Our unbiased review of the Spindle Latex Mattress, an impressive 10-inch, affordable, organic, eco-friendly option best suited to lighter to average weight adults.
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Spindle 10-Inch Latex Mattress
Highlights: Zippered 10-inch mattress made with organic latex, organic wool, and organic cotton, and free of harmful chemicals. Cleverly designed with three layers of latex, wrapped in organic cotton, that you can rearrange for custom comfort. It’s also easier to move and comes with a 10-year warranty and 25-year comfort life program where you can switch out layers for a discount.
LeafScore readers can use code LEAFSCORE100 for $100 off Spindle organic latex mattress and hybrid mattress. Note that this code cannot be combined with an ongoing sale.
At a glance:
- Pricing: $1,749 to $2,599 (Queen is $2,299)
- Materials: FSC/GOLS latex; GOTS cotton; GOTS wool; zipper with nylon teeth, a metal trolley and metal pull tab; tiny amount of polyester thread (less than 0.1% of mattress weight); tiny amount of heat-resistant Kevlar thread (less than 0.001% of mattress weight)
- Certifications: GOTS, GOLS, FSC, Oeko-Tex
- Sleep Trial: 365-night sleep trial
- Firmness: Soft to firm (depends on configuration)
- Sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Double, Queen, King
- Best for: Lighter to average weight side-sleepers and back-sleepers
- Affordable, smartly designed, GOTS certified mattress
- Made with organic latex, organic wool, and organic cotton
- Free of PU foam, chemical flame retardants, and other troublesome materials
- Three-layer design allows for custom comfort (great if you’re indecisive or if circumstances change!)
- You can easily replace or rearrange layers instead of replacing the full mattress
- Layers are wrapped in organic cotton for easier handling
- Comes with 365-day sleep trial and 10-year warranty
- 25-year comfort policy offers a 30% discount on replacement layers
- Easier to move than a solid, glued latex mattress
- Company has been selling mattresses since 2015 and gets great reviews!
- Removable cover can be spot cleaned and aired out in the sun (but not washed or dry-cleaned)
- Free shipping to 48 states
- Great for side sleepers, and lighter back sleepers
- Breathable latex (great for hot sleepers), no sweaty PU foam here!
- A little pricier than lesser quality latex mattresses (but will likely save you money long-term!)
- Quite bouncy (motion transfer may be too much if you’re a light sleeper with a restless partner)
- Not designed for folks with a BMI over 31
- Expensive to ship to Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada
- Needs to be used on a platform or box-spring bed base or slatted base with narrow gaps only
- Not suitable for most Murphy beds
- Heavy! (Like all latex mattresses; though easier to move than most)
- Company also sells some down products
- A little too soft for most stomach sleepers
Spindle has been selling its signature organic mattress since 2015. Based in Massachusetts, this company keeps things simple by offering one three-layered 10-inch mattress made with organic latex, organic cotton, and organic wool.
The company doesn’t have the same marketing budget as many competitors, but it is very transparent about its materials and why it chooses them. It’s also no-nonsense when it comes to sleep-trials, warranty periods, returns and exchanges, and the company clearly knows which green certifications actually mean something.
Spindle doesn’t glue the mattress together and instead offers a three-layered design and zippered cover allowing for some serious flexibility in mattress configuration. Thanks to the smart design, you can adjust firmness to meet your needs, be that after one night’s sleep or 10 years down the line.
Spindle does not use polyurethane foam, chemical flame retardants, or other troublesome materials often found in mattresses. Note that Spindle also sells bedding made with organic cotton or linen, along with a couple of down products. As a general rule, Spindle favors domestic (U.S.) suppliers, for cost, quality, and eco-friendly purposes.
What is in a Spindle mattress?
A Spindle mattress comprises:
- GOLS certified organic latex – three layers, in firm, medium, or soft (at your choosing), each wrapped in organic cotton
- GOTS certified organic cotton – for the sleep surface (circular knit), side and bottom fabric (cotton canvas)
- GOTS certified organic wool – as a flame barrier around the mattress
- Polyester thread – to stitch the mattress together
- A zipper – for the cotton encasement
- Kevlar taping – to seal vulnerable seams where flame could sneak past the wool.
Spindle sources its organic cotton from New Mexico or Texas where possible, or India. This is then woven in Canada. It is all GOTS certified.
Spindle exclusively uses Dunlop latex. This is because the company likes its manufacturer and, again, wants to keep things simple, allowing for greater affordability for customers. Spindle’s Dunlop latex is made in Sri Lanka and has a springiness of around 4/10, according to the company.
