The first night we slept on the bed, my sleep tracker and my husband's recorded near-perfect sleep scores. My husband is taller than me and weighs more, yet his presence did not create an unbalanced surface that compromised my overall support. With co-sleepers, if one person is taller and heavier than the other, and they sleep on a softer surface, it can create an almost craterlike effect. I didn’t see that here, which was good. Edge support was also strong, as I tend to lean toward the edge of the bed. Getting in and out of bed wasn’t a problem. I also wasn’t disturbed when my husband moved beside me, as the density of the wool and coils stopped the bed from shaking much.
I had mixed feelings about the bed's pressure relief. In the first few days, I loved the pillow top's sumptuousness. I felt like it cradled my joints well, while the overall firmness balanced things out, keeping my lower back happy. But as time went on, I started to get annoyed by the tufting, where the upholstery buttons securing the cover would catch my legs and feet as I moved. While I agreed that this bed was indeed a 7 out of 10 in firmness, I'd consider it more firm than medium. My joints ultimately felt the same way, as the mattress wasn't as generous with pressure relief as I would've liked. Toward the end of testing, while my back felt OK, my joints had a tough time sinking in without feeling slightly achy.
However, the smell was by far my biggest gripe and the reason why I couldn't rank this mattress higher. I'm not overly affected by off-gassing, but even after a week of testing, I had to wonder if the sheep that helped make this mattress were in the room with me—the odor was that strong. All the wool and materials are thoroughly sanitized and cleaned before being transformed into their final mattress form, but this natural barnyard odor is the trade-off for sleepers who don't want chemical off-gassing. The smell will go away over time—I know this—but if you are sensitive to unpleasant odors, you might want to keep this in mind.
Room to Grow
Photograph: Julia Forbes
Overall, I found the Woolroom Luxury Wooly mattress (and the Woolroom brand) captivating. It is ahead of the curve in creating a sustainable, organic mattress that still delivers supportive sleep. Based on my analysis, I believe it would work best for sleepers weighing 170 pounds or more. I'm not quite there (5'10" on a good day, 165 pounds), but I found that my spine still stayed in alignment whether I slept on my side, back, or even on my stomach. I attribute that to the number of coils, which promote full-body support and even weight distribution. However, when paired with wool, these coils did not provide the same level of general cushioning or pressure relief that you'd get with a memory foam or latex mattress. It wasn't missing altogether, but anyone who weighs less may find it more difficult to get pressure relief around their sides.
Woolroom is a brand to watch, and I think this mattress works well for those wanting to sidestep artificial materials in favor of natural ones. I’m curious to see what else the company has in store, as a wool-and-coil hybrid is unlike anything I've seen in my nearly six years of testing. It was a treat to test, and if the Woolroom team reads this, please extend my regards to the sheep.