First, lets toss out all the ‘specialty’ beds.
Sleep number. Air mattresses. Memory foam. Etc…
We’re talking just plain old mattress and box springs.
What brand mattress do you like best, and why ?
Is there anything special to know when picking a set out ? (Aside from the normal, picking one out that ‘feels’ best to oneself, and that kind of stuff…) Is there anything special about one brand ? Is there anything especially detrimental about one brand ? Etc.
Life is what happens when you would rather be finishing your own house.
Replies
What brand mattress do you like best, and why ?
"On Sale" ...
'cause the other ones are too expensive!
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Even my brother, a market research pro, concedes that the mattress industry is a murky world of subterfuge and hollowness. He suggests watching for major promotions offered by large stores. Often web sites offer better promotions than paper ads (at least for the present time). We found a good deal on Sealy products last Fall from Sears.
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Luka
With a bad back I've gone through a few different mattresses in the past few years, ended up with the select number, yea yea, I know, you didn't want that one! But, the best nights sleep I get is on the lazy boy! Get one of those and it will double as a chair for watching TV.
Problem solved - no charge
Doug
There's a place near me (central NJ) called the Mattress Factory that makes all of their mattresses right here. In fact, their old store had the "factory" in back and a small storefront. They will custom make a bed to whatever stiffness and configuration you like.
They're not the cheapest, but I think they're quite reasonable. And what with the made-in-the-USA added benefit, I will be buying all of my beds from them.
Ditto Mattress Factory. We bought a queen set about 2 years ago, the price was comparable to other stores, and it is a super mattress. They apparently make the matresses on site. The back wall of the showroom is glass, and you can see the machines and supplies."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Put your money in the mattress and skip the box spring.
Your building a platform, right? Build it so's you can create some storage underneath.
I've never understood what the box spring was for anyway. Waste of space, in my way of thinking.
Not sure if I will ever get it right, but I will continue to roll that marble around my pea-brain until I figure it out.
"I've never understood what the box spring was for anyway. Waste of space, in my way of thinking."
Think tempo.
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/792/963060.JPG
;)Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
i'm also out shopping,some of these mattress's i need to take a 15 yr loan out to buy. i think i'll give the mattress at sams club a shot. sealy,memory foam [i'm a little hesitant on that]king runs 600.mattress only. box's run another 150.
seems to me they all feel good in the store,so i guess it's just a #### shoot.larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
I just like a plain 4" or 5" thick polyurethane foam mattress over a plywood platform. No box spring. It's what I grew up with, and what I still find most comfortable. Also way cheaper than one of those overengineered contraptions they call a mattress nowadays.
I got mine from Knox Foam on the Internet.
Rebeccah
Edited 4/10/2008 9:47 am by Rebeccah
Just thought I'd tell you, even if you have tossed out the specialty beds, that I have had a Select Comfort for about 9 years and won't ever buy a regular mattress again.
I have tried every price range and mfr over the years, and I can't recommend any. Price or mfr had no effect on the comfort or durability.
I'm with JeffBuck...buy whatever's on sale because you're probably going to be unhappy with it in about 5 years anyway!
My problem is I don't really know what's comfortable--or what's good for the back.
Is stiffer better? I dunno... about 3 years ago we bought a new name-brand (simmons I think) "Back Supporter Plush" queen.
I think it's too stiff. I don't sleep very well on it and often wake up tired and stiff.
I only weigh 155lbs so perhaps a stiff mattress isn't what I need for the back.
Interested to hear more replies.
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing..."
I have a Tempurepdic (sp) and I have the same problem. I am too light to actually have the mattress work for me. Pillows are nice though.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
If your mattress is to stiff put a pad on it. I got a 2" memory foam pad for mine from Wallmart. If you don't like it, take it back. Keep everything.
They also had a 5" memory pad. Seemed like overkill to me but to each thier own.
I would also like to try a memory foam pillow. I'm just to cheap to buy a pillow for $50-$60 bucks.
I picked up the serta.It is firm. It is a pillowtop, but you can feel every spring.Took care of that with eggcrate foam, and a feater mattress pad.Works reeeeeeal goooood.
bought a queen size mattress and box spring from BJ's about 3 yrs ago for $400.i get a great nights sleep, the only problem is the combo is pretty thick so getting sheets to fit are hard to find at a reasonable price.
Sleep Number from Craigslist. Cost about the same as the Sealy we bought on sale previously. It has helped my back tremendously, I don't wake up with a "tired" back any more.
Luka,
Did this dance a while ago.
Lessons learned:
1. You have to lay on a mattress in the store in the exact position you sleep for at least 25 minutes for the feel to be relevant.
2. The mattress you like when you're 30 will feel like #### when you're 40. The body becomes more sensitive to pressure as it ages.
3. Memory foam is HOT, expensive and all brands are not equal.
4. CR has refused to do mattress reviews because the industry is a mess and the judgements are inherently subjective. Having said this, there is good info here:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/mattress-reviews/index.html
Good luck.