One really nice feature of the Spindle mattress is that each layer of latex is individually wrapped in organic cotton. This makes these heavy layers much easier to move and more robust. It’s alarmingly easy to tear latex mattress layers if you’re not careful when moving them into place. The organic cotton wrapping also means this latex mattress is a good choice for anyone concerned about handling latex directly, such as when there’s worry over a latex allergy.
A transparent mattress company
Unlike most mattress companies, Spindle is totally transparent about its materials. This doesn’t just mean publishing the suppliers’ certifications for organic latex, wool, and cotton, but also detailing those parts of a mattress that typically get much less (if any) attention.
Under federal law, a mattress company need not list materials weighing less than 1% of the total finished mattress weight. As such, certain things don’t appear on the law tag, even of Spindle mattresses.
For instance, Spindle uses polyester thread to stitch the organic cotton fabric and organic wool batting into a quilt. This is standard practice across the organic mattress industry, but I usually have to badger mattress companies to reveal this information (and some refuse to say). Spindle estimates that the thread comprises less than 0.1% of the weight of the mattress.
In addition, Spindle uses a heat resistant para-aramid thread (Kevlar; AKA poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide) to seal the mattress seams. Without this, the seams are vulnerable to flames. This kind of thread is, again, standard for the organic mattress industry and is permitted under organic certification rules. Spindle estimates that the use of Kevlar comprises less than 0.001% of the mattress’s weight.
Finally, the Spindle mattress is encased in organic cotton with a zipper that has nylon teeth, and a metal trolley and pull tab.
Spindle mattresses are made with robustly certified organic materials. These comprise:
- Certified Organic Latex – (Latex Green CU 813274)
- Certified Oeko-Tex 100 Latex – (Latex Green 20.HLK.05093)
- Organic Cotton – (Latex Green CU 1085130)
- Organic Cotton – (Fine Cotton Factory CU 848243)
- Organic Wool – (Woolgather Carding Mill OTCO-OT-011118)
- Certified Oeko-Tex 100 Wool – (Latex Green 16.HUS.92223)
Spindle offers an incredibly thorough and nuanced discussion of mattress manufacturing and certifications on its blog.
What you won’t find in a Spindle mattress
As is the Spindle way, the company offers a photo of the law tag for its mattress, demonstrating that it comprises 98% latex and 2% wool.
What you won’t find in a Spindle mattress:
- Polyurethane foam
- Synthetic latex
- Fiberglass
- Modacrylic
- Silica
- Rayon
- Boric acid or any other chemical flame retardants.
How it performs
The Spindle has a reputation as a fantastic mattress for a wide range of folks, large and small. Its exact performance will depend on your choices when ordering, how you configure it at home, and how you sleep in general.
We love that you can shuffle the layers to try out various configurations, and how Spindle lets you return layers for replacements with a different firmness if your initial set-up isn’t working for you. This is much easier and more eco-friendly than returning an entire mattress.
Down the line, should you need replacement layers or find your sleep needs have changed significantly, Spindle offers a 30% discount on new layers for previous mattress customers.
Overall, the Spindle is best for lighter adults (close to 130 lb. and less than 230 lb.) who sleep on their side or back. We recommend a medium, medium, firm set-up for most lighter adults, though some side-sleepers might prefer a soft, medium, firm design.
The layered design also makes it much easier to set up your mattress and move it from room to room or home to home. A glued or thick single layer latex mattress is an absolute nightmare to move once it is unboxed from its vacuum wrap (speaking from personal experience!). Spindle is also rare in that it wraps each latex layer in an organic cotton cover. This helps to protect the latex, making it less likely to tear during set-up, for instance.
How comfortable and supportive is a Spindle mattress?
Even if you choose a mixture of firm and medium layers, though, the Spindle mattress may still feel too soft for some stomach sleepers and heavier folks. Spindle doesn’t recommend its mattresses for anyone with a BMI over 31. To firm things up a tad, you could switch the top layer for a firm layer, but if you like a firmer sleep surface, you may be better off choosing a hybrid latex mattress with innerspring coils.
Customer reviews are fairly mixed when it comes to how much support this mattress offers. Given that the layers can be configured in a variety of ways, it’s hard to tell how much of this variation in comfort and support is due to the mattress rather than the way it’s set up.
Heavier, restless sleepers may find the mattress causes too much motion transfer, especially in a medium or softer configuration. Lighter folks may find this mattress just the ticket for cushiony comfort. The only way to find out is to give it a try! And if you haven’t slept on a latex mattress before, perhaps take a trip to a mattress showroom and try out a model there to get a feel for the material first.
