Tom's Guide Verdict
The Puffy Cloud Mattress has a medium-firm feel and a cushioned surface that makes it comfy for side sleepers and ideal for back sleepers. We found it comfortable from the get go, with the quilted surface cradling the joints and relieving pressure across the body. We can’t fault its temperature regulation, although the slippery cover makes it hard to keep sheets in place. But even though the edges are weak, this is a good all-rounder at an affordable price that shines for back sleepers.
Pros
- +
Firm support for back sleepers
- +
Excellent motion isolation
- +
A foam mattress that sleeps cool
Cons
- -
Slippery top cover
- -
Weak edge support
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Puffy Cloud mattress review in brief
The Puffy Cloud mattress is the brand's entry-level memory foam model, with a starting sale price of only $599 for a twin. One of our review team slept on a king-size Puffy Cloud mattress for one month to see how it fares against the best mattresses of 2024. Our full Puffy Cloud mattress review is below, but here's the short-and-sweet version if you only have time for the highlights ahead of the Black Friday mattress deals...
This memory foam mattress has six layers, starting with the Cool Touch Cloud Cover which is soft against the skin, though a bit slippery. There's also a fiber layer to help with airflow and a 2" layer of gel-infused Cooling Cloud foam to keep things at a comfortable temperature while cradling your joints. The bottom foam layers lend support and stability.
Type: Memory foam
Materials: Memory foam, poly foam, heat-resistant fibers
Firmness: 6-8/10 (we rate it a 7/10)
Depth: 10"
Trial period: 101 nights
Warranty: Lifetime
Price bracket: Midrange
Queen sale price: $1,049 at Puffy
Our lead reviewer is a side sleeper. With the Puffy Cloud, he felt pressure relief from his shoulders and hips, allowing him to lie on his side throughout the night. His wife, however, is a back sleeper, and the Puffy Cloud is even better for this sleep position. She noticed she was waking up with less stiffness in her lower back when sleeping on this mattress, and although it's a memory foam mattress, there's minimal sink to set your spine twisting.
The cooling layers and cover were effective at keeping our tester cozy, with some minor heat retention after a point (but not enough to disrupt sleep). Unsurprisingly, motion isolation is top-notch. Edge support dips a little bit, especially with the slick surface of the cooling cover. If our tester sat too far forward, he could feel himself sliding off the bed.
The 10" profile is slightly shorter than our tester anticipated, and on the lower end of the mattress thickness we recommend for most adults. (You could opt for the 12" Puffy Hybrid Lux mattress – it has excellent edge support, too.)
Puffy gives sleepers 101 nights to test its Cloud mattress, with free returns if you're not satisfied. There's a two-week minimum before returns are allowed, which is half the time we normally see from sleep brands. It also includes a limited lifetime warranty with free replacements. The MSRPs are inflated, as mattress sales keep the Puffy Cloud in mid-range territory.
That's the abridged version of our Puffy Cloud mattress review. Keep reading to see if it's the best memory foam mattress for your needs...
Puffy Cloud mattress review: Prices & deals
- A queen sells for $1,049 after up to $1,350 off in regular sales
- Discounts available for military, healthcare, and education
- Includes a 101-night trial, lifetime warranty, and free bedding
The Puffy Cloud is the brand's entry-level model. Don’t let the bloated MSRPs scare you away because it's always on sale after a Puffy Mattress discount code, effectively making it a mid-range mattress. Regular markdowns cut up to $1,350 off, but you can save up to $1,450 after discounts for military, healthcare professionals, and students and educators.
Here's the MSRP for all sizes of the Puffy Cloud, plus the price you can expect to pay:
- Twin: MSRP $1,949, (but regularly $599)
- Twin XL: MSRP $2,099 (but regularly $749)
- Full: MSRP $2,249 (but regularly $899)
- Queen: MSRP $2,399 (but regularly $1,049)
- King: MSRP $2,599 (but regularly $1,249)
- Cal king: MSRP $2,599 (but regularly $1,249)
- Split king: MSRP $2,848 (but regularly $1,498)
Included in the price are free shipping and returns, a 101-night trial period, and a lifetime warranty that covers repairs and replacements for as long as you own the mattress. You'll also get a free accessory bundle that includes two pillows, sheets, and a mattress protector.
