Simba Earth Escape mattress review 2024

Simba Earth Escape Mattress review in brief

The Simba Earth Escape Mattress is part of the new Simba Earth range of sustainable and eco-friendly beds. As a hybrid bed, the Simba Earth Escape switches foams for natural materials and replaces glued springs with multiple coil layers and sonic welding. Good for the planet, but what will it do for your sleep and how does it compare to the best mattresses of 2024? Below is our in-depth Simba Earth Escape Mattress review, but here are the highlights if you're short on time...

The Simba Earth Escape is a 28cm tall hybrid mattress with six internal layers, but the headline here is that instead of foam, Simba has used wool, flax and hemp to create cushioning layers. Sustainability is key to the Earth Escape and what sets this range apart from the other hybrids offered by Simba. Fully recyclable and made in the UK using traceable materials – the Earth Escape Mattress is a luxurious take on sustainable sleeping.

Simba rates the Earth Escape as a medium-firm, but our testers found it to be slightly firmer. The natural cushioning layers are comfortable but there's no sink here. Instead, stomach and back sleepers can enjoy head-to-toe support. While it did soften slightly during the testing period, lightweight side sleepers might prefer a bed with a bit more contouring. 

Prioritising sustainability doesn't mean that the Earth Escape Mattress overlooks important performance aspects. While it doesn't have the slow-moving foams of other hybrids, the cushioning layers and individually wrapped springs dampen movement, so if you share a bed, even a wiggling partner shouldn't wake you up. The overall build is breathable, and while the Simba Earth Escape isn't a cooling mattress, warm sleepers shouldn't find themselves overheating.

Although the Simba Earth Escape is hugely supportive at the center, things get a touch weaker around the perimeter. The edge support is average, with a definite dip when you sit on the sides. Our tester never felt like she was going to roll off the edges in the night, but sleepers with mobility issues might find it hard if they need to push off the bed in the morning.

In terms of pricing, the Simba Earth Escape is a premium mattress (priced from £1,399). It's more expensive than our top-rated Relyon Bridgwater Dunlopillo Latex Mattress (from £1,099 at Dreams), but you do get a longer trial and guarantee with Simba's bed, as well as a foam-free build. The Earth Escape is also firmer than the Relyon (see our Relyon Bridgwater Dunlopillo mattress review for more), so will suit a different style of sleeper. 

For smaller budgets, it's worth noting that Simba Sleep also makes some of the best mattresses in a box for people wanting breathable hybrids that don't cost the earth.

If you're shopping for a sustainable luxury mattress, the Simba Earth Escape proves that an eco-conscious bed can be both supportive and comfortable. The premium price tag reflects the look and build quality of the Escape, and overall the Simba Earth Escape Mattress is a fantastic choice for back and stomach sleepers who are considering their carbon footprint.

Simba Earth Escape Mattress review: Price & trial

• A double Simba Earth Escape costs £1,999 (RRP)
• Benefits include a 200-night trial and 10-year guarantee
• Free mattress installation and old bed removal

Simba doesn’t run the same evergreen mattress sales we see from other sleep brands, so you're more likely than not to pay full price for the Earth Escape. We keep an eye on the Simba mattress sales throughout the year, and the Earth Escape is occasionally discounted – the most we've seen is 25% off for May Day, reducing the price of a double to £1,499.25 (was £1,999). 

Here's how much the Simba Earth Escape Mattress costs by size according to the RRP and how much it would be on sale for with a 25% discount:

• Single: £1,399 RRP (on sale for £1,049.25)
• Double: £1,999 RRP (on sale for £1,499.25)
• King: £2,199 RRP (on sale for £1,649.25)
• Super king: £2,529 RRP (on sale for £1,896.75)

The Simba Earth Escape is a premium mattress, but for a sustainable hybrid of this quality the prices are competitive. It's not the cheapest option out there, but we feel the quality of the build and feel does justify the price tag, especially when you take the natural materials into account.

The Escape is the mid-price choice in the Simba Earth mattress range. For those on a tighter budget, the Simba Earth Source is the cheapest and most basic option (although cheaper and basic is relative here). Or you can upgrade to the Simba Apex, a 30cm tall, 8-layer sustainable hybrid with up to 5,750 springs and a starting price of £2,199.

Simba specialises in hybrid mattresses, and the Earth Escape is priced similarly to the Simba Hybrid Luxe. This fairly traditional hybrid is taller than the Escape, with a complex interior build, but it doesn't have the eco-credentials of the Earth range – check out our Simba Hybrid Luxe Mattress review to learn more.

Simba Earth Escape: from £1,399 at Simba Sleep
Simba Sleep is known for its hybrid mattresses and the Earth range is a sustainable addition to the line-up. Combining sustainability and luxury, the Simba Earth Escape is a 28cm tall hybrid with six internal layers that use natural materials to create comfort and support. Simba sales are semi-regular but we don't expect this bed to be discounted often. A double has an RRP of £1,999, and you'll get a 200-night trial and a 10-year guarantee. 