I did the "lay down for a long time" deal when I had to pick out our last mattress. I finally selected one and we eventually bought three more for a resort rental property. Everyone that has ever slept on the mattress has told me that they never slept on a more comfortable mattress. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
DW and I moved from a double-size bed with an 8-year old Simmons mattress, to a new Sealy king-size with memory foam. Never mind the extra room, it's like a whole new world. On the old one, I could not get a good night's sleep no matter what I did, even sleep drugs didn't help. I can pass out like a caffeine-deprived teenager on the new one. Only thing wakes me up is last night's beer wanting to be let out. It is somewhat of a problem getting sheets for this thing as it seems like it's three feet thick, but really, it's hard to get fitted sheets to wrap all the way around the corners.
FWIW - we paid almost $1500 for the mattress and box springs - the way I was sleeping, it's been worth every penny. Had it for four months now, I no longer wake up every morning in pain. And I'm not yet 40.
Last year, after much research, I bought a mattress that felt great in the store. It had a pillow top and seemed just the right stiffness, and was on sale. At home, I was sweating like a pig on it. My wife like it enough though. I returned it after a few days for a stiffer mattress with a thinner pillow top. This one was better and I decided to keep it.
One hot summer day, I decided to sleep in the basement on the futon we had. It suddenly dawned on me that sleeping on that futon when I was younger was always great. Don't know why I didn't even think about it when I purchased the mattress.
So, the next time I buy a mattress, i'll go for the futon. A futon doesn't have to be a couch/bed combo like everyone is used to. They can be made in queen or king size and you can put it on a base with a regular headboard and footboard.
Luka,
I remembered your thread on mattresses and had to report on our purchase and results.
I've had back troubles over the years and had docs and chiros tell me I should spend the $ on the right mattress--that it would make a huge difference...
I know you wanted to exclude 'specialty brands' but after 3 years on a crappy std sealy 'backsaver' my wife and I dropped almost 2g on a Simmons 'Comforpedic' memory foam mattress.
It's this one: http://www.simmons.com/products/brands/comforpedic/natural.html
We got the mattress only and put it on a platform I built.
I worked out of town most of the summer and while I was gone most weeks during the week, my wife was raving about it.. said she couldn't wait to go to bed and felt better than ever. Joked she didn't miss me now that she had her new mattress...
Now that I've slept on it for a few months, I concur. I didn't notice an immediate change, but now I notice I sleep straight thru the night--wake up long before the alarm... Where I used to still feel pretty stiff, tired, and lay around in bed for a bit before heading for the coffee... now I'm just up and my back has not been a problem--feel better and stronger.
Part of our problem with regular mattresses may have been we're pretty small, her 120lb me 155lb so just about anything might have been too stiff for us.
New one's golden--wouldn't trade it for the world.
Cheers!
Pat
Thank you, Pat.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Mattresses are really the one place where you should try before you buy. Lost track of how mattresses we tried; went back and tried some two and three times. Kinda like the three bears story only worse. Got quite a few metal parts installed in this old body and was having trouble sleeping. Wound up with a Stearns & Foster. Pricey but worth it. Extra firm but with a memory foam pillowtop-soft but firm. Was disapointed in the Mattress Factory- could feel every coil it seemed. Tempurpedic was comfy but hard to turn and it retains heat- ok in the winter but not so good in the summer. Didn't like the Sleep Number mattress. Spent a night on one in a sleep study- cranked the dial all over the place but couldn't get comfy. I've slept better in a sleeping bag on an air mattress camping. Mattresses are a bit of a racket; it's really hard to compare apples with apples and the more expensive mattresses are not necessarily better. The mattress we liked second best was a Serta at Sam's Club. It was more comfortable than some costing over twice as much. Take your time and try as many as you can, go back and try the ones you like again .and watch out for shyster salesmen. You can sometimes dicker some at furniture stores; try for free delivery at least. After a day of dealing with polijive threads, you deserve the best sleep you can get. ;o)
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery" Sir Winston Churchill
We bought from an online place called "foambymail.com". I called and told them we wanted a latex mattress and how much we each weigh. We were prepared to spend a lot more but he gave us his recommendation for a latex bonded to a standard foam, I believe the total thickness was about 7 or 8". He also said because we didn't weigh much we needed the soft. Gave him a debit card number and in a few days it arrived, arround $500 with free shipping, this was for a King. Built my own platform with storage under it. Sleeps great we are both happy with it. We had had a huge fat quilted expensive spring type prior to this. Some great things about the foam, it supports you evenly, if one of you move or toss about there is absolutely no movement to the rest of the bed, if your partner is right next to you it supports both of you evenly and you do not tend to roll toward one another the way a spring mattress does. A king latex when unpackaged is heavy and difficult to move, I opened the package in place. I had read that tip from someone else and am glad I did. We have been sleeping on it for several months now and I feel my back pain is much improved. Hope you find a mattress you're comfortable with.