Wife and I are planning on upgrading to a king size mattress and I want to make sure that what we get will be worth the price. We’ve tested some Serta and Tempur-Pedic mattresses, but the price has held us back.
She’s more medium-firm and I’m soft-medium. We also thought about the sleep number beds, but I just can’t get past the thought that I’ll hear the mattress adjusting the air throughout the night.
I’m perfectly fine with going non name brand, but most stores we’ve been to have done nothing but try and force those on us.
In many cases smaller independent manufacturers that are either sold factory direct or through better sleep shops will have much better quality and value than the largest brands (which I would avoid completely).
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … post #1 here (which is the most important reference post in the forum) … talks about how one of the most important parts of any mattress purchase is knowing the details of all the layers and components in your mattress. This is the only way to make meaningful comparisons of the quality or value of any mattress regardless of brand. As you will also read … I would avoid any mattress where the retailer either can’t or won’t provide you with this information.
This article has more information about the pros and cons of airbeds … and I’m also not a fan.
Some of the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in Northern Virginia area are in post #2 here.
Thanks for the reply Phoenix! I’m absolutely loving this site for all the incredible information and I know it’s said many times on here, but thanks for all of your hard work and dedication to helping us gain valuable knowledge.
I looked at the lists for local(ish) locations in the northern VA area, but none really stood out. I’ve been checking out brooklyn bedding as mentioned several times on here and kept going back and forth between their dreamfoam eurotop product and the Aloe Alexis.
While I think I’m leaning more towards the Aloe Alexis, I’m curious about the 2 layers of latex. Is it worthwhile to get two different levels of firmness? Say a softer ILD 19 for the top and then an ILD 24 for the second layer? Purely curious if the firmer layer helps add support after the softer conforming of the top layer.
In a nutshell yes. A middle transition layer in most types of construction would be partly for support and partly for pressure relief and would typically be firmer than the top layer. For example a very common layering in a 3 layer latex mattress would be soft on top, medium in the middle, and firm on the bottom. If both top layers were quite soft there would be a greater risk for alignment issues because you could sink down too far with the heavier parts of your body (depending of course on your body type and sleeping style).
It would probably be worthwhile doing some local testing on latex mattresses where the layering is known to get an approximate sense of the type of layering that works best for you that you could use as a guideline although they will also give you suggestions based on “averages” for your body type and sleeping positions as well.