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Simba Earth Escape Mattress review: Design

• A 28cm tall hybrid with six internal layers and a cover
• Made using wool, hemp, and flax cushioning, instead of foam
• Three layers of springs, including Aerocoil micro springs

Instead of the foam and coil combination we expect from the best hybrid mattresses of the year, the Simba Earth Escape pairs springs with a sustainable foam-alternative: wool, flax, and hemp. It measures 28cm tall, which is on the thicker side of a standard mattress, but not quite tall enough to necessitate deep sheets. There are six internal layers to the Simba Earth Escape Mattress, so lets break down exactly what you’ll find in this sustainable bed.

At the top of the Escape mattress is a layer of British wool, designed to provide cushioning and breathability. Below this is a contouring comfort layer, this time consisting of a hemp and flax blend. The final cushioning layer combines hemp, flax, and wool to create a ‘resilience’ layer before we reach the springs.

Beneath this cushioning you'll find three layers of springs. The first is an Aerocoil spring layer, featuring thousands of titanium alloy springs. These are micro springs, small but numerous for a responsive and pressure relieving feel.

Next comes a layer of taller high carbon steel springs, for increased support and stability. Finally, at the bottom sits a Quadcore spring base. These carbon steel springs are encased in polyester and sonically welded into groups of four – a glue-free way of enhancing stability. 

The cover is made of wool-viscose and is hand sewn in Simba's Yorkshire factory. It has a silky finish with a cushioned tufting that looks luxurious and wouldn't seem out of place on a hotel mattress – our lead tester wanted to jump on it right away.

The cover can't be removed from the mattress so check out our best mattress protector guide to keep your bed safe from spills and marks. Expect a slightly difficult mattress cleaning process overall, as the Simba Earth Escape can't be vacuumed.

Simba recommends rotating the mattress roughly once a month for the first six months, then twice a year afterwards. It does come with handles, which makes the rotation slightly easier, but you'll probably need a helping hand. The sturdy build speaks of the quality of the mattress, but it also makes for one heavy bed.

The Simba Earth Escape Mattress is made in a zero waste factory and consists of fully-recyclable, responsibly sourced materials – Simba actually lists where each element was sourced within the specs. Simba is a globally certified B Corp.

Simba Escape Mattress review: Support & comfort

• Simba classes it as medium-firm but we rate it firmer at an 8/10
• Comfortable for back and stomach sleepers
• Side sleepers might find it too firm, but it softens with time

Simba rates the Simba Earth Escape Mattress as medium-firm and recommends it for all sleep styles and body types. However, our testing panel found it a firmer than that. Our lead tester was initially surprised by just how firm the Escape felt, but it did soften slightly during the month long testing period. Overall, we'd rate the Simba Earth Escape as 8/10 on the mattress firmness scale, with one being very soft and 10 being firm as a board.

Our lead tester is primarily a stomach sleeper and when sleeping on her front, the mattress provided just the right amount of support. The firmer feel meant the hips were aligned with the spine and never sank uncomfortably low, while the tufted surface added enough cushioning that it didn't feel like sleeping on a rock. Our back sleeping tester agreed that the Earth Escape had enough support to reduce aches and pains while promoting spinal alignment.

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Side sleeping was, initially, less comfortable for our lead reviewer. The lack of give in the upper cushioning layers meant the mattress was hard against the shoulder and hips, leading to some aching in the morning. 

However, after a few weeks of testing the mattress had started to soften, making side sleeping more comfortable. This emphasises the importance of a mattress trial – Simba offers 200-nights to try out the Escape and we recommend giving the bed at least a month to get used to the feel.

With all that in mind, our tester with the smallest build felt the Earth Escape was perfectly comfortable for side sleeping almost straight away. We typically recommend lightweight side sleepers choose softer beds, but firmness is subjective and some side sleepers prefer a less cushioned feel. 

Combination sleepers who like freedom to move in the night should also appreciate the firmer build of the Earth Escape. Our lead tester doesn’t like feeling ‘trapped’ by a mattress and enjoyed being able to turn one way then the other on the SImba Earth Escape. It's not the 'bouncy' feel you might find in an innerspring, but this is overall a bed you lie on top of, rather than sinking into.

For an objective look at pressure relief, we placed a 24kg kettlebell in the center of the bed. It sank very little, around 1.5 inches, not causing the mattress to dip much lower than the tufted areas. This matches the impression that the bed is firm.

Simba Earth Escape Mattress review: Performance

• Dampens movement well
• Stays a neutral temperature in the night
• Edge support is average

Our lead tester has slept on a double size Simba Earth Escape Mattress almost every night for a month and has had a team of four testers of different builds and heights try lying on the mattress at various points in the testing period. As well as comfort and support, we also evaluated motion isolation, temperature regulation, and edge support. This what we learnt...

Motion isolation

If you share a bed you probably don’t want to be woken up every time your partner shuffles about. This is where motion isolation comes in. Good motion isolation absorbs movement before it can travel across the bed, so the other person won't feel you moving. Foams are typically best at dampening motion, so we were unsure how the foam-free Earth Escape would perform in this area.

