Did I make a mistake???

Let me first start off by saying, I’m so thankful that there’s a forum dedicated to mattresses!! Before I came to this forum, I had zero knowledge about mattresses, but after reading numerous posts I feel like I’m so much more informed (thank you :wink: ). Unfortunately though, I purchased a Sealy Posturepedic Gel Plush mattress before finding this site, and after just a week of sleeping on it, I noticed that there are “body impressions”; so much so that the other side of the bed, which hasn’t been slept on, is noticeably “spongier” and higher than the side that I’ve been sleeping on. I don’t know the specific densities to the foams used, but here’s a link to the mattress so you can see specs: http://www.mattressfirm.com/Sealy_Posturepedic_Diamond_Bar_11_5_Plush-P345.aspx

The price I paid for a king mattress and foundation was $1,070, incl. tax + shipping… So my question to you all is, am I overreacting to the body impressions and is the Sealy Diamond Bar a good mattress for the price I paid? Or are there better options out there that are about $1K or under that you would recommend over it? I’m open to all types of mattresses, except ultra firm or ones that are too hard for side sleepers. Thanks in advance for all your help! :slight_smile:

Hi greeneggsandsam,

While all new mattresses will go through a break in period and there is also an adjustment period as well for any new sleeping surface … it would be unusual that there are any significant visible body impressions in a relatively new mattress unless it was defective.

Are they visible impressions that can be measured or are they just “virtual” impressions or soft spots in the mattress that you notice more when you lie on the mattress?

While the comfort layers in your mattress are not particularly good quality or durable materials (and I would normally suggest avoiding major brand mattresses … see the guidelines here) … even low quality materials normally wouldn’t develop significant impressions in two weeks outside of some minor settling of any fibers in the mattress.

Having said that … it would be reasonable to expect the materials in your mattress to develop soft spots or impressions much more quickly than a mattress that used higher quality/density and more durable materials so perhaps the fact that this is happening so quickly isn’t so bad since it gives you the chance to start all over again before your trial period ends to look for a better quality mattress that is more likely to maintain its comfort and support for much longer than the mattress you purchased .

This would depend on the depth of the actual impressions (whether they are very slight or significant) and on any symptoms you experience when you sleep on the mattress (pain discomfort etc) but in terms of quality/value I would certainly avoid major brand mattresses or any mattress where you can’t verify the quality of the materials inside so you can assess whether it has any weak links (which your mattress does) or make meaningful comparisons to other mattresses.

While there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to recommend a specific mattress for someone else based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” out of all the thousands of mattresses that are available in the market (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here) … the mattress shopping tutorial is always the best place to start and has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you with “how” to make the best possible choices (and there would be many better quality options available to you in your budget range) … and perhaps more importantly, know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Since you have the option to do so … I would consider starting all over again and looking in completely different directions and avoiding the major brands and the chain stores that tend to sell them.

Phoenix

Thanks for the reply, Phoenix! I knew in my gut that returning the mattress would be the best thing to do. I’m so thankful that I found your website, because I’ve been exposed to mattress vendors that I would have never found had it not been for your website. I’m going to check out Texas Mattress Makers since they are located here in Houston. I’m particularly interested in the Amsterdam (http://texasmattressmakers.com/index.php/en/amsterdam) but they don’t have foam densities listed. Also, is the cheaper price a red flag? ($695 for a set sounds too good to be true) Other than finding out the thickness/foam densities and feeling the overall comfort of the bed (PPP), is there anything else I should be aware about? Also, I find out that they using 1.5 lb. density foam for the support layer, should that deter me from buying?

Hi greeneggsandsam,

Most manufacturers don’t list the foam densities on their site but they will provide them when you talk with them and ask them.

No … any “red flags” would be based on the quality of the materials inside the mattress and on how they compare to your other finalists based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Those are the basics that I would pay most attention to and there is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here and the posts it links to.

The foam density guidelines that I would suggest using are in post #4 here. In lower budget ranges where all the materials can’t be the “best” quality available then 1.5 lb polyfoam would certainly make a better choice than lowering the quality/density of the comfort layers which are usually the “weak link” of a mattress. If you are in a higher weight range that is more than about the lower 200 lb range or so and the mattress has thinner comfort layers so you would compress the support layers more then the density of the support layers would play a larger role in the durability of the mattress and using higher density materials would become more important.

Phoenix