Has anyone had experience with Brooklyn Bedding? I was wondering if the reviews on Amazon are real or not.
Hi garcut,
The reviews are certainly ârealâ (of course I canât speak for every one) and there are dozens of posts in this forum as well that refer to them. They are an invited member of this site which means that I believe they are among the âbest of the bestâ in the country in terms of quality, value, and service. A forum search on âUltimate Dreamsâ (you can just click this) will bring up more information and feedback about them from many of the forum members here.
A mattress is only as good as the construction and quality of the materials that are in it and they use quality materials (Talalay latex and 1.5 lb polyfoam) in their mattresses which are better quality and more durable materials than many mattresses that sell for significantly more.
Phoenix
I have been talking with them and have a âtestâ bed on order. I have a spare room with a full size bed in it which I will use to test it out. I will give a full review of it. If all goes well, then I will purchase the king size. I am getting the 13" memory foam mattress. I agree, you never know what the reviews really mean, but in my experience, if you have 150-200 reviews like they do on one of their latex models, thatâs usually a pretty good sign. I always throw out the highs and lows. You can never make everyone happy. Their memory foam only has 5, all 5 stars, but still not enough to be statIstically significant. Which is the reason for the big test! It is supposed to arrive jan. 16th.
Hi SleepTight,
Congratulations on your new mattress!
You certainly made a good quality/value choice (and hopefully you let them know you are a member here so you also receive your free shredded latex pillow).
I also agree that reviews can have some value overall ⌠particularly about the legitimacy, knowledge, and service of the merchant ⌠but Iâve also seen mattresses that have over 10,000 reviews or feedback on ebay and other places which are 99% positive for mattresses that I would never consider and are basically âjunkâ or âthrowaway mattressesâ based on the quality of the materials inside them. Some of my thoughts about reviews in general are in post #4 here.
Reviews that are about the merchantâs service or that include information about the quality of the materials or that would be of more general interest for more educated consumers (for example that included their height and weight information and the details about why they chose a certain layering) can be very valuable but in most cases they are written by people who praise (or condemn) a mattress who really donât know what makes a good quality or poor quality mattress or what makes any particular mattress suitable for a specific person.
Having said all that ⌠Iâm looking forward to your review once youâve received it and had a chance to test it out 
Phoenix
Looking for specific Brooklyn Bedding reviews⌠so if you can follow up with yours, Iâd love to read it!
Hi bcsteeve,
You can see SleepTightâs review here.
A forum search on Ultimate Dreams 13" gel (you can just click this) will also bring up more on this mattress as well
Phoenix
It is awesome a google search from Brooklyn Bedding brought this post and forum up for me. Thanks for all the quick linksâŚgoing to give them a call.
Hi techieg33k,
Iâm glad you found us and you will find they are very knowledgeable about their mattresses and good people to talk to
Phoenix
So this thread was started about Brooklyn Bedding on on Amazon. Since they now use the Dreamfoam name on Amazon, and since both are recommended by this site, I hope that comments about Dreamfoam are appropriate here.
I have been looking closely at the 10" Dreamfoam hybrid on Amazon (they call it a âLatex Mattressâ but itâs a 3" latex layer with polyfoam above and below). I spent some time reading reviews this evening, sorted by most recent, trying to find reviews from people who have owned the bed for a while. Iâm concerned that several people are saying the mattress breaks down in 8-18 months:
From best mattress ever to absolute worse in less than a year September 8, 2013
Started out great⌠August 5, 2013
started out a good bed, but quickly diminished August 4, 2013
DO NOT PURCHASE HOT â7th Level Of Hell Bedâ July 17, 2013
Several reviews mention a middle âhillâ developing. The sagging described in last review could have been written about my Sealy that failed in 18 months. So far, Dreamfoam has only responded to the last review.
Obviously individual circumstances vary, but I do get concerned when I see a pattern. The problem with the glowing mattress reviews on any site is that they are mostly from new owners, but the whole point of researching here is to find a reasonably-priced mattress that will last years, not months. Iâm beginning to wonder if that is possible.
