Based on your previous experience with Christeli, I was hoping you could help me with the details of Astoria Christeli. I have tried calling them and have had little luck in getting through to a person (long hold times). I am interested in the Astoria which is mentioned to be a medium firm to firm mattress.
The topper they use is “cool tufting fibers” - do you know what kind of fibers these are? Is it a firmer feel or mushy feel? (again i am looking for something on the firmer side and concerned that the topper would be “mushy”)
What makes their mattress firmer/softer than the other? Specifically am looking at the Astoria and the one below it (which is supposed to be firmer), and they both have a 1 inch topper with tufted fibers and both have a 3 inch memory foam. Is it the base base that makes it firmer or do they change the ILD of the actual memory foam?
Memory foam - on the pictures, they show little holes on top of the memory foam, but when you look at the cut out of the memory foam, there are no holes. What are the holes on top of the memory foam? Do they actually go all the way through the memory foam or is it just on the surface as it shows?
How would having the tufted fiber topper on top affect the feel of the memory foam vs an all memory foam topper.
I have been weighing the pro’s and cons of a bunch of mattresses over 3 months, but before i make the final jump on this specific one, need these questions answered to have peace of mind in my decision. Please help!
Thanks again,
Larry
P.S. regarding post Memory Foam Weight It seems like that is a huge error to make…given that they could make this kind of error, would you question their manufacturing process and reputability as a company?
The only information I have about the specifics of the Christeli is the information on their site. More than this you would need to ask them the specifics of their mattresses.
I have never tried any of their mattresses so I don’t know how they “feel” to me or would feel for someone else. Firmness and softness is too subjective to use a generic description to predict how a mattress will feel for someone else. One person’s firm is another person’s soft. They don’t provide the specifics of the fiber they use but I would guess that they are likely polyester fibers of some type. This can add some breathability to the mattress (fibers breathe better than foam) but it can also have an effect on the response of the memory foam below it. In general a layer of quilting fiber would reduce the amount of heat that reaches the memory foam and would create a slightly firmer feel and reduce the ability of the memory foam to contour to your body shape but would also have a slightly more “on the mattress” feel than sleeping directly on the memory foam. This type of design would be beneficial for some and detrimental to others depending on their preferences. Fibers tend to become firmer as they pack down and compress over time.
I’m happy to help with assessing the quality of materials in a mattress and the Astoria uses high quality materials and has no obvious weak links in the mattress. Conversations about how a mattress will feel and perform though in terms of PPP for your body type and sleeping position need to be with the manufacturer or retailer themselves. They have much more experience with their mattresses than I do. They can also tell you which mainstream mattress (usually a Tempurpedic model) their mattresses most closely match so you can test a similar mattress locally. In the case of the Astoria the most similar mattress in the Tempurpedic lineup is the Contour Signature so I would make sure you have tested this mattress carefully and objectively using the testing guidelines. They also have an interesting design because you can flip the base mattress to choose one of two different “feels” for the mattress if one side works better for you than the other and you need to do some fine tuning. Finally they also have good exchange or return options (depending on whether you purchase their signature return option) which means that if for some reason the mattress doesn’t turn out to be suitable for you or isn’t as close to the mattress you tested as you hoped then you still have good options which can be an important part of the “value” on an online purchase.
There are many things that can change how one mattress feels compared to another and quite frankly it’s a lifetime study where the learning curve never ends. It can range from the thickness of the layers, the type or density of foam used in each layer, the ILD of the base layers, and many other factors. You can read a little more about a few of the factors that can affect the feel and performance of a mattress in post #4 here and in post #2 here and there is more about the different properties of different types of memory foam in post #9 here and in post #8 here but in most cases the “how” of mattress theory and design is not as important to most people as the end result and their actual experience on the mattress. If you test the Tempurpedic Contour Signature and it works well for you in terms of PPP and then decide to order this mattress as a result and you decide that it’s a close approximation then this is the most important part of your purchase.
If it’s not … then the exchange or return policy can become the most important part of your purchase.
Holes punched in memory foam are one of the ways that are used to cool down the normal tendency of memory foam to sleep warmer than other materials (see post #6 here about cooling down memory foam and post #2 here about the factors that are involved with the sleeping temperature of a mattress. They go through the memory foam.
The most important parts of your final choice would be your conversations with each manufacturer and your confidence in the suitability of a mattress, how it compared to others that were available to you based on your personal value equation, and in the case of an online purchase the options that you have available after a purchase if it turns out differently than you hope.
With one mistake not at all. If this became a pattern then certainly. It’s not uncommon at all for a manufacturer to make a mistake and how they deal with their mistakes when they become aware of it is much more important to me unless it starts to repeat.
Their manufacturer Park Place is a privately owned company that has been in business for over 80 years.