makes for a comfortable and conforming sleep.

But it’s worth noting that despite the puffy name, this mattress is actually quite firm. The top layer is particularly ‘squishy’ as mentioned, but rather than making the bed softer, that actually translates to a firmer bed. The reason for this is that the extra softness means you are lying more directly on the support layer – your pressure is transferred straight to that support layer.

Imagine lying on some bricks on a piece of very thin cotton, versus lying on it on top of some Styrofoam. The thin cotton is softer yes, but the combination actually makes it harder than lying on the soft Styrofoam.

This is also exacerbated by the fact that there is no transition layer between the layers of this mattress, which normally would be included to handle the transfer of energy from one layer to another. So perhaps all those fancy extra features do serve some purpose with those extremely expensive mattresses?

Well, this all depends on your purpose. You see, a bed that veers on the firmer side is actually what is recommended for those with bad backs. This firmness ensures that your spine is supported in its entirety and that you won’t ‘sag’ anywhere, placing undue strain on your vertebrae.

With that said, not everyone is immediately going to find themselves at home on a firm mattress. We’re all different and some people particularly prefer sleeping on a soft mattress. That’s why it’s welcome that the feeling of lying on this bed is similar to ‘sinking’. Your pressure travels through that top layer quickly, which is a little like dropping onto a cloud at first. This is why the rating is actually a surprisingly low 5.4 for softness (the industry standard is 6.5) despite it being a firm and supportive mattress.

This bed manages to walk the almost contradictory-sounding line between being highly supportive while still living up to the name and feeling ‘puffy’.

It’s good for your back, it’s comfortable, but it’s actually harder than it seems and this might not be for everyone.

As part of our Puffy Mattress Review, we have also looked at it’s performance.

Motion transfer refers to the tendency – or lack thereof – for a mattress to allow movement to travel. That means that if you roll over on one side of the bed, you may or may not disturb your partner lying on the other side of the bed.

So how is motion transfer with this bed?

Unfortunately, this isn’t one of the biggest selling points of this mattress. Remember that the top layer is particularly squishy, thick, and conforming. That means in effect that when you lie on it, you can sometimes end up creating something of a ditch. This ditch may then cause your partner to effective roll into the ditch slightly and meet you in the middle. If that sounds like a huge issue then don’t worry – it’s not as bad as all that. Just keep in mind that it can be a problem, and as such, you might wish to reconsider if your other half is particularly large or if they have a particular tendency toward movement (or if you do!).

It has been said by some that we never evolved to sleep with our partners, and that as such, we should be particularly aware of how their sleep actually affects our own!

Edge support is another important issues to consider. This refers simply to how much support the mattress provides at its edges. In sprung mattresses in particular, this is often a deficit: there are often fewer springs at these edges, meaning that the bed will compress here and you can end up rolling off.

But on the other hand, edge support tends to be higher on a traditional memory foam mattress.

But Puffy is… puffy. It has a lot of foam and that foam is thick and soft meaning you quickly move through it. How does this equate to edge support?

Actually, this is much better than you might at first assume. That’s because the compression tends to happen in a straight downward motion – you move down vertically through the top layer. This is as compared with the mattress squashing just at the edges, which is what can otherwise cause you to roll off.

The edge support is good here in other words.

Finally, how is the sinking? Remember we said that you tend to sink straight down into this mattress? Well that might lead you to think that the mattress is not going to be good for sinking.

But that’s not actually what sinking refers to. Rather, sinking refers to the fact that some mattresses will dip more and more in the center as time goes on. This can be a serious issue in some cases where the springs in the center wear down over time. Thankfully, this mattress is soft enough on top and firm enough right underneath that it doesn’t present this issue: rather you’ll find that the top gel layer will return to its original shape immediately!

Cooling is very beneficial and can help to improve the amount of slow wave sleep that someone gets. Slow wave sleep is the deepest stage of sleep and is the point at which the body handles most of its restoration. This is when the muscles heal, it’s when ligament and tendon damage is repaired, and it’s when our brain removes the unwanted toxins.

Not only that, but slow wave sleep is also correlated with memory. In one study, it was found that the more slow wave sleep participants could get the better they would be able to perform in subsequent memory tests.

Slow wave sleep relies on the right temperature, which in turn is cool.

So how is the temperature with this mattress?

Fairly average, would be the simple answer!

On the one hand, the use of the infused gel is great for keeping temperatures lower as you sleep. On the other hand, the fact that this mattress doesn’t have any specific technology aimed at cooling, means that you don’t get any special benefit from it. And memory foam in general is considered to be less cooling and hotter than sprung mattresses.

Off gassing meanwhile refers to the issue that some mattresses have with releasing odorous gasses. This tends to be a particular issue with gel mattresses and foam mattresses, but fortunately it’s not a problem with the Puffy. Not only has it been constructed using entirely materials that are known to be safe and free of noxious chemicals, but it also has been well treated to minimize off-gassing.

In fact, many mattresses – memory foam in particular – are known for releasing a ‘new mattress smell’. This is not an issue with the Puffy. In fact, the initial smell is significantly less than what you might expect.