[quote=âsdmarkâ post=24770]
I have been looking closely at the 10" Dreamfoam hybrid on Amazon (they call it a âLatex Mattressâ but itâs a 3" latex layer with polyfoam above and below). I spent some time reading reviews this evening, sorted by most recent, trying to find reviews from people who have owned the bed for a while. Iâm concerned that several people are saying the mattress breaks down in 8-18 months:.[/quote]
I donât trust many retailers showing 55% savings (one or the links you posted). I donât know anything about Dreamfoam or Brooklyn Bedding, but I do know regular price of $1,649 on sale for $749 (55% savings) for a king, isnât a legit sale. I looked at their amazon store front, all their stuff is 55% or more off. That tells me the higher price is a made up number to make you think youâre getting a good deal.
I have no idea how much a bed costs per se, but the âlower end priceâ of a plate of talalay latex seems to be roughly $300-400 king size, which you can probably assume is 5-10% above cost. Since there are likely only 2 places theyâre getting talalay, itâs unlikely itâs significantly diff. A bamboo cover is likely $50ish cost⌠I see them selling for $80. Bamboo is actually rayon as best I know, the FTC already came down on lots of companies for calling it bamboo as part of a green washing campaign (I have no idea how good bamboo rayon is, but I do know that itâs not nearly as eco friendly as some companies portray it). Figure $100 for shipping, maybe more? Youâre $550 into the product and no profit yetâŚ
Iâd expect they want 10-20% profit. On a $750 mattress thatâs $75-150 needed. Say $100 profit required. So⌠The $550 cost so far, plus profit, is up to $650. So⌠Iâd guess maybe $100 worth for the non-latex foam (7" of it), labour, sales commissions if paid, and youâre done. If these numbers, which are complete estimates, are right⌠Thatâs a problem: thatâd say 7" of foam costs less than $100, which seems too low to be anything but bad quality. (Have you ever seen a $300 7" foam king sized bed?) Iâd guess ikeaâs foam only mattresses give a reasonable view of what foam costs might be, and their kings are more.
No idea if itâs a good product or not, but companies that advertise permanent huge sales immediately get me not trusting them. Personally, I donât see the tact of marked up prices to have big sales as helpful or especially trust building.
dn,
I didnâ't pay any attention to the âretailâ price. Phony retail prices and permanent sales seem a fixture in our culture. Try shopping for a mattress on the Sears web site, for example.
Dreamfoam sells a 3" Talalay king topper with bamboo cover for $404 (link). At that price, it must be synthetic (would be nice if they specified). In any case, that might affect your price computations.
Another factor to keep in mind is Brooklynâs 5% discount to forum members with another 5% going back to Phoenix (link). Looks like Dreamfoam instead offers free pillows to forum members plus Phoenixâs fee.
Thanks for the heads up on the bamboo/rayon controversy, Wikipedia claims that ârayon is so far removed from bamboo by chemical processing that the two are entirely separate.â Dreamfoam does call theirs ânatural bamboo fabricâ so hopefully itâs the real thing.
In a queen, the Dreamfoam topper with a bamboo cover is $354 and the 10" bed with a cotton cover is $599. An extra $250 for the support foam, with the cheaper cover ⌠seems possible. But itâs not a bargain if it sags too much after a year. If Talalay all comes from one place, maybe the topper alone is a safer bet.
Companies need to make money. I donât begrudge them that, nor do I begrudge Phoenix the referral fee. And I still want to believe that Brooklyn/Dreamfoam is âamong the âbest of the bestâ in the countryâ but theyâre, um, sagging a bit in my estimation.
They have good reviews but lots of confusion - probably due to too many options.
Most of the Dreamfoam line seems to use the lightweight foam core (1.5 lb?) as does their Cotton Camilla. But for one of their other mattresses they say â⌠consists of a 8â 2.17 lb BB HD Foam Core. One of the highest quality base foams on the market, we will not cut corners by using lower quality base foams."
Some reviews are saying stay away from 1.5 lb core as it doesnât last. Is that true?
Stuff, I asked a similar question about the change in foam density a few days ago. Phoenix (this forumâs moderator) replied with a link to post #18 here.
Thanks - that link makes some sense but I did find this from other one from Phoenix - post #3 and since I am overweight I worry. So now think I really should blow the budget and go for latex core. BBâs full latex is 10" and then other posts saying go for thicker mattress if overweight. I tried Original Matress 9" and 12" at the store - the 9 felt just a bit soft with a traditional box spring. I sunk into the 12 too much for my tastes so I assume I need firmer if going with thicker.
