Saturday, January 20, 2018

Win a 2-in-1 Ventilated Memory Foam Pillow!

DUGROZ is having a giveaway!





Four lucky people will have a chance to win a Sleep Innovations 2-in-1 Ventilated Memory Foam & Fiber Fill Pillow. This is the pillow that I have used every night for nearly 3 years. Obviously it's my favorite! See my review video at the bottom of this page.

2 winners will be chosen through the Gleam giveaway (see the multiple ways to enter below -- it may take a few seconds for the spinning widget to load), and 2 winners will be chosen via a drawing on Amazon.

The Drawing for the 2 winners via the Gleam giveaway will remain open until 02/10/2018 (widget below).

The Drawing for the first winner of the Amazon giveaway finished on 01/26/2018. The Drawing for the second winner of the Amazon giveaway closed on 02/08/2018.

Sleep Innovations 2-in-1 Ventilated Memory Foam Pillow Giveaway

You can watch my review video here, or directly on YouTube.

Good Luck!


Important Stuff:

All entries will follow the YouTube Community Guidelines, which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines 
This promotion is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Blogger, or any of their affiliates.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram and/or Facebook.
This promotion will only be open to Residents living in the 50 United States. No APO's or non-US addresses will be shipped to.

I paid full price for my Sleep Innovations 2-in-1 Ventilated Memory Foam Pillow through Amazon. The above info contains an affiliate link. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you click on this link, and subsequently purchase the product, we earn a referral fee. This costs you nothing. Thank you!

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress Review

The Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress is the most reviewed mattress on Amazon.com, with over 23,000 customer reviews! Does this make it the most popular mattress on Amazon? Well, that's hard to say, but I slept on it for 4 nights (I got the 12" variety), so I'll give you my impressions!

Watch My Video on YouTube, or read on for more details!

Composition
See the layers on the mattress!


Under the cover, we find the top layer, which is 3" of memory foam. This is a "regular" memory foam, not gel foam, not latex, or anything like that.

Next up is a 2" comfort layer that is likely intended to be a transition layer. It really squishes down and helps with responsiveness a bit.

The next two layers are essentially the same thing, I think they just divide it into two layers for air flow -- regular, firm base foam.

(Note: you can get a lot more detail about the makeup of the layers elsewhere online, or on the manufacturer's web site, so I'm not going to go into those details. I'll focus on how it feels to me.)

The layers, acting together, make up a composition that feels "squishy" and a bit sinking at first, and gradually more firm as you lay on it. Firmness is really subjective, but if you forced my hand, I'd say this mattress comes in at 7.5-8 on the firmness scale, where 10 is the most firm.

In my opinion, this mattress is one where it can be soft in some aspects and firm in others at the same time. I think this is because of the makeup of the layers. See my video for a better explanation.

I should mention the "Green Tea" in the name indicates that the bed is infused with "Absorbing green tea extract and ActivCharcoal so you wake up smelling less like sleep and more like fresh." I didn't notice any benefit to the freshness/smell from this aspect, but maybe it's present after several months.


Overview

Side View: Me, Zinus Green Tea Mattress
This is not an expensive mattress. In life, the old axiom of "you get what you pay for" generally holds true. Overall, I found this to be a mattress that could be described as "it's OK." Keep that in mind as I continue with this review.

Of course there are better mattresses out there. Those "better mattresses" cost multiple hundreds of dollars more. I know you're a smart consumer, and you have the ability to judge price vs. performance. If you bought a Kia Forte ($16,800), you wouldn't expect it to perform as well as an Audi A6 ($49,000). Much in the same way, you would not expect a mattress under $250 to hold up as well as one that costs $1,000+.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't seek a good deal -- of course you should!

In my ratings below, you are going to see that I rated some categories well, and some non-so well. Please understand that I'm not saying that Zinus is a bad company . . . I actually have had a really good experience with their Low-Profile Foundation and their Quicksnap Platform Bed.

With all of that said, you're probably wondering . . .

HOW MANY STARS?

I will rate each category on a 5-Star Scale, where 5 is the best.

Construction: 2.5 stars

I'm not exactly sure how to rate this category. There were no major obvious flaws (no rips, unattached items, etc) on one hand, so that would be a good rating. On the other hand, there is a bit of a "cheap" feel. The box is really plain but that's no big deal. The corners don't quite fit perfectly in the cover, and didn't "square off" 100% upon expansion, but that's also no big deal. As for the cover itself, it's nothing to write home about, but it's fine.

