Cover
The layers of the DreamCloud mattress are encased in an extensive over, with quilted blue side panels, four sturdy and functional handles, cording trim, and most notably a quilted top cover. The cover is a polyester-cashmere blend.
Quilted into the cover is about an inch of polyester fiber fill material, along with about 1/2-inch of polyurethane foam. The result is interesting; though the cover is deeply quilted and has a lot of loft, it's not really that soft, in our view, and the cover fabric isn't very stretchy. We thought that the two layers of foam under the cover were softer than the quilted cover. In our experience, mattress layers typically go from soft to firm, so this struck us as unusual.
The robustness of the quilt layer proved problematic when we tested this mattress atop our adjustable base, as the quilt tended to bunch up uncomfortably.
Comfort & Feel
There are three aspects that make up our assessment of comfort and feel. We call these "preference-based characteristics" because no rating here is better or worse – rather, the attributes that are most desirable to you will be determined solely by your personal preferences. We apply the same classification standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.
Softness ( what’s this )
We classify the DreamCloud as a Medium Firm mattress, solidly in the middle in terms of softness. Although to the eye, the mattress looks like you might sink very deeply into it, we found the cover and its quilting to be less soft than it looks. The cover does have deep puffs and channels that create undulations. If you prefer a mattress that's very smooth and flat on top, that could be a consideration for you.
Under the cover are two layers of softer foam. Overall the combination of the quilt layer and comfort layers land our assessment as a Medium Firm, and even closer to Firm.
Not sure what softness is best for you? Take our Mattress Match Quiz and find out.
Softness Level (1=Least Soft, 9=Most Soft) |
4 | Medium Firm |
Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )
Although the mattress appears thick and squishy to the eye, we found cushioning depth to be average, giving a blend between a "sinking in" feeling and a "floating on top" feeling.
You can see how our bowling ball, below, doesn't sink into the mattress very much at all.
Cushioning Depth (1=Shallowest, 9=Deepest) |
5 | Average |
Responsiveness ( what's this )
There is a 1" layer of gel-infused memory foam under the top quilted cover. It's a very soft foam, and while it does have some of that slow-responding memory feel, where your hand print remains for a second or two after being depressed. But it's not the slowest memory foam we've seen. If you really like a lot of that 'melting' sensation, the DreamCloud might not have enough of it for you. But if you like just a bit of that melting-into-the-bed sensation, you do get an average 'memory feel' sensation.
We also evaluated bounce, something that some people like and others don't. Due to that layer of pocketed coils in the base of the bed, there is some deep bounce. When our tester dropped his weight on the bed, the springs pushed him back in the air a couple of times.
There isn't much bounce at the surface of the bed, however, which helps with motion isolation.
Memory Feel (1=Least, 9=Most) |
5 | Average memory feel |
Bounce (1=Least, 9=Most) |
6 | Good amount of bounce |
Back Support & Pressure Relief
The two things that you should always be sure to get from your mattress are spinal alignment (commonly thought of as "back support") and pressure relief. Unfortunately, no mattress will deliver these two things equally well for all sleepers. In particular, spinal alignment and pressure relief capabilities will vary across sleepers with different weights, body shapes, and sleep positions. To help you determine how this mattress will perform for you, we break down our spinal alignment and pressure relief assessments by sleeper type.
Spinal Alignment
The key to good back support is maintaining proper spinal alignment while you sleep. This means that the mattress should hold your spine in roughly the same position it's in when you're standing. The ability of a given mattress to do this will generally depend on your weight, sleep position, and body shape.
Here is how we break down the spinal alignment of the DreamCloud mattress.
Weight | Range | Back Sleepers | Side Sleepers | Stomach Sleepers |
Lighter | <150 lb | 7 | 7 | 9 |
Average | 150 to 200 lb | 9 | 8 | 8 |
Above Average | 200 to 250 lb | 9 | 8 | 7 |
Heavier | >250 lb | 7 | 8 | 5 |
Back Sleepers:
We felt that the DreamCloud mattress would be a good choice for most back sleepers, with the two exceptions. The very lightest people might need more softness/compression in order to sink down enough in the hip area to get good spinal alignment. And the heaviest back sleepers would have the opposite issue, needing a bit less of that soft foam on top. Everyone else, however, should get excellent back support from the DreamCloud.
Side Sleepers:
We also felt the mattress would work well for most side sleepers, with the exception of the very lightest sleepers, who may need more cushioning in order for shoulders to sink into the mattress enough. But overall, we felt that a wide range of side sleepers would get very good back support and spinal alignment on the DreamCloud.
