Updated on Sep. 24, 2024
As a sufferer of chronic neck and shoulder pain, I couldn't wait to test whether the Silk & Snow mattress really is made to promote spinal alignment.
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I’m a troubled sleeper who often suffers from insomnia, frequent wakings with trouble falling back asleep and tossing and turning. I used to be a die-hard stomach sleeper who couldn’t fall into that deep, coma-like slumber unless I rolled onto my belly. But becoming very pregnant with my son quashed that level of deep sleep, and I learned how to snooze on my side.
Eleven years later, I still mostly sleep on one side, so it’s perhaps surprising that it wasn’t until this year that I started experiencing chronic neck and shoulder pain after waking up. I thought it was a pillow issue, so I bought newer, fluffier ones with a higher loft. That didn’t do the trick. Maybe it was the inexpensive boxed mattress I’d bought on sale the previous year at Wayfair? Possibly.
“If you want great support and pressure point relief, you may find that a medium-firm mattress or a hybrid-style mattress is best for you,” says Julia Siemen, a certified sleep science coach for Sleep Advisor. “These mattresses are designed to provide zoned support, pocket coils and the option of latex or memory foam top layers, all of which can be interchanged to customize the mattress and find the most supportive option for you.”
I had to test the plush Silk & Snow organic mattress to find out if its zoned support—a combo of soft coils on the outer thirds and firmer coils on the middle thirds—would help me awaken pain-free.
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The Silk & Snow organic mattress is a hybrid known for its minimal environmental impact, chemical—and synthetic-free materials and certifications from the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS), OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and Eco-Institut.
Patrick Gunther, a sleep expert who works with PlushBeds, explains what each certification means:
VIA MERCHANT
With zoned support and a combination of coils and latex foam, this mattress is a supportive dream, especially for side sleepers.
The Silk & Snow organic mattress is constructed of a mix of organic padding that provides comfort and function and coils that add structure and support. Features include:
The Silk & Snow’s mix of soft and firm pocket spring coils offers zoned support, which means the mattress has different materials and levels of firmness built throughout. According to Nicole Mondshein, a sleep product expert at Sleepopolis, a zoned mattress provides extra spinal and lumbar support that can help relieve and even prevent back and neck pain.
“Hybrid mattresses offer qualities like supportive coiled cores with soft layers of memory foam or latex on top,” says Mondshein. “A zoned support hybrid mattress may be the best option if you are looking for the best pressure relief and support throughout the night.”
The Silk & Snow mattress has a latex layer instead of memory foam. This layer doesn’t cradle the body like memory foam but instead provides a firmer bounce that’s durable and breathable. According to Gunther, latex isn’t heat-activated and reacts faster than memory foam, which relies on heat to activate and contour to the body.
“Latex’s open cell matrix and pinholes also aid in helping it to breathe better, making for a cooler sleep experience than memory foam,” says Gunther. “Natural latex foam also has the added benefit of being antimicrobial, dust mite resistant and is also resistant to mold and mildew formation.”
The Silk & Snow organic mattress arrived in a tall, slender box that was ripped at both ends. As soon as I grabbed the box to move it inside, I understood why the box looked like it had been dragged from the delivery truck. It felt lined-with-bricks heavy. To say it was awkward and sweat-inducing to heave it inside the front door may be an understatement. I enlisted help from a male neighbor to carry it upstairs and even tweaked my knee during transport (ouch).
Once upstairs, unwrapped, and propped on the edge of the bed frame, however, it popped open and plopped itself in place. It didn’t need any time to inflate and had no odors. The mattress comes with reinforced handles on both sides, a thoughtful detail that makes it breezy to flip the mattress and lift it (once unwrapped, that is) for sheet fitting. One aesthetic oddity: It doesn’t quite fit my queen-sized bed frame corner to corner. You get a peek-a-boo view of the wooden slats of the bed frame if you look closely, even though the mattress is queen-sized.
