An In-Depth Review of Essentia’s Classic8 Organic Memory Foam Bed — 5 Years After Purchase
5 years ago, we fell in love with an organic memory foam bed. Here’s an In-Depth Review of Essentia’s Classic8 Organic Memory Foam Bed — a bed that doesn’t sleep hot, is allergy-friendly and non-toxic, sustainably sourced, provides full-body support with zero partner disturbance, and has given us 1,825 nights of the best sleep ever!
It’s been a year 5 YEARS since we bought our Essentia Classic8 Organic Memory Foam mattress…
Holy moly… 5 whole years!
That’s 1,825 nights.
After we’d had our Essentia bed for a year, I got an email from a reader, Julie, asking, “Do you still love your Essentia bed?”
Here’s Julie’s entire comment:
Hi, just checking in to see if you still love your Essentia bed? I stumbled on the IntelliBed by reading the same blogs you mentioned [in this post]. Then I stumbled onto this one and numerous others who have varied opinions (including the blogger that did the opposite of you — bought an Essentia but ended up with an IntelliBed). SO…needless to say, I am thoroughly confused — not to mention that I read all the comments under each of these blogs & have a list of no less than 15 other ‘natural’ companies that were recommended. It looks like the Essentia can be returned but with losing shipping costs + a 9% fee so it is definitely a gamble as well. But something about the Intellibed marketing is making me uncomfortable. ALL of that to say…would love to hear an update on how your bed is working for you. Thanks.
Before I share whether or not we are still loving our Classic8 organic memory foam bed, let’s review a few things…
Full disclosure: I did not receive any free products or compensation for this in-depth review. I purchased my Essentia Classic8 Bed and am writing this review for the purposes of educating my readers about the products I use and love. I am receiving no compensation, monetary or otherwise, for this review. All opinions are my own.
The Epic of Finding the Perfect, Non-Toxic Mattress
In 2014, it was time for a bed change. We’d been sleeping on the same mattress for 12 years, and we were long overdue for a new one.
The Hubs and I knew we wanted a bed that wasn’t going to off-gas harmful chemicals, such as formaldehyde and fire retardants, into our room — chemicals that have proven to be detrimental to people’s health.
It took me months of research to narrow down our choices. We decided on Essentia…
But…
Then, the grass started looking greener elsewhere, with many bloggers reviewing and raving about the Intellibed. So, at the very last minute, we changed our minds and bought the Intellibed instead.
Yet, after less than a week of not sleeping on the Intellibed, we realized it was NOT the bed for us. Thankfully, we experienced great customer service with Intellibed, and we were able to return the bed without complication.
Back went the Intellibed, and our original choice — the Essentia Classic8 bed — was ordered.
Here’s a little bit about Essentia…
Essentia was founded to solve a void on the market: there was no pressure-relieving mattress that did not off gas.
This is an issue if you have chemical sensitivities; are suffering from diseases like cancer; choose prevention over chronic exposure to chemicals; value an organic lifestyle or are seeking higher quality sleep.
Furthermore, Essentia developed and still manufactures the world’s only natural memory foam mattresses.
Today, the Performance Collection in the Essentia lineup represents this original category, including our Classic8. To this day, the Performance collection mattresses are still a more advanced memory foam option than anything else one the market.
Essentia developed these beds to meet 6 key elements of healthy sleep.
6 Key Elements of Healthy Sleep
#1 — Allergy-friendly. Essentia beds are impervious to dust mites and do not contain latex. There is no wool or batting used in these beds that might attract dust mites. You won’t be exposed to allergens on Essentia beds.
#2 — Whole-body Comfort. Happily, these beds offer ultimate comfort, relieve pressure points, increase circulation, and eliminate numbness so you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
#3 — Optimized Sleep. Essentia’s patented molded technology results in a high density natural memory foam comfort layer that reacts quickly to your natural movements at night, thus reducing sleep interruptions and keeping you in crucial REM sleep cycles.
#4 — Clean Air Environment. Essentia’s natural and organic components reduce VOC exposure so your body can spend less time fighting outside elements and more time healing. Additionally, all Essentia products are manufactured in Essentia’s GOLS (Global Organic Latex Standard) and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic factory.
#5 — Proper Posture. Essentia mattresses eliminate negative space to properly support the back for a more comfortable sleep. The natural hevea latex support core featured in all Essentia mattresses ensures proper spinal alignment.
#6 — Temperature Control. Finally, Essentia mattresses naturally pull heat away from your body and out of the mattress, allowing you to sleep on average 7 degrees cooler* than your body temperature over an 8 hour time lapse thus promoting ‘micro-hibernation’.
Ok, So Why Was Essentia Our First Choice?
All memory foam mattresses currently produced (like TempurPedic) are made of petroleum-based products… except Essentia. It’s natural memory foam — made from the hevea milk of the rubber tree.
The materials to produce these beds are naturally sourced.
- No springs or metal parts.
- No chemically laced stuffings.
- And, no bi-products.
