I’m looking to finally upgrade my “mattress,” if you can even call it that - this has become a more urgent matter because I’ve discovered that it seems to be cutting off my circulation / pinching nerves as I sleep, so I really need a replacement soon. My current mattress is actually a cheap no-name futon that for at least 10 years we used at my parents’ place as a couch - when I moved into my first apartment last year we brought it so I wouldn’t have to buy a mattress. But it is super compressed in the most irregular ways - if you put down a sheet of plastic and poured out a bottle of wine, it probably wouldn’t get on the floor - that’s how many dips there are in this thing. It’s extremely firm to a fault - even laying on your side for more than 10 seconds produces pain and numbing.
So basically I’m looking for a latex mattress that is significantly better than the crap I have now.
(I’m a back sleeper, 6’1" and 170lbs)
Here are my criteria:
Queen-sized
Somewhat mobile. Being a recent college grad, I expect to have to move a lot in the next 5 years or so of my life, so I want a mattress I might be physically capable of moving if I have to.
Soft but supportive - my girlfriend has a memory foam bed, which at first I thought I loved, but then I realized it was eating me alive! I sunk in so deeply that my posture / alignment was all screwed up - woke up every morning with back pain. So it should be softer than my current mattress, but firm enough to support my posture.
Best bang for my buck - this is key. As much as I would love to get the best mattress out there, I’m already in enough post-college debt as it is - I can’t get anything too expensive. I don’t want to set a hard maximum, just in case I’d have to spend more than that to get the quality I want, but I really don’t want to spend more than $1000. Less is better, even if that means that this one won’t last me for life.
Online retailer - going local isn’t an option for me.
Exchangeable top - this is a tough one. I’d really like this in case I don’t choose the right firmness the first time, especially since I’m ordering online and can’t compare them for myself. But maybe I don’t need it? If I could be confident that either I chose the right firmness for myself or that the company had a good enough return policy that I could return it if it wasn’t a good fit, then I could go without this.
So far I’ve been looking mostly at Brooklyn Bedding, Dreamfoam, and Spindle. I got in touch with Brooklyn Bedding and they gave me their recommendation based on my height / weight / preferences - the 14" Aloe Alexis. My problem with the Aloe Alexis is that it’s pretty expensive, pretty heavy (135lbs! which might be typical, I don’t know), and seems like it would be difficult to move. The Bamboo Bliss is still expensive. I’m not sure if the Cotton Camilla is significantly worse than the Bamboo Bliss.
Spindle requires assembly - not sure what people’s experience with this has been.
Dreamfoam’s EuroTop seems to not be as good as the 12" Bamboo Bliss from what I’ve read on here, especially because of the less dense polyfoam base and that the exchangeable top cover isn’t washable.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place I would start is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information you will need to know how make the best possible choices and decide on which mattress that is the best “bang for the buck” for you based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you regardless of whether anyone else would make the same choices.
What is “best” by any definition for one person may be very different for what is “best” for someone else. There is no single mattress that is the “best bang for the buck” outside of each person’s personal criteria.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the best way to decide which mattress is likely to be the best match for you would be based on a more detailed conversation with each online manufacturer/retailer you are considering … see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here.
Latex is much heavier than polyfoam and the Alexis has 6" of latex which means it would be heavier than a mattress that only used 3" of latex. The good news is that you can remove the latex layers which are the heaviest part of the mattress so you can transport them separately. There is more about an all latex mattress vs a latex/polyfoam hybrid and the Alexis which is more in the middle in post #2 here and the post it links to.
The latex in both mattresses is the same (blended Talalay latex) but there is more about how they compare in post #16 here.
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know of any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area. Even if you choose not to buy locally it can still be helpful to do some local testing so you can have more familiarity with different types of latex options.
The ability to customize one of more layers of a mattress can be a significant part of some people’s personal value equation. Not everyone will make an ideal comfort choice the first time. A return or exchange policy can add to the cost of a mattress (the people who exchange or return a mattress are effectively paying for the ones who don’t) but if you aren’t completely confident that you are making the choice that is best for you (based on your local testing and more detailed conversations on the phone) then having some good options after a purchase can be a very worthwhile “safety net”.
You are certainly looking at some very good options and as you know they are all members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and they all compete well with the best in the industry. Dealing with high quality/value manufacturers like these will mean that you will have some great finalists to choose between when you are making a final choice between “good and good”.
Assembly of a component mattress with a zip cover is simple although it helps to have two people when you are “waving” the latex layers into position because latex is heavy and very “jiggly” and it’s easy to tear if you tug or pull on it.
I’m in New Haven, CT. I suppose it’s possible that I could get a friend to drive me up to Spindle’s factory and take a look, but I’m not sure if there’s anything more local.
FWIW, I ended up going with the Aloe Alexis because I got a great discount.
Although now, having pulled the trigger, I’m having serious buyer’s remorse - I got the Aloe Alexis for the same price as the Abscond from Spindle and I could’ve also gotten the Adjustable Ultra Plush from mattresses.net, both of which would’ve been 100% latex. (Although, the Abscond is Dunlop latex, while the Aloe Alexis and Adjustable Ultra Plush are Talalay / or a Talalay blend.)
I was a bit turned off by mattresses.net because their warranty and return information is extremely difficult to find - it’s hidden in product descriptions - and I was worried about what it would be like to have to deal with warranty service / returns with them, and also have to pay for $150 shipping. On the other hand, maybe because Brooklyn Bedding seems to be so popular these days, I have found some questionable reviews of Brooklyn Bedding’s customer service post-sale, despite their warranty and return terms being much easier to find.
I ended up not going with mattresses.net or Spindle because I didn’t want to assemble it myself, both out of fears of accidentally tearing the latex foam and for the possible effects on warranty service in the future (ie. they could say I didn’t assemble it right or something).
But I’m wondering if I really did get the best value for the money for me.
wisew, good query. Brooklyn Bedding made themselves hard to ignore with the positive info on their products and service that’s easy to find. They also enticed me to move up one level to their bamboo bliss. I’ll get it before this weekend.
For the value aspect that’s important to both of us, I believe it’s subjective. Browsing this forum for three weeks the aloe alexis has been praised. I’d bet that you saw that already. You will be able to successfully alter two “comfort” layers if need be. The guidance the guys at BB and here can offer is fantastic. Switching back and forth from my aero-bed and the good sofa will make my appreciation for this bed hard to initially assess!
All the options you mentioned would have made great choices and final choices are always difficult when you are looking at “good vs good” and there are no clear winners between them but FWIW there are many forum members here that are very happy they chose the Alexis which is a high quality/value mattress.
In my experience … the after sales service of Brooklyn Bedding is among the best in the industry and like the other members here they go out of their way to work with their customers who have any reasonable issues to make sure they are happy with their purchase. I think that you will find that in most cases the few “negative” reviews you will find with better manufacturers such as Brooklyn Bedding are either from competitors who engage in this type of practice to harm the reputation of their competitors or from customers who have more “unreasonable” expectations or issues.