You might also consider calling Spindle to discuss your particular needs before ordering. They’re experts on their mattresses and very experienced in helping work with customers to find a configuration that offers the required support for good sleep.
What customers say about Spindle
The best:
“Having slept for the past 5 years on a latex mattress that cost twice as much, we were hoping that our Spindle mattress would be almost as comfortable. Instead, it is incredibly more comfortable. The perfect blend of support and suppleness. We are amazed and thrilled with our purchase. By far the best sleeping experience of our lives.”
Alan H, 2019
“After 4 months, we love this mattress even more than when we first laid down on it. The fact that you can configure the mattress by rearranging the layers is genius. It is a little bit of work to do the rearranging but you can get it “just so” and the payoff is amazing. We sink into it just the right amount, and then it’s just nice even support. We can’t feel each other turn over, and there’s no weird pressure spots. It’s a joy to lay down on every night, and when I travel I miss my home mattress quite a bit.”
Aleksandr M, 2022
The worst:
“I hate this mattress. It causes extreme back pain. I’ve given it several months to loosen up and it’s still terrible.”
Denise H, 2016
“Hard to put together, very difficult/almost impossible to move, normal sized sheets do not fit. Wake up with a lower back ache most mornings and do not look forward to going to bed. 🙁 “.
Katie W, 2019
How to choose your Spindle mattress layers
Spindle is one of few mattress companies that lets customers choose their mattress layers. The smart zippered design also allows you to rearrange layers as needed. This is super helpful when sleeping situations change, such as if someone else will be using the mattress, you have an injury or illness, you’re pregnant or co-sleeping with a child, or if your sleeping partner changes.
This kind of adjustable design is much more eco-friendly overall as it means you don’t have to just ditch the mattress entirely in favor of a new one. Instead, you can switch out or just rearrange the layers to find a setup that meets your new needs. Spindle is also very adept at offering guidance on how to rejig your mattress layers for greatest comfort and offers a deep discount for replacement layers, should you need them (see below).
Not sure where to start with choosing mattress layers? Spindle recommends the following configurations for medium and firm comfort:
Downsides
The main downsides to a Spindle mattress are that it’s not ready to use right out of the box and can be a bit tricky to put together by yourself, especially if you’re hefting around king size slabs of latex. The King-size weighs more than 180 lb.!
The other main complaint about Spindle mattresses is that they can be a bit bouncy and create more motion transfer than some sleepers like. The bounciness may benefit some bedroom activities, but could also lead to sleep disturbances. If this is the case for you after buying a Spindle mattress, you may want to work with Spindle to switch out layers to make the mattress firmer and less bouncy, or consider using a firmer mattress topper to control the roll.
The Spindle mattress is likely best for lighter side sleepers and back sleepers. For stomach sleepers, the mattress may feel too soft to be comfortable. Similarly, heavier side or back sleepers may want greater support than this latex mattress offers.
Spindle also only offers Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, and King sizes, with no Cali King or split size options. This means you can’t configure the two sides of the mattress to meet different sleep needs. You could, however, choose two Twin XLs to make a dual firmness King size mattress, though you’d want a King size topper to even out the gap in the middle.
Spindle mattress also take a little while to deliver; around two to four weeks typically. This is because they’re handmade to order. Some popular builds are usually already in process, so these may arrive earlier. Note that you may receive one or two boxes a day or so after the rest of your order. Check you have all your boxes before beginning set-up.
Packaging and shipping
Spindle doesn’t remove your old mattress and doesn’t offer a white glove delivery service. This is to help keep the cost of goods as low as possible, i.e., to make the mattresses more affordable. Spindle offers a wealth of good advice on its website about how to assemble the mattress yourself or how to find folks who can help with mattress set-up and removal.
Spindle offers shipping for free to all 48 contiguous states in the U.S. It doesn’t currently offer international shipping, though it does ship to Canada (not for free). As the company ships from Illinois, the cost of shipping to Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada is prohibitively expensive for most customers. Note, too, that Spindle doesn’t cover the cost of shipping for returns and exchanges from Hawaii and Alaska.
Spindle makes its mattresses to order but typically has some of its most popular products in progress. This means it can take two to four weeks to receive your mattress after purchase. The closer you are to Illinois, the faster you’ll get your mattress. Most mattresses are shipped within seven to ten days of ordering and FedEx Ground shipping takes one to six business days.
Because the mattress is shipped in two (or sometimes three) boxes, you may get part of your mattress a day or two after the rest.
