Assistance Needed in NJ

[phoenix]

Hi brooksdj7,

You may be making this a little more complicated than it needs to be.

When you are considering a mattress there are things you can feel when you test the mattress and things that you can’t feel. The things you can feel include things such as pressure relief, alignment, motion isolation, motion restriction, being “in” or being “on” the mattress, slow or fast response, sleeping temperature (to some degree), and just the overall subjective feel of the mattress. For this part of your choice I wouldn’t worry about any of the “comfort specs” (such as layer thickness or ILD) and would completely rely on careful and objective testing.

Then there are the things that you can’t feel and this is where knowing the “quality specs” of the materials comes into play. You can’t “feel” the quality and durability of the materials in a mattress and no matter how well a mattress matches your needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) … if there are lower quality materials in the mattress and there is a “weak link” then the lower quality materials can soften and break down much too quickly relative to the price you paid and you can lose the comfort and support that was the reason that you purchased the mattress in the first place.

There is no “right or wrong” or “correct or incorrect” when it comes to preferences … only what both of you prefer.

You can read more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here.

All you need to do is make sure a mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP based on your testing and preferences, check to make sure that the mattress uses good quality and durable materials and confirm there are no “weal links” in the mattress, and then compare your finalists with each other based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

I prefer the foam bed for multiple reasons I have listed below.

I would keep in mind that almost all mattresses use some type of foam in the comfort layers (regardless of the support system underneath them) but there are three main types of foam (polyfoam, memory foam, and latex foam) so a “foam” bed doesn’t really say much about the mattress. The choice between them (or the type of support system that you prefer underneath the foam comfort layers (such as an innerspring, polyfoam, or latex) is a personal preference. “Foam” is just a generic and non specific term that describes many different materials that have “bubbles” (just like “fruit” describes many different types of food that can be very different from each other).

Tell me if I am wrong in my preference and thoughts for the memory foam:

1. My wife sleeps hot and the gel infused foam was much cooler than the soft hybrid mattress (it was hot and their factory/showroom didn’t have A/C) she even admitted this

When it comes to preferences … there is no right or wrong. Only what you prefer. In most cases memory foam tends to sleep warmer than other types of foam that are used in comfort layers but this is only a general guideline and there are many versions of every type of foam material that can be more or less breathable. There is more about the variables that can affect sleeping temperature in post #2 here. You are using very “non specific” terms (“hybrid” is another one that doesn’t say anything about the mattress because almost all mattresses are some type of hybrid that uses more than one type of material or component) so it’s difficult for me to make more specific comments when I don’t know the specifics of a mattress (see this article).

2. I felt the bed was much more supportive and gave me a nice supportive cocoon to which allowed my muscles to relax and took off pressure points. (occasionally i will wake up with a sore back but its not a frequent occurrence)

Again … your own testing is the most reliable guide to which mattress is the best match for you in terms of PPP.

3. the bed will also be much less prone to the sag that i have endured with traditional mattresses i have used and should last much longer

The durability of a mattress will depend on the quality of the materials … especially in the upper layers of the mattress … not on the type of material that it uses. All materials have lower quality and less durable versions and higher quality and more durable versions. Durability is the part of a mattress choice where you need to know the specs of the mattress so you can compare them to the guidelines here.

4. of all memory foam beds i have laid on it was the most comfortable ( as I mentioned my wife is nervous about the switch), it was a great balance between supportive and also comfort. honestly i think i do a bit prefer at least initially the feel of the hybrid mattress or a traditional soft mattress but i really like the supportive feeling of the memory mattress after a laying in it for just a bit.

This is also a personal preference but with memory foam I would make sure you spend at least 15 - 20 minutes on the mattress so that the memory foam has a chance to warm up and you can be in a better position to predict how the mattress will feel and perform in “real life” when you sleep on it.

2. if my wife isn’t 100% happy with the foam bed we could always buy some some of topper to soften it or change the feel of it…

As you can see in the guidelines here (#10) … I would choose a mattress as if you only had one chance to make your choice … even if you have good options available after a purchase. This will help you put more emphasis on the importance of good testing. If you can’t test a mattress/topper combination in person then choosing a topper that works well on a specific mattress and for a specific person can sometimes involve almost as much uncertainty as choosing a mattress in the first place. The “best use” of a topper is to add some additional softness and pressure relief to a mattress if in spite of your “best efforts” you choose a mattress that is too firm but it may not be an effective way to “fix” other issues.

I would keep things very simple and I would trust your body and careful and objective testing using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post. The only “specs” you need are the ones that will tell you the quality/durability of the materials … not how they may feel.

Phoenix

[brooksdj7]

thanks for the help… i reached out to them and found out the bed memory foam bed is made with 1.8 density poly foam on the base and 4" of 4lb gel memory foam on the top. which looks like it indicates is in the mid grade level in terms of density. should i have any concerns with the core?

they just informed me that the other mattress had been discontinued and they would have the specs for me once they started production on the new model.

[phoenix]

Hi broodsdj7,

thanks for the help… i reached out to them and found out the bed memory foam bed is made with 1.8 density poly foam on the base and 4" of 4lb gel memory foam on the top. which looks like it indicates is in the mid grade level in terms of density. should i have any concerns with the core?

You can see the density guidelines I would suggest here. In your weight range the densities would be fine and if the mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP then there are no obvious weak links in terms of durability.

Phoenix