Beautyrest Black Motion Transfer Problem

[phoenix]

Hi mindys,

We are innerspring mattress folks (foam and latex don’t work for us)

While your mattress is an innerspring mattress … it also has polyfoam and memory foam in the comfort layers above the spring so I’m assuming that what you mean is that you prefer innerspring support cores vs polyfoam or latex support cores (memory foam is too soft to be used as a support core in a mattress).

recently purchased a Beautyrest Black Desiree Luxury Firm King with matching box springs. In the past, we’ve had luck with Beautyrest -particularly appreciating the minimum motion transfer resulting (as we understood) from their pocketed coil system - and decided to go this route again. However, a month in on this mattress and I am dismayed to find myself sleeping on a trampoline; I feel my husband’s every movement no matter how slight (we are the same size we’ve always been, so no explanation for this there.)

There is more about motion transfer in post #18 here. Memory foam is the best at motion transfer but latex, pocket coils, microcoils, buckling column gel, and even polyfoam are generally good as well but it will depend to some degree on the specific design of the mattress, on your relative weight ranges, and your sleeping style (such as how close you sleep together). Pocket coils are generally good for motion transfer unlike innersprings that are linked with helicals which are generally poor to fair depending on the specifics of the innerspring and the foam layers above it. The most reliable way to know whether a mattress is “motion isolating enough” would be based on your own careful testing or your own personal experience with both of you on the mattress in the positions you normally sleep in.

Our old Beautyrest was on a platform. My question is whether or not you think we may be more likely to get the motion transfer benefit of the pocketed coils if we get rid of the boxes we are currently on and return to a platform. I’ve read most (if not all) of your extraordinarily helpful tutorials and saw the following statement “Many pocket coil mattresses don’t require a flexing box spring and do best with a firm non flexing or semi-flex foundation.” in the topic “Old box spring under a new latex mattress?” Does “do best with a firm non flexing…foundation” refer to overall performance (such as motion transfer) or just the life of the mattress? In your opinion, is it worth switching back to the platform, and if not, do you have any other suggestions for us? The other variable to keep in mind is that we don’t want the mattress any firmer (which I understand is not supposed to happen with a platform, but…), so I’m also weighing this again the movement and bounce!

I’m not sure you are clear between the difference between a box spring and a foundation. A box spring has springs inside it that flex under the mattress and there are very few one sided mattresses today that use them as a support system and in many cases they will invalidate a mattress warranty. Most mattresses in the industry today need a steel or wooden bedframe with a foundation that has minimal to no flex (vs a box spring that flexes) or a platform bed which also has little to no flex under the mattress. There are many in the industry that mix up the terminology between box springs and foundations even though they are very different products.

It’s unlikely that you have a box spring under your mattress (unless you are using an old box spring) since Simmons pairs their mattresses with a foundation (not a box spring) that has very limited flex but you can put your mattress on the floor to see if it makes any difference. If having your mattress on the floor makes a difference then it could indicate that your current support system is contributing to motion transfer issues and putting your mattress on a different bedframe/foundation or platform bed that has no flex at all would be similar to the floor.

Phoenix