The Red Nomad 2-inch Topper: King of Memory Foam Toppers?

The Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper is a force to be reckoned with. This is a memory foam topper that has made a serious impression me, and in a very good way. Whether your current mattress is too firm or too soft, this topper will transform your sleeping experience with just 2 inches of added memory foam. I highly recommend this CertiPUR certified, USA-made memory foam topper for side and stomach sleepers, as well as back sleepers who prefer a softer-level firmness.

For this review I personally tested out the Queen-size version of the Red Nomad 2-inch Mattress Topper for a week using our standard Zen Sleeping Scoring System. This holistic approach reviews 5 main categories: Initial Checks, Feel & Firmness, Smell, Heat Regulation, and Value, each worth a possible maximum 20 points. The “Quick Summary” you see above takes our Zen Sleeping Score and gives the aggregate rating as well as a breakdown of each category (converted to a 10-point system). While the Quick Summary provides some useful, fast information, we highly recommend you read the full review; there is a lot of important, pertinent facts that you will need to be aware of before fully committing to this (or any other) sleeping product.

To supplement my personal test of the mattress, I also conducted questionnaires with over 50 verified purchasers of the product – 43 of whom have owned the mattress more than 6 months. I will share relevant statistics and polls from them throughout the review, as you can get a much better understanding of a mattress’s possible performance by testing it for months instead of a week.
Hope you enjoy!

Table of Contents

• Initial Checks
• Feel & Firmness
• Smell

• Heat Regulation
• Value
• Zen Sleeping Score

Initial Checks

1. Where was the memory foam mattress produced?

The Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper is produced in the USA by Red Nomad and was first released on June 6, 2013. This is already off to a good start, as seeing a USA-based manufacturer actually produce their products in the USA allows me to breathe a big sigh of relief. There are many mediocre manufacturers these days importing cheap memory foam products produced from China, typically with suboptimal quality control standards. Imported memory foam products are usually not worth your money unless they are CertiPUR certified – however, in this case we can rest easy seeing as the Red Nomad is made in the good ol’ USA. While this mattress topper is sold through Amazon, Red Nomad doesn’t seem to have a specific business website. For this section, I award4 out of 5 points.

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

Actually, not only is the Red Nomad 2-inch Mattress Topper CertiPUR certified, but it is also PURGreen certified as well. Based on the PURGreen website, “PURGreen Certification means the products are manufactured, fabricated and packaged in the U.S.A. meeting all EPA and CSPC guidelines being safe and free from harmful chemicals.” We’re on a great run so far, and I can’t wait to see how the Red Nomad fares in the following sections. For now, I’ll award5 out of 5 points for this section!

3. What is the actual thickness/ density of the topper?

The Red Nomad 2-inch Mattress Topper features a 2-inch thick layer of 2.5 lb pcf density, which is an amazing setup for side and stomach sleepers. A topper with a thickness of 3 inches or less thickness and a density of 3 lb pcf or less is recommended, so the Red Nomad sits right in the middle. That is not to say that the topper is not comfortable for back sleepers; if you are a back sleeper and prefer a soft, comfortable feel, then you will love this as well. I award 10 out of 10 points for the topper check.

In total, I have awarded 19 out of 20 points for this section. Almost perfect!

Feel & Firmness

The Feel & Firmness section of my review is typically jam-packed with useful information, so in I will break down each factor I’m reviewing for into main paragraphs and go from there; it’s actually pretty simple once you see my thought process. To get everything set up, I first set the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper on a 12-inch memory foam mattress with medium-level firmness and sleep on it for a week, taking notes every night with the goal of providing an aggregate report on the level of comfort, support, and firmness. Then, I ask verified purchasers to gauge their opinions on these same factors, as well as their scores on three very important indicators of durability (more on that in a little bit).

My sleeping experience on the Red Nomad 2-inch can only be described as amazingly comfortable. As a back sleeper, I had a feeling beforehand that the mattress topper would be too soft and plushy for my taste, but luckily it was actually very comfortable. It was slightly softer than what I’m used to, but I loved the feeling. For side and stomach sleepers, it would be an even more comfortable sleeping experience as they normally require surfaces that are (on average) softer than surfaces for back sleepers. Regardless, I did not sink at all into the mattress; in fact, I felt very supported the whole time. There was also no bowing effect at all (this is when the mattress sinks too much in the middle, creating a U shape with your body), which can sometimes be an issue with toppers or mattresses that are softer.