Iâm overwhelmed by all of the info so please excuse me for rambling.
Nobodyâs going to judge⌠what does âoverweightâ mean?
Iâm 250lbs. I paid the big bucks and got the 10" all latex from BB. It is plenty supportive enough while laying on it, but if you are the type to sit on the edge of your bed (I donât) then it squishes right down. I admit when I first got the bed, I was underwhelmed considering what I paid. The first thing I did was lean on the edge and noticed how it basically squished down to where I could almost feel the wood underneath. But once I was laying on it⌠no problem.
It is overwhelming. There is tons of information. I drove myself practically nuts over a month and a half trying to make a decision. Eventually I went with this bed almost out of complete exhaustion more than anything else.
Iâve had it now for a week. I canât say it feels like Iâm sleeping on a > $2k * bed. I donât feel like âoh my god I should have done this years agoâ or anything like that. I still have restless nights. However, Iâm confident Iâm getting proper support and its certainly not uncomfortable by any means. For the money, I have to keep telling myself that it will outlast a cheaper bed by many many years, because if I just evaluate it on comfort⌠it wasnât worth the extra $$$. For keeping 3 other mattresses out of the landfill⌠Iâm satisfied.
- note: the reason I call this a > $2k bed is because I also bought a 3" topper and had to drive 4+ hours to go pick it up since Iâm in Canada. So its a >$2k bed to me in my circumstances
I also tried the Original Mattress Factory Latex 9" and 12" - both were soft to me but the 12 was ridiculous.
The Aloe Alexis is what I wound up with (Iâm about 215 Lbs, 6â tall). I cannot tell you it is as good as the total Latex but it does have 6" of latex over 7 " of 2.17 lb core. I love it and can say I would buy this one again.
Hello bcsteeve,
What firmness level (or ILD) did you select?
Also, I hope you post another review once you have had it 5-6 weeks (it takes awhile to adjust to a new type mattress).
It seems that I sleep a little better every couple of weeks on my Aloe Alexis; although, I probably should have picked a level 5 (32/28) instead of the level 3 (36/32) as I do tend to roll up on my side more than I realized - it is a little too firm for a side sleeper.
Congratulations on your purchase and I think you will get many years out of the total Latex.
Jeff
[quote=âsdmarkâ post=24781]dn,
Thanks for the heads up on the bamboo/rayon controversy, Wikipedia claims that ârayon is so far removed from bamboo by chemical processing that the two are entirely separate.â Dreamfoam does call theirs ânatural bamboo fabricâ so hopefully itâs the real thing.
[/quote]
Thereâs no such thing as ânatural bamboo fabricâ, as far as I know. In the USA, the federal trade commission has published the following:
Wikipedia on bamboo as a fabric:
Now, that said⌠bamboo rayon may be desirable for a variety of reasons. Iâve certainly felt it, itâs soft and it might be nice, I donât know. If a company says âwe use bamboo rayon because we like how it feels and performsâ, I respect that. If I read âwe use bamboo because itâs eco friendly and an all natural fabricâ, I think of the fairly harsely written ftc info Iâve linked to above.
Maybe their âbambooâ is different, but from my perspective all of the âbambooâ covers I see are a low cost man made fabric, with properties which may be favorable to mattress making. Iâve not seen anything to the contrary. (Iâm not saying itâs bad - in fact, it could be the most amazing fabric ever - I just get irritated when advertising isnât accurate). Also, there could be new methods used?
(my own bed is organic cotton w/ organic wool, and I was recently impressed to see that SleepEZ advertises they use the same thing).
Glad you arenât suckered by the crazy retail prices - yes, I agree, sears and the like are the same - I donât trust them either 
[quote=âjefmoodyâ post=24791]Hello bcsteeve,
What firmness level (or ILD) did you select?
Also, I hope you post another review once you have had it 5-6 weeks (it takes awhile to adjust to a new type mattress).
It seems that I sleep a little better every couple of weeks on my Aloe Alexis; although, I probably should have picked a level 5 (32/28) instead of the level 3 (36/32) as I do tend to roll up on my side more than I realized - it is a little too firm for a side sleeper.
