do i need a box spring....reg vs. foam

Hi digsvillelady,

The Hudson valley in and around Poughkeepsie/New Palz for some reason has less selection for good quality and value mattresses than most other areas of the country. There are a few possibilities within a somewhat reasonable driving distance however.

The closest factory direct manufacturer to you is …

http://www.raitensleep.net/ Monticello, NY. Local factory direct manufacturer. They make traditional innerspring/polyfoam mattresses but they use much higher quality polyfoam than the major brands (2.6 - 2.8 lb foam with 1.5 lb quilting foam as necessary). Husband and wife team that has been making mattresses for a long time. They will also custom make mattresses to order including latex if requested. They carry Corsicana and Sealy as well but I would focus on the mattresses they make if you decide to go here.

Post #2 here includes the better options and possibilities in and around Middletown, NY I’m aware of (although there aren’t a lot of great options on the list either).

Post #2 here includes some good choices in Western Connecticut which are within 100 miles.

The better options and possibilities in the new York city area are listed in post #2 here and a more “categorized” list with more detailed descriptions of many of them is in post #7 here.

I also took a look more locally to see if there were some better choices closer to you but shopping at local retailers carries some risks. Most of the staff at many if not most retail outlets have little knowledge of mattress components and materials and will only tell you the “selling points” they are trained to talk about … most of which mean little to nothing and can be very misleading. When you are looking a local retail outlets … it makes a lot of sense to phone them first to find out a bit about them (along the lines of this article) to make sure they provide a spec sheet which lists complete layer by layer details (including the density of any polyfoam and memory foam) of the mattresses they carry. This is one of the signs of a better outlet along with their willingness to give you good information on the phone.

Without knowing all the components inside a mattress … there is no way to know if the mattress you are buying has real value or is just a very expensive mistake. The worst components (usually low density polyfoam) are usually the weak link of a mattress and the reason it will will soften or develop impressions prematurely. When you are dealing with an outlet that doesn’t focus on helping to educate their customers about mattress materials and are transparent about what is in their mattress … finding out meaningful information or comparing different mattresses becomes an incredibly frustrating, time consuming, and mostly impossible task. Time spent on the phone to find out how knowledgeable they are about polyfoam density, memory foam density, and the different types of latex in their mattresses will save you more time and frustration than almost anything else you could do.

I’ve included the brands these stores carry that make some better quality/value mattresses than the larger more common brands and where your odds are higher of being able to find out the specifics of the materials and components inside them because the brand name is not nearly as important as the specific materials and components that are inside a mattress.

http://ulstermattress.com/ Kingston, NY. Paramount and Organicpedic (OMI) mattresses.

http://www.davisfurnitureonline.com/ Poughkeepsie, NY. Eclipse, Therapedic, and Natura mattresses

http://www.majekfurniture.com/ Ellenville, Monticello, NY. Therapedic

Hope this helps.

Phoenix