Best bamboo mattresses
A bamboo mattress is a mattress with a bamboo viscose cover. Nothing structural inside it is bamboo.
I earn a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It never changes what I recommend, and I publish negative verdicts on brands I earn from. Editorial independence.
Where the bamboo actually is
The bamboo is the cover fabric. The springs are steel and the comfort layers are foam or natural fibre, exactly as in any other mattress.
And most bamboo fabric is bamboo viscose: cellulose dissolved in chemicals that are typically not recovered. The finished fabric behaves like viscose, because chemically that is what it is.
A cover does matter, and less than the marketing implies. It sits under a fitted sheet and usually a mattress protector, so there are at least two layers between you and the bamboo.
So judge these the way you would judge any mattress: spring height and where the springs sit, spring count for your size, whether the base is sprung or foam, and firmness. Then treat the cover as a small bonus.
The picks
The pick, if you want one answer
Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Pro, 7.5 / 10. A well-built hybrid whose cover happens to be bamboo viscose, judged on the construction underneath it.
| Product | Best for | From | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Pro | Best overall | Mid to upper | 7.5 / 10 |
| Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress | Best value in the range | Mid range | 7.1 / 10 |
| Otty Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress | Best spring construction | Mid to upper | 7.6 / 10 |
| Origin Hybrid Pro Mattress | Best mattress, no bamboo | £374 | 8.4 / 10 |
Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Pro: Best overall
Mid to upper · 7.5 / 10
The stronger of the two Panda hybrids, and the reason to prefer it is the spring specification rather than the fabric. Panda also includes free recycling of your old mattress on mattress orders, any brand, which has real cash value: council collection typically costs 20 to 40 pounds.
Buy it if
You want the bamboo cover on the better of Panda's two hybrids.
Do not buy it if
You want maximum construction per pound regardless of the cover.
Read the full Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress Pro review
Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress: Best value in the range
Mid range · 7.1 / 10
The entry hybrid in the range. Worth applying the usual test across any lineup: compare depth, spring count and firmness between the two models, and if they match, the difference is the cover and you should buy the cheaper one.
Buy it if
You want the range's cover and feel at a lower price.
Do not buy it if
You are heavier and want maximum support headroom.
Read the full Panda Hybrid Bamboo Mattress review
Otty Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress: Best spring construction
Mid to upper · 7.6 / 10
Otty's argument is the spring core rather than the fabric, and that is the right emphasis. On the charcoal: infused particles are encapsulated inside the material, so most of the surface area that would make charcoal work never touches anything.
Buy it if
You want a genuine deep spring core with a bamboo charcoal cover.
Do not buy it if
You are buying for the charcoal claim.
Read the full Otty Pure Hybrid Bamboo Mattress review
Origin Hybrid Pro Mattress: Best mattress, no bamboo
£374 · 8.4 / 10
The highest scoring mattress on this site at 8.4, and it is here as the honest comparison. If the cover is a nice-to-have rather than the reason you are buying, this gives you considerably more mattress for the money.
Buy it if
Construction matters more to you than the cover fabric.
Do not buy it if
You specifically want the bamboo feel.
Read the full Origin Hybrid Pro Mattress review
What a mattress cover actually does
Three things, and only one of them is much affected by the fibre.
It holds the mattress together and takes the wear. A durable weave matters more than what it is made of.
It affects moisture at the surface. Bamboo viscose handles moisture better than polyester, which is a genuine if modest benefit, since clamminess is what most people describe as sleeping hot.
It carries the fire barrier, which is why wool covers are a real argument: wool is naturally flame resistant, so less chemical treatment is needed to meet UK regulations. Bamboo viscose is not.
And the practical limit: you are sleeping on a sheet, not on the mattress cover, with a protector between them if you have any sense. A polyester fitted sheet over a bamboo mattress cover undoes the benefit entirely.
Judge the construction, not the fabric
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| How tall are the springs, and where do they sit? | A 16cm spring core is a support structure. A 25mm micro-spring layer is a comfort layer over foam. |
| Is the base sprung or foam? | Some mattresses sold as hybrids have a foam base beneath a thin spring layer. |
| How many springs, in what size? | Counts are quoted for a king. A double has fewer and a single fewer still. |
| Are the edges reinforced? | Rarely stated, and it is the first part of a mattress to fail. |
None of those are answered by the word bamboo, and all four decide whether the mattress is any good.
Which bamboo claims stand up
Smooth and moisture-handling: true, and true of lyocell and cotton too.
Cooling: partly. It manages moisture rather than moving heat. Airflow is what removes heat from a mattress, and that comes from a deep spring layer, not a cover.
Naturally antibacterial: unsupported once the plant has been dissolved into viscose.
