Mattress question

Anyone in the biz?

My wife and I are thinking about a new one. I started poking around and, almost instantly, was overcome by different models, deals, specials, etc. Jeez, I thought buying a car was tough!

Part of the frustration is that one model at one store doesn't seem to exist at another, making comparison shopping impossible.

And are the memory foam mattresses highly regarded?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Girlfriend got a memory foam mattress. It is fantastic. There are versions that are as good, and much less expensive than the highly advertised Swedish space program ones. I forget where she ended up getting hers. I want to say it was actually Sears, and that she got their in-house brand during a big sale.

Previous girlfriend had one of those select comfort sleep number things. It was one of the worst beds I've slept in. It feels really good in the store where they make you demo by laying perfectly still in the middle of one of the bladders. In reality, you move around and will eventually slip down into the gap between the bladders. Air pressures need to be messed with in order to be conducive to luvin'.

There are definitely different grades of memory foam. I tried using some of the memory foam out of a mattress topper in my race seats, and it's too soft. The "backsaver" stuff from Pegasus Racing is far better, with a lot more comfort despite the fact that it's a lot harder. I'm sure the same applies to beds.

dyintorace wrote: My wife and I are thinking about a new one. I started poking around and, almost instantly, was overcome by different models, deals, specials, etc. Part of the frustration is that one model at one store doesn't seem to exist at another, making comparison shopping impossible.

My thoughts exactly. A lot of the department stores have them on sale too. 50% off. This $2500 mattress is now $1250. What a scam,

The last mattress we needed for my son we went to Sam's Club and had a choice of two. Regular and pillowtop.

Now we need a mattress and my wife is scoping Costco.

My boss bought one from Denver Mattress Co and they brought three to his house until he was happy. They seem to have a good website too.

Thanks guys.

Pete, was the mattress store okay with your boss "test driving" several different mattresses?

This industry seems like the kinda thing that eventually shows up on an "NBC Dateline" episode, complete with hidden cameras.

I LOVE my tempurpedic. My mom is a distributor for them, so I get them cheap (relative). I recently broke up with my long term girlfriend, and the one thing in the entire house we both just had to have was the mattress. In the end I relented and let her have it, but I get to keep all of the cars. I still have my Tempurpedic pillow, which I bring everywhere with me.

As now I've had to go back to a regular (though very nice) pillowtop mattress, and though it is fine, it just isn't as good.

Even the V berth in my sailboat is Tempurpedic, I found someone on Craigslist was giving it away from the V berth of his boat, so I grabbed it and cut it down to fit my boat.

The memory foam mattresses and those with memory foam toppers have one VERY BIG disadvantage - they hold the heat something fierce!! It is extremely uncomfortable after as little as an hour in bed. I sweat like a pig when I sleep with the memory foam. Now if you live the cold, cold north that could be an advantage, but I am in Texas.

But I have found that a mattress with a memory foam topper is more comfortable (and cheaper) than a full memory foam mattress. So I've found a cheap way to have the best of both worlds. I have a 3" memory foam topper that I take off in the warmer months and put back on in the winter.

Tempurpedic is the best I've seen. There are crappy versions of memory foam matresses, but admittedly, there are pretty good imitators as well. I don't have one yet, but I will be buying one soon. For the record, I know four people who have them (OK, two couples). They would eagerly attack angry, nursing badgers if it was the only way to save their Tempurpedic mattresses.

Select comfort beds suck. Every model is like sleeping on a plastic bag. If you want air, go to Wal-Mart and buy an Eddie Bauer inflatable air-mattress. They're 1000% better. (For the record, I'm a 32 )

There is a new breed of matrai (plural for mattress lol) out now. If you are interested in doing away with springs, but don't want to live in the 1970s with water or air, check out latex (unless you're alergic to it). It seems to be more firm than the memory foam, but if you like a firm mattress, latex might be the way to go. I'm pretty sure it's just a solid brick of the stuff. You might want to consider their delivery option since it's probably heavy as heck.

Remember: you will spend between 6 and 9 hours of every single day on this thing (unless you're a vampire). You might as well spend some green if your dream mattress requires it. I'm about to go pay mine a visit now, actually. Good luck!

carguy123 wrote: . . . I have found that a mattress with a memory foam topper is more comfortable (and cheaper) than a full memory foam mattress. So I've found a cheap way to have the best of both worlds. I have a 3" memory foam topper that I take off in the warmer months and put back on in the winter.

You make a good point. Maybe you can try purchasing a top-quality memory foam topper for your current mattress and see if it works for you? Again, don't buy crap because that's what you'll feel like if you do. I had a memory foam topper on my old mattress because the dern thing was just too firm. While it wasn't perfect, it was still so much better that I could hardly believe it.

My theory is the the cheapest is the best, for a while.

Then get another one; much like a car.

