I live in the Chicago area and am researching using your website. I found the post where you highly recommended the Quality Sleep Shop/ My Green Mattress which is a local manufacturer- it looks like My Green Mattress is the parent company and also a line of “green” chemical free mattresses. I looked at the site but I’m unclear what you are recommending- is it any mattress on their site (as in the non eco friendly ones as well, or just the “green” ones and you are just listing Quality Sleep Shop as a place to find that line?)
I ask because the prices on the green ones are much higher and being green isn’t a huge concern for me, and they also seem a bit more basic. I want a pillow top over a pretty firm base, and I’ve been burned before with ones that cave in/ form body impressions immediately. I need a softer top because I sleep on my side and back. I’ve looked at the Emily and Katherine pillow tops from their “luxury” line, as well as the Carolina Pillowtop from their Standard line. Based on what I’ve learned from your site, the core of each of these look solid (pocketed innersprings with more support in the center third for the higher priced 2 options). But, I’m not sure about the comfort layers. For example, for the Emily comfort layers it says "Three inches of pound 1.8, 32 ild, heavy density foam; one inch, pound 1.5 quilted cover " That doesn’t seem like HR foam, right? but I’m confused. The 1 inch I think you said should be OK, but three inches of something that will not last long and start to sag is not… is 32 ild stable enough?
There are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to recommend a specific mattress for someone else (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here) so my suggestions and guidelines are about choosing the better options and possibilities in terms of manufacturers or retailers rather than about specific mattresses. Choosing which manufacturer/retailer to deal with is step 3 in the tutorial post here and comes before starting to test mattresses.
Quality Sleep and My Green Mattress are “sister companies” and MGM is a member of this site which means that I believe they compete well with the best in the country in terms of quality and value. Which of the mattresses they make that would be the best match for you in terms of PPP would depend on your own personal testing and preferences. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to buy any of their mattresses that was in my budget range and was a good match for my personal value equation.
The tutorial post also has guidelines that can help you compare the quality of different mattresses so you can avoid mattresses that have any weak links or use lower quality materials that will soften or impress prematurely. One of the benefits of manufacturers like Quality Sleep / My Green Mattress is that they use higher quality materials in every budget range compared to the major brands and that they will tell you and “educate” you about the quality of every layer so you can make meaningful comparisons. None of their mattresses have any “weak links” in terms of the quality or durability of their materials and they will provide you with good guidance about the choice that is best for you.
When you are choosing a mattress … the most important part of your choice is PPP but it’s also important to know the quality of all the layers and components in a mattress because no matter how comfortable a mattress may be in a showroom … you can’t feel the quality or durability of the materials and lower quality materials will soften and compress prematurely which leads to the loss of comfort or support and the need to replace the mattress. Foam softening isn’t considered a defect that is covered by warranty (see post #4 here).
32 iLD is a “firmness spec” and ILD has nothing to do with the quality of a material so it would depend on the results of your own personal testing. Your body and personal testing will tell you if the firmness of the layers and components are a suitable choice. 1.8 lb polyfoam with an inch or less of 1.5 lb quilting are all good quality materials and within the guidelines I suggest in the tutorial post and the links inside it.
If you follow the steps in the tutorial post one at a time the process will be much simpler than getting overinvolved with complex specifications that may not be particularly meaningful to you and may do more to confuse than to help you make the best choice.
FYI I orderd a mattress today from Quality Sleep Shop and they said the 5% off for members of this forum only applies to My Green Mattress. Kind of a bummer–but still looking forward to getting the new mattress.
I agree it’s unfortunate. Although they are sister companies and both have some great quality and value mattresses … they only wanted My Green Mattress to be listed as a member here.
While I think highly of both of them … I changed the wording in my previous reply to make sure that it was clear that only MGM is a member here.