Lull Mattress Review

Michael Magnuson

Founder of GoodBed, Leading Mattress Expert

Summary: Is Lull a Good Mattress?

The Lull mattress is a 10”, three-layer mattress made mainly of polyurethane foam, with a 1.5”gel memory foam layer on top. Even though there is some memory foam in this bed, it shares few characteristics with beds that use more memory foam and give you that slow melting and slow responding feel that memory foam is known for.

In our evaluations, we found the Lull mattress to have a Medium softness level, with very good support and spinal alignment for back sleepers in particular and for lighter weight stomach and side sleepers.

Motion isolation was a highlight in our standard tests, with both a 16-lb. bowling ball as well as our 200-lb. tester. Part of that owes to this bed’s quick-responding foam, with almost none of that slow-responding/melting feeling you would get with a classic memory foam bed. That makes the Lull mattress a good choice for those who are concerned about feeling a partner’s movements on the other side of the bed. It performed exceptionally well in this respect.

Overall, the Lull mattress is very similar to a number of budget foam mattresses currently available online. We found construction to be sturdy, with a nice stretchy cover. It does stand out from its competition in terms of edge support. Foam beds, and particularly memory foam beds, often do not do well in this respect, but our tester felt very stable both while sitting and laying on the edge of the Lull mattress. If kids or pets often force you to sleep on the very edge of your mattress, this could be an important factor for you.

Among our concerns: We did wonder whether heavier individuals (250+ lbs.) might sink through the comfort layers of the Lull mattress and bottom out on the firmer support layer of foam, especially in side and stomach sleeping positions. We also had questions about the quality of the foams used. Typically we look to foam density specifications as a guide to durability and longevity, but Lull chooses not to disclose this on their website.

Free shipping to your door is included, and there's a 100-night trial period with free returns, including pickup. "Pickup" is significant since some mattresses in this price range require you to show proof of donation before a refund; while that sounds simple, many charities will not accept mattress donations for health-code reasons.

Note that the Lull mattress does not come with a box spring (nor does it need one). You can place the Lull mattress atop the support of your choice, including a separately purchased box support, a bed frame, platform bed, or adjustable bed frame. Lull does sell its own wooden box support, as well as a metal frame.

One non-performance note: The Lull website has a very nice guide on what to do with your old mattress, from donation (and suggestions on where) to breaking it down and using the parts for other purposes. See the Lull Mattress Disposal Guide.

Read on for our detailed report and be sure to check out the video to see this mattress in action as we put it through our tests.

Note: Lull's mattress, available exclusively online, is an all-foam bed that has a lot of competition. Does it stand out from its peers in our evaluation? Read our full review to find out.

Bottom Line: Who is the Best Match for a Lull Mattress?

BEST if you:

• Are a back or side sleeper of average body weight
• Don't want to feel a partner's movements
• Prioritize budget over innovation
• Like a blend between floating on top of your mattress and sinking in

NOT IDEAL if you:

• Prefer a slow, melting into the bed feeling
• Are a stomach or side sleeper than more than about 250 lbs.
• Prefer a mattress with some bounce

Comfort and Feel

The “feel” characteristics of a mattress cannot be universally better or worse. They can only be more or less desirable to you, based on your personal preferences. For this reason, we call these “preference-based” attributes. Our ratings here are based on objective measurements that we apply to a consistent scale for products from all brands.

Softness ( what’s this )

Keep in mind that what mattress companies call “firm” or “soft” is a purely a preference. All mattresses should be supportive and promote healthy spinal alignment. Whether a mattress is fluffy and squishy (what mattress companies call soft or plush), or less so (what companies call firm), is purely down to your personal needs and preferences.

We classify the Lull mattress as a Medium in terms of softness overall, right in the middle in terms of softness.

Not sure what softness is best for you? Take our Mattress Match Quiz and find out.

Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )

This refers to how deeply you sink into the mattress or feel cradled or hugged, versus a feeling of floating on top of the bed. We found the Lull Essential again to be a middle-of-the-road mattress between the two poles, right between that hugged/deep sinking feeling versus a firmer floating on top feeling.

Responsiveness ( what’s this )

Responsiveness refers to how quickly a mattress recovers its shape after being compressed. When you press your hand into the mattress, for instance, then remove it, does it take several seconds for the mattress to return to flat, or does it recover immediately?