Note that Spindle offers a military discount (contact the company for more information), but doesn’t ship to military bases or PO boxes.
Final thoughts on Spindle mattresses
With Spindle, you can choose three latex layers for your mattress and then move the layers around as is your wont. To keep it simple, Spindle offers medium-firm and firm options in a Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, or King size. For the same price, you can also choose your layers yourself in a combination of soft, medium, and firm Dunlop latex.
Spindle gets a solid thumbs-up for materials, design, and customer care. The company has been in business for enough years to know what it’s doing. This also means there’s been enough time for any issues to reveal themselves in terms of quality or service (which they haven’t).
All in all, Spindle is a great choice for an affordable, quality mattress made with certified organic materials. The company seems to genuinely care that you get a good night’s sleep and will work to make that happen. However, if you’re on the heavier side (weighing more than 250 lbs.) or are a stomach sleeper, this mattress might not be for you, even in a firmer configuration. Instead, consider similarly eco-friendly latex mattresses such as the Botanical Bliss from PlushBeds, or an Avocado or Birch latex mattress.
FAQs
While you can remove the cover of your Spindle mattress, the company strongly advises against washing or dry cleaning this cover. Instead, it’s best to use a mattress protector with your Spindle mattress and spot clean the cover as needed.
The big advantage with a Spindle mattress, though, is that you can hang the entire cover out to air in the sunshine. Spindle offers additional advice on how to clean your mattress cover at its website.
Spindle offers a full year’s sleep trial, which is more than Nolah, Essentia, Plushbeds, Naturepedic, and Savvy Rest. It is the same, however, as Avocado (for adult mattresses) and Awara. The trial is a comfort guarantee, during which you can contact Spindle to arrange to try a different layer in your mattress. You have to pay shipping for the new layer and to ship back the original layer (this is similar for Savvy Rest and other layered mattresses).
Spindle says that around 85 percent of its customers love their mattress right out of the box. Some 13-14 percent realize they need a different level of comfort and need to switch out a layer. That means just 1-2 percent of customers remain unhappy.
If, at the end of the year, you’re one of the 1-2 percent and still aren’t comfortable with the Spindle mattress, and you’ve worked with the company to try to remedy the situation, Spindle will refund all your money. Before they do this, though, they require you to cut the tags off the mattress, send them to Spindle, and arrange for your mattress to be donated. They also require proof that the donation is complete before they refund your money.
Spindle’s warranty covers the first 10 years after purchase and applies only to things such as a sag that exceeds 3/4-inch in the latex. Any replacement is shipped at Spindle’s expense within the contiguous U.S.
As with most standard limited warranties, mattresses that are soiled or damaged by the customer are not covered. The warranty is also void if you don’t use the right kind of bed to support the Spindle mattress, i.e., not a Murphy bed or wide-slatted base. Check out Spindle’s other small print for other concerns before you buy.
The big difference between Spindle and most other mattress makers is that the company also offers a 25-year Comfort Life program. This allows you to purchase a replacement layer at a 30 percent discount (from prices at the time) at any point during the first 25-years after buying the mattress. This is a more eco-friendly and affordable option for refreshing your sleep situation without having to buy a whole new mattress!
Spindle notes that most customers should expect to use their mattress for around eight years. The materials are warrantied for 10 years, however, and the comfort policy applies for 25 years. That means you could switch out a layer to renew your mattress at eight years, 10, years, or even 24 years.
Only the original purchaser can use the comfort policy and you have to contact Spindle directly to arrange the discount.
In short, no, the three layers in a Spindle mattress aren’t glued or sewn in place, but they won’t move around unless you want them to. That is, unless you unzip the case and decide to rearrange the layers yourself!
The natural latex layers are individually wrapped in organic cotton and there’s enough friction to hold the layers in place once your mattress is properly set up.
Spindle deliberately doesn’t use glue in its mattresses because it wants to maintain adjustability and make it easier (and more affordable) to ship its mattresses and for customers to move them around. While Spindle’s motivation for not using glue isn’t to avoid toxic chemicals, the fact that these mattresses are glue-free is a bonus to customers who do have concerns over adhesives.
The latex layers are created as single, solid, blocks, then cut to size. This means there is no need for seams or glue. Even the King Size mattress has three solid layers of organic latex. This makes it much easier to move the mattress from room to room or to a new home. The King Size mattress weighs more than 180 pounds, with all three layers in place; clearly, being able to pack and move each layer individually is very helpful.
This layered design also makes it easier and cheaper for Spindle to ship the mattresses which, in turn, keeps the mattresses affordable and within reach for more customers.