However, the Simba Earth Escape outperformed expectations. We tested motion isolation in two ways. First, a hands-on test. Our lead reviewer asked secondary testers to get on and off the mattress, to see how disruptive it was. For the most part, any movement stayed confined to one side of the bed.

We also used a drop test. Balancing a wine glass on the surface of the mattress, we dropped a 4.5kg weight at set distances from the glass to see how much the wine glass wobbled. Dropping the kettlebell four inches away, the wine glass fell over. Dropper at 10 inches, the wine glass wobbled. Dropped at 25 inches, the glass didn't move.

It is worth noting that the quilted surface of the Simba Earth Escape meant it was pretty hard to balance the wine glass in the first place – 

Temperature regulation

The body naturally cools as it prepares for sleep, which is why excess heat can keep you up at night. Foam can be a major heat trap, but as the Simba Earth Escape switches dense foams for naturally breathable materials – and it has improved airflow thanks to a spring-heavy design – we were expecting the mattress to handle heat well.

Although the Simba Earth Escape isn’t cool to the touch, it does stay at a pleasantly neutral temperature overnight. Our lead reviewer found it warmed to body temperature and stayed that way, without clinging onto heat. Even on warmer mornings when they'd forgotten to turn the heating off, there was no overheating.

Our testing period took place over a relatively cool spring in Wales, so hot sleepers might have a different experience in summer. However, our overall impression is that the Simba Earth Escape Mattress offers good temperature regulation.

Temperature regulation score: 4 out of 5

Edge support

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Good edge support keeps you from rolling off the mattress in the middle of the night, and if you push against the bed to get up in the morning, strong edges offer a stable base. 

Our lead reviewer regularly slept close to the edge of the mattress and never felt they were in danger of slipping off. One member of our testing panel did feel the edges were less secure to sleep on than the center but they still felt well supported.

There was some sinkage when sitting on the edge of the bed, as you might do to put your shoes on. While the spring layers stayed strong, the cushioning compressing for even the lightest member of the testing panel. Thanks to the sturdy springs, it doesn't feel like you might tip forward, but it does make it harder to push up. 

For an objective test, we placed a 24kg kettlebell on the edge of the bed to measure sinkage. At the sides, the kettlebell sank roughly 2.5 inches, and we observed a similar result at foot of the bed. The kettlebell didn't roll forward unless placed right on the edge of the bed, but we attribute that to the plush tufted surface, rather than the edge support.

Edge support score: 4 out of 5

Simba Earth Escape Mattress review: delivery & setup

• Free VIP delivery includes installation in a room of your choice
• Delivered flat, so no expansion period
• Can add old mattress removal for extra charge

Simba includes VIP delivery for free with all of its Earth range mattresses. The mattress is delivered flat to a room of your choice, and the courier will set the bed on the frame and remove any excess packaging. All you need to do is pick a delivery date, and that was easy enough in our experience. It's a heavy and bulky mattress, so our lead tester was very grateful the VIP delivery meant they didn't have to worry about getting it up the stairs.

As the Simba Earth Escape is delivered flat, so you avoid the expansion period of a bed-in-a-box mattress and sleep on it right away. The lack of foam meant there was no mattress off-gassing smell, which is a benefit for anyone with a sensitive nose. But it’s not scent free – our lead tester detected a slight aroma that could be best described as “sheep”. That’s not as bad as it sounds. The smell was faint and natural, rather than chemical. It lingered for a few days, before disappearing.

Simba does also offer old mattress removal, but you have to pay an extra £50. This is a little disappointing – it’s not unusual for white glove delivery to include mattress removal as standard, and seeing as the Earth range has such a focus on sustainability, recycling your old bed would be a nice addition.

Delivery and setup score: 5 out of 5

Simba Earth Escape Mattress review: Customer reviews

At the time of publication, the Simba Earth Escape Mattress has only been available for a few months time. The initial reviews are positive, but as there is a very limited number available on the Simba site, it's not enough to form an accurate impression of customer experience. We’ll update this section when more people have had a chance to test the Simba Earth Escape.

Should you buy the Simba Earth Escape Mattress?

The Simba Earth Escape is a premium mattress, but overall, we feel it justifies the expense. As well as the comfort and performance, the mattress feels like a high-quality build. And it looks luxurious thanks to a silky cover and a tufted surface that you really do want to dive onto. Factor in the use on sustainable and traceable materials (rather than cheaper foams) and you have an expensive mattress that lives up to its price tag.

In terms of feel, the Earth Escape Mattress won't suit everyone. It's firmer than the 'medium-firm' Simba claims, without much contouring at the pressure points. Lightweight side sleepers should consider opting for something softer, but the sturdy build means back and stomach sleepers are supported across the body. 

Edge support is a little disappointing, however, the breathable build keeps temperatures even while bed sharers should find the natural comfort layers do a surprisingly good job at isolating movement. The Simba Earth Escape Mattress proves that sleep brands don't have to prioritise comfort or sustainability – it's possible to achieve both in one bed. 

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