Can't decide, too overwhelmed

Hi, My boyfriend and I recently decided that we need a new mattress. The main reason being I get up every hour of the night and wake up in pain every day. I’m 35, 5"0 and 170, and have inflammation in my shoulders so they go numb while I’m sleeping. I decided to do some research before trying out beds and have been online night and day looking at every bed and every possible review. Thankfully I found your site. It has been my #1 reference guide. I also have visited 3 or 4 stores, a mattress store, department store, and furniture stores. I have 2 to 3 beds from each store that I’m researching so it has become very overwhelming. I like the memory foams and through my research and your advice would like a latex bed, but can’t seem to find anyone near me that I can test one out. I did find my ideal dream bed (from Plush Beds.com) but they only sell online and I don’t want to risk it and it’s over my budget. Some other beds I’m looking at are:
The imattress Xs series by Comfort Solutions.
The Tempurpedic Simplicity soft
The Enzo Galaxy
Simmons Comforpedic NxG memory foam Star Gazer

I am so overwhelmed I really need help. I live in Ocean City, MD which does border DE.
Oh, btw, I do prefer a softer mattress. My boyfriend likes firmer but will get whatever is better for me.

Any help is much appreciated.

Hi Catcat1128,

There are a lot of mattresses on your list that I wouldn’t consider either because they use lower quality foams or because they have poor value.

A mattress is only as good as the materials inside it and without knowing this information (including the density of any memory foam and polyfoam inside … there is no way to make meaningful comparisons with other mattresses, estimate how durable it may be, or know it’s real value.

Post #10 here may be helpful and will give you a step by step process that can lead to finding a mattress that meets your needs and preferences and will have better quality/value.

While Plushbeds uses good quality materials and has “better than average” value … there are some very similar mattresses with more options that have better value in the list of our members who sell online in post #21 here. These members are all very good at helping people make the best possible choice and many of them provide exchange options after a purchase if your online choice isn’t quite right.

On a more local basis there aren’t a lot of good options and these would require more research to find out whether they are willing and able to give you meaningful information about their mattresses and are one of the “better” local outlets (along the lines of this article). I’ve included the brands they carry that may have some better value (depending on the models they carry and their willingness to give you the layering information).

http://www.kendallhomefurnishings.com/ Ocean City, MD. Fenwick Island, MD. Therapedic (Latex hybrid,) Eclipse

http://www.mattressdiscounters.com/ Ocean City, MD. Englander (gel) Comfort Source, Vivon, Technogel

Further away there are some better possibilities in the Baltimore/Washington, DC corridor but these would involve a longer drive.

List centered on Washington, DC is in post #2 here

List centered on Baltimore, MD is in post #4 here

There is some overlap between these two.

Other than a longer drive or a good “discovery” from the local outlets I listed … your best options if you are comfortable with it may be an online purchase from one of our members from the list I linked.

Hope this helps and feel free to post with any more questions along the way.

Phoenix

Thank you so much for getting back to me and for the great recommendations. I did recently visit Kendall Furnishings and was looking at and tested out the Therapedic mattress, so I’m happy to hear you think it’s a good one. I will retest it out and revisit the Mattress warehouse and update you with my progress.

Hi Catcat1128,

Don’t forget that a mattress is only as good as the materials that are inside it. While Therapedic and some of the other brands I mentioned do make some better than average quality and value mattresses … you can only know if the one you are looking at is a “good one” by knowing the details of all the layers inside it. The ability and willingness of the store to find out this information for you is one of the most important indicators of the knowledge and quality of the store you are dealing with.

In other words … these are “possibilities” based on a search of what was available around the area that may have better odds of being better than average quality and value depending on the prices at the store and on their ability and willingness to let you know what is in them.

Phoenix