Best Sales on Mattresses & Sleep Essentials for Prime Big Deal Days
Amazon's October deals event has plenty of mediocre mattress and sleep product deals. Here are the handful that are worth your money.
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Designing the perfect sleep environment is always easier when you’re shopping at a discount. For Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event, which runs today and tomorrow, the retailer has cut prices on plenty of items, including a decent selection of sleep essentials, like mattresses, pillows, and sheets.
We also scour the site for deals on nice-to-haves, like air purifiers to help create a sleep space with fewer allergens. And we’ve got you covered if you’re looking to make your bed cozier, say with a dreamy duvet or plush mattress topper.
Consumer Reports has tested all of the products in this roundup and keeps tabs on their prices so that we can help you find the best options and the best prices. Bear in mind that not all the deals for Prime Big Deal Days are good—we’ve seen plenty of prices that are the same, or even higher, than at other times of the year. We’ve also seen steep discounts on products that just don’t perform. Here, we’ve culled the list to highlight real deals on the sleep essentials that are actually worth buying. We’re also including sales at Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.
Pillows
Layla’s extended Labor Day sale is the same promotion they’ve been running since Memorial Day—a buy one, get one 50 percent off deal. The adjustable-fill pillow from Layla marries polyurethane foam with kapok—the featherlike fiber made from the seed pods of the kapok tree, popular for being a vegan alternative to down. Our tests find that the model lives up to the material’s reputation, offering top-notch breathability in a soft and rather resilient package. Despite not having cooling properties as its name suggests, the pillow does not retain warmth. And while it offers stellar support for side sleepers, back sleepers are also well served by this pick.
The Tuft & Needle Original Foam Pillow, constructed from polyurethane foam and featuring a micro-polyamide and polyester cover, impressed testers with its exceptional breathability. Our lab tests indicate it’s an excellent option for side sleepers, though less suitable for back sleepers. Users can expect consistent firmness, height, and support over time.
The Fern & Willow Down Alternative set with Luxury Plush Cooling Gel earns top marks for both side and back support, making it a versatile option for most sleepers. Its breathable, gel-fiber fill helps keep things cool throughout the night, and it’s fully washable and adjustable for added convenience. While it’s not the most resilient pillow, the overall comfort and cooling performance make it a smart, budget-friendly choice at a great price.
Purple’s DreamLayer pillow uses GelFlex Grid technology for pressure-relieving comfort. This adjustable pillow has a urethane foam pad with gel and two removable layers. Side sleepers may prefer it. Smaller sleepers should remove layers, while larger sleepers may want to add one. It’s breathable and cooling, has a washable cover, and doesn’t retain warmth.
Sheets
You’re going to experience quite a bit of wrinkling with the Hotel Collection Egyptian cotton sheets, but if you don’t mind pulling out the steamer to get your sheets smooth, you have a winner with this set. It provides a great fit for mattresses up to 10 inches thick, and it can withstand quite a bit of stretching and pulling. Plus, it aced our shrinkage test—just one of five cotton sheets in our ratings to do so.
The Boll & Branch Percale Solid sheet set fits mattresses up to 14 inches deep and includes directional tags for easier bed-making. It scores well for fit, with average performance in strength, shrinkage, and wrinkling. A decent everyday option, especially if you value soft percale and thoughtful design touches.
Coop is the brand that introduced the "original" adjustable pillow to the market, and it seems it has another top-rated bedding product on its hands. Coop Sleep Goods ComphySoftSpa sheets excelled in our shrinkage and fit tests, proving they’ll stay securely on your mattress even after multiple washes. These polyester linens won’t wrinkle much, and their pleasing strength test results mean they’ll stand the test of time.
Today and tomorrow, you can save 20 percent on this and all other purchases at Coop Sleep Goods. Click on the Shop button, then select Get Offer to head to the Coop site.
Duvets
Buffy Cloud Comforter
Buffy’s Cloud Comforter is the softest choice in our at-home assessment. Thanks to its smooth, silky feel and fluffiness, the duvet is comfortable enough to use without a duvet cover. Made of recycled materials, it’s uniformly stuffed in layers to prevent clumping and shedding. The shell material is 100 percent sateen-weave Tencel lyocell.
Utopia Bedding Duvet Insert
The Utopia Bedding duvet insert is perfect if you don’t want to spend a ton on a new comforter. I have one that I’ve been using for the past three years, and I find it to be lightweight and perfect for warmer nights. And with a good duvet cover, it gets cozy and warm. CR’s reviewer pointed out that it’s not as fluffy as other duvets (it is on the thinner side). The material is synthetic, so it doesn’t allow for the airflow that those made with natural fibers like cotton can provide.
Cooling Blankets
Guohaoi Cooling Blanket
The Guohaoi Cooling Blanket is at a nice discount right now—we’ve seen it for as low as $24 before, so you might want to wait for a better deal if you don’t need it right away. It offers strong cooling performance—second only to the Elegear Revolutionary Cooling Blanket we also tried—and features a similar smooth, swimsuit-like feel. It’s made with a nylon-polyester front and a cotton back, and includes a satin border, though the build quality and stitching are less refined than the Elegear. While it stays cool during use and doesn’t retain heat, issues like the loosely attached layers and less comfortable design make it a less compelling option, given its similar price.