Of the 50 customers I interviewed, 45 of them thought the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper was a perfect fit for them… this is simply astounding. Of the 5 remaining, 2 thought it was too firm, and 3 thought it was too soft. My rule of thumb: this is a near-perfect memory foam mattress topper. Seriously, whether you are a side, stomach, or even back sleeper (as long as you like slightly softer firmness), the Red Nomad is going to bring you a lot of comfort, and many nights of restful sleep.

Now on to durability tests! For the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper, I considered three key factors: garment construction, surface / edge abrasion, and stain release. For all of these factors, I turned to my trustworthy 43 verified purchasers who have owned the product for more than 6 months. They are a good, representative subset of the typical purchaser of this mattress topper, which makes them perfect candidates to rate these factors; they also have used, washed, dried, and generally observed any wear and tear of the mattress over a considerably longer period of time than I have, so this review would not be as holistic without their awesome help!

A highly durable, long-lasting memory foam topper

Garment construction refers to how resistant the mattress topper 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. All 43 verified purchasers had the same answer: no visible wear and tear of the Red Nomad Mattress Topper!

Surface / edge abrasion refers to how resistant the topper is against wearing away when rubbed against another surface. Since the mattress will be rubbed against your skin, the washing machine, the drier, and everything in between, this is an extremely important factor to review. Again, all 43 customers reported seeing no types of surface or edge abrasion.

Stain release refers to how effectively the topper can release stains. It’s important for two reasons: durability and aesthetics. A more durable mattress topper typically will be able to release stubborn stains with ease, and secondly, who likes to sleep on a mattress with stains?! Of the 43 customers I interviewed, 25 of them reported having made spills (or accidents) on their mattress at one time or another. Of those 25, 18 of them reported that the stain came out with relative ease (no use of bleach). The remaining 7 noted that they had to use bleach or more extreme ways to remove the stains, and 3 of them reported the stains as being permanent. This is still very good, as the resounding majority of respondents had relative ease with regard to removing the stains from the Red Nomad. So all in all, good!

I believe the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper deserves a solid 18 points out of 20 points for this section.

Smell

While smell is often a big issue with memory foam mattresses, toppers usually don’t have the same issues due to the size difference. However, I’ll echo the same advice I normally give out in my memory foam mattress reviews: The more you let your memory foa product air out in the first few days, the less you will have to deal with any lingering smell. Luckily for me, the Red Nomad 2-inch Mattress Topper came out of its airtight packaging with no smell whatsoever. And before you naysayers start with the “luck” factor that some of us have when unpacking our memory foam products, I will have you know that the majority of the 50 customers also reported no smell! So there!

Out of the 50 total, 45 purchasers reported absolutely no smell at all, 3 thought it had a light smell that went away eventually, and 2 thought it smelled strongly but eventually went away. That’s a 100% success rate of no lingering smell, followed by a 90% success rate of absolutely no smell at all… amazing. In this case, I am more than happy to award 19 out of 20 points here.

Heat Regulation

It’s always difficult to test heat regulation with respect to memory foam mattress toppers. First of all, the overall heat buildup of an individual is completely dependent on what that individual places the memory foam mattress topper on. Is it a latex mattress? Or innerspring? How about memory foam? These all have different effects on heat regulation, regardless of the mattress topper’s ability (or inability) to regulate heat. So with that being said, I approached my analysis in two ways: first, I recorded how hot I felt during a week’s worth of sleeping with the Red Nomad topper on top of my 12-inch memory foam mattress, which has a neutral heat regulation. Then, I consulted with my 50 verified purchasers to gauge their opinions on how hot the Red Nomad 2-inch sleeps. For 6 out of 7 nights I recorded myself feeling quite cool, and one night I felt warm because I had forgotten to turn off the heater in my house! That one night aside, my experience with the Red Nomad was phenomenal from a heat regulation perspective. I felt fine every night, never sticky or hot.

Expectedly, the majority of my 50 interviewees also reported feeling cool or neutral while sleeping on the Red Nomad 2-inch Mattress Topper. Overall I’m very happy with the heat regulation of this topper, so I’ll award 19 out of 20 points here!

Value

If it were possible to marry mattress toppers, the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper would be first on my list. For less than $100 you are getting a high quality memory foam topper that is made in the USA and both CertiPUR and PURGreen certified. Not only that, but the Red Nomad strikes a perfect balance between thickness and density which makes it an ideal topper for not only stomach and side sleepers, but back sleepers as well. I don’t always like to recommend one product to sleepers with different positions, preferences and whatnot, but in this case I would be very surprised if most sleepers, regardless of their preferences, were to not have a good night’s sleep on this topper. For that, I award the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper a value score of 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. After adding up the totals of each section, we are glad to report that the Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper has attained a Zen Sleeping Score of 95! Below you will see a breakdown of how each section in this review stacks up against one another.