Hevea milk is sustainably sourced from plantations in Indonesia that provide safe working conditions for their workers.
The beds themselves are made in Canada, not overseas and then imported. The hevea milk is imported to the production site, the beds are produced, then shipping occurs. None of this “Made in China” business.
Because Essentia is importing hevea milk and not beds, less transportation and less fuel are used. This is not only better for the environment, but also the economy.
All plant-based materials are used to produce these beds, including essential oils and natural plant extracts. You can learn exactly how these beds are made here.
Fun Fact: if you were to leave an Essentia mattress fully exposed to the elements (wind, rain, sun) it will biodegrade in just 3 years.
The beds passed all the tests from the EuroLatex Eco Standard — tests which check levels of heavy metals, pesticides, VOCs, and more in latex beds.
The bed covers are 100% organic cotton, and certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). And, they’re SUPER soft and luxurious!
Finally, can you say, “120-day money back guarantee”? 🙂
Wait… there has to be a catch, right? What about their return policy?
In her comment, Julie mentioned the gamble of paying for the return shipping + a 9% recycling fee.
Here’s a breakdown of Essentia’s warranty:
- Depending on the model you choose, there is a 10- or 20-year warranty. UPDATE: Now ALL Essential beds are covered by a 20-year warranty.
- This warranty is pro-rated.
- If during the warranty period the mattress is found to have a defect that is the result of faulty workmanship or structural defects, Essentia will either replace or repair the bed.
- The customer must provide the proper base for the bed to rest upon, such as a platform bed. Using an improper base which damages the quality of the bed is not covered under the warranty.
- Accidental or purposeful damage, including burns, cuts, water stains, mold, bodily fluids, and abnormal use are not covered under the warranty.
- You can read the complete warranty policy here.
Here’s a breakdown of Essentia’s return policy:
- You have
60120 days to try your bed. - Only the mattress is eligible for return and refund during this 120-day period. The cotton mattress cover, pillows, and dog beds cannot be returned.
- A 9% transport and recycling fee (18% for their lowest model bed) is charged upon return. Because beds cannot be re-sold or reused by other customers, they must be disposed of properly. Thankfully, Essentia beds are recyclable! This 9% fee also covers return transport. (The fee is slightly different for customers outside the contiguous U.S.)
- The 9% transport and recycling fee is 9% of the price of the mattress itself, not 9% of the entire order (if pillows or other accessories were ordered as well).
- You can read the complete return policy here.
So, here’s how it would’ve worked if we had hated our Classic8 and returned it:
The bed we purchased is the Essentia king-size Classic8, which currently costs $4,946.00. <<MEMORIAL DAY Sale is happening… our Classic8 is 25% off!!)
All Essentia beds ship free to the lower 48 states and Canada.
We had 60 days (it’s now 120 days) to either fall in love with the bed or hate it.
If we hated it, we could return the bed within the 60-day period (now 120 days) and receive a full refund, minus 9% — $445.14.
Essentia would’ve refunded all of our money, except the $445.14 — because that amount covers the partial cost of transporting the bed back to Essentia, plus recycling the bed.
If you buy a bed from Intellibed, you receive the bed for free shipping, but you lose the shipping if you return it. It is very common for mattress companies to have a return shipping and/or recycling fee.
So, do we still love our Essentia bed — after 5 years?
YES!
A thousand times, yes! I said it after 1 year, and I’m still singing the same tune after 5 years!
Sending the Intellibed back (and losing some money on a recycling and shipping fee) was absolutely worth it to ensure a good night’s sleep on our Essentia Classic8 Organic Memory Foam bed!
We would buy our Essentia Classic8 again in a heartbeat! 🙂
In-Depth Review of Essentia’s Classic8 Organic Memory Foam Bed: what exactly do we love about it?
No “hills and valleys”. It’s still just as level as the day we got it. See the photo above? That’s what our bed looks like after 5 years of sleeping on it!
Our original inner spring, pillow top mattress was already indented with hills and a valley in the middle after just a few months! And, there was a hill in the middle of our Intellibed after just 1 week! 🙁
No smells or off-gassing. Ever. It didn’t even have a “new” smell or even smell like the box it was shipped in.
That organic cotton cover. The organic cotton cover conveniently zips on and off for easy washing. And, it’s luxuriously soft and dreamy.
Transports easily. We rolled it up like a burrito to move it 1,200 miles from Texas to Minnesota — and it made the move perfectly. I won’t say it’s light — it’s not. But, it was easy to move.
Durable. It has stood up to David and the peeps and the dogs wrestling on it. And 1,825 nights of sleeping.
Zero partner disturbance. When he moves, I don’t feel it and vice versa. It’s like we don’t even share a bed! Well, except when one of us snores. There’s not an anti-snore policy with this bed. 😉
Less pain. The Hubs no longer complains of neck pain, and I no longer have lower back pain. And, our original reason for buying a new bed — my hips and sacrum going numb — also went away.
Worth Mentioning Again
