The Olympic games just officially concluded. Besides all the impressive games and amazing physical abilities, one of the most talked-about parts of the games was the beds. Despite being world-class athletes, the Olympic village was equipped with twin polyethylene mattresses on cardboard frames. 

Instead of luxury, athletes slept on beds that focused on sustainability. They selected both the Airweave mattress and the cardboard frames because of their eco-friendly slant. The cardboard frames will be recycled into paper products and the mattresses into plastic. Environmentalists applaud the efforts. Still, people are wondering: were they actually comfortable? 

We’re here to satisfy your curiosity. Of course, we had to try out the Airweave mattress; here’s the scoop. 

The Airweave Mattress Is Pretty Comfortable

Airweave is a Japanese brand that offers eco-friendly and breathable mattresses. We just happened to have an Airweave mattress on hand to test. To be fair, it might be an older model, but we haven’t seen Airweave make any considerable changes to its design.

Despite not being very thick, the Airweave mattress can relieve back pain and body pressure. It has a firm construction that’s supposed to support your natural posture, which essentially neutralizes lower back pain. The cool thing about Airweave mattresses is that they aren’t made with foam or coils. Instead, the 8-inch mattress is made up of air fiber and an optional pillow top. 

Here are our favorite parts of the Airweave mattress: 

  • It’s completely washable. No, this is not a joke. The cover is machine washable, and the air fiber inserts can have water ran through them. 
  • The Airweave mattress is pretty firm, making it suitable for stomach and back sleepers who need to focus on spinal alignment. 
  • Given the unique construction, it sleeps cooler than most memory foam beds. 

The mattress comes in four different firmness levels, and an optional pillow-top can be added. Even though it’s a relatively small bed, the athletes did have the option to tailor the bed to their needs. 

It’s not for every type of sleeper

We’re not sure if the Olympic coordinating team thought about this when they chose the Airweave beds for the athletes, but it’s not for every type of sleeper. We do not recommend this bed for side sleepers — it’s way too firm for them to sleep comfortably on it. The firmness will relieve pressure and pains in back and stomach sleepers, but side sleepers might develop too much pressure on their shoulders, hips, and knees. Combo sleepers can get away with sleeping on this bed, as long as you don’t favor side sleeping. All we can say is, we hope most of the athletes sleep on their backs. 

The Airweave bed is best suited for people who weigh under 250 lbs. This describes the majority of Olympic athletes, so we don’t see that being much of an issue. But for the average person, it won’t be as supportive in the long run. 

Let’s Talk About the Cardboard Frames

Okay, so since we’re not Olympic athletes, we couldn’t get our hands on the frame to test. However, we like the durability and the eco-friendly design of the frames. When you think of cardboard, your mind probably goes to amazon boxes and all the times you ripped them in half to get to the package inside. That’s not what these beds are made out of. 

The frames are super durable, recycled cardboard that’s incredibly lightweight, so they can be put together quickly and moved easily. The cardboard frame was said to support up to around 440 pounds, which no Olympic athlete weighs. 

Essentially, these frames are perfect for what they are intended for — temporary bedding that’s easy to move and recycle after. It’s not meant to be jumped on — as the Israeli baseball team showed in a since-deleted video. The cardboard frame stood little chance against the nine grown men jumping on the bed. So as long as you’re not doing that, this isn’t the worst bed set up you could have. 

Too Long, Didn’t Read?

We think the Airweave Olympic mattress and cardboard frame is a pretty practical choice for housing a ton of people temporarily at once. We don’t think it’s something you would want to rush out and buy for your home. While the Airweave was specifically designed to ease back pressure, it’s pretty much too firm for anyone else but stomach or back sleepers. 

That said, we admire the eco-friendly stance the games took, as many people are not sure what to do with their old mattresses. While it maybe wasn’t the luxury you would expect Olympic athletes to get, it was probably good enough to get them through the games.