For the Best Heat Regulation & Soft Feel, You Need The Sleep Innovations Shiloh

The Shiloh feels like it should be worth 3x its price tag. With a unique two-layered, 12” thick memory foam system, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better deal for such high-quality, USA-made material. There’s a ton of support from the base layer, but some customers who are lightweight should definitely consider purchasing an extra mattress topper to make it a perfect sleeping experience. For me, a 200 lb male, just the mattress without additions was firm yet comfortable.

The Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12” Memory Foam Mattress is one of the models in the Sleep Innovations SureTemp product line. Every mattress in the SureTemp line is made with two layers of the same quality memory foam, but they differ in their thicknesses.

For this review I tested the 80x60x12 Queen-size mattress using our standard Zen Sleeping Scoring System. As always, I also got in touch with 50 verified purchasers of this product who have used the mattress for at least 5 months, with 12 of them owning it for at least 3 years.

Table of Contents

Initial Checks

1. Where was the memory foam mattress produced?

The Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12” Memory Foam Mattress is produced in the USA by Sleep Innovations and was first introduced on May 15, 2010. The company has been around for more than 20 years, and their website is super informative and well-made. You can find a lot of quality information there, especially pertaining to maintenance and care of their memory foam mattresses. From my experience they were also very helpful and communicative in answering my emails.

5 out of 5 obviously!

2. Is the manufacturer listed on the CertiPUR-US site?

Yes, which means their mattresses are :
– Made without ozone depletes
– Made without PBDE flame retardants
– Made without mercury, lead, and other heavy materials
– Made without phthalates regulated by Consumer Product Safety Commission
– Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions for indoor air quality

5 out of 5 points for this check.

3. What is the actual thickness/ density of the memory foam layer?

The top layer is 2.5 inches thick and made with Sleep Innovations’ SureTemp memory foam. I always recommend purchasing a memory foam mattress with a top layer of at least 3”, so initially I’m not too thrilled here. Sleep Innovations claims that their SureTemp memory foam is specially designed so the cell structure in the memory foam is more ventilated, allowing better heat regulation and a more comfortable feel. Having said that, a memory foam mattress that is less than 3 inches thick can typically be a very comfortable surface for side and stomach sleepers, but not optimal for back sleepers. I test out firmness, comfort and heat later on in the Feel and Heat sections of my review, respectively. The 2.5-inch memory foam top layer has a density of 3 lb pcf, which is pretty good. I usually like seeing a density between 2.5 – 4 lb pcf; the lower the density, the more likely it will be good for side and stomach sleepers. So, before testing out the feel and firmness, I’m leaning towards this memory foam mattress being optimal for side and stomach sleepers, and less so for back sleepers.

Overall, I give this 3 out of 5 points. The two point deduction is for having a top layer that is only 2.5 inches thick.

4. What is the actual thickness of the foam in the supporting layers?

The Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch features a DuoComfort design, which is just fancy talk for two layers. The bottom layer is a whopping 9.5-inch layer of high-density support base foam. This will come in handy to prevent your body from sinking too deep into the mattress, or achieving the “U effect”, which occurs when your butt uncomfortably sinks lower than your head and feet, creating a U shape. Since the Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress features only 2 layers, I’m confident that this will not be the case, and that also there will be no issues with mattress instability. Sometimes, mattresses with 3 layers or more feel unstable when you shift your weight or turn on the mattress. This effect is almost never evident on 2 layer mattresses, so we’re all good there.

5 out of 5 points for this section.

Feel & Firmness

At 94 lbs, the Queen-size Shiloh Mattress is quite heavy, so you may need an extra pair of hands to get it set up. Before purchasing it I had already begun interviewing verified purchasers of the product, and most of them told me to place it on either a platform bed or foundation. I opted for the foundation, and let the mattress sit for 3 days. By the beginning of the 4th day, it had risen completely to its 12” thickness. The mattress cover is made of a poly-cotton blend fabric, which is pretty standard. It feels soft and since the mattress is CertiPUR certified, the cover won’t attract dust mites or allergens.