Stomach Sleepers:
Achieving good spinal alignment for stomach sleepers can often be tricky as the hips can tend to sink down too far with some mattresses, and with the DreamCloud, we felt that would be the case for the heaviest side stomach sleepers. Lighter stomach sleepers, however, should obtain excellent spinal alignment in that position.
Pressure Relief ( what's this )
When a mattress pushes back against your body with too much force in a concentrated area, the result can be pain, soreness, loss of circulation, excessive tossing, and other problems. In general, such "pressure points" are of greatest concern for side sleepers, since that's the position in which your body's weight is distributed over the smallest surface area. To find the right mattress for your needs, keep in mind that the pressure-relieving capabilities of any given mattress will vary depending on the sleeper. Factors like your weight and body shape (e.g., broader shoulders and/or hips) will determine how far you sink into the mattress, and the pressure relief offered by that mattress will vary widely at different depths.
Here's how we sized up the pressure relief of the DreamCloud mattress:
Weight | Range | Typical Curves | Extra Curvy |
Lighter | <150 lb | 8 | 7 |
Average | 150 to 200 lb | 7 | 7 |
Above Average | 200 to 250 lb | 7 | 6 |
Heavier | >250 lb | 6 | 6 |
Overall, we found the pressure relief offered by the DreamCloud to be good, even though we felt the softness and pressure relieving qualities of the comfort foams were somewhat mitigated by the tight and firmer cover.
An exception could be those who are heavy (over 200 pounds), who may find themselves sinking through the comfort foams and coming to rest on the firm coil unit further below.
Other Features
Beyond the preference-based characteristics of comfort and feel, and the body matching for spinal alignment and pressure relief, a mattress will have a number of other attributes that can make it a better or worse choice for you. We call these "priority-based characteristics" because they are areas in which a mattress can be better or worse, but that will have differing amounts of importance to each sleeper. So, determining how much importance to give to these features will be entirely a matter of your own personal priorities. As always, we apply the same ratings standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.
Motion Isolation ( what’s this )
With a bowling pin standing upright on the original DreamCloud bed, we tested motion isolation by dropping a 16-lb. bowling ball on it, as well as the whole weight of our 200-lb. tester. In both tests, the pin wiggled slightly but didn't fall.
We felt that the DreamCloud would be an excellent choice for those who don't want to feel a partner's movements.
Motion Isolation Rating | 9 /10 | Excellent |
Temperature ( what’s this )
If you tend to "sleep hot" this aspect may be a priority for you. Innerspring mattress are usually a good choice for air flow and heat dissipation, and firmer mattresses are typically a better choice than softer ones, since your body doesn't sink in as much (and more of you is exposed to the air). There's also gel in the memory foam layer of the DreamCloud; gel is a known conductor of heat, and here it's intended to help channel heat from the body.
While the DreamCloud doesn't have any specific cooling features, its edge-to-edge coils and more shallow cushioning should promote good airflow, avoiding a "smothered" feeling that some experience on beds with memory foam.
Stays “Cool” Rating | 7 /10 | Good |
Edge Support ( what’s this )
The DreamCloud mattress has stronger coils around the edge of the mattress to assist with edge support. Our testing sunk down on the mattress quite a bit when sitting on the edge, but he didn't feel unstable.
Similarly, when laying right on the edge of the mattress, our tester felt pretty stable. Overall, we judged edge support to be solidly good.
Edge Support Rating | 7 /10 | Good |
Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )
Ease of movement was okay on the DreamCloud mattress according to our tester, but not as good as it might be on beds with less quilting on top and without memory foam. The deep channels and puffs on the cover created by the mattress's tufting do interfere very slightly with the ability to roll and change sleeping position, but unless you have an acute issue that makes movement difficult, we do not think most people will find movement too challenging.
Repositioning Rating | 7/10 | Good |
Green Features ( what’s this )
For mattress shoppers concerned with the use of natural materials, sustainable manufacturing practices or the like, we offer our subjective evaluation of any efforts taken by the company to make the mattress more green, healthy, or safe.
In the case of the DreamCloud mattress (and its sibling the DreamCloud Premier), this is not a natural mattress nor does it claim to be. Its foams are petroleum-based, and because this mattress is made in China (and possibly other countries), it's harder to have confidence about its materials and their origin. Furthermore those mattresses all have to be transported a long distance to the United States, which uses resources and energy.
All of the foams used are certified to the CertiPUR-US standard, which verifies that a material has low VOC off-gassing as well as a lack of chemicals and other substances regulated by the CPSC. But this certification isn't unique; it's now standard among nearly all mainstream mattresses.