Hypoallergenic: unregulated word. Dust mites live in any mattress, and what works is a fully zipped encasement and washing bedding at 60 degrees.
Sustainable: not checkable. If that argument matters, lyocell is the fibre whose name describes a verifiable closed-loop process.
And then you cover it up anyway
A stain voids most mattress guarantees absolutely, so a protector is not optional whatever the cover is made of.
Buy a breathable membrane rather than a cheap plastic-backed protector, which stops air as well as liquid. On a mattress bought partly for its cover's breathability, a plastic protector is a complete contradiction.
The same logic applies to the sheet: cotton percale or lyocell rather than polyester, or the cover you paid for is doing nothing.
What not to buy
A mattress chosen on the word bamboo. Ask the four construction questions instead.
A bamboo mattress for allergies. An encasement and a 60 degree wash do the work.
A bamboo mattress for cooling, expecting a cover to do what a spring layer does.
Charcoal or copper infused claims. The particles are encapsulated inside the material.
A polyester sheet or a plastic-backed protector over it. You have cancelled the cover.
Also considered, and why they are not here
A roundup is only as useful as what it leaves out, so here is what was assessed and rejected for this list.
| Product | Why it is not on the list |
|---|---|
| Otty Original | Scores 8.1. A 16 centimetre spring core with no bamboo attached, and the clearest structural answer to heat at this money. |
| Origin LumbarCloud | Thirty-five centimetres and up to 8,000 springs for £797, which is more mattress than any cover fabric is worth. |
| Panda Bamboo Protector | A protector rather than a mattress, and the cheaper way to get the fabric against your bedding if that is what appeals. |
| Simba Natural Hybrid Source | Wool and natural fibres rather than viscose, which is the version of this argument where the material does something structural. |
How this list is made, and who made it
Independence
No brand pays to appear on this site and no placement is sold. Some links earn a commission if you buy, which never changes a score, an order or a verdict. Several of the lowest scores here are on products that carry commission, and several recommendations carry none.
Who writes this. Kyle Klinkradt has worked in the mattress and bedding industry for over ten years across retail, distribution and brand partnerships, and has handled, sold or assessed products from every major UK bed-in-a-box brand. Every review on this site is written by one person, so the scores mean the same thing from page to page.
What the assessment is. Construction specifications against what they physically do: spring height and where in the mattress it sits, spring count for the size, gauge, whether the base is sprung or foam, foam density where it is published, comfort layer depth and material. Then the commercial terms that decide what you are actually buying: trial against returns policy, guarantee length against the company's UK trading history at Companies House, and the regulatory record.
What it is not. This is not a laboratory. I do not publish pressure-mapping data or claim to have slept eight years on every mattress here, because nobody has and pages that imply otherwise are not telling you the truth. Where a judgement rests on construction rather than long-term use, the review says so.
What gets a product removed. Leaving the UK market, a specification change that makes the review inaccurate, or a corrected fact. Brands that have withdrawn are kept on the site with the score removed rather than quietly deleted, because people still search for them.
See editorial independence, corrections and the author page.
How these were chosen
Every product here has its own review on this site with a score out of 10, and the score is a judgement rather than an average. Nothing appears in a list because it pays more.
A score is against the market, not against its own range. The cheapest mattress in a lineup is usually priced to make the model above it look reasonable, and the flagship of a budget range has risen into a bracket where better brands compete. Both are judged against what else you could buy for the money.
Everything listed can actually be bought in the UK. That is not a given: Casper withdrew in July 2020 and Leesa no longer sells here, and both still appear in current British roundups with affiliate links attached.
I do not pad the list. Where only three or four products genuinely qualify, there are three or four. A list of seven when the category contains four good ones is a list with three bad recommendations in it.
Prices move constantly. Judge the cash price on the day rather than any percentage beside it. See every review on this site or where the real savings are.
Questions people ask
Is a bamboo mattress actually made of bamboo?
No. The bamboo is the cover fabric, and the springs are steel and the comfort layers are foam or natural fibre. Most bamboo fabric is bamboo viscose, cellulose dissolved in chemicals that are typically not recovered.
Does a bamboo mattress cover keep you cool?
It handles moisture better than polyester, which helps with clamminess. Airflow is what removes heat from a mattress, and that comes from a deep spring layer rather than a cover fabric.
Are bamboo mattresses good for allergies?
No more than any other mattress. Hypoallergenic is unregulated and dust mites live in every mattress. A fully zipped six-sided encasement and washing bedding at 60 degrees are what work.
What should I judge a bamboo mattress on?
Spring height and where the springs sit, spring count for your size, whether the base is sprung or foam, and whether the edges are reinforced. None of those are answered by the word bamboo.