Elegear Cooling Blanket
The Elegear Revolutionary Cooling Blanket was CR’s top pick because it kept us the coolest in our tests and was comfortable, soft, and well-made. It features smooth Arc-Chill 3.0 Cool Fabric on one side and Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified cotton on the other side.
Heated Blankets
Bedsure Electric Heated Flannel Blanket
The Bedsure Electric Heated Flannel Blanket is thin but light. Though it’s cozy, it resembles an inexpensive fleece blanket you’d find at a grocery store. One side is striped flannel and the other is linty fleece. The flannel is not the best quality, but it does get hot. And it has the lightest wires of the blankets we evaluated. This is the price for a throw-sized blanket. Other sizes vary in price.
Blackout Curtains
Blackout curtains can be a total game-changer. The Amazon Basics Room Darkening Blackout Curtains are among the best we evaluated for a number of reasons. Tested in both black and white, they scored a perfect 5 out of 5 for their ability to block light. As for how well the curtains provide insulation against heat loss and gain, we scored it 4 out of 5. Made from polyester/polyurethane, each panel uses loops to attach to a rod. They’re also washable—making them both functional and convenient.
Room Fans
Vornado Flippi V6 Personal Air Circulator
If you’re looking for a small fan to keep things cool at your desk or on a bedside table, this little Vornado model could fit the bill. It’s quiet and fairly versatile, with a 180-degree tilt and two speed settings.
Mattress Toppers
This 2-inch Tuft & Needle topper offers excellent support and convenience, with a removable polyester cover and consistent firmness. It’s lightweight for its size and adds subtle cushioning without trapping heat. Just be aware that it lacks corner straps and can’t be flipped, which may affect how securely it stays in place.
This 3-inch queen-size memory foam mattress topper is still available for the same low price we saw on Prime Day. It offers excellent support and a deeper, more cushioned feel than many others. Infused with cooling gel, it helps regulate temperature for a more comfortable night’s sleep. The flippable design adds versatility, though it lacks a cover and corner straps, which may lead to shifting. Temperature-sensitive foam means the topper feels softer when warm and firmer in cooler conditions. Weighing 15 pounds, it provides average warmth retention and a balanced blend of comfort and support.
Viscosoft’s gel-infused memory foam topper is reasonably plush but still has a medium to medium-firm feel, based on my experience lying on it. Like the Dormeo, it earns first-rate marks for support and convenience. But this topper envelops the body more than the Dormeo, scoring on the warmer side for heat retention. Our lab data suggests that those who sleep hot are likely to feel that difference. Additional features include corner straps to help keep it in place and a removable machine-washable rayon cover. The topper can also be flipped and rotated, though it weighs 27 pounds (among the heaviest on this list), so you might need a helper. Viscosoft offers a full refund up to 90 days after purchase if you’re not satisfied with your topper. It’s also backed by a five-year warranty from the date of original purchase.
Air Purifiers
The Blueair Blue Pure 311i Max Air Purifier features an indicator light to alert you when you need to change or clean the filter. It also has a dirt sensor and four speeds. On its higher setting, it’s terrific at removing dust, pollen, and smoke, but expect a bit of noise. It’s easy to use, and is designed for use in a large space of 350 to 650 square feet. CR members find Blueair air purifiers to be highly reliable, and they’re very satisfied with their purchases.
The Levoit PlasmaPro 600S is a solid performer all-around, clearing the air of dust, pollen, and smoke at both higher and lower settings with great results. It’s noisy while running at a high speed, but it’s relatively quiet at low speeds, making it ideal for an office or bedroom. And you don’t have to worry about keeping track of filter changes: An indicator light alerts you when it’s time. This machine also has a dust sensor and a programmable timer.
Humidifiers
The low-priced, ultrasonic Levoit Classic 300S can humidify a room of up to 505 square feet, which earns it a solid rating in our output test. It aces other evaluations too. It has a variety of features including automatic shut-off, a digital humidity display more accurate than those of most competitors, and the option to diffuse aromas. It’s been as low as $64, but this is the best discount we’ve seen in a few months.
Mattresses
This budget-friendly mattress provides impressive support for most sleepers. (It’s not ideal for large and tall side sleepers.) Firmness-wise, it’s on the softer side and earns solid ratings in our durability tests.
This hybrid mattress is a great value, offering terrific support for petite and average back and side sleepers of all sizes. It lets you change sleep positions without transmitting movement throughout the bed. Despite the budget price, the model has excellent durability. The only sleepers it’s not ideal for are those who exceed 6-foot-2 in height, 220 pounds in weight, and primarily slumber on their sides.
Air Mattresses
The 18-inch-high Intex Comfort Plush Elevated Dura-Beam garners an impressive deflection score in our tests, forming a depression of 2 inches when weight is initially applied. This, combined with its elevated height, allows you to push off the mattress with ease when you stand up. But this mattress earns a less-than-stellar rating in our convenience test. It took slightly longer to inflate, about 6 minutes, and 5 minutes to deflate it. Also, this mattress wasn’t as easy to fold up and put away as the Simmons Beautyrest and requires about 1.3 cubic feet of space to store. It comes with a storage bag and a built-in electric pump.
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