Mattress shopping, input please...

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

YMMV...

Agree with you, Rich, we left Sleep Number in sticker shock, went to a chain called Mattress Firm, still couldn't stomach $1500 for a coil set. Tomorrow headed to local mom n pop Michaelis Mattress. Keeping options open,but if one had to choose right now would be Ikea.

Will keep all posted,

Robert
 
I have had the worst luck in mattresses from Sleepy's although they have been good so far on honoring their warranty. All have had problems with body impressions greater than 2 1/2 inches and I really think the one sided sleep surface is to blame. So in the last 6 years, the first was a Serta Perfect sleeper, then came a Sealy, then a Kingsdown and now I'm on a Dr. Breus specialty bed (he's one of Oprah's guru's) All were expensive and each time I paid the difference for a new mattress. I think the last one was $1000. but I got a $700 credit. The Dr. Breus bed is holding up pretty well and it is really comfortable.
Good luck in your mattress search, it probably is easier to buy a car!

 
We got a memory foam mattress from Costco.com...king size. We use it with Ikea box springs (because we could buy them separately). It's very soft but very isolating too--I scarcely feel Brian turning over. You do kind of have to haul yourself up because you sink in. We did have to go with the memory foam because of our 2 story house made it tough to get a mattress upstairs. We also liked Costco's return policy--their normal unconditional warranty. If we were going to be moving around a lot we might pick a Select Comfort---they come apart into several boxes but you can move them easily.
 
Within 2 years my new Sealy pillow top with memory foam lost its memory and I'm always rolling into a divet. I'd never buy another pillowtop. It was one of their more expensive ones too,, although as usual you only ever pay half price or less 
 
I too have an extra firm Sealy with the memory foam pillow top.
I've had mine since 2010, while the bed is still firm, as stated above the memory foam lost its memory and I have a big divet I roll into.

I didn't want a pillow top but I got it since the model was on clearance for $600 for a double bed and the only other super firm Sealy without a pillow top was like $1400
 
Last year Costco had its usual Sealy mattress selection as well as (I think) Sterns and Foster Beautyrest style mattresses with individually pocketed coils. Oddly, the king size version was significantly softer than the queen size version (I flopped down on both when I had a chance). Both were single sided, but I think the king size had a thicker pillow top on it. I preferred the feel of the queen size mattress.

From what I recall, my '77 Beautryrest gave decades of good service. At the end the coils still seemed to be fine, but the padding had compressed sufficiently that it just never felt right. I suppose an enterprising individual could unstitch the cover and install new padding and rejuvenate an otherwise good mattress. In fact, why don't the mfgs make them with covers that just zip on?
 
I've never heard of OMF so don't know if they have a counterpart in this area operating under a different name.

 

The best decision we ever made was to get rid of the box springs under our king size mattress and replace them with a platform.  Our dozen year old Sertapedic that was giving both of us back aches became firm and comfortable again once it had solid support below it.  I learned from that experience not to be so quick to blame the mattress because the box springs are more likely what's shot.

 

Dave still wanted a new mattress so we got a Simmons Beautyrest, not quite the firmest that they offered, but very firm.   I told the guy I wanted the mattress from the commercial where they dropped a bowling ball onto one side of the bed and didn't disturb the person lying on the other, so he led us to a Beautyrest, we tried it out and we were sold.  The Beautyrest doesn't use box springs but instead a sort of platform type base, which we didn't include in our deal since we already had a platform.  I used to hate it when I was able to sleep in but Dave would be getting ready for work, tying his shoes while sitting on his side of the Sertapedic, and I would be shaken awake.  With the Beautyrest, neither of us feels a thing when the other is getting out of bed or tying their shoes on it, and the side construction keeps the mattress firm when sitting on the edge.  It's probably seven or eight years old.  You also don't have to flip a Beautyrest, which I hardly consider a drawback.  Flipping a king sized mattress is a PITA.  With the Beautyrest, you just give it half a spin once or twice a year, if that, and you're done.  Another reason why we won't buy anything but an independent coil spring mattress next time we're in the market.

 

We did the free 90 day trial with a Tempurpedic before shopping for the Simmons.  We sent it back after less than 30 days.  Not only is it like landing on quicksand, but it also made us perspire -- in the middle of winter.   Additionally, it became rudely apparent that people who do have Tempurpedics don't have sex -- or at least not in bed, or at the very least not in that bed.
 
Observation.

I am beginning the painful process of researching a mattress. I have a non-TOL Serta that has turned bowl-shaped. I've thought about the best night sleeps I've had while away from home and they seem to have been at Hampton Inn and Double Tree hotels. I thought about it and it makes sense. These hotels (part of the Hilton chain, for whatever it's worth) pride themselves on comfortable beds. They also need their mattresses to be in top form at all times, their business model depends on it. Mattress replacement is a big factor in the hotel business, so thy use high-quality mattresses.