Puffy Cloud mattress review: Design
- A 10" memory foam mattress with six layers
- Mix of foams for support, relief, and cooling
- Made in the USA without fiberglass
The Puffy Cloud is a 10" memory foam mattress with six layers. The top half focuses on temperature regulation, capped by a Cool Touch Cloud Cover knit with cooling yarns that give it a slick finish. Next is a climate fiber layer made with a soft, heat-resistant fiber to aid airflow. Following that is a 2" layer of gel-infused Cooling Cloud foam to disperse heat and relieve pressure.
The bottom half of the mattress starts with a 2" layer of pressure-relieving foam, but instead of that sink-in feeling, this helps support your spine. At the base is a 6" high-density foam core for support, stability, and motion isolation. The mattress base cover helps keep the mattress in place on any frame or surface.
The Puffy Cloud is endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association. It's manufactured in the USA using CertiPUR-US certified foams and a non-fiberglass flame barrier.
Puffy Cloud mattress review: Support & Comfort
- A medium-firm mattress, which we rate a 7 (out of 10)
- Great for back sleepers with aches and pains
- Comfortable for side sleepers who like a firmer bed
Puffy rates its Cloud mattress between six and eight on its 10-point firmness scale (medium-firm). Our lead tester agrees with this assessment, rating it a 7/10. There's a slight sink-in feeling, but it doesn't mold too closely to your body – nor does it take long to snap back into place. If you're looking for that 'traditional' memory foam feel, you won't find it here.
Our lead tester is a side sleeper who went from a plush hybrid mattress to the medium-firm, all-foam Puffy Cloud. It took him about a day to adjust and despite the firmer feel, he felt ample pressure relief for his shoulders and hips. Meanwhile, our lead tester's wife is a back sleeper. She also agreed with the medium-firm rating and felt the Puffy Cloud offered enough support and comfort to stay on her back throughout the night without lower back stiffness in the morning.
For an objective look at the pressure relief of the Puffy Cloud mattress, we placed a 25lb weight at the center of the bed. With a 2" sink, that's about what we'd expect for a medium-firm mattress.
According to the brand, the Puffy Cloud is built to suit all sleep positions. As a medium-firm mattress with moderate give, we'd advise lightweight side sleepers (under 150lbs) to consider something softer as they may not receive the contouring they need. Although Puffy says its Cloud mattress can support up to 350lbs per side, sleepers over 230lbs might benefit from a sturdier hybrid construction.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Puffy Cloud mattress review: Performance
Our tester, his wife, and his dog slept on a king-size Puffy Cloud mattress for a month. Beyond the comfort and support of the mattress, we also evaluated motion isolation, temperature regulation, and edge support, along with delivery, setup, and the overall quality of the mattress. Here's how they fared...
Setup & delivery
Puffy offers free shipping. Our test mattress was delivered to the entrance of our lead reviewer's garage. There are a few mattress companies out there that provide White Glove Delivery, where they’ll bring the mattress inside and set it up for you. Puffy isn't one of them.
The setup entailed putting the mattress on the bed and unrolling the many layers of plastic. Cutting the final plastic encasement allowed the mattress to expand. Puffy recommends letting the mattress air out for at least two hours before laying on it. Some mattress companies require you to wait between 24 and 72 hours so you don't have to plan as far ahead here.
Our tester noted very little off-gassing, which is the plastic-like smell that accompanies many boxed mattresses as volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions are released into the air. He's tested mattresses where the smell lingered for weeks, but with Puffy Cloud, the smell was completely gone within a couple of hours. That said, your mileage may vary depending on the size of your room and how soon you unbox your mattress.)
If you don’t like your mattress after two weeks, you can return it free of charge. (Notably, most sleep brands have a 30-day minimum for returns.) Puffy will arrange for the mattress to be donated to charity on your behalf, or you can donate it yourself.
Score: 4 out of 5
Temperature regulation
Testing this mattress in the dead of summer, the Puffy Cloud did a good job keeping our tester cool. However, whenever he got up in the middle of the night, he noticed where he'd been laying was notably warmer than an unslept part of the bed – indicating some heat retention, but not enough to make our tester uncomfortable.