Another thing about mattresses....like ALL consumer goods, there is a time of the year when the prices are at their lowest because "the new model year" is about to start. (Yeah, even mattresses have model years assigned to them.) My sister recently got out of the new furniture biz, or I would ask her when it's the best month to buy furniture/mattresses. Thanks for the "heads up" on the heat issue with foam mattresses. A few years ago I slept on a water bed (okay, 25 years ago) and hated it because it was like sleeping in a heated bed. I've been considering springing for a memory foam mattress for my folks as they have arthritis and felt if they made the switch that my Dad might finally get through the night in bed. Being so old, they are reluctant to invest in an expensive bed, so they got an inexpensive foam "topper". It hasn't helped my Dad, he still gets up during the night to sleep in a chair or on the sofa.

confuZion3 wrote: There is a new breed of matrai (plural for mattress lol) out now. ... check out latex (unless you're alergic to it).

What's old is new again. Latex foam mattresses have been harder to find than inner spring for a few years cause they could make more money on the inner spring with all their fantastic claims. Foam was, well, just foam - until Tempurpedic. Foam was always the least expensive mattress.

Plain blocks of foam whether latex or tempurpedic leave a lot to be desired, but dress them up with pillow tops and they are a lot more comfortable. I personally love a foam mattress (except for the oven they call the Tempurpedic). Foam also has a longer life before you leave a body imprint.

But I agree that whatever you get make sure it is as comfortable as you can get, you spend a lot of time on a mattress. Unfortunately you can't really tell what is comfortable for sleeping while in a store.

I hate memory foam. It retains heat, which makes the bed too warm. And after several years, it doesn't go all the way back to it's uncompressed shape. Next time, I'll be getting a basic mattress with no pillow top at all.

Mine is still in original condition after 2.5 years, no signs of shape changing.

I like that the tempurpedic sucks up heat, it helps keep me cool in the summertime by sucking heat away from me.

It doesn't suck heat away, it holds the heat next to your body. That's the way it works to conform to your shape.

Now they do make a foam that sucks heat away, but all I can find it in is a pillow.

Does anyone have any latex mattress experience? I'm seriously thinking about one of these.

I believe that someone once told me about the high heat retention of foam mattresses in a mattress store. I was told that when you buy a Tempurpedic mattress, you should buy their special box frame because it is this box frame that absorbs the heat from the mattress. I don't know if I totally disbeleive it either.

Select Comfort! Period.

Tons of info here, of all places: Corner-Carvers mattress tech I've got to run as my dinner is ready, but I can tell you that the expensive upscale traditional mattress I bought a few years ago is shot. $1200+ down the tubes and I am not happy.

Sleep Number or some other brand of air mattress is probably my next step.

Sleep number mattresses are surprisingly cheaply made. Let's assume you go with the standard queen/king size with the two chambers, one for you and the other for you Sig-O.

The base will be made out of plastic plates that connect like a jigsaw puzzle. The edges of the bed are made from generic closed cell foam and held in configuration with plastic tabs, another strip of foam runs down the center to divide the sections for the air bladders. This foam will arrive from the factory slightly bent to make it difficult to fit together when putting the bed together. The air bladders lay freely within the foam guides of the bed. Everything is wrapped up in a zippered casing that actually holds everything together.

This means that the outside edges, and center strip of the bed are not actually usable to sleep on. Only the center of each air mattress is really sleeping space. If you roll to one side or the other, you will be rolled off the mattress. If you try to cuddle and spoon your hunny, you will end up in a dead-zone between the two mattresses that you will need to fight to get out of. Getting intimate on one presents similar difficulties

Oh, and the ability to adjust the firmness on the fly isn't so great. Adding air turns on a noisy air pump that is guaranteed to disturb your rest. Picture one partner almost asleep, and the other deciding the bed isn't firm enough: just as you're ready to go to la-la land... VWWHIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Oops, too firm. Pssssshhhhhhh.

You might as well go buy a $100-200 air mattress as Costco or Wally-World. You'll have something just as good.

In my tiny camper trailer the mattress is a quality inflatable with a 3" memory foam topper. It's easily as comfortable as the $1200 mattress in my bedroom, probably more comfortable.

Man...what a can of worms. ddavidv, thanks for the CC link. Plenty of opinions, all interesting to read.

Unfortunately, I don't know that I'm any closer to feeling like I know what direction to go in.

dyintorace wrote: Thanks guys. Pete, was the mattress store okay with your boss "test driving" several different mattresses? This industry seems like the kinda thing that eventually shows up on an "NBC Dateline" episode, complete with hidden cameras.

he said that was the charm of that store. it helped that he lives in the denver area too....

I find that a good box spring is just as important. 3 years ago I picked up a "direct wholesale..." mattres, full size-$200. The mattres was ok, but the box spring went to E36 M3 real quik. The combo lasted just over 2 years before I replace it with a nice pillow-top king koil. I also moved up to Queen size while I was at it.

I like the prices of the Ikea mattresses, just I can't make sense out of the different ones. Heck, I can't even tell when I'm looking at a box spring or a mattress on their web pages.

It's worth laying down on a full depth memory foam mattress just for the experience. I've never laid in something so hard to escape from! Makes getting out of an old waterbed seem easy. Friends have been pleased with memory foam toppers, usually about 2 inches thick.