Comparison: Prana MoonPlush v. BeautyRest Nighttime Galaxy Ultimate Plush

[phoenix]

Hi Thaddeus,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

I have spent a lot of time on this forum absorbing the wisdom here and am very appreciative of the knowledge. I also am somebody who doesn’t want to spend hours on research - but still want to make an informed decision. I am on the fence between these two mattresses (I have tested them both personally and they pass the “feel” PPP test) - but I’m curious as to your expertise and analysis based on the specifications of these mattresses, which are noted below

Unfortunately, making an informed decision without doing a bit of research isn’t really possible, but it doesn’t need to be hours and hours. Start by reading the mattress shopping tutorial here. In its simplest form … choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …

1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.

2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight/BMI range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress (see the durability guidelines here).

3. Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Regarding the Simmons Beautryrest NIghttime Galaxy Ultimate Plush, if you refer to the foam quality/density guidelines here you will see that they are all either low or very low quality materials, and having 6" of low or very low quality/density materials in the upper layers any mattress would be an obvious weak link in the mattress in terms of the durability and useful life of the mattress and would certainly be a good reason to avoid it.

As for the Pranasleep Moon Plush, the 2" of 1.5 lb polyfoam in the quilt would be a concern, being a little more than an inch or so that I recommend being within for lower density foams in the upper layers. The 3.75 lb. Everlast is a high quality polyfoam. The 1.45 lb polyfoam underneath the spring layer is a firm polyfoam and is also a lower density but this would be fine in a 1" layer on the bottom of a mattress and wouldn’t affect durability. All the Pranasleep mattresses tend to be in a significantly higher budget range than other similar mattresses, and I would make sure you make some very careful value comparisons with this and other similar mattresses.

There is also more information about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).

Phoenix