Advice on selecting a new mattress

[Sensei]

Hey bobby2478,

Welcome back to TMU ! Good to see you back on the forum and congrats on your new mattress shopping adventure! Thanks for providing the excellent situational analysis of your past sleep history, personal stats of both you and your wife, and several mattresses of interest for review. My apologies too for the delayed response, things have been quite active on the forum lately. On to your post….

I’ve got a TempurPedic Cloud Luxe Breeze mattress with adjustable bases that were purchased in 2015 and over the past year i’ve started waking up with lower back stiffness and pain. Reading up on this mattress it would seem this mattress is very soft, which in combination with the fact memory foam breaks down over time and the fact I gained significant weight for a few years (was up to 240 lbs) likely caused the mattress to no longer offer proper support. So while the mattress was great for the first 5 years or so, it just isn’t cutting it anymore. Which is very disappointing considering we spent over $4,800 on the mattress. Hence we won’t be spending that much on a mattress again. This was also my first experience with a memory foam mattress and Tempur specifically. I’ve lost 50 lbs this year and while I will likely have a range I don’t plan on letting myself get above 190 lbs again.

I’m sorry to learn of your developing lower back stiffness and pain, and that your Cloud Luxe Breeze mattress no longer serves you well. Congrats are due for your 50 lb. weight loss; outstanding work ! Indeed, +$4,800 is a large price tag for a short-lived big brand experience. There are plenty of quality mattresses available at a much more reasonable price point.

A little overview on myself, my wife and our sleeping positions. I’m 6’ tall 185 lbs, while my wife is approx 5’8" tall and weighs roughly 120 lbs. I likely spend more time on my back then my side, while my wife is primarily a side sleeper but also spends some time sleeping on her back. Neither of us are stomach sleepers.

As mainly a side sleeper, does you wife find her base useful? Do you plan to continue use of your adjustable bed bases with your next mattress?

It would appear based on reading up online that we likely would want to target a “medium” firmness mattress, however realize that since not all materials are created equal it likely isn’t a one-size fits all metric. I would be looking for some guidance in this regard.

Yes, there is no “one size fits all” standard for mattresses; however, the D2C mattress manufacturers have done a fairly good job of identifying materials and constructions that will get you close to a “one size fits most” approach. Zippered covers with moveable layers, separate mattress pillow tops, and different layer firmnesses are examples of product innovations that help consumers easily adjust a mattress’s comfort to their personal preferences. If you both are considering a medium firmness mattress, it would be helpful to make showroom visits and test a variety of models available in that firmness category. You may be surprised how the firmness will vary depending on what materials are used in the comfort layers. For example, Natural/ Dunlop latex in medium would feel and react differently (denser, more firm feeling) than Talalay latex / medium (more conforming and plush feeling).

I’m also looking for advice on materials/brands.

You’ve constructed a helpful comparison of a number of mattresses, Bobby; good job and thanks for providing all of those details. Regarding product reviews in general: glean from them details that speak to facts rather than emotions, and you may find the information somewhat helpful. Consumer Reports certainly isn’t the “be all end all” for opinions. In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #2 here regarding Phoenix’s thoughts on CR ).

As you have been part of the forum for some time now, you likely know that we will comment on a mattress’s durability potential and can offer thought starters towards narrowing down choices. You’ve mentioned six mattress brands and your thoughts regarding several of the models, mostly latex hybrids. As it has been awhile since your last post, have you narrowed your choices further? Looking forward to your updates and thanks.

Sensei