Mattress Shopping :(

[gansky1]

This is as fascinating as the coffee threads.

I've had an Omaha Bedding Co. bed since 1999 and still love it.

Julia Roberts stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel and fell in love with the bed. As the story goes, she called the front desk on checkout and told them to put the bed on her bill as she was taking with her. The hotel assured her they would have one sent to her new from the factory. Innerspring with thick padding consisting of silk and wool on both sides of the mattress (you can and should flip it). The silk and wool keep the bed cool and breathable as well as holds it shape like poly fiberfill never can.   The store had an article from our local paper about the story and Omaha Bedding, so when I was shopping for a new bed, I thought if it's good enough for Julia...

 

Here is the story

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-11-28/news/9711290188_1_sleep-council-beds-mattress
 

 Even today, this is considered one of the best mattresses on the market. Being a Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet) company, our Nebraska Furniture Mart has them in stock and pricing is usually far below many of the national brands. I'd buy another without hesitation.

 

A few years ago, I put a 2.5" memory foam topper on the mattress and hated it. We cut it down to my son's full size bed and he likes it. Yuck. All the reasons mentioned above are true. 

http://www.omahabedding.com

 

[sudsmaster]

I tried a memory foam mattress topper years ago and was also very disappointed. It was too hot, and didn't seem to help my back at all. Even worse, when I injured my ribs (three cracks, plus shoulder blade), the topper made it virtually impossible to get out of bed. It's been folded up and shoved into a spare closet for the past ten years or so. I might wind up putting on the bed in the guest room, lol.

 

 

[whirlcool]

I've heard a lot of people say that those Temperpedic mattresses are too darned hot before, and it almost takes a declaration of war for Temperpedic to take one back if you don't like it during the trial period.

The best bed I ever slept on was a water cylinder bed. Looks like a conventional bed, but has water cylinders in it. You don't slosh around on it either. As with conventional water beds they are very heavy. Does anyone even use water beds anymore?

I remember staying in a hotel one night that had very comfortable pillows and mattress. I looked for the tags to see what brand they were. On the tag for each item it said "This Item Is For Sale, inquire at the front desk." And sure enough, they'll sell you whatever they had at the hotel. They'll just ship you a brand new item though. The prices are steeper than you'd think. Obviously there is big money to be made doing that.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I'm still a throwback to the 70s

I have a waterbed,  it's warm in the winter, cool in the summer.  Only problem, as one gets older the bed gets harder to get out of, and doesn't offer much support for old aching bones.  

 

Another problem is there is no rearranging your room, you set it and leave it.  Otherwise you have to drain move and reset, refill.

 

My great biggest problem now is that you can't get the waterbed conditioner any longer locally, it used to be available at Wal-mart.  So I have to search the internet to get my supplies or the water can take on an old pond smell, which will emanate from the mattress.

 

When I make a change, it will be a sleep number.  I tried one out at the mall and loved it.  Just have to get used to the idea of letting go of that kind of money.  They are really no more expensive than a high quality mattress, but I haven't let go of the money for one of those yet either. 

 

[twintubdexter]

mattress shmatress

When you get to be of my advanced age, judging mattress quality by how well you "perform" on it is the least of your concerns.  I just keep an old Adironack "test" chair out in the garage. Like New York New York, I figure if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.

 

[gizmo]

we have a latex mattress. Full latex, NOT a latex top over innerspring.

It was expensive ($1000 for QS) but it is 10+ years old and as good as new. I absolutely love it.

It is hot in hot weather - the latex really holds the heat. It is also incredibly heavy to move.

It is just sooooo comfortable.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I've always had a bad back, even as a kid (arthritis, vertebrae out of alignment, vertebrae fusing, etc.), so I'm VERY fussy about mattresses and have spent a fortune on them over the years.

Three years ago I had to buy a bed and mattress unexpectedly. I had neither the time nor the money to do my usual mattress hunt. So, totally against my better judgement I bought this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spa-Sensations-10-Memory-Foam-and-Spring-Hybrid-Mattress/14225197

from WalMart. I paid a little less than the $269 it sells for now. I couldn't find my order on-line so I've e-mailed WalMart for the exact name and model number, but I'm pretty sure this is it.

I love it! It's the best, or close to the best mattress I've ever slept on. No back pain and I sleep like a log. When you lie down, you sink in an inch or 2 to get a bit of that molding/cradling feeling of memory foam, but then your weight hits the coils and you feel that 'push back' so your spine is totally supported. If that sounds too soft, it isn't. My spine is MUCH happier on a hard floor than on a soft mattress and it has had ZERO problems with this mattress.

WARNING: THE NEXT PARAGRAPH DISCUSSES A MATTRESS' OTHER MAJOR FUNCTION. SKIP DOWN TO THE DOUBLE LINES IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED!

