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We tried Loaf’s our perfect mattress and fell in love – here’s why

Cool and comfy, this affordable option even impressed a picky back-sleeper

Zoe Phillimore
Thursday 21 July 2022 10:09 BST
Airflow keeps you cool on warmer nights and cozy when when temperatures drop
Airflow keeps you cool on warmer nights and cozy when when temperatures drop (iStock/The Independent)

According to the National Bed Federation, you should change your mattress every seven years. But mattresses aren’t a small purchase, and we tend to think that the higher the price, the better the bed. But we’ve found a mattress from Loaf that’s just as good as the expensive ones, and it costs a fraction of the price.

We reviewed a huge range of mattresses earlier this year, and compared very pricey ones with more wallet-friendly options. Hand on heart, Loaf’s our perfect mattress comes out as one of the best across all price points.

It’s a pocket sprung matress, which basically means each coil, or spring, in the mattress comes in an individual pocket. Essentially, this should stop you from being able to feel anyone who’s moving around next to you in bed and prevent you “rolling together” when sleeping. Plus, pocket-sprung mattresses tend to be the gold standard for comfort.

The Loaf our perfect mattress is also handmade in the UK, which means you’re supporting a UK-based company and its workers. And not having it imported from further afield reduces the carbon footprint of the mattress significantly. Keep reading for our in-depth review.

Read more:

How we tested

We really put the Loaf our perfect mattress through its paces. We slept on it night after night for several weeks, along with a very discerning co-tester. We were looking for perfect comfort – that meansno aches and pains in pressure points such as our hips or backs and that we slept through the night with no interruptions.

As sleepers who fidget, we wanted to see how responsive the mattress was – did we wake up when we were shifting about? And our co-tester, who is liable to a night sweat, was very keen to see if the mattress kept them at a comfortable temperature all night long. Here’s our verdict...

Loaf our perfect mattress

Loaf our perfect mattress.jpg

Buy now £695, Loaf.com

  • Rating: 9/10
  • Sizes: Single, double, king, superking
  • Type: Pocket sprung
  • Rotate or turn: Rotate every two weeks
  • Guarantee: 10 years
  • Sleep trial? 100 nights

Design and materials

Loaf’s our perfect mattress comes in three different tensions: regular, firm or extra firm. While we opted for the latter in this instance, when choosing your bed it will come down to personal preference. As a general rule of thumb, those with lighter body types find softer mattresses more comfortable as firm mattresses can create pressure points. Side sleepers also prefer softer mattresses for the same reason. Meanwhile, heavier body types and back sleepers often prefer firmer mattresses as they provide more solid support.

This all sounds rather simple, but if you and your partner have different ideas of what’s comfortable tension wise, it can impose a challenge when finding the right mattress for both of you. Thankfully, Loaf has thought of this and allows you to zip two single our perfects together, each with a different tension. While great, this obviously then creates a super king size mattress, so should you choose to go down this route you will need to make sure your bed frame is the right size. Still, it’s nice to know the brand has put comfort at the forefront of its mind.

Read more: Hypnos wool origins 6 mattress review

Speaking of comfort, there are 1,500 pocket springs in this particular mattress. This sounds like a lot, but when compared to other mattresses – some of which quote about 20,000 – perhaps it seems quite a small number.

But don’t let that put you off. Simon Williams of The National Bed Federation says, “In a pocket sprung mattress, you should probably look for a minimum of 1,000 springs in a king size. Where mattresses are advertised as having many thousands of springs, this is where layers of micro-springs are placed over the top of the main pocket spring unit as comfort layers.” So, in actual fact, 1,500 springs is more than adequate. This should mean it will support you even as you move, and also provide movement isolation so you can’t feel fidgeting bed buddies.

Also inside the mattress are some lovely natural fibres, namely wool and cotton. These fibres are fantastic insulators, keeping you warm in winter and cool in the summer months. Wool is also naturally hypoallergenic, and fire retardant. What a wonder material.

Read more: We review Nectar’s seven-layer hybrid mattress

There’s also polyester in the perfect mattress, which is a man-made fibre and not quite so wonderous at heat distribution. However, it’s been chosen in this case as it’s hard wearing and therefore the lifespan of the mattress should be better.

The mattress is also covered in a neutral damask, Egyptian cotton ticking. This fabric is brilliant at helping air flow through the mattress – helping hot air escape and drawing in cooler air. The result should be a nice, cosy night sleep where we don’t wake up in a sweaty mess.

How comfortable were we?

As soon as we sat on the our perfect mattress we were struck by how firm it was. Yes, we’d opted for firm, so what were we expecting? But those springs are super responsive and supportive.

Read more: 10 best summer duvets to keep you cool

A few nights into testing the our perfect mattress and we were in love. The edge-to-edge support was brilliant, with no tapering of support at the sides. We found as side sleepers that we didn’t wake up with aching hips or numb arms and we did feel comprehensively supported. Our back-sleeping co-sleeper also loved it, reporting a great night’s sleep – and they are seriously hard to please.

And despite the polyester, we didn’t feel hot at all overnight. We were kept wonderfully warm on the chillier nights, and didn’t find ourselves having to kick off the duvet when it was warmer.

The verdict: Loaf our perfect mattress

We found it incredibly difficult to find any flaws with the our perfect mattress – so maybe it is perfect? It’s incredibly supportive and substantial, and very comfortable. We loved all those natural fibres for keeping us cool over night, and that it was handmade in the UK. And that price tag? We can’t quite believe it. Obviously everyone’s budgets are different, but for the quality and materials we think you’d be hard pushed to find a better value mattress.

  1.  £695 from Loaf.com
Prices may vary
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