Advice on new mattress that I'm considering, please.

[phoenix]

Hi scubamom,

The reason they are suggested the Simmons black line plush (not the pillowtop) is they’ve found it the most durable (yes they admit beds ain’t made like they used to be) - they have the strongest springs of the line and they get the fewest complaints. From all the research I’ve done and compared back to our present (in the guest rooms) Simmons World Class pillow-tops, that seems correct. If it doesn’t last 10 years, at our ages, it may not matter! We can’t outlive a good latex, that’s for sure! or maybe I mean

Their experience certainly doesn’t match the experience of many other retailers I know. Not only are they not built like they used to be … they aren’t built as well as many smaller manufacturers continue to build them. You would be lucky to get 10 years from them and half of that or less would be quite likely as well. While it’s true that the non pillowtops would be a better choice than a pillowtop and a firmer model with the least possible amount of polyfoam with a high quality topper would be a better choice yet … the innersprings aren’t usually the weak link of a mattress and it’s the quality of the materials in the upper layers that is the biggest reason for early foam softening and breakdown.

Our choices are Simmons, Sealy, Tempurpedic (forget it), and Corsicana. Pure Latex Bliss is out for now - unfortunately we are caught in the reorganization and have to make a decision now (for our sanity and backs).

Unfortunately they don’t carry anything I would generally consider so in cases like this one of the strategies I would use is to buy a firmer mattress that minimizes the use of lower quality materials (regardless of whether it’s in a pillowtop or a tight top) and then use a higher quality topper on top of it to add your own comfort layer (see post #2 here). If they carry the Sealy Optimum latex line then at least they use good quality materials in the comfort layers.

@ magpie,

If you are sleeping comfortably on a World Class then I believe you are on fairly soft springs,

The world class had versions with both softer and firmer (lower gauge) springs depending on the firmness level.

I have come to the conclusion that if I end up needing lower quality materials in order to get the comfort I need, so be it. Perhaps taking the “Bic pen” is a reasonable alternative .

The Bic pen approach is great … as long as the prices reflect the lower quality materials. The issue with many of the major manufacturers is that you end up buying Bic pen quality but paying Montblanc prices (OK … that’s a little exaggerated and Parker prices would be more accurate :)). If you decide to go with the Bic pen approach then it’s still possible to deal with better manufacturers where you can still find mattresses where the prices reflect the quality of the materials … no matter which type of materials or mattresses you prefer.

Phoenix