This seems like the place to mention that although I followed the instructions for allowing 48-72 hours for expansion, the mattress never expanded to the full 12 inches. It reached between 10.5 and 11 inches, depending if you include the cover or not.

I'll go right in the middle with 2.5 stars.

Noise: 5 stars

There is no noise, of course! It's nothing but memory foam and fabric!

Smell: 1.75 stars

Gotta dock the Green Tea Mattress pretty heavily here. The smell lingered after the unboxing. I left it alone (without sleeping on it) for 2 days to let it air out and fully expand -- for those 2 days, going into the room with the mattress was pretty overwhelming and there was some offgassing (I tried it in a very cold late December & early January, so opening a window wasn't an option!). After 2 days it was just a moderate "rubbery" smell. By then end of the week it was manageable, and mostly gone. The "rubbery" scent got into the sheets too, but they wash.

If you are very sensitive to smell, don't plan on sleeping on this mattress for the first 3-4 nights.

Feel: 4 stars

It feels pretty nice to the touch. The top layer is fun to squish your hand down into, and it's a true memory foam / classic Tempurpedic-style feel (this can be a pro or a con - read on).

Motion Transfer: 4.75 stars

You may not want to get out your glass of your favorite beverage and put it on one side while jumping on the other side -- but you just about could. This thing barely moves from one side to the other.

Because I ended my sleep trial after 4 nights, my wife and I didn't sleep in the bed simultaneously for any of the 4 nights, but we did lie there once and I changed positions several times -- she couldn't even feel me moving. The bowling ball & sledgehammer tests went well, too.

Bottom line, there are no issues with motion transfer. If you sleep with a bed mate, they most likely won't feel you. (But make sure you have a sturdy base or platform bed -- Zinus makes a good one!).

Support: 2.25 stars
Poking the top layer. It's the squishy one.


"Support" does not mean the same thing as firmness. This gets into tricky-to-describe territory, but means things like keeping your spine in alignment; does the firmness feel even, as opposed to lumpy or firm in spots without being firm in other spots? Do you sink in too much and "overcome" the top couple inches? This is always subjective. I am a back sleeper primarily but also sleep on my side some.

If you read through the Amazon reviews, you can get real frustrated real fast, as some people say this mattress is way too firm and some people say this is way too soft! How can that be? Well, I think it has to do with the type of foam used in the top layer (I'll opine on that more in the next category).

I can only talk about it from my point of view -- as a full-sized guy - and I have a fair bit of curve in my back. I didn't find it to be supportive enough. It would feel good for the first 15-30 seconds, but then my butt would "bottom out" as that top layer compressed. The middle layer is soft enough that I think I was feeling the 3rd & 4th layers -- the base foam -- which is quite stiff, so that's not good. I felt like I was sleeping in a shallow "U" shape when laying on my back -- feet and shoulders up, with my hind end sunk in too much.

A lot of this is my weight and body shape. I think the ideal sleeper for this mattress would be 130-170 pounds, tall and skinny, without much curve in their spine/backside/hips. That person would sink in enough that they could get some comfort, but without bottoming out. The fact that everyone is different is likely why there are such varied ratings.

According to a post by the seller on Amazon, this mattress should not be used by couples with a combined weight over 450 pounds.

Pressure Point Relief: 1.75 stars

Not great. Again, this is just me, and I give my take based on how it impacted me, not how I think it will impact everyone. When I slept on my back, the pressure point relief was "meh" -- when I slept on my side, it was just not my cup of tea (Green Tea???). After the last night (the 4th) on the bed, I woke up with hip pain that I don't normally have - I have some mild back aches all the time, but rarely hip pain. On my left side, I had an ache in my hip for the next 24 hours after that final night.

I think this is because of the way the top layer of inexpensive foam compresses down to a very dense mat under the body parts that cause the most downward pressure, and the middle layer doesn't do enough to help. If you are heavy around the belly or hips, you will feel that base layer, and it's not great. At least, I felt it, and it wasn't great.

Again, this is for 200 lb.+ individuals. I think a lighter sleeper would be better off. I can only rate that which I experience.

