My husband and I have been together for 11 years and are about to buy our 4th mattress together. We are starting to wonder whether the problem is us and not the mattresses! We both have back problems (him: 2 fractured, poorly-healed vertebrae, bulging discs, me: scoliosis, arthritis, degenerating discs), though we are both functional, working full-time, and relatively active. Trying out a mattress does not seem to guarantee anything, since the first one we purchased together was one we had slept on for 3 nights while staying with friends out of town and absolutely LOVED. We started looking for the exact model the minute we returned home and bought it despite its hefty price tag. Within 2 weeks, we HATED it! We should have returned it at that point while we were still able to get a full refund, but we thought we must be crazy since it was so expensive and we had loved it before, and…you get the idea. The next 2, which we tried out in stores (including one store catering to people with back trouble), were no better. I have read several amazing reviews of one called DreamFoam Ultimate Dreams 13" Gel Memory Foam, available on Amazon at just over $800 for a Queen (!!!) Someone may have already discussed this here, but I just joined after researching elsewhere ad nauseam, and it didn’t come up when I searched the site. Anyone with knowledge or experience of this mattress?
Hi mightynurse,
The first place I would start your research is post #1 here. It has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices.
I would start locally and then compare your “best” local choices with what is available to you online and then you can decide which one is the best value for you based on what I call your your personal value equation. You can see some of the pros and cons and risks of buying a mattress online vs locally in this thread.
Dreamfoam is one of the manufacturing members here which means that I consider them to be among the best quality and value available. A forum search on Dreamfoam or on Brooklyn Bedding (you can just click these) will bring up hundreds of posts about them.
If you follow all the steps one by one you will be fine and end up with a great quality/value mattress … regardless of whether you decide to buy locally or online 
When you get to step 3 if you let me know your city or zip I’d be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix,
Thanks for your reply. I did try a search of dreamfoam, but it did not return any forum posts…?? I read through the posts you supplied links for- very helpful, although perhaps too much detail for me to tackle right now. To be frank, I’m not in a position right now to invest this much time into the research. That probably sounds lame, especially since I’ve admitted we have spent quite a bit of money and had quite a few morning backaches due to shoddy research!
So… a couple of questions:
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Does the fact that DreamFoam is listed on this site imply an endorsement of the product and/or company?
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I see that DreamFoam is listed together with Brooklyn Bedding; how are they connected? One thing I have found particularly confusing in the mattress world is that certain styles of mattresses seem to be marketed under different names. Is that the case here? Is DreamFoam an online version of one of the Brooklyn Bedding products?
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The product I originally posted about, the Ultimate Dreams Gel Memory Foam mattress, seems to meet our requirements in terms of our needs and our budget. In your opinion, is this sufficient to take the plunge, considering the fact that this site acknowledges the limitations of testing mattresses in “controlled” retail settings, and the fact that trying out mattresses has been useless for us in the past? Our feeling is that, for $800, it’s probably worth it. I would also welcome the opinions of other members as well.
Hi mightynurse,
You may be using the wrong search. The search window at the top of each page searches only the pages of the site and not the forum. The “search forum” tab at the top of the forum searches the forum and not the site and provides options for the type of search you want to do. A forum search on dreamfoam (you can just click this) currently turns up 835 posts that mention “dreamfoam”
I don’t recommend any specific mattresses becausse there is no way for me to know which mattress is suitable for each person (that’s up to individual research following the guidelines and each person’s personal value equation) but I believe the manufacturers and retailers that have been invited to become members of the site are among the best quality/value available and are “official recommendations” of the site yes. Just keep in mind that no matter what the quality or value of a mattress … if it doesn’t match your needs and preferences and you aren’t comfortable sleeping on it then it would have little value to you.
They are sister companies with common ownership that sell through different channels. There is some overlap but Brooklyn Bedding if focused more on a line that can be customized both before and after a purchase or are in a more premium range while the Amazon Dreamfoam channel is more focused on a lower budget range or “finished” mattresses that don’t have the ability to further customize after a purchase. Both are focused towards online sales although those that are close to their manufacturing facility can go there with an appointment and test their mattresses in person.
