2 year latex mattress update and question about coil spring manufacturers

[SleepDeprived]

There are some people that don’t do as well with the higher surface tension and resilience of latex and may do better with a more “relaxed” sleeping surface that has less surface tension or shear forces acting on the skin (see post #18 here).

Hi Pheonix! Yes, this would definitely be me. And, secondly, there is the bouncy, jiggly feeling of latex. I have come to realize that I do not sleep well on a surface that has movement to it. This goes for both latex that tends to want to jiggle around and memory foam that keeps changing as it’s warming up and adjusting to pressure. My body can’t relax on a surface that isn’t stable.

I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I can’t sleep well because my body is just painful and then we took a trip and the hotel had a great innerspring mattress - after the second night I realized I need to make a change.

[quote]In cases like these a “down alternative” (slick polyester fibers) mattress pad something like this or like this would be well worth trying to see if it improves your sleeping experience … especially if it has a good return policy that lets you try it with little risk.

Something like the lanoodles topper here or in some cases even a thicker wool topper (see post #3 here) can also help solve these type of issues if they are related to the surface tension, resilience, and shear forces of the sleeping surface.[/quote]

I would love to find something that would make this bed work for me but it would need to be more substantial than a mattress pad.

I’m concerned the lanoodle, being latex, would have the same sort of problems I have with latex. I tried an Aerus memory foam topper but I found that it actually accentuated the jiggly feeling, I felt like I was sleeping on quivering jello. I’m concerned anything I add will just carry the jiggling up through it.

I would need something dense to dampen the jiggling and something soft to cushion my poor bones. Maybe what I need is a pillowtop for this mattress. Does anyone make an aftermarket pillowtop?

I just did a quick search and came up with this company- has anyone had experience with Sterling Sleep Systems: This looks interesting! Apparently their mattresses are made so the inside is accessible- the top zips off and you can replace parts when they wear out. Now this is an idea whose time has come!

As you probably know microcoils are a type of pocket coil that uses lower gauge steel, usually with higher coil counts that are softer than the pocket coils that are uses as the support core for a mattress. They are generally used as comfort layers to replace softer foam materials instead of as a firmer support system like “traditional” pocket coils. They are a good quality and durable component that certainly wouldn’t be a “weak link” in a mattress. Like any other choice between different materials and components they are more of a preference choice than a better worse choice because different people can have very different preferences about the type of materials or mattresses that they prefer. You can read more about microcoils in this article and in post #8 here and post #2 here.

Love the feel of those microcoils.

Like the choice of comfort layers … the choice between different types of support cores are also a preference choice and not a “better/worse” choice.

I realize this, Pheonix, it’s the choice of manufacturer that is a better/worse choice, I wish I could find one known for using quality materials. Do any of the members of this site make a non-latex, pocket coil mattress?

Trying to chase down what is inside of every mattress that feels comfortable is time consuming, frustrating and there is no way to know if you are even being told the truth. If memory foam toppers are misrepresented as to their density, when you can easily weigh and measure to check them, how can you know the foams inside of a mattress are not misrepresented as well.

I know by experience that I love pocket coils. I can walk into any mattress store and quickly find a pocket coil mattress that feels great to me. BUT I also know from experience the upper layers of foam on that mattress will quickly wear out and I’ll be sleeping in a trough. So, isn’t there a company making coil spring beds that is known for using quality foams that will last longer?

When you think of the fact that it’s pretty much only those top few inches that wear out, why do they use subpar foams there? How much could an excellent quality foam really add to the overall cost of the mattress, when you consider how much mattresses cost? Is it hard to find high quality foams that are comfortable? I was told by one person they cannot manufacture foams that last like they used to because of environmental regulations.

Some of the better sources for innerspring/latex mattresses (including pocket coils) that I’m aware of are listed in post #2 here but this is far from a complete list since many local manufacturers or retailers may also have similar mattresses on their floor.[/url]

I think if I’m going to move to a spring bed, I would just as soon avoid latex.

By the way, wouldn’t it be nice if you could go to a site and quickly sort the offerings by what is inside the mattress? And if each mattress had a diagram showing what’s inside? Sheesh, so many sites are full of useless, distracting information. When they sort by “collection” it is especially mind-boggling. “Collections” mean nothing to a new visitor.

I would tend to avoid most of the Corsicana mattresses because they usually aren’t transparent about the quality and durability of all the materials and components in their mattresses and they tend to use lower quality and less durable materials that would be a weak link in their mattresses.

Thank you, I appreciate the heads-up on that. Very much.

Some of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Seattle/Tacoma area (subject to making sure that any specific mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in [url=https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/factory-direct-mattress-manufacturers-near-seattle-tacoma-wa]post #2 here.

Thanks, I’ll be looking into these.

I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the list that are in reasonable driving distance is always a good idea before you visit any store anyway. This will tell you which of them carry mattresses that would meet your specific criteria, are transparent about the quality and durability of the materials in their mattresses (see this article), and that carry the type of mattresses that you are interested in testing in the budget range you are comfortable with. Once you have checked their websites and/or talked with the ones that interest you then you will be in a much better position to decide on the ones that you are most interested in visiting based on the results of your preliminary research and conversations.

In my nearby mattress stores these are the brands that are available: Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Serta, Beautyrest, Stearns & Foster, Comfor-Pedic, Pure Latex Bliss, Icomfort, Englander, Easy-Rest, Restonic, Legget & Platt, Corsicana, Lady Americana, Emerald Sleep Systems. I don’t think a single one of these is transparent about what is inside of their mattresses. Conversations with salespeople has not tended to add any useful information. Beyond that, I could try some kind of mail order but then I cannot test the mattress myself first.

(ETA: I should point out, it is the above makers of spring mattresses that tend to not be transparent. )