I noticed a positive difference in my neck and shoulder pain after the first night of sleep. After 30 days, I’m amazingly pain-free in my neck and shoulders when I wake up, despite spending hours a day hunched over a laptop. I also feel generally less creaky and achy when I get out of bed. Even with the plush pillow top, the mattress is relatively firm and holds its shape versus cocooning you. I think this support is key to alleviating pain.
I was skeptical at first of how comfortable I’d feel (temperature-wise) when trying this mattress. I tend to be a warm sleeper and always need to have at least one foot poking out of the covers. I wasn’t sure how well the organic cotton and wool would regulate my body temperature, as I tend to buy mattresses and pillows with cooling features. I tested this mattress in the middle of summer, and have no air conditioning and only a fan. Granted, I live in temperate San Diego, where it’s rare to have nighttime temperatures above the mid-70s, but I was pleasantly surprised to note that I didn’t feel too warm while sleeping and didn’t wake up sweaty once.
What is the Silk and Snow mattress made of?
The Silk & Snow mattress is made of GOTS-certified organic cotton and organic wool, GOLS-certified latex, a mix of soft and firm coils in the middle third layer and dense pocketed spring coils.
Is Silk and Snow Greenguard certified?
The Silk & Snow organic mattress is not Greenguard certified, but it does have Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS), OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and Eco-Institut certifications.
Both Silk & Snow and Douglas are Canadian mattress companies that make their sleep products in Canada using Canadian-sourced materials.
The Douglas original mattress is a medium-firm foam mattress with three foam layers (made without chemicals), cooling gel foam (made with up to 40% reduced carbon footprint), and pocket-coil springs that reduce motion transfer and pressure-point relief for all sleep positions. It’s available in seven sizes, including less mainstream dimensions like twin XL and split king. The queen mattress measures 60 inches by 80 inches by 10 inches, weighs 65 pounds and costs about $600 USD.
The Silk & Snow organic mattress has several eco-friendly and health certifications and is made of cotton, latex and wool layers, plus a variety of coils that provide support and limit motion transfer. It doesn’t include foam or a cooling gel layer, but the latex layer and cotton layers provide breathability (albeit without the cool-to-the-touch feel of a gel layer). It’s available in six sizes, including twin XL and California king; all are available in firm, medium-firm and plush. The queen mattress measures 60 inches by 80 inches by 10 inches, weighs between 91 and 136 pounds, and costs $1,700 USD.
I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the Silk & Snow organic mattress eliminated my neck and shoulder pain. I thought I preferred a softer mattress, but the support this mattress provides, combined with the eco and health certifications, makes it one of the best mattresses in a box if you can swing the cost.
One important piece of advice, though. If you’re going to buy a hybrid mattress for added support and pressure point relief, Gunther suggests putting the mattress on an adequate base, ideally an orthopedic foundation made of solid wood with a euro-slatted design. “One of the main things that is critical in helping a mattress to perform well (providing the needed comfort and support) is to be certain the foundation below the mattress is strong enough,” he says.
As the former Director of Content for Everyday Health, I have more than 20 years of experience in sleep, health, fitness, nutrition and wellness content. I also used my experience in product review content to conduct this test thoroughly, collecting more than twenty data points to evaluate the mattress delivery, construction, quality and comfort.
At Family Handyman, we’re extremely familiar with mattress reviews. We’ve evaluated everything from the affordable Amazon Zinus mattress to the cooling Sealy Cocoon Chill mattress and the luxe memory foam Nectar Premier (not to mention the Nolah side-sleeper mattress or the Classic Saatva). We add to our review collection every day, constantly testing whether the new sleep products on the market are worth your time.
You can shop for the Silk and Snow organic mattress on the Silk and Snow website or at one of their Canadian showrooms in Toronto or Ottawa. Depending on size and type, the mattress costs between $650 and $2,050.
VIA MERCHANT
With zoned support and a combination of coils and latex foam, this mattress is a supportive dream for side sleepers especially.