The Puffy Cloud does have some components, like a cool-touch cover and a layer of gel foam, but the fact that it doesn't sink like many other all-foam mattresses helps prevent heat buildup, too. The only issue we had was with the slick finish of the top cover. On several occasions, we had to slip our fitted sheet back into place because it would slide off.
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Motion isolation
Where many memory foam mattresses shine compared to innerspring or hybrid mattresses is motion transfer, and the Puffy Cloud mattress is no exception. During our objective tests, we dropped a 25lb weight on the mattress where a drinking glass stood to see if the glass would tip over, measuring the distance between the weight and the glass. It took until the weight was six inches away from the glass before the glass tipped over.
The Puffy Cloud did a great job of curbing motion transfer in our real-world test, too. When our tester's dog would move around or leave the bed in the middle of the night at night, it'd go virtually unnoticed.
Score: 5 out of 5
Edge support
Memory foam mattresses aren't usually known for their edge support, and that includes the Puffy Cloud. When we placed a 25lb weight in the middle perimeter, it sank around 3/4" deeper than the center of the bed. Ideally, the center should have a deeper sink than the edges since that's where the pressure relief is (or should be).
Beyond the extra sink, the cooling cover is as slick as it is soft. When our tester would sit on the edge of the bed, he could feel himself sliding off the mattress onto his feet. This may be problematic if you need to sit on the side of your bed before getting up or down. Hybrids are generally better for this, but read our Bear Original mattress review to learn about an all-foam bed with excellent edge support.
Score: 3 out of 5
Durability and build quality
The build quality of the Puffy Cloud is nice. The mattress cover is soft and smooth and doesn’t have any noticeable stitching errors or fabric poking out of place. At the center of the encasement (the gray part of the mattress), there's a crease that runs through the logo. It makes it look like it never fully expanded but our sleep quality never suffered. It's an aesthetic thing that our tester thought would be gone a month after the testing.
Rotating your mattress should help it last longer, as will wrapping it in a mattress protector. The average lifespan of a memory foam mattress ranges from 7 to 10 years, but Puffy provides a lifetime warranty, indicating a high level of trust in the quality of its products. Notably, the warranty comes with free replacements for the lifespan of the mattress.
Score: 4 out of 5
Puffy Cloud mattress review: User reviews
- 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 12,000 reviews (August 2024)
- Several reviews include accompanying video
- No way to sort by star ratings or date
As of September 2024, the Puffy Cloud has over 12,000 reviews on Puffy's website, with a rating of 4.8 stars out of 5. Many reviews have accompanying videos so you can see real people give their stories and talk about the mattress. Also helpful is that a lot of reviewers indicate what type of sleeper they are, whether they share the bed, and what size they purchased.
However, there's no way to filter by star rating, which makes it difficult to read the less-than-stellar reviews, as well as the middle-of-the-road accounts. Nor can you order reviews by date.
We were particularly curious to see how well the Puffy Cloud mattress held up with regular use, given we only tried it out for one month. Many reviewers claim their mattresses are still holding strong after several years of use. On a related note, several people mention that the mattress doesn’t sink in too much despite being a memory foam mattress. This is either a pro or a con, depending on your preference.
Should you buy the Puffy Cloud mattress?
Our lead tester and his wife slept well on the Puffy Cloud mattress, finding it comfortable and supportive for side and back sleeping. Motion isolation is top-notch, and while it's not quite on par with the best cooling mattresses on the market the Puffy Cloud did a good job of keeping our lead tester sweat-free in the dead of summer.
One reason you may want to shy away from this mattress is if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. Elderly individuals or those with mobility issues may want a springy mattress that propels them out of bed. Edge support isn't great, either, and the slippery material of the cover doesn't help matters.
The Puffy Cloud also doesn't have the deep sink of a Tempur-Pedic or many other memory foam mattresses. This could be a problem if you want a side sleeper mattress with more pronounced contouring for your joints, or if you simply like feeling hugged by your mattress.
Still, it's nice knowing that if you want to try this mattress, it’s essentially risk-free. The 101-night trial is plenty of time to decide whether Puffy Cloud is right for you. And if you ultimately decide not to go with the mattress returns are free, and you can support charity in the process.
Puffy Cloud mattress review: Alternatives to consider
