Mattress firmness is a handshake, not a score

Is there a standard firmness scale?

No. A brand can print 1 to 10 on a page and mean anything it likes. There is no lab stamp that makes a "6" on our site equal a "6" somewhere else. If a comparison chart treats those numbers as the same unit, ignore the chart.

What are we actually labeling?

On Thaw, feel is a description of the spec, not a promise about your body.

• Drift is medium. All foam, 25 cm. The top gives, the core is quieter than a coil bed, and a side sleeper usually gets the shoulder in without the whole bed caving.
• Harbor is medium-firm. Hybrid, 28 cm. The coils push back under the waist. We'd pick this when someone says the last bed "let them sink and then stuck."
• Loom comes in two feels, plush or supportive, at 33 cm. Same height, different top. Plush is the hotel-bed request. Supportive is for people who liked the height and not the sink.
• Current is a medium hybrid at 27 cm, with the cooling cover and a more open build. Feel and temperature are not the same dial. You can be medium and still sleep hot if the room is hot.

Why does the same bed feel different to two people?

Weight. A lighter person sits higher in the foam. A heavier person reaches the support layer sooner, and may call the same bed "soft" because they compressed it. We don't publish a weight chart with cutoffs, because bodies aren't a single number and hips aren't shoulders. If you and a partner disagree on a showroom bed after five minutes, believe the disagreement. It will still be there on night ten, just with more vocabulary.

What does "plush" usually hide?

A thicker, softer top. That's pleasant for a back or side sleeper who wants to feel held. It's a poor trade for a stomach sleeper, whose hips need a limit. Plush also holds a bit more warmth, because there's more foam against you. If heat is the complaint, don't solve it by going plush and then blaming the cover.

What does "firm" usually hide?

Less top foam, or a tighter coil. Good when the hips need a stop. Bad when a side sleeper's shoulder has nowhere to go, and the person decides their "back is the problem" when the shoulder was the problem. We've heard that mix-up in the mail often enough to put it near the top of this page.

Can I change firmness later without a new mattress?

Sometimes. A topper can soften a bed that is too hard, 5 cm of it, which is a real change and not a miracle. A topper will not reliably firm up a bed that has collapsed. If you are standing in a sag, the topper is a delay. Read topper or new mattress before you buy the delay on purpose.

How should I use the trial, given all this?

Sleep in your real position, with your real pillow, on your real base. A firmness impression from a sofa cushion is not data. Drift, Harbor, Loom, and Current share 100 nights. Use them. Swapping feels inside Loom (plush versus supportive) is a product choice at order time, not a zipper you open later.

Where do the names on the build come from?

Meltcore, Coilwell, Airveil, and the rest are our names for layers we spec. They are not certifications and not a firmness score. The how it's made page says what each one is. If a sentence on that page is vaguer than you want, the honest reason is that a foam density number without the rest of the stack is another false-precision trick. We'd rather describe the job of the layer.

A way to shop the word without a chart

Take the bed you sleep on now, if you still have it, and describe it to yourself in a sentence that isn't a number. "I sink and stay." "I feel like I'm on top of it." "The edge is fine, the middle is a bowl." Bring that sentence to the product page. Drift answers the first sentence if the sink is something you want at the shoulder and not at the whole body. Harbor answers the second if "on top of it" has become "I can't get my shoulder in." A bowl is not a firmness setting. A bowl is wear, and the replacement essay is the one that belongs in that tab.

If you're between two feels on Loom, order the one that matches the position you defend in an argument, not the one the photo suggests. Plush photographs better. Supportive is harder to show and easier to live on if your hips drop. You can read every label we print and still be wrong, which is why the trial is long. Wrong is allowed. Pretending a 7 from another site predicted it is how the return email gets defensive.

FAQ

Should couples split the difference and buy medium?

Only if both of you were already near medium. If one sleeps on their stomach and one on their side, medium is a compromise that can annoy both. Look at Harbor's medium-firm before you average the argument into Drift.

Do firmness preferences change with age?

People often want less pressure at the shoulder as years go by, and they often blame "the mattress getting soft" when the change is them. Sometimes the mattress did get soft. Check for a visible dip before you diagnose yourself.

Is a higher number firmer?

On some sites, yes. On others the scale runs backward or doesn't mean much. Read the words next to the number, then lie on the bed.