Congratulations on your purchase and I think you will get many years out of the total Latex.
Jeff[/quote]
Hi Jeff,
I do plan on providing a full review once I feel Iâve fully âbroken inâ (myself and the bed). It wouldnât be very fair to do it right now because, frankly, Iâm still not getting enough sleep and Iâm grumpy because of it!
I went with all Talalay. 32 in the 6" layer and 28 in the 3" layer. I also bought their 24 3" topper that I currently donât use.
If I were to do it all again for myself (and ignoring my wife) I would have gone one level firmer in all layers.
I suspect I would have been happier with memory foam for me. But that was out of the question anyway, as my wife really doesnât like it. But again, Iâll follow up in a few weeks.
- Steven
Hi sdmark,
I completely agree with your thoughts about reviews when it comes to mattresses (see post #13 here) which is the main reason I focus so much on the materials in a mattress and on helping the members here to have a better understanding about what to realistically expect with a new mattress purchase. Knowing the materials inside a mattress is really the only way to make meaningful quality, value, and relative durability comparisons when you are buying a mattress
The durability of a mattress (or more accurately the useful life of a mattress which is relative to each person and is not just a function of the materials themselves) is a complex subject with many interacting factors involved. There is more about this in post #4 here.
In any mattress ⌠itâs the upper layers that are subject to most of the compression forces that soften, change, or break down the materials and are normally the weak link of a mattress. This is why its so important to know the materials in the comfort layers especially and identify any potential weak links in the mattress. This means that the top 3" to 6" or so (depending on the other factors mentioned in the durability post) are the most important from a durability and longevity point of view.
There are also two main changes that happen to mattress materials over time. These are changes in firmness (foams will soften and fibers will compress and become firmer) and changes in height (both foams and fibers will lose height over time although there is a significant difference in how much this will happen to different materials).
In the case of the Dreamfoam Ultimate Dreams ⌠these upper layers are the 1.5" of quilting foam, the 3" of latex, and in some cases depending on individual circumstances, the support layer on the bottom.
The quilting foam is in the range of âabout an inch or soâ which is thin enough and already soft enough that any further foam softening will normally have little effect on the useful life of the mattress. It is also quilted which pre-compresses the quilting and makes it more durable as well. Even if this softened significantly itâs main function is the surface âfeelâ of the mattress and there isnât enough thickness that foam softening would have a significant effect on the overall feel and performance of the mattress.
The layer underneath this is latex which is the most durable foam material in the industry ⌠although as you can read in the durability post, softer latex is less durable than firmer latex (this is true of any foam material).
Underneath this is the 1.5 lb polyfoam (NOTE they are currently using 1.8 lb polyfoam) which for most people would not play the most significant role in the useful life of the mattress but in some circumstances (such as heavier weights or for people that are âon the edgeâ of a mattress that is too soft for them ⌠see post #2 here) this can also play a role and a higher density base foam would be a better choice.
This is also one of the lowest budget mattress and among the least costly mattresses you will find anywhere that includes 3" of latex in the comfort layer.
Having said all that ⌠there is no soft material that is immune from some softening or impressions and itâs just a matter of degree and on how much the foam softening affects the comfort and support of the mattress for the person using it.
In addition to this ⌠the hills and valleys that can form in a mattress are a separate issue as well that are not only connected to foam softening (although that can play a role). This is particularly common in the larger sizes ⌠especially king size. There is no way to avoid this completely because in most cases the middle of the mattress isnât used as much as each side so itâs really a matter of degree and time. It can come from either the loss of height as lower quality foams break down and fibers compress or it can come from the gradual stretching, shifting or âbunchingâ of the materials in the center of the mattress where nobody sleeps. This would be more common with quilted covers. In addition to this ⌠you can also have âvirtualâ impressions where there isnât a visible impression when there is no weight on the mattress but where the softness of the mattress or the softening of lower density materials allow the heavier parts of the body (usually the pelvis) to sink down too far even though the foam hasnât lost significant height. These virtual impressions are more connected to either the softness of the original choice or the loss of ILD (foam firmness) that is much more common and develops much more quickly in lower quality/durability materials than it would with latex.