It only took 2 nights of sleeping on the Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Mattress to get used to the firmness. There’s a bit of a catch though. This mattress is different in that it uses only two layers of support; there is no middle layer. To add to that, the top layer is only 2.5 inches thick, which does not provide a lot of memory foam support (refer to our Buyer’s Guide for a detailed explanation). On the other hand, the bottom layer is 9.5 inches thick, which provides a lot of high-density base support. In some cases, a memory foam mattress with a top layer thickness less than 3 inches and density of 3 lb pcf or less will not be firm enough for back sleepers, while being quite comfortable for side and stomach sleepers. In my case, however, the mattress felt quite comfortable. I’m naturally a back sleeper, and I did not sink at all into the mattress; on the other hand, if you are a sleeper who is sensitive to mattress surfaces that are too soft, this may not be the best choice for you. Overall I thought the mattress felt soft to medium firmness, and was a great sleeping experience.

From a Feel & Firmness perspective, would I recommend this mattress to everyone? Definitely. For those who are afraid this mattress may be too soft or too firm, simply purchase a Sleep Studio 2-inch ViscO2 and you will notice an immediate difference. 20% of the customers I interviewed had issues with firmness; 90% of those said they were able to fix this issue by buying a soft memory foam mattress topper.

My rule of thumb: I feel very confident that with the addition of a topper, this mattress will provide a perfect sleeping experience for anyone.

For testing the durability of the Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress, I considered three key factors: garment construction, surface / edge abrasion, and stain release. For all of these factors, I turned to my trustworthy 50 verified purchasers who have owned the product for more than 5 months They are awesome to interview and rate these factors as they have used, washed, dried, and generally observed any wear and tear of the mattress over a considerably longer period of time than I have.

Garment construction refers to how resistant the mattress is to tears at the seams, body and sleeves. The more durable a mattress is, the more resistant it is to these types of tears. 43 verified purchasers of the Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch reported no tears at the seams, body or sleeves. 7 verified purchasers reported slight tears on the sides of the mattress cover after roughly 1 year of ownership.

Surface / edge abrasion refers to how resistant the memory foam mattress is against wearing away when rubbed against another surface. Every night the mattress will receive friction from your body, blankets, during washing and drying, and just general wear. 49 verified purchasers reported absolutely no surface or edge abrasions on the Shiloh 12-inch… absolutely phenomenal. That’s a 98% success rate, and more than good enough for me to think the Shiloh is very resitant to surface and edge abrasions.

Stain release refers to how effectively the mattress can release stains. It’s important for two reasons: durability and aesthetics. Mattresses with covers made from more durable fabrics will usually release tough stains easily. And as for aesthetics, who doesn’t love to sleep on a mattress with no stains?! In the case of the Shiloh 12-inch, none of the 50 customers reported making any stains on the mattress, so we were unable to test for it.

I award the Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress a 17 out of 20 for Feel. I deducted 3 points because some customers may have to purchase a mattress topper to achieve their desired level of comfort.

Smell

Most memory foam mattresses come with a distinct “new memory foam” smell that typically goes away after a few days of being aired out. With the Shiloh, however, there was surprisingly no strong smell at all. The mattress itself does have a light distinct smell, but it certainly doesn’t permeate the surrounding air at all. I didn’t even have to let the mattress air out.

Except for 1 person, no other customers I interviewed had issues with smell either.

I award 20 out of 20 points in this section.

Heat Regulation

Here comes the fun part! For testing heat regulation, I set 3 alarms for the night and wake up to record how hot I feel on the mattress. Think of it as my way of going the extra mile for my amazing readers.

1:30 AM: Bed feels quite neutral right now – not really hot, not really cold… I guess warm?

3:30 AM: Woke up and felt a bit cold, to tell you the truth! I was using a very flimsy blanket, so I grabbed one more and went back to sleep.

7 AM: Woke up feeling quite warm, but not too warm.

The customers I interviewed also had great experiences from a heat perspective. Around 5% of the customers I interviewed said it was slightly too hot. The rest thought it was perfect.

So, I’ll award 18 out of 20 points. Here’s looking at you, Shiloh.

Value

If they offered this mattress for 3x the price, I’d still probably buy it. The quality of the mattress is superb, and at 12 inches thick, you’re getting a lot of memory foam for your buck.

Even though it only features two layers, the mattress does a surprisingly good job of maintaining support without feeling too firm. I still advise those who want to “sink” more into the mattress to purchase a topper like the Sleep Studio 2-inch ViscO2, but otherwise it has a perfect feel.

For Value, I award 20 out of 20 points.

Zen Sleeping Score

We at Zen Sleeping believe that a mattress with a score of >70 passes our performance standards.

With a score of 93, the Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress is a home run. Seriously, if you have a budget of around $500 and are willing to buy a topper in case it feels too firm, go for the Shiloh. You will love it. Below you will see a breakdown of how each section in this review stacks up against one another.