About a year and a half ago, I spent a considerable amount of time researaching mattresses both online and in person. I have scoliosis and a fair amount of back pain, so a good mattress is important to me. I ended up getting a Simmons beauty rest world class recharge innerspring latex hybrid mattress and foundation. I’ve been happy with it, it’s been pretty comfortable. I was surprised I was fitted with a plush after having firm my whole life, my mom having been taught that firm is good for the back. The Jordan’s tech spent a long time with me while I tried out beds, measuring my spine, making sure I was properly aligned on the beds I found comfortable ( I’m a pear shaped side sleeper). She talked me out of a more expensive mattress, so I trusted her. Long story short, the mattress I got never developed comfort issues, but the fabric did start to bubble, so I had it inspected. They told me it is defective, that it is sagging (which I never noticed) and needs replacing. I have a $1400+ credit now at Jordan’s. Plan was to get the same mattress again, but it is no longer carried. After reading reviews of mattress companies online and reading about the tutorial here, I feel disheartened that any mattress is going to let me down. All the hybrids seem to have those foams you say to stay away from. I look at the Jordan’s site and I don’t even know where to begin. Every bed I look at seems to have a reason form rejection. I know I find memory foam hot, latex seemed better. I’m used to innerspring for back support, but no idea if it is necessary. Their descriptions confuse me so much. I’m really at a loss. The major brands have me wary, I know nothing about the other brands they carry, never heard of some. Can you help me find some quality Mattresses to go tryout? I’m stuck with Jordan’s, so at least it’s narrowed somewhat.
Thanks
Hi Fergie3672,
It may have been a blessing in disguise that they don’t carry the same mattress any longer since I would tend to avoid the major brands or any mattress where you can’t confirm the quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here). You would most likely have had the same issue again because of the lower quality and less durable materials in your mattress.
Like many of the members that have come here you are in a somewhat difficult position when you need to exchange a mattress and are “locked in” to a store that sells many mattresses that I would normally suggest avoiding but you are more fortunate than most because Jordans lists the quality/density of all the materials in their mattresses so in addition to testing for PPP (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the mattress shopping tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a suitable “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) you will also be able to check the materials and compare them to the guidelines here to make sure that you are also making a durable choice and that the mattress you choose doesn’t have any weak links in its design.
The type of materials or mattress (memory foam, latex, innerspring etc) is a preference choice not a “better/worse” choice but no matter which type of mattress your testing or experience indicates that you tend to prefer I would always make sure that you confirm that there aren’t any lower quality materials or “weak links” in the mattress.
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress in post #13 here that can also help you to make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.
I would probably focus on the Jordans brand because some of them would certainly be worth considering but I would always make sure that you check any mattress you are considering on a “mattress by mattress” basis to make sure that they don’t have any weak links. Other brands that they carry that also use good quality materials include Naturepedic and Prana and Tempurpedic but these are all in higher budget ranges than you may be comfortable with. With the exception of the Destiny Gold which uses 2.5 lb memory foam which is lower than I would consider … the Sealy Optimum line is “on the edge” in terms of the quality of the materials that I would consider but they aren’t in a particularly good value range compared to other mattresses that use the same or better quality materials and are in lower budget ranges.
Phoenix
Thanks for helping me narrow it down. I popped into Jordan’s today for an initial peak. The guy steered me right back to Simmons and seals, showed me one Jordan’s bed only because I kept saying I don’t like memory foam, I like latex. Memory foam always feels hot, and ye all have their gimmicks on their newest technology fixing that, but I am sceptic all. What are your thoughts on that?
So looking at the Jordan’s brand online, I see a few possibilities I’d like to go back and try out. There are the lanai and Kauai latex mattresses and the longridge euro top latex innerspring hybrid. I’m especially curious about e last one, since my. Urgent bed that I do like is a latex innerspring hybrid. I don’t know why he didn’t suggest it other then it is cheaper…
My one concern on the 2 latex beds is, after reading your tutorials, I noticed the support foam under the latex and the numbers (1. Something density???) seemed like a red flag. Am I misunderstanding your foam advice or should I avoid them? Thanks
Hi Fergie3672,
There are many “versions” of memory foam just like there are many versions of latex so it would depend on the specifics of the memory foam in a mattress you are considering but in very general terms latex is the most breathable of all the foam materials and is more breathable and temperature regulating than memory foam.
There is more about some of the ways that are often used to cool down memory foam in post #6 here and there is more about the many variables that can affect sleeping temperature (besides just the type of foam used in a mattress) in post #2 here and the posts it links to.
I would treat the type of materials or mattress as more of a preference choice than a “better/worse” choice because each person’s preferences can be very different (assuming that both are good quality and durable versions of each material) but there is more about the pros and cons of memory foam vs latex in post #2 here.
The Lanai uses 1" of 1.2 lb polyfoam in the quilting (which is a low quality/density material) and another 1" of 1.2 lb polyfoam in the top comfort layer which is a total of 2" which is “on the edge” of the thickness I would normally suggest in the upper layers of a mattress although it’s better than many other mainstream mattresses. I would normally try and keep to “about an inch or so or less” of lower quality or unknown materials in the top layers and once you reach 2" or more it can be a weak link in the mattress. The latex in the mattress is a high quality and durable material and the 1.8 lb polyfoam support core is also inside the guidelines that would be a suitable choice.
The Kauai only has 1" of 1.2 lb polyfoam in the quilting so it’s inside the guidelines that I would normally suggest and there are no obvious weak links in this mattress (the same comments would apply about the latex and the 1.8 lb polyfoam support core).
The Longridge also has only 1" of 1.2 lb polyfoam in the quilting layer as well which is also inside the guidelines and there are no obvious weak links in this mattress either (again the same comments would apply about the latex and the innerspring is also a good quality component that wouldn’t be a weak link in this mattress).
Of course these comments are only about durability and I would keep in mind that PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) are just as important a part of the “value” of a mattress purchase although if a mattress is too firm you can always add additional softness and pressure relief by adding a good topper and it’s much more difficult to “firm up” a mattress that is too soft because this would normally involve removing and replacing the foam layers that are too soft (or exchanging the mattress) rather than adding another layer on top of them.
Phoenix
Thank you! I feel better that there are a few options that might actually be worth getting. I’ll give those three a good test this week 
thanks again