Any other recommendations on foam or latex mattresses with high quality and value would be appreciated (particularly those available on Amazon). I’m 6’2 185, my wife is 5’3 120. Based on show room testing, we prefer about the average firmness, perhaps slightly on the soft side.
As you probably know (or you wouldn’t be asking :)) … a mattress is only as good as it’s “weakest link”. In addition to this, the accuracy of the mattress description and the knowledge and integrity of the retailer is also just as important as the mattress you buy because if they list the materials incorrectly you have no way of knowing unless you are able to find the real specs of the mattress. I also believe that the ability of a retailer to help you choose a mattress that best matches your body type and sleeping positions is also an important part of the value of a mattress purchase. Without this you are rolling the dice as far as the suitability of a mattress to your specific needs and preferences no matter what the quality or cost.
If a retailer has a bricks and mortar outlet with a “real world” reputation and the ownership is known … then they can be held accountable for what they sell and the service they provide. If they are just one of hundreds of retailers that is selling “cheap” mattresses, the descriptions are wrong or misleading, or they know little about mattresses … the majority of consumers wouldn’t know the difference but will pay the real price down the road with a mattress that doesn’t perform the way they want and need it to.
Lucid:
Uses 3 lb memory foam which is very low quality. I would avoid these.
Sleep Shop:
I don’t believe their specs for a moment. They are selling Silver Rest mattresses which use Chinese foam of lower density than they are advertising. I would avoid them as well and if they list the specs wrong you have no way of knowing what else they will tell their customers for the sake of a quick profit.
Sleep Innovations.
Another low density (3 lb) memory foam mattress (at least this one is made in the US but the memory foam quality is still very low).
All of these I would put in either the “buyer beware” category or avoid because of low quality materials. I don’t believe that low quality mattresses are worth the price you pay (in many ways) and any return policy (if the mattress doesn’t fit your needs and preferences) has little value because the cost of shipping them back is often more than the cost of the mattress itself. If you do decide to purchase a cheap memory foam mattress … I would at least make sure that it has a return policy where you are not responsible for the cost of returning it.
Dreamfoam:
This uses very high quality materials (talalay latex comfort layer that can be selected for comfort level and a 1.5 lb base foam which would be suitable for most weight ranges outside of weights where a higher density base foam may be a better choice). They are a member here and make a very high quality/value mattress. A forum search on “Ultimate Dreams” (you can just click this) will bring up many comments and feedback about them.
While I understand the attraction of buying a cheap memory foam mattress, when they are sold as being “like the major brand” or use misleading numbers, then they are misleading consumers who don’t know any better and who will tend to believe they got a great “deal” when they didn’t. They would be OK for occasional use, for people who are very light, someone who can “sleep on anything” or for someone who doesn’t mind buying a mattress that uses lower quality less durable materials that probably will need to be replaced much more often or may not be suitable for them.
I would not buy a mattress through the mail unless I lived 500 from the nearest city. You should always lay on a mattress before you buy it. You are looking for 2 basic things (support and alignment). If you have the “hammock” effect then your lower back will hurt. You should search online to find alternative retailers in your area and visit at least 3 of them. At that point you will probably find what you are looking for. When I look at the options that you have chosen they mostly appear to me to be low grade visco memory foam. Visco comes in different weights and density. If you lay on several you will be able to tell the difference. Over just the past year there have been some new products introduced into the market such as “gel” foam. While visco foam has the characteristic of reacting to body heat and people complain of getting hot. Gel foam does not have that effect. Good luck!