I can only speak to the quality and value of a mattress and from this perspective I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a mattress from any of the members here. There is more information in mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here about making a suitable choice for your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and your own personal testing on similar mattresses or more detailed conversations with a manufacturer or retailer is the best way to make your comfort choice. They know more about their mattresses and which body types and sleeping styles tend to do best with each choice “on average” than anyone else.
Purchasing a mattress online carries more risk than local testing (that is done carefully and objectively) and your confidence that you have made the best choice (based on testing similar mattresses and/or more detailed conversations) along with the ability to exchange or return a layer or a mattress and the costs involved are all part of each person’s risk tolerance and personal value equation that can be part of the risk of any purchase. Only each individual can decide what is “worth it” to them and my role is to make sure they are aware of all the criteria that may be important to them so that they can eliminate the worst choices and make the best possible final choices between “good and good”. There is also more about the pros and cons of online vs local choices in this thread so you can decide which is best for you. Each person may have very different thoughts about this based on their own unique experiences and beliefs.
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix,
Thanks for you reply. After more research, we are pretty sure we are going to buy online in light of the fact that testing out mattresses in the past has not been useful to us, even at a “specialty” retailer. In addition, some manufacturers sell interchangable layers which can be exchanged for a better custom fit.
Obviously we have decided against the Dreamfoam I initially asked about. Although the price is great, it is a “one size fits all” product, and I think we need the ability to customize. We are definitely going with natural latex, however, and have narrowed it down to Brooklyn Bedding or Sleep EZ. Before I get on the phone with either of their service reps, I wanted to ask your opinion about a couple of things:
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Everything I’m reading suggests that the amount of support needed depends a lot on your size. What if you and your partner are very different in weight? I weigh 145 and my husband weighs 230.
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My husband almost immediately felt that our current mattress (which we have had for 3 years) was too firm. Initially, I thought it was okay, but after the first 6 months, realized I thought so too. So I think we should get a moderately soft comfort layer (one step softer than medium). But another concern is that I have scoliosis and have read that it is important to have enough support to maintain alignment.
I am having trouble assimilating all of the information about the materials and firmness of the different layers and applying it to our specific circumstances. What are your thoughts?
Regards,
Amy
Hi mightynurse,
There are several ways to accommodate this (see the first part of post #2 here) but one of the most common with some of the online latex manufacturers is a design that has split layering where each side of the mattress is built for each person. All online manufacturers are generally experienced with helping a couple with different needs and preferences choose the most appropriate mattress but a split layering makes the process easier.
Terms like “medium” and “soft” are very subjective and relative to each person and only have meaning in the context of what you are comparing them to. If you don’t have an exact or similar frame of reference then they have little meaning by themselves because what is soft for one person can be firm for another. There are also different types of softness and firmness (see post #15 here) and each person may be more sensitive to one type of softness vs another.
As you mentioned … alignment is the goal and different designs may be suitable for one person and not another. There are no “general rules” or theory that applies to any individual or set of circumstances because everyone is different. “Enough” softness in the comfort layers to relieve pressure and “enough” firmness in the support layers for good alignment is the goal and how much is “enough” will vary with body type, sleeping style, health conditions, physiology, and many other factors.
In most cases it’s wiser and less risky to choose a little too firm than too soft. This is partly because it’s usually better in terms of alignment which is arguably the most important function of a mattress and in most cases because it’s also much easier and more effective to make a mattress that is too firm softer with a topper than it is to make a mattress that is to soft any firmer because this would require the replacement of a layer rather than adding something on top of it. Of course with a mattress where you can exchange a layer or layers that are too soft (depending on the symptoms you experience and which layer needs to be exchanged) … choosing too soft is a little less risky because it can be “fixed” without returning the whole mattress.
I would read the information like you would a good book and not “study” it like you would a textbook. Post #2 here has more about making suitable choices but outside of personal testing … it’s always most effective to talk with the people who are the “experts” about their own mattresses and work with them to make your choice than it is to become an expert yourself. They know more about their own specific designs and which options tend to work best with different people and circumstances “on average” than anyone else. “Just enough” information to be able to ask good questions is all you need. Too much and too little information can both lead to less than ideal choices.
Phoenix