Outside of buying something that has no give at all and will stay completely flat (and is too firm to sleep on), there is no way to completely avoid the normal changes in a mattress or the materials inside it that happen over time and itâs just a matter of degree and on how much these changes affect comfort (pressure relief) and support (alignment). Because some degree of softening and shifting and loss of height is a ânormalâ occurrence with all materials to different degrees ⌠mattress warranties have exclusions for the amount of impressions that are considered to be a defect. Without this every mattress sold would qualify for a warranty exchange with the slightest amount of change in the materials and this wouldnât be realistic.
Most warranties cover loss of height past a certain point and not changes in comfort and support. Normally the warranty exclusion for a mattress that has quilting of some kind or polyfoam in the comfort layers is from 1.5 - 2" and a warranty exclusion for a mattress where you are sleeping directly on a higher quality specialty material such as memory foam or latex that is less prone to the loss of height is .75". The larger exclusion for quilted covers is to allow for for some softening, compression, impression, and shifting of the materials in quilted cover. Even wool which is one of the highest quality materials in a mattress and is found in mattresses that cost multiple tens of thousands of dollars can compress over time up to 30% of its thickness although this varies depending on how the wool is compressed, the type of wool, and how itâs made and tufted. The manufacturers of ultra premium mattresses will tell you to âexpectâ this ânestingâ but of course many consumers believe that if they paid tens of thousands of dollars for a mattress that it wonât impress at all which of course isnât realistic.
In addition to this there are also other factors that can contribute to the ridge in the middle of a mattress. This includes using a box spring instead of a non flexing foundation or platform bed ⌠particularly in a king size where there are two twin XL box springs with solid wood non flexing edges that meet in the middle and each side over the springs themselves is more flexible which can contribute to the formation of the ridge in the middle. Foam mattress tend to do best with a support surface that doesnât flex anywhere at all over the entire surface (with a few exceptions that are part of the specific design of some sleeping systems) which helps the mattress surface remain more even.
Finally there is the issue of legitimate defects in the materials that are in the mattress. All foam suppliers produce defective or âout of specâ materials from time to time and these can end up in a mattress. Even latex that has voids in the material or wasnât properly cured in the middle of the material can be defective. These will always affect some smaller percentage of mattresses and tend to show up early in the life of a mattress and are the main reason for a warranty in the first place (you can read in post #174 here how warranties have little to do with the useful life of a mattress). Some of the larger manufacturers use the exclusions in their warranty as a way to avoid warranty claims. Many smaller manufacturers who are more responsive to their customers have warranty exclusions to make sure that warranty claims are reasonable and will lean towards the customer in the grey areas of warranty claims because they are more concerned about their reputation than avoiding a legitimate warranty claim.
The real issue in a mattress and the main factor in its useful life is the loss of comfort and support regardless of whether the sleeping surface is completely flat ⌠and there are many consumers who have unrealistic expectations and believe a mattress has failed at the first sign of any impression at all or when the middle of a larger size mattress develops a ridge of any kind. This just isnât a realistic assessment if the foam materials underneath them are still providing them with the comfort and support they need or if the changes are inside the ânormalâ range for the type of mattress they purchased. If the mattress is still comfortable and provides good pressure relief and keeps you in good alignment ⌠has impressions that are less than the warranty ⌠and the materials in the mattress have only softened to the degree that is reasonable for those materials ⌠then the mattress is doing exactly what it was intended to do. If they were to sleep on the center of the mattress as often as they do on each side (which of course isnât practical for most couples) then the mattress materials wouldnât stretch or shift and the mattress surface would remain more even or even out over time.
So all of this really depends on the specifics of each circumstance, on the actual reasons behind why each person is having an issue with their mattress (vs the reasons an unhappy consumer may sometimes believe is the issue), and on whether their issues are legitimate and reasonable and are connected to the mattress itself or due to other reasons that may have little to do with the mattress itself.
If you know the materials that are in your mattress and make sure they are the best quality available for the budget range you are in ⌠then your odds are significantly higher that you can avoid or reduce these types of issues in the first place although they will never be eliminated completely and of course there will always be consumers that believe their mattress has failed at the first sign of changes that are completely normal.
Phoenix