Conformity: 4.50 stars

Conformity is the idea that the mattress is even -- without lumps -- and is locally conforming to your body without it being a global conformity (see video for details). The mattress did fairly well here, at least relative to everything else. The corners didn't quite conform to the cover, but came close.

It's a total memory foam experience, so I would expect good conformity. It can adjust around your body without moving much else, so good in that regard.

Customer Service: 2.5 stars

In full disclosure, I didn't interact with customer service at all (I ordered it online and never spoke any humans and never had to email anyone). I had no issues with the delivery, it came in the usual 2-day time frame. So, I had to rely on online opinions and Amazon reviews.

There are a large handful of "major complaints" out there on the interwebs about people who wanted to return the mattress but could not reach anyone, never got a reply to their emails, etc. I guess I need to balance the good with the bad, and I'll go right in the middle here at 2.5. If I get comments about people with good experiences for exchanges, returns, etc., I'll be happy to raise that later.

Shipping:

Shipping is free regardless of a purchase via Amazon or via the Zinus website. My purchase was on Amazon, and since I'm a prime member, it arrived 2 days after my order via UPS.

If you order on Zinus.com, it says to allow 2-3 business days to prepare the shipment and then it is shipped via FedEx ground -- that probably translates into 4-7 business days total.

Other info worth mentioning:

Let's talk about the warranty.

One thing that I found a bit confusing is that the warranty language seems a bit different depending on where you look it up. On Amazon, there is a PDF you can look at with the Warranty info. It's only 3 paragraphs long, and doesn't explicitly state that the warranty is for 10 years. It just says "limited warranty." On the Amazon post, it does state that the warranty is for 10 years, but I would feel more comfortable if it was on the actual document. Now, on the manufacturer's web site, it does state that it's a 10 year limited warranty at the top.

There is also a slight difference in the Amazon PDF version and the manufacturer's web site version of the warranty:

The Amazon version says, if a defect appears, "we will, at our option, either repair or replace the mattress at a handling cost to be paid by the purchaser."

The Zinus web site version says "Your mattress will be replaced or you will receive a pro-rated refund, at our option."

If I have to proceed with a warranty claim, is there a chance I will have to pay a "handling cost" to get the mattress back to Zinus? Or will I be offered a pro-rated refund? I would prefer something a little clearer.

Return Policy?

- Via Amazon:

As you likely know, on Amazon you can return almost anything. I've seen a few reviews from people who returned a mattress. You have to buy a very large mattress box (you're not getting it back in the original box!) and then send it back the "regular way" with a pre-paid label. You will have to notify UPS or FedEx it's a large item, then arrange pick-up. Some places I've seen have said they will reimburse you for the special box, others said they won't, so I'm not sure on that. Obviously, most people just give up and don't bother. This has to be done within 30 days.

- Via Zinus.com

Zinus now offers a 100 night trial! (I think this is new -- but I'm not sure). You also have to get it in a big box and contact Zinus customer service for a pre-paid label if you desire to return it, according to their site.

OVERALL SCORE:

3.2 stars
(out of 5)

Summary:

PROS:
- Inexpensive!
- Fast, free shipping available if you have Amazon Prime
- Little to no motion transfer -- great if you sleep with a "wiggly" person
- Some people love the "hug" from the memory foam feel
- Good conformity means this will be a good choice for people with a large weight disparity (ie, one person weighs a lot more than the other)

CONS:
- Not intended for sleepers with a combined weight over 450 lbs.
- Depending on your size and body shape, you may not experience enough pressure point relief
- If you don't like traditional memory-foam mattresses, you won't like this one
- If you want to return it, you will have to box it up yourself
- Some negative reports on Amazon



Prices & Info:
If you decide to try out this mattress through Amazon, I would really appreciate it if you use one of the links on this page, as it helps out my blog and YouTube channel just a bit! You can also buy it on the manufacturer's web site, and there may be other options as well.


What do you think? Feel free to share any comments! If you have questions, feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer.






I paid full price for my Zinus Green Tea mattress. Some links on this blog are considered to be "affiliate links" (such as the links to products through Amazon) and I am paid a small referral fee if you click one of these links and subsequently make a purchase. This costs you nothing. I also participate in a refer-a-friend program through Zinus that allows me to earn gift cards if certain purchases are made. All opinions are my personal reviews and preferences, and do not represent the opinion of any particular company. Thanks for your consideration.