Nolah Original 10 Mattress Review (2019)

Cover

The three layers of the Nolah Original mattress are wrapped in a soft and stretchy cover made of what the company called "natural viscose." Viscose, alternatively known as rayon, is made from cellulose fibers derived from trees.

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 )

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 Nolah Original mattress as a Medium mattress on our scale. The feeling you get is a blend of floating on top versus sinking in.

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. The Nolah is a good blend of this, right in the middle, which we would call average.

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?

The Nolah mattress does have a 2” layer of memory foam, and when you compress it, your hand print takes several seconds to disappear (some describe this as a slow, melting into the mattress feeling). We did not find the sensation to be as slow-responding as, for example, something from Tempur-Pedic, but if you like a bit of that memory foam feel, but don't particularly like to feel like you're sinking in quicksand, the Nolah bed might be a good blend for you.

We also tested bounce, and like most foam mattresses, this is not a bouncy bed at all.

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.

In our evaluations, the Nolah offered very good back support, and we thought it would suit a wide range of people of various sizes and weights in the back sleeping position. Support while side sleeping was also good for our tester.

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 Nolah Original 10" mattress:

Back Sleepers:

Our 200-lb. tester felt well support on his back, with hips sinking in just enough, while the mattress reached up to support his lumbar area. And we felt that back sleepers of a wide range of sizes and weights would have a similar experience. We did question support for those significantly heavier than our tester, who might feel better supported on the Nolah Signature 12" bed, which has some additional memory foam.

Side Sleepers:

We were especially eager to test the Nolah bed while side sleeping since this mattress is particularly marketed to side sleepers. We found it lived up to its claims. Our tester felt well supported, with hips and shoulders sinking into the mattress's comfort layers to create a straight spine. Once more, we did feel that very heavy side sleepers would do better with the Nolah Signature mattress, which has another inch of memory foam to better absorb heavier individuals.

Stomach Sleepers:

For stomach sleeping, our tester also felt well supported on the Nolah bed, but once more, we felt that heavier people might sink too far through the soft foams of the bed, creating a hammocking effect. If you are a heavier person (250 lbs.+) that sleeps mainly on your stomach, a hybrid bed or pocketed coil mattress may be a more supportive choice than an all-foam mattress like either Nolah bed.

Pressure Relief

Overall, we found the pressure relief offered by the Nolah mattress to be excellent, living up to its claims for side sleepers. Our tester didn’t experience any specific issues, and he didn’t feel that he ‘bottomed out’ or pushed through the mattress’s comfort layers and into the firmer support foam layer. However, we do wonder about heavier or curvier people, whose hips and shoulders could possibly sink through those top layers to the harder support layers of foam. In that case, we'd urge checking out the Nolah Signature bed, which includes and additional inch of memory foam on its soft side. But overall, we felt pressure relief would be excellent for most people on the Nolah Original.

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 Nolah Original 10" mattress, we tested motion isolation by dropping our 16-pound bowling ball on the bed, as well as the whole weight of our 200-lb. tester. In both tests we're looking for whether the bowling pin wobbles or falls.

In both tests, the pin hardly moved, an excellent indicator that movements on one side of the bed are little felt on the other. For that reason, we felt the Nolah bed would be a good choice for couples who don’t want to feel their partner getting in and out of bed.

Temperature ( what’s this )

Memory foam has a reputation for heat retention, and all-foam beds in general just don't allow for as much air flow as innerspring or hybrid mattresses. Some foam mattresses add cooling features to combat this. In the case of the Nolah bed, the manufacturer claims its AirFoam doesn't trap heat, a claim we can neither confirm nor disprove. Our tester did not have an issue with sleeping hot, but this isn't an issue he experiences on any bed.

If you don't have a known issue of sleeping hot, then we don't expect you'll have a problem on the Nolah Original. But if overheating in bed is an issue for you, and you’ve experienced it with other mattresses, another type of mattress, such as a hybrid or innerspring mattress, which allows for more airflow, may be a better 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. The Nolah mattress wasn't an exception. Our tester noted he sank through the mattress when sitting on the edge, though he felt stable enough. When laying on the very edge of the mattress, he did not feel very stable, though he didn't feel he was melting off or being ejected from the bed.

If strong edge support is a priority for you, there are better choices.

Ease of Repositioning ( what’s this )

For those with mobility issues, ease of movement may be a priority. We evaluate how easy it is to change positions and move around on a mattress. Memory foam, where its hallmark feature is sinking into the bed, can sometimes hinder movement, but we did not find this to be the case with the Nolah Original 10" mattress. Our tester had no trouble moving from position to position, or rolling over.

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 Nolah mattress, the company makes no claims about the use of natural materials, and its foams are petroleum-based.

However 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. This is a standard certification we see on most mainstream mattresses that contain foam.

The company does state that for each mattress sold, it makes a donation to the Defenders of Wildlife, a non-profit that seeks to protect animals in the United States.

Adjustable Base Compatibility ( what’s this )

We tested the Nolah Original mattress on top of our standard adjustable base. Here, we are looking for how well it conforms to the base, whether anything strange or weird results, and whether the mattress will be damaged by using it on such a base. The Nolah mattress is compatible with adjustable bases; the company even sells one of its own. We noticed good conformance, with just a little lifting at the foot, which is normal for any new mattress. We noticed no odd bulges or bunching.

Price, Value & Longevity

How Much Does a Nolah Original 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 Nolah Original is an 10-inch mattress made of memory foam over polyurethane foam in densities we would consider average. Overall, you are getting 3" of premium comfort material, which Nolah calls AirFoam.

How Long Will the Nolah Original 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. In the case of the Nolah mattress, the foams used are about average, at 3 lbs. per square foot for the two AirFoam. (Memory foam densities typically range from about 2 lbs. to 5.5 lbs.) The support form is a standard 1.8 lb. density. Overall, the materials quality are not particularly notable, and we could not identify any factors that would lead us to believe this mattress would last longer than other all-foam beds.

Overall Value

Pricing for the queen size Nolah Original is $1,019, a price that’s fairly comparable to other memory foam and foam mattresses sold exclusively online. Compared to similar mattresses found in a traditional store, we think the Nolah Original is an good value, if not a particular standout.

Other Factors to Consider