The bed does have a pocketed coil unit, and theoretically, those springs would be recyclable down the road. But altogether, if a mattress that uses natural or sustainable materials is a priority for you, the DreamCloud does not have a lot to offer.
When we first unpacked the mattress we did notice a "new mattress smell" but we thought it was less than average, and less than we anticipated given the mattress's overseas origins. After a couple of days, we barely noticed a smell at all.
Green Rating | 4/10 | Fair |
Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )
We tested the DreamCloud mattress on top of our adjustable base. This is a tall mattress, and we were curious to see how it would bend and conform to the base. Note that the company says that using an adjustable base is perfectly fine and will not harm the mattress.
In our tests, the mattress did an okay job conforming to the base as long as our tester was on the mattress. But as soon as he got off, the mattress popped and tried to straighten itself. You can see in the photo below that the opposite side of the mattress is trying to stay straight.
The heavy quilting was also an issue. When the mattress was in the articulated position (bent), the quilting bunched up and felt lumpy -- not very comfortable under your hips.
It's worth noting that we tested this mattress right out of the box. In our experience, mattresses do tend to break in and better conform after they've been used for a while on an adjustable base.
Adjustable Base Use Rating | 6 /10 | Pretty Good |
Price, Value & Longevity
How Much Does a DreamCloud Mattress Cost?
Prices shown are list prices. Remember that GoodBed keeps our site current with the best available discounts on all online mattresses, many of which are exclusive discounts for our readers.
What Are You Getting?
The DreamCloud is a 14-inch foam-over-pocketed coil mattress and has a 'hotel mattress' look. It has an unusual 365-night trial period (with full refund).
How Long Will the DreamCloud Mattress Last?
When it comes to estimating the comfort lifespan of a mattress, we tend to use foam density as our best, albeit imperfect, predictor of how long a foam will retain its shape and resiliency. Of the materials used, we would have the most concerns about the gel memory foam layer, which at a 2.5-lb. density is on the low side quality-wise (the best memory foams typically run in the 4 to 5-lb. per foot density range). However, there's only an inch of this foam, and we would not expect it to be an issue in that small amount.
The other foams are a fairly standard (though not exceptional) 1.7-lb. density.
Because the mattress is made overseas, we are less confident in overall quality than we are of beds made in the United States and Canada, but that said, we did not observe any obvious red flags that would lead us to believe that the DreamCloud mattress would give out quicker than the average bed.
Overall Value
If you want a hotel-style mattress that's very tall, with deep tufting and a luxurious look, we feel the DreamCloud (and the DreamCloud Premier) presents a pretty good value, especially compared to similar mattresses you might see in a luxury bedding shop or a department store, where such a mattress might cost twice as much or more.
It's also worth noting that because of recent and current issues with materials shortages and staffing issues, many (if not most) mattress brands have increased their prices. DreamCloud has kept their pricing pretty consistent, however, making it an even better value compared to its bed-in-a-box competition.
Overall, we do think it's a good value.
Value Rating | 7 /10 | Good |
Other Factors to Consider
Delivery
- Free delivery to door in the continental United States
- White glove option: $149 (temporarily suspended)
DreamCloud includes free delivery, which is not particularly unusual among its competitors.
A white-glove service has been available in the past, at additional cost ($149) that includes in-room setup and removal of the packaging. However, due to COVID concerns, white-glove service is not currently offered at the time of this writing. However, the company expects to bring this option back soon. Note that there is a $150 shipping charge to Alaska and Hawaii.
Returns
- 365-day trial period
- Full refund, including free pickup within trial period
DreamCloud includes a 365-day trial period, with full refund should you decide to return the mattress. The company does ask that you try the mattress for 30 days prior to initiating a return.
Warranty
- Warranty Length: Lifetime
- Indentation Coverage: 1.5” and above
One of the biggest, if not THE biggest complaints about any mattress from consumers regards body impressions — the inability of a mattress to spring back, eventually creating a low spot/sinkhole in the mattress. As such, mattress warranties all contain a term defining how big a sag or ‘body impression’ (measured when no one is on the mattress) is considered a defect, and thus covered under the warranty. The industry standard for mattresses is generally between ¾” and 1.5”. DreamCloud has chosen to cover indentations that meet or exceed 1.5”. Practically speaking, that means any softening or sagging would need to be at least that deep before the warranty would offer you protection.
For the first 10 years of ownership, the company will replace your mattress with a new one if you have a valid warranty claim. After 10 years, the company will repair or replace the bed, at their discretion, and consumers must pay shipping both ways ($50 each way). If the warranty claim is valid, the shipping fees will be refunded.