These hotels do retail mattresses, if you would like to buy one, but they charge a premium and then some for them. I believe they are a high-end mattress from national manufacturers, significantly marked up. If I could find something akin to one of these mattresses for less than $2,000 for my full sized bed, I'd be thankful!

Dave
 
Bought a select comfort mattress for my dad, he hated it. I tried it I also hated it. Soft or firm it felt like any time I moved the air bladder transferred that motion to the rest of the bed. Terribly over priced will never ever consider them again. This was one of the hard to find double size mattresses with a single chamber I think it's ridiculous for a double bed to have two separate chambers, I think most double beds these days are not used by two people on a regular basis --just too tight.
 
I also don't like memory foam. First I got a memory foam pillow. Too hot, and not very supportive, so I dumped it. A year or two later I got a 2" memory foam pad. It was ok at first but after a while I realized it was also too hot to sleep on, and it also made moving around in bed difficult. The kicker was when I got some broken ribs in a bike accident. The memory foam made it impossible to get out of bed. So it's been rolled up in storage ever since.

Like I say, my next mattress will be a Beautyrest or similar.
 
I have had excellent luck with Sterns and Foster. Learned a long time ago how to cross shop for mattresses. So you see one at Macy Bed that is called the "edgemont". They will price match with everywhere, but you can't find it anywhere. That's because the manufacturers work with retail and rename the same product. Bloomingdales has the same exact mattress, maybe different ticking, but its called the "edgemore". So impossible to cross shop. Also, typically, the higher in the alphabet, the more layer of padding and higher quality within the same brand. So the S&F edgemont, would not be as luxurious as the S&F "Langly". Best advice is go and lay on it, bounce up and down on the edge, etc. One thing I know for sure is that after having moved the same size S&F and a lesser Sealy, you could feel the better quality. The S&F had to weigh twice as much.

I've always gone to furniture clearance center, Carson Piere Scott, Macy's furniture clearance, or Bloomingdales furniture clearance, and bought one that had a delivery mishap, broken handle, dirt on a corner, slight rip in box spring. Huge savings, like 75% off and by the time you get it all covered with your bedding, no one will know.
 
I have a Serta iComfort.  It's a gel infused memory foam mattress.  I like it, though it does sleep warmer.  I just turn on the a/c earlier in the season.  I replaced my conventional Serta mattress after 17 years.  I figured I don't weigh that much, so why change it.  I have had some lower back trouble, so I thought a new mattress would help.  Since getting the new one, I haven't had back problems.  Maybe it helped or maybe I am not moving as many appliances, who knows.

 

Ralph,

 

If I get a partner, I'll let you know if it's possible to have sex in that bed or not!

 

 
 
My sister talked me into a TempurPedic last year. Not only was it hideously expensive but it is hot and getting out of the bed is incredibly difficult. So I will be selling this to my sister and getting myself a normal mattress. We won't even discuss the matching pillows. She bought them as a gift for me and after a year, I have yet to use them as they are that uncomfortable. To me that bed is a scam with a mattress...
 
Tempurpedic offers a money back guarantee if you don't like the bed. But I have heard that it is next to impossible to get them to honor it. After you buy it, you are pretty much stuck with it, like it or not.

That seems to be a common complaint with memory foam mattresses, they are very hot to lay on.
 
TempurPedic

Dave was the force behind our 90-day free trial of the TempurPedic.  Neither of us had tried one or knew what to expect.  The TempurPedic experience is just plain weird, and certainly isn't for everyone.  Supposedly the memory foam concept was developed for space missions.  Well duh -- at zero gravity it must be very comfortable, but here on planet earth it's quite a different story.

 

 
 
Hotel beds

Just returned from a trip, and stayed at 4 motels.

The first - a Baymont in Columbia, TN - had a rather hard mattress, and I did not sleep well on it.

The next day - Hampton Inn downtown Florence, AL - was pretty decent.

Three days were spent at the Best Western in Flowood, MS (Jackson area), and it had the best bed of all the hotels.

Last night out was at Hamton Inn East in Florence, AL - bed comparable to other Hampton.

Didn't check the brands on any of them.

Back in my own bed last night, and have to say I like it as well or better as any of the ones in the hotels.
 
and the winner is!...

Simmons Beautyrest "Recharge" in Luxury Firm.

The Luxury Plush was pretty tough to get off of...reminded us too much of our (now) guestroom latex mattress-feel. The Luxury firm provides enough firmness.

Michaelis matched the sale ads for the Labor Day weekend. We got it for $899 delivered and we are both happy
smiley-laughing.gif


 
 

Latest posts

Back
Top