Solid foam rubber-----
always seemed to be the very best I ever slept on, but, I don't think anybody makes anything quite like that anymore unless custom made.
Jamison was the last I remember.
Most of the traditional American mattresses with springs come from the "three S'", Sealy,Serta, and Simmons. They own just about everybody else.
Biggest difference is in type of coils. Simmons uses "pocketed" coils which are smaller, so there are more of them.
Coil-count goes up based on the quality level.
All coil-counts are based on a "full" sized mattress because that was the most popular size when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
No matter what size of traditionally sprung mattress you get, a coil-count of 600 should be the starting point. Anything else is going to be an inferior product.
Today's units aren't made to flip. They are forcing everyone to replace them every five years which is the typical good life expectancy, anyway. It's just that they go bad so slowly you usually have to sleep on a newer one before you realize how bad your own has gotten.
If you weigh about 100# you could have it for years without a problem.
Otherwise, Gravity is working against it just like it works against us.
Anyone over 200# already knows that before long a cheap mattress is going to become a giant hot-dog bun with you in the middle.
The process of procuring a mattress is a shell-game almost as bad as toilet paper, although, toilet paper is much cheaper.
A mattress has HUGE Mark-up!
I don't care what any sales person says to me, I already know you can knock half the price off of a decent unit and still hold on to the commission,perks, and make a profit for the company.
Beware.
And don't think you can comparison shop because you won't find "apples to apples" comparisons on purpose. They just switch the names and fabric colors so you can't make an exact match from another store.
Forget about warranties. Somewhere in the fine print is a sentence that will "void" the warranty for anything you can imagine. If you are luck, in the first year, you might be able to pound the table and get them to pro rate the price on another over priced unit. They can't take the old one back.
Simmons is the real stand-out with their pocketed coils, but, you want to buy better than a MOL unit!
Serta's upper end stuff is very well built with the coils interconnected.
Sealy is kind of the "Whirlpool" of traditionally sprung units.
They take one of their better Posturepedic units, put better foam and fabric on it and slap a Sterns and Foster label on it. Then jack the price way up. Kind of like Amana to Maytag or Kitchen Aid.
My companion and I once bought a new King-Size TOL S&F unit direct from the warehouse for $200.00. (We knew a local rep. from Sealy.)
The exact same unit, under various model names and fabric colors was selling in local stores for around $3800.00 in 1996 dollars.
The local Sam's here in Roanoke sells Simmons for a somewhat lower price that the other stores, but, still tremendous Mark-up.
The mattress stores are always getting people in the door with $99.00 specials, which are laughable. People actually come through the door thinking that these are a "good bed for the kids".
They aren't thinking about the kids bodies forming in the shape of a pretzel. It's all about price.
Salespeople are known to say " oh sure, I will show you those "dog beds" right over here."
Just don't go through the door with a Consumer Reports in hand or they will know you are in idiot right off the bat.
Happy hunting. My best advice is to buy the highest coil-count for the best price and plan on replacing it in five years.