All told about a dozen (more, according to my late roommate, lol) gentlemen callers have tried this mattress. Upon hitting it, every single one of them stopped the action and made a comment to the effect of "Oh wow, this mattress is really cool. Where did you get it?" ... WalMart ... "Really? I'll have to remember that. I really like it." Action then resumed.

The unanimous decision is that doing the deed works out just fine on this mattress!
It's soft enough to avoid uncomfortable pressure points yet firm enough to push against.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

It's now safe to read

In spite of the low price, the quality seems quite high and there are no signs of wear and tear. I highly recommend it.

Jim

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spa-Sensations-10-Memory-Foam-and-Spring-Hybrid-Mattress/14225197

 

[twintubdexter]

deleted but now reposting comment

There certainly is a great deal of useful information here concerning mattresses. Just like most other topics there's no single type that everyone perfers. I myself like my non-Temperpedic memory foam mattress with an upholstered thick memory foam topper. My current full-figure warrants having all that foam. 

 

I never thought how well a mattress performs during "deed time" would figure into a review, probably because at my advanced age beds are for sleeping, TV watching and other activities that don't necessarily wrinkle the sheets. Besides, I just keep an Adriondack chair in the garage for testing purposes. Like NY NY, I figure if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.

 

[philcobendixduo]

My set is 30 years old!

I am sleeping (well) on my 1985 Serta "Posture Care" full-sized mattress set I purchased at J.C. Penney.
I have considered getting a new mattress, but the number of types, styles, prices etc. put me off every time. It's almost as bad (for me) has purchasing a car! I think I'd rather have a root canal than have to try to figure out what mattress to buy so I'll just stick with my Serta as long as I can.

 

[petek]

For the price

That Walmart mattress looks interesting. It appears they sell it online from their Canadian stores too for about the same price... I may just have to look into this some more. Bonus if it comes shrink wrapped in a box. Plus I won't need to buy a new box spring I can just use the current one.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

WalMart actually got back to me. They told me that this (link below) is the one I bought.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spa-Sensations-10-Memory-Foam-and-Spring-Hybrid-Mattress/14225197?cs=true

It came rolled up in a box and was quite unwieldy to bring upstairs because there was no way to grab it properly. I just figured that since it's a mattress, it can't break. I actually tipped it end over end up the stairs.

There were pretty clear instructions as to how one first places it on the bed and only after it's in position (also explained clearly) does open up the bag in which it's sealed. It slowly unfolds and inflates (the memory foam is compressed) over a couple of hours.

As I said, I'm very happy with it.

Jim

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spa-Sensations-10-Memory-Foam-and-Spring-Hybrid-Mattress/14225197?cs=true

 

[iheartmaytag]

I had stated my water bed was warm

Well I lied.  Last night was a cold and windy night, the furnace turns down to 60 after 10:00 pm.  About 12:10 I woke just freezing.  It took me a few minutes to realize that apparently the cat had unplugged the heater, apparently a few days ago.

 

Had to throw a comforter and heating pad between me and the  mattress in order to get back to sleep.  After all day heating it is almost warm again tonight.

 

As for "the deed"  does it count if you're the only one there?  Then it does fine.

 

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Matress for "doing the deed"

Katie and I have had no problem on the OMF mattress. In fact it got easier once we got it.
WK78

 

[mikael3]

The mattress we sleep on is from 1970.  My great-aunt bought it for herself, and she kept the receipt handy to remind herself why she would never buy another.  I slept on it for years when I visited her; and I can say with a shudder of horror, there was never a night when I didn’t hate that thing with all my being. 

 

Back in 2000, when my aunt moved to assisted living, my partner and I ended up with the mattress, since it came with a very nice rosewood bed frame.  After one night, we swore we were going to burn that mattress in a ritual conflagration in the back yard.  It is the very incarnation of torture.  And, it is FULL, not even queen—despite the fact that the bed itself is queen, and there is therefore has a 6″ gap between the mattress and the frame on one side.   The detestable creature doesn’t even have a tag—I don’t think it ever did, so I have no idea who made it.  I recall, possibly, that my aunt paid someone to make it for her, so that it would have the same “give” and “feel” as a concrete slab. 

 

My now-husband and I are not small people, and the two of us have nursed our loathing of this barque of the damned for 15 years.  You might wonder how any couple could be so crippled by inertia that they would carry on like this and not buy something new.  There’s no good answer to that, except that the mattress industry ENRAGES me; it is filled with crooks and liars and cheap foam rubber.  And then we were always reluctant to spend the money.  And then, as with so many things, we adjusted to the nightmare and just became complacent in the face of the enemy.

 

Perhaps a new day is dawning.  This post and all the useful information here inspire me to try shopping for a mattress again; and I’m feeling a little tremor of hope. 

 

I do have a question—just one for now.  Does anyone have a deeply held opinion about box springs?  I’ve read that they’re critical to a properly performing mattress system, AND I’ve read that they’re pointless. 

