I Tested Koala’s Award Winning Mattress To See If It Could Help Me Fall Sleep Au Naturel

Who else can barely remember the days when they could easily fall asleep? Just lay your head on the pillow and poof! — fast asleep.

Personally, I lie awake for at least an hour every night while my brain relives everything I did that day and catalogues my anxieties. I usually rely on good sleeping pills, the sound of a babbling brook, and a weighted blanket to help me fall asleep, but even with all of that, my sleep kinda sucks.

So when I heard about Koala’s award winning new mattress range and how they were supposedly even comfier than the original, I knew I had to try one. I wanted to see if it was so comfy it could help me sleep better, and after trying one for a week, I have to say that, yes, it unequivocally did.

Night Night

Koala now has three new mattresses in their range: the New Koala Mattress, the Calm As, and the Soul Mate mattress. I tried the Calm As because it has a thick comfort layer topped off with a 1cm quilted sleep surface and something called COOLMAX, which helps regulate your temperature overnight. It also has multiple support zones to make sure you don’t wake up feeling sore. Also, as the winner of 2021Canstar and Product of the Year awards (mattress categories), I was eager to see what all the fuss was about.

If I’m honest, my sleeping position is best described as a “pretzel with an extra twist”, so I loved the idea of having a mattress that compensated for that.

The comfort layer is double-sided with a soft and medium-firm feel. I’ve been sleeping on the mediumfirm side, but changing it is as easy as unzipping the comfort layer from the base layer and flipping it over. As far as firm mattresses go, it’s very soft in a good way: the comfort layer is so snuggly, but at the same time holds its shape. Therefore, preventing you from sinking too deeply into it.

Like all Koala mattresses, mine arrived rolled up and the first thing I did when I laid it out was flop onto it face-first. I’m an anti-nap kinda person, but it was so soft that I just lay there for a minute. Sleep isn’t something I generally look forward to, but man, I was excited to go to sleep that night.

Rise And Shine

It was finally time to try the Koala Calm As mattress out for myself! That night, I didn’t take sleeping pills, I didn’t play white noise, I swapped out my weighted blanket for a regular doona, and… I lay awake in bed.

The next morning my very first thought was that my experiment had failed. However, I felt noticeably less tired than usual. I realised that I didn’t fall asleep straight away, but I definitely did fall asleep faster, which (for me) is a significant development.

As the week went on, I fell asleep faster and faster each night. I still don’t fall asleep as soon as I turn the lights off, but any night that I don’t stare at the ceiling until I pass out is a huge win for me.

I’ve also been waking up feeling more rested, which generally never happens for me. My old mattress wasn’t uncomfortable — by any standard — but I never woke up feeling sprightly. I was a 6/10 at best most mornings, but with the Koala mattress, I’m a lot closer to a 9.

Sweet Dreams

On the last night of my experiment, I brought back the white noise and weighted blanket — but still didn’t take a sleeping pill. That night I totally understood why everyone always goes on about Koala mattresses.

It was the best night’s sleep of my life.

I realised then that I’d probably struggled to fall asleep on the other nights because I didn’t have all the comforting things I was used to. But with the comfort of a weighted blanket, soothing sounds, and an insanely soft and snuggly mattress, I fell asleep in what I’m pretty sure is an average amount of time.

I already own a Canstar awarded Koala pillow, which I love: I understood some of the hype. But the new Calm As Koala mattress has opened my eyes (or rather closed them) to what good sleep can and should be.

Save 20% OFF the award-winning Koala Mattress Range. Cyber Sale ON NOW at koala.com.