Ashley i series mattress

[phoenix]

Hi Loudude117,

Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place I would start your mattress research is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Post #13 here has more about the most important parts of the value of a mattress purchase but it really boils down to …

1. Test for suitability and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post.

2. Check for durability by making sure you know what is inside your mattress (see this article) so you can compare the materials to the guidelines here to make sure there are no weak links in the mattress and make more meaningful comparisons to other mattresses.

3. Compare the mattress for value to the other mattresses you are considering or your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

For part one … it’s important to make sure the mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP and isn’t just “comfortable” based on the showroom feel or a few minutes spent on the mattress. The goal of good mattress testing is to predict how the mattress will feel when you sleep on it in “real life”.

The next step would be to find out the quality/density of all the materials. Normally you would need to find out the density of all the layers but Ashley lists the density of the top 5" memory foam layer as being 3 lb density so that by itself would be a weak link in the mattress and would be enough for me to avoid it unless I was in the very lowest budget ranges for a memory foam mattress (a few hundred dollars).

For me this mattress wouldn’t even reach step 3 where you compare it to other mattresses you are considering because I would have eliminated it at step 2.

"Coolness! That’s the selling point of the Gel Series by Ashley-Sleep. That is why so many brands of memory foam mattresses have gel-infused foam. The gel acts as a heat sink, absorbing heat from the users and conducting it away. This counters the natural tendency of memory foam to accumulate heat and becoming hot.

The cooling benefits of gel in memory foam are somewhat exaggerated in the industry. While it can help with temperature when you are first going to sleep at night … once temperatures equalize then memory foam is still an insulating material that for some people can sleep warmer than other types of foam. There is more about gel memory foams in post #2 here.

Not only does Ashley-Sleep tout the coolness of their Gel Series, they promote their “Ecofusion,” which they claim “uses 30% less oil than conventional foams to reduce our carbon footprint.” In addition, they use the natural products activated charcoal and green tea extract to combat odors and reduce accumulated moisture.

This is another area where you will find more “marketing stories” and “greenwashing” in the industry than fact (see post #2 here). Memory foam and polyfoam are made from two main chemicals which are an isocyanate and a polyol. In the case of the many so called “plant based” or “eco friendly” foams, a relatively small percentage of the petrochemical polyols have been replaced with polyols that are chemically derived from plant oils. While it is certainly a step in a good direction because plant oils are a more sustainable raw material than petroleum … the majority of the chemicals used to make the foam including the isocyanate and the other chemicals used to make the foam are still made from petrochemicals and the foams still don’t break down in landfills. Overall if 30% of the polyols are from a plant based source then it would be reasonable to say that the materials in the foam itself would be about 15% based on plant sourced raw materials and the other 85% are still petrochemicals.

Based on the quality/density of the memory foam and the price range they sell for … I would avoid this mattress or any mattress that used more than “about an inch or so” of lower density memory foam (in the 3 lb range or less) in the comfort layers.

Phoenix