Great site, very informative - and for someone like me an absolute wormhole!
My soon-to-be wife and I have decided to get a King Size mattress as we will now be sleeping in the same bed, regularly, together. We made the obligatory trip to Macy’s and spent quite a bit of time laying on the various mattresses, just to get an idea of the feel that we liked.
There was one bed that really stood out above all others. The Astral (Firm) by Sealy Memoryworks. Another bed had virtually the same feel, the Rhapsody by Tempurpedic. I can only describe the feeling as very firm, that over the course of a few seconds allows your body to sink in a bit. I have back problems from an old injury, and a decently pronounced caboose, and these two beds, after trying dozens of others, well, these beds actually felt like they allowed my body to “release.” I literally have that “ahhhh” moment on both of them.
Of course, going in I had already started reading your site, and had a bit of skepticism. We are looking to get pregnant before too long so the materials are of some importance. The biggest factor, however, is comfort of sleep (the "ahh factor), limitation of movement disturbance (I toss and turn a lot and have sleep apnea from working the WTC site on 9-11), keeping cool (I tend to run much hotter than normal people) and finally price. I’m 5’11’’ and 190, stocky/muscular (not fat), and my wife-to-be is 5’8’’ 125 and very lanky and slender (and the woman of my dreams :)).
After reading your site we’ve visited the showrooms you mention locally (Dixiefoam and ScottJordan), and have pretty much confirmed that we don’t quite like the bounce/responsiveness of latex and prefer the feeling of the two beds we saw at Macy’s. Mark at Dixiefoam is really amazing, and we may still go with him if we can’t find anything better, but the issue there is that he has only one type of 3’’ memory foam that he calls medium firmness, and is frankly a bit too giving compared to what we’ve found we like, whether placed on top of polyfoam or latex.
The Sealy Astral Firm is virtually impossible to find detail about online, beyond a little blurb and picture Macy’s has on their site:
Mattress type: Memory Foam
Quality: best
Sleep style: stomach
Mattress height: 10.5"
No-flip mattress design
Quilting layers: 1" MD-3 Memory Foam provides optimum comfort & support to reduce pressure points and improve circulation & temperature balance
Comfort layers: 1.5" NuGel Memory Foam infused with tiny gel bears to provide added pressure-free support and a cool sleep experience; 2" MD-3 Memory Foam
Cover fabrication: knit picture-framed with chenille border
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/memoryworks-by-sealy-mattress-sets-astral-firm?ID=691910
Some info is there, but nothing about weights etc. Perhaps it’s a new bed so there’s just not much info out there yet (including user reviews)? They seem to be sandwiching a layer of gel between a couple of other foam layers. I would think with this much memory foam (4.5 inches) that it would be much more giving/plush feeling but it is actually quite firm. I wonder if that’s a result of the layering itself, or perhaps the use of the gel layer which is firmer…? I’ve also read a decent amount about the newness of the mattress in the showroom affecting feel, so I hope to visit a few more showrooms in hopes that I can find one that’s been a bit more “broken-in.”
I’m assuming Tempurpedic is a bit more transparent, but I also can’t find weights listed. The Rhapsody is a 12 inch mattress with:
1.2" of highly-conforming TEMPUR-HD material
2.8" of TEMPUR® material
8" Dual AirFlow System™
TEMPUR-Tex® top and bottom with MicroSuede sides
It’s interesting to note that both mattresses had what I would call a bit more of a “tighter” surface cover (thicker as well??), and I imagine that might affect the feel in a way – and perhaps be contributing to the experience that we actually like.
We are willing to spend as much as $2000, but obviously would love to get the best value for our money. As such, I’ve started looking into potential DIY options. I understand how complex all of the layering and feels might be, but I would love any advice if you might have it.
I’d be willing to consider 8lb layers, gels, etc., etc. The notion of trying to recreate something like the Astral by layering some different foam products is appealing, particularly if we can do it for a decent price (I should mention that I just spoke to someone at Macy’s on the phone and that Mattress ,without the box-spring, is running around $1400 right now – which isn’t terrible).
I wonder if that Sealy Astral is also using some kind of high-density foam on the top layer. Would that be an 8lb foam?
I guess my big question would be this: are there any good sources out there where we could buy said layers and be able to return them if they aren’t right?
Aside from the comfort layers, I’m also wondering about the base layer. The polyfoam that Mark sells is reasonably lightweight – but seems expensive at around $550 for that density. We’d also consider a latex base, but that sounds like it might be a lot of coin for something that’s so far down (we have a platform base).
Lastly, I’m wondering if you know of any Therapedic retailers in NYC where we might be able to lay on them? The Blue Lagoon you’ve linked to on some other pages looks like it’s worthy checking out, and as they’re a national brand I thought we may be able to find something in the NYC area. Our zip is 11217.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have, and you can expect a donation regardless. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the epitome of what the web should be, and give me a little hope for the future of where it can go.