Puffy is very good in terms of its warranty and price. It starts at just $550 for the twin and goes up to $1150 for the California King size. This compares favorably with the competition, which often breaks the 1K mark significantly right from the smallest size.

We were also pleased to learn about the 101 night trail period. This is something that is increasingly common for a lot of mattresses, but is still always a welcome find. Shipping is also good at just 2-7 days.

And on top of all that, you also get a lifetime warranty. Not every mattress does offer this, and we were very pleased to see it here. It means that you can expect the mattress to perform well for the realistic period of time you might expect to use it: which not only means you aren’t going to waste money on a defective product, but also means that the company clearly has faith in its own quality and construction.

Edge support is another important issues to consider. This refers simply to how much support the mattress provides at its edges. In sprung mattresses in particular, this is often a deficit: there are often fewer springs at these edges, meaning that the bed will compress here and you can end up rolling off.

But on the other hand, edge support tends to be higher on a traditional memory foam mattress.

But Puffy is… puffy. It has a lot of foam and that foam is thick and soft meaning you quickly move through it. How does this equate to edge support?

Actually, this is much better than you might at first assume. That’s because the compression tends to happen in a straight downward motion – you move down vertically through the top layer. This is as compared with the mattress squashing just at the edges, which is what can otherwise cause you to roll off.

The edge support is good here in other words.

Finally, how is the sinking? Remember we said that you tend to sink straight down into this mattress? Well that might lead you to think that the mattress is not going to be good for sinking.

But that’s not actually what sinking refers to. Rather, sinking refers to the fact that some mattresses will dip more and more in the center as time goes on. This can be a serious issue in some cases where the springs in the center wear down over time. Thankfully, this mattress is soft enough on top and firm enough right underneath that it doesn’t present this issue: rather you’ll find that the top gel layer will return to its original shape immediately!

Cooling is very beneficial and can help to improve the amount of slow wave sleep that someone gets. Slow wave sleep is the deepest stage of sleep and is the point at which the body handles most of its restoration. This is when the muscles heal, it’s when ligament and tendon damage is repaired, and it’s when our brain removes the unwanted toxins.

Not only that, but slow wave sleep is also correlated with memory. In one study, it was found that the more slow wave sleep participants could get the better they would be able to perform in subsequent memory tests.

Slow wave sleep relies on the right temperature, which in turn is cool.

So how is the temperature with this mattress?

Fairly average, would be the simple answer!

On the one hand, the use of the infused gel is great for keeping temperatures lower as you sleep. On the other hand, the fact that this mattress doesn’t have any specific technology aimed at cooling, means that you don’t get any special benefit from it. And memory foam in general is considered to be less cooling and hotter than sprung mattresses.

Off gassing meanwhile refers to the issue that some mattresses have with releasing odorous gasses. This tends to be a particular issue with gel mattresses and foam mattresses, but fortunately it’s not a problem with the Puffy. Not only has it been constructed using entirely materials that are known to be safe and free of noxious chemicals, but it also has been well treated to minimize off-gassing.

In fact, many mattresses – memory foam in particular – are known for releasing a ‘new mattress smell’. This is not an issue with the Puffy. In fact, the initial smell is significantly less than what you might expect.

Puffy is very good in terms of its warranty and price. It starts at just $550 for the twin and goes up to $1150 for the California King size. This compares favorably with the competition, which often breaks the 1K mark significantly right from the smallest size.

We were also pleased to learn about the 101 night trail period. This is something that is increasingly common for a lot of mattresses, but is still always a welcome find. Shipping is also good at just 2-7 days.

And on top of all that, you also get a lifetime warranty. Not every mattress does offer this, and we were very pleased to see it here. It means that you can expect the mattress to perform well for the realistic period of time you might expect to use it: which not only means you aren’t going to waste money on a defective product, but also means that the company clearly has faith in its own quality and construction.

To close then, both the Puffy and the Puffy Lux are excellent products. The question is which is the right one for you. While the latter might be significantly more expensive, that extra layer does make a big difference and so this is the one that gets our recommendation.

• Looking for a mattress with an extra layer? Read our Best Pillow Top Mattress guide
• Do you wake up all hot and flustered? Read our Best Cooling Mattresses
• Love a giveaway as much as we do? Then enter our Pillow Giveaway now
• Looking for a Spring Mattress? Check out our Best Spring Mattress Review
• Suffer from a bad back? Read our Best Mattress for a Bad Back
• Can’t make up your mind which type mattress you want? Read our Mattress Guides
• Want a Bamboo Mattress? Check out our Best Bamboo Mattress
• Need a new Pillow? Read our Best Pillow Reviews
• Can’t decide between spring or memory foam? Don’t worry, we have our Best Hybrid Mattress
• A cervical pillow is great for the spine. Read our Cervical Pillow guide
• Want a Latex Mattress? But not sure where to start. Read our Latex Mattress Guide
• Or do you want an organic mattress? Read our Organic Mattress Review
• Need a good spring mattress brand? Check out our Sleepovation Mattress review
• Want to find the best mattress topper? Read our Best Mattress Topper Review