 

[sudsmaster]

I looked over the Walmart Spa Sensations web page pretty thoroughly today. Read a LOT of the reviews. The verdict seems basically positive, although I did note a couple of troubling things. One, that the mattress may develop a sag after a few months to years. That would not be good, but only a few mentioned that. The other was that some people loved it. Others hated it because they said it was too hard. Still others hated it because they said it was too soft. But I suppose that's to be expected with most any mattress. Perhaps the only way to tell is to try one out, since mattress preferences seem to be very individual. But I doubt that Walmart has them on display.

 

I also checked out the Costco Stearns and Foster selections. Basically it appears that in the case of their mattress, the one to get is the Lake Shore. It's the "luxury firm" and didn't have near the complaints that the softer "luxury plush" Maple Glen model had. So it sounds like it has firmer padding that doesn't deteriorate or flatten out like the softer model does.

 

I also checked my Costco Sealy: it's a Mira Loma, and after about 14 years the padding doesn't seem to have deteriorated at all. It's on the firm side, and as I've said I would prefer a Beautyrest or indiv. pocketed Stearns and Foster, but the Mira Loma is still going strong.

 

[this post was last edited: 1/25/2015-22:58]

http://www.costco.com/lake-shore-mattress-collection.html

 

[petek]

A box spring is just another way for mattress dealers to make more money. They won't guarantee the mattress unless you buy the boxspring. However most scandinavian beds like a teak modern stuyle I had years ago never had a box spring, it just sat in teh teak box fram on plywood and the small IKEA single we have doesn't have one either,, just a flat thinly padded piece of plywood.

 

[volvoguy87]

My experience thus far.

I went to the OMF factory location in Cincinnati yesterday. They have 3 lines of spring cores for their inner-spring mattresses, each can be had with several different types and configurations of padding on one or both sides. I found the one I liked the best and half-jokingly said to the salesman: "This one is the most expensive inner spring mattress you sell, isn't it?" He said I was right! Of course, I just have to have expensive tastes!

I took home the literature for their Orthopedic Eurotop set to do some more specific research and review reading. The link to that mattress is at the bottom of this post. They offer 2 box springs, both of which are functional. A regular 8" thick box spring and a 5" thick version. They have different springs inside to give the same performance regardless of which height is chosen.

My bed frame is part of a lower-end Danish Modern set, which I believe dates from the first half of the 1960s. I've been sleeping on it for nearly my entire life. The headboard has some integrated shelves and the nice mattress set I like is just too thick and would come up above the shelves! Even with the thinner box spring, it's just too tall. I am now looking at their Orthopedic Premier Super Pillow Top set, which is one step down from the Orthopedic Euro Top and is one inch thinner, which would come up even with the shelves.

One thing I like about the OMF is that for $20.00 I can have extra reinforcement built into the edge of the mattress's inner spring so the edge won't crush so far when I sit on the edge of the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed concentrates more weight in a smaller space than laying on the bed. Sitting in the same spot often can cause the mattress to dip there (mine is doing this now). Hopefully a reinforced edge will allow the mattress to age more gracefully than my current example.

Now it's time for more research!
Dave

PS: Regarding the box spring; I believe that, so long as performance is the same, the choice of using the 5" or the 8" box spring offered at the OMF is a matter of personal preference. The height differential is only 3", but under the right circumstances an extra 3" can make a world of difference. It can mean the difference of being able to easily get out of bed, or stand up, without having to climb up or jump down. Of course, the height differential may come into play during certain recreational activities, depending on application. Your mileage may vary.

http://https//www.originalmattress.com/orthopedic-mattress/comfort-choices#orthopedic_eurotop

 

[retro-man]

We still have a water bed also. It is a King size with motionless mattress and lumbar support. Just love this bed. The only concern is when the mattress goes, it is fiber filled and impossible to remove the majority of water and heavy as a front loader duomatic.

Jon

 

[g3bill]

Simmons beautyrest is what I bought in the 70's and loved it till the roof leaked distroying it . Bought a new one around 2000 and was too firm then found they didn't actually make a box spring any longer, it had torson bars they called it, with my knee or elbow I bent one down, then later a few times more till there were dips all over. The old box spring was in the back yard so looked from bottom side and was built with quality in those days, lots more coil springs and all tied with heavy string. I suppose the simmons mattress is still good these days but dont like over 7". Since I've found two well made discarded old style box springs and want to recover and use it with a not so firm mattress. ?

I searched a year ago on the internet and found some real nice beds to my liking but i'm not buying a bed without trying it out, kinda hard buying by wire...

 

[countryguy]

Last summmer while in Toronto for a weekend, I went window shopping in the distillery district where I came upon a store that sold mattresses. If you've got money to burn this is the place to buy a mattress. I tried out one that cost $110,000.

Gary

http://www.hastens.com/en/