While the Lull mattress does have a small 1.5” layer of memory foam as the top layer, it really does not have any of that recognizable memory-foam feel, where after compressed, your hand print takes several seconds to disappear (some describe this as a slow, melting into the mattress feeling).

Rather, the Lull bed is fairly quick responding, meaning it recovers its shape quickly; perhaps not as quickly as an innerspring mattress might do, but definitely a lot faster than what you’d associate with memory foam.

This also translates to bounce, which we test in two ways. When we dropped our 16-lb. bowling ball in the mattress, it bounced only once, and when our tester dropped his weight onto the bed, he did not bounce at all. This mattress has practically no bounce at all, which comes into play when we discuss motion isolation further below.

Back Support

The key to good back support is for the mattress to support your spine in a “neutral” position while you sleep, meaning that the shape of your spine is roughly the same as when you're standing. The ability of any given mattress to do this will vary by sleeper, depending on its “fit” for your weight, body shape, and preferred sleep position(s).

In our evaluations, the Lull mattresses afforded very good support for back sleepers, and would be suitable for a broad range and sizes of people.

The Lull bed was also good in our view for stomach sleepers with the possible exception of those heavier than about 200 pounds, where we questioned whether hips might sink into the mattress’s soft top layers too deeply, bottoming out on the firmer support layer.

We also thought the Lull bed would be a good choice for most side sleepers, again excepting those on the higher end of the weight scale.

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 Lull mattress:

Back Sleepers:

While our tester was on his back, he noted that his hips sank just deeply enough to create a perfectly neutral spine, while he felt the mattress did a nice job reaching up to support his lumbar curve. We feel that sleepers of a wide weight range would have a similar experience in this position on the Lull mattress.

Side Sleepers:

Side sleeping was also good for our tester. Shoulders could have sunk a bit more into the mattress, but it wasn't bothersome, and overall spinal alignment was good. We did question whether those much heavier than our tester would "bottom out" and sink through the two softer layers of foam, finding themselves resting on the firm support layer.

Stomach Sleepers:

Achieving good spinal alignment for stomach sleepers can often be trickier as the hips can tend to sink down too far with some mattresses, but our tester felt well supported in this position as well. We did question whether those over 200 lbs. would experience the same support, and suspect that hips might sink far enough to create less than ideal spinal alignment. But for lighter people who sleep on their stomachs, we felt the Lull mattress would be a good match.

Pressure Relief

Inadequate pressure relief from your mattress results in “pressure points,” which can be a source of pain, soreness, loss of circulation, restlessness, and other problems. Pressure relief requirements will vary be sleeper, with side sleepers needing the most. Likewise, the amount of pressure relief that a given mattress provides will also vary by sleeper, depending on its “fit” for your weight and body shape.

Performance Features

With the “features” of a mattress, performance will tend to be consistent across all sleepers – without regards to your body type or preferences. However, these attributes have differing levels of importance to each sleeper, which is why we consider them “priority-based” characteristics.

Motion Isolation ( what’s this )

With a bowling pin standing upright on the Lull 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 didn't move. For that reason, we felt that the Lull mattress would be an excellent choice for couples who don’t want to feel their partner getting in and out of bed.

Temperature ( what’s this )

If you tend to overheat in bed, foam mattresses in general are unlikely to be the ideal choice since blocks of foam don't typically allow for optimal airflow. In that case, an innerspring or hybrid (innerspring plus foam) bed may be a better choice overall.

Because you don't sink too deeply into the Lull mattress, more of your body is exposed to the air, an aspect that will help with heat dissipation. The top layer of memory foam is infused with gel, and gel is a conductor, so that might help the mattress feel a bit cooler as well.

If overheating in bed is an issue for you, and you’ve experienced it with other mattresses, other models have features that are specifically intended to address this, and an all-foam mattress may not be the best choice.

Edge Support ( what’s this )

Foam mattresses aren’t typically very supportive along the very edge of the mattress—important if you like to sit on the edge of the bed, or if you tend to sleep along the edge. But we found the Lull mattress to be better than competing budget all-foam beds.

When laying on the very edge of the mattress, our tester felt stable, and did not feel that he was sliding off to an excessive degree.

Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )

If you tend to move and change positions a lot over the course of a night, ease of repositioning will be a priority for you. Our tester did experience any problems at all with moving around or rolling into a different position on the Lull bed.

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 Lull mattress, the company makes no claims about the use of natural materials. It's foams are petroleum-based, glued together with chemical adhesives.

The company tells us its mattresses are made in the United States and China, indicated on the specific mattress's label. So there's no way to know when ordering where your mattress has been made. We always have concerns with mattresses shipped from countries like China, which have looser restrictions on manufacturing practices and fair-wage labor.

Lull does say that the foams they use 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. The fire sock and cover are certified to the OEKO-TEX standard, which asserts similar minimal off-gassing.

Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )

We did not specifically test the Lull mattress on an adjustable bed frame. However, the company says that using the bed on an adjustable frame is just fine; it will not damage the mattress or void your warranty assuming the frame is properly supportive. And based on our experience with similarly constructed  mattresses, we might expect a little lifting at the foot, or some mild bunching of the quilt.

Materials & Construction

What's in the Lull Mattress?

Overall, we classify the Lull mattress as a "Gel Memory Foam over Foam" construction type. It is a 10″ thick bed comprised of 3 layers (listed below from top to bottom):

• 1.5" gel memory foam comfort layer
• 2" polyurethane foam transition layer
• 6" polyurethane foam support layer

The Lull mattress is made of three foam layers stacked and glued together. The bottom two layers are standard polyurethane foam while a 1.5” layer of gel memory foam is on top. Although it does contain that small amount of memory foam, we found that the Lull bed performs like more of a foam bed, with few of the properties we typically associate with memory foam. This isn't a bad thing or a good thing; it simply effects the performance characteristics of the bed in our estimation.

The top two layers comprise the softer comfort layers, while the support layer below is substantially firmer. Lull does not disclose the density data on the foams used in the mattress, unfortunately. (That is data we can use to estimate longevity.)

Durability, Warranty & Value

The “value” of any mattress is both subjective and personal – reflecting how well it meets that person’s unique sleep needs and preferences, relative to their budget. As a result, our ratings in this area are focused on more objective factors like quality and longevity.

How Much Does a Lull 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 Lull bed is a 10-inch mattress made of polyurethane foam along with a 1.5” layer of gel memory foam as the top layer. It includes a sturdy, yet soft and stretchy cover that stood up to our pulling and tugging. The mattress comes with a 100-night trial period with a full refund and pickup of the mattress should you decide to return it.

How Long Will the Lull 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. However, Lull does not disclose the densities of the foam used in this bed. So we can't hazard a guess as to how long this mattress might last. It does come with a 10-year warranty, which should give some assurance.

Overall Value

The Lull mattress is competing in a crowded field, with a number of other all-foam mattresses in the same prices range, and offering a similar trial period and return policy. The Lull bed is a 10-inch mattress; some similar beds in this price range measure around 8.5 inches.

In our evaluations, the Lull mattress proved itself a good performer all around. Motion isolation, edge support, back support, and ease of movement were all just fine on this bed, and we think it will suit a wide variety of individuals in a range of sleeping positions. For that reason, it could be a good choice for couples who sleep in different positions, and it's a particularly good choice, in our view, for those sensitive to being disturbed by a partner's movements.

Taking all that together, from a performance standpoint, we’ve reviewed other beds that in our view were better for certain types of sleeping, had better pressure relief, had more plush covers, better edge support, etc. And some of those mattresses cost just a couple of hundred dollars more than the Lull mattress yet offer measurably better features. Even so, for a wide range of people of average size, the Lull bed is a low-hassle, basic mattress that comes with a solid 100-night trial period and 10-year warranty.

Warranty

• Warranty Length: 10 years
• Indentation Coverage: 1” 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”. Lull has chosen to cover indentations that meet or exceed 1” for its mattress, which is the average for foam beds Practically speaking, that means any softening or sagging would need to be at least that deep before the warranty would offer you protection. See Lull's warranty policy.

Other Factors to Consider

Delivery

• Free delivery 

Lull includes free delivery, which is not particularly unusual among its competitors.

Returns

• 100-day trial period
• Full refund, including free pickup within trial period

Lull offers buyers a 100-day trial period. Returns within the trial period are free, with pickup of the mattress included. Read more about the Lull return policy on their website.