Dons Mattress? Hastens ?

Hello.

So I am fed up with all foam beds .
I am looking for flipable , natural and supportive .

I went to try Vispring , and hated the squishyness . Too fluffy .
I fell in LOVE with the Hastens Luxuria but not the price tag .

I looked up Charles Beckly and can get a horse hair mattress for 2,000 but it’s split with hog hair , and cotton .

I called Dons Mattress in MA . For just the mattress with Unmixed Horsetail on both sides , two layers of cotton batting , each side , would be $4660.

The same at Hastens would be 6660 .
Hastings is mixed with cattle hair .

Now , Hastens will not warranty my mattress unless I use their base .
That’s a lot of cash for no warranty , especially since I’m buying the topper for 3160. ( fell in love with it )

Dons told me that any mattres on an adjustable base like mine wears them out faster . He recommends the box spring .
His is not much cheaper than Hastings , untied . When hand tied the prices are pretty close , and it’s probably better to go with name brand. The kicker?
4 month wait compared to 4 weeks .

So , my questions .

  1. Anyone have a DONS mattress , mattress . Can not find any reviews .

  2. Is an adjustable bed base really worse than a box spring ?

My best bet seems to but the mattress from Dons , put it on my base and buy Hastens topper . They both use the same mattress coil I believe . He said
He would customize it for bending on the adjustable .

Ohhh and Dons uses cotton Batting . Not sure what Hastens uses .

Thanks !

Hi amatrine,

I know…some of the all-natural mattresses can have a quite a high price tag! :ohmy:

I can’t speak to the exact materials within both the Hastens and Don’s Mattress. Hastens does use some very unique materials sourced from very specific regions/suppliers, which is expected when dealing with products like this in the “ultra-premium” category. Even their Bonnell springs are sourced in Sweden. They do also have some unique features such as the side stitching of their products. You’d have to reply upon the information from Don’s about their specific mattress, as they are incomplete with details on their site.

Hastens is manufactured as a system, and with so many natural fibers they are very specific with instructions for rotation, and even periodic “massaging” of their mattresses.

I believe the Lenoria and the Novoria are the only two Hastens models that can be used with a power foundation. Bending a mattress up and down can place more concentrated mass in a specific area, and added to the extra mechanical stress of bending can shorten the comfort life of some mattresses. I would defer to the guidance of any particular manufacturer you’re considering for their expected comfort life for their products on a power foundation versus being used in a flat bed situation, if they feel there is such a difference.

This would all be part of your own personal value equation when figuring things out, as well as the level of comfort you’d have of an item you can test out in a showroom versus one that might be unknown in comfort and crafted to “match” a specification.

They’ve only been mentioned a few times on the forum, and are a very small family company making “old-school” mattress since 1919. Maybe someone here on the forum has purchased one and can tell you a bit about their experience.

The Luxuria is two-sided and uses a 500g/m2 pure cotton and wool mix, then a horsehair tail and cattle hair mix, then a 1000g/m2 pure cotton/wool mix, and then a Swedish Bonnell spring unit. If you’re wanting to place the item on an adjustable bed base, then the Luxuria would be out of the running, and you’d have to choose either the Lenoria or the Novoria, I believe.

If you’re interested in considering other items not using foams, you may wish to look at this thread, which has a listing of some similar items to what you’re considering. While not a complete list, it does offer some alternatives.

Phoenix

I’m thinking of just ditching my adjustable .

I am also looking at Shifman , but they are not located in my state and I would have to purchase without trying .

Dons mattress said 18 pounds of cotton on each side . I need to try to convert Hastings , lol

I just found a store that will ship Shifmans to AZ. Found a 12.5 gauge coil ( like my old Sterns before they went bad)
4 layers cotton , flipable . Hand tied box spring . $2999 . I get my horsehair topper from Hastings I should be good and a lot lower price point in the end .

Hi amatrine,

I’m happy that you found something that worked out well for you! :cheer: I’ll be interested in learning about how your combination works.

Your “old” Stearns & Foster (circa early 1990s) used a 12.75 gauge open-ended sensory arm innerspring unit that was very strong.

Phoenix

Yep 1990s . Oh How I miss that bed .
Hmm if that was 12.75 , I have the option of a 12.5 or 13. Everything the same otherwise on this bed . Hard to choose now lol.

They gave me a ship date of a month , so will update once it’s here:)

Hi amatrine,

I’ll look forward to your (hopefully positive) updates!

Phoenix

I ended up shelling out for the Hästens Luxuria in the end . Got it a couple days ago . First night was painful but now I love it so far . The firm is on the softer side of firm
IMO . No pain though. That’s what I wanted.

Congratulations on your new purchase!:slight_smile: I’m glad that you are happy with it so far!

It is good to keep in mind that while horsehair is certainly a great material and is more resilient and “springy” than other natural fibers it will still tend to compress a bit over time and at one point you may wish to flip the toper and/or the reversible spring mattress of your sleep system and periodically “massage” the mattress.

A two sided mattress that is rotated and flipped on a regular basis (see post #2 here) will certainly last longer than a one sided mattress that uses the same comfort layers on only one side of the innerspring (even with very durable materials such as horsehair) because for half the time the comfort layers on the bottom of the mattress aren’t subject to the same amount of compression forces that soften and break down the materials over time as the upper layers in the mattress.

I’m looking forward to your updates after you’ve had a chance to adjust to your new mattress and sleep upon it for a while longer.

Phoenix

Hi Amatrine
I had a Cal King old-style inner spring Beauty rest EXTRA firm for about 20 years that was still perfect But it was too firm for my sweetheart so we went shopping.
All new mattresses we found in the Phoenix area were foam or a foam/pocketed innerspring so we decided to get Two XL-Twins with adjustable Frames. After a couple months searching on-line we settled for a Med/soft top brand for her and a Beautyrest Bridgewater model at Mattress Firm, the Bridgewater was supposedly the firmest Mattress Firm had to offer. We were both Crazy hot on these mattresses partly made of foam in middle of winter and mine was so soft it hurt my back ------- Fast forward ----
We slept on the mattresses for 100 nights mostly to show that we gave them a Good Honest trial and then contacted mattress firm, we were guaranteed our money back- No Problem-
We searched again this time for Real Inner spring mattress for me and something better for her. She ended up with a top model Sleep Number and I contacted Many Mattress Makers, finally I spoke to Dons, we spoke a few times, I ordered my Extra-Firm Dons mattress. Gabe Donadio Sr. and Jr. promised me IF it was Not up to par they would simply make a new one and send it on.
The HEAT problem vanished immediately ( because the old-style mattresses had NO heat problems ) and my back began to feel normal again right away, it’s been only 6 months so far but I predict no Probs in the future— so far —.
Btw, Dons used to make Hospital bed mattresses so they simply made mine to bend in the two spots necessary for me to use my Adjustable frame.
Good Luck
Frisco

hi frisco.
can you tell me more about don’s mattress? I live on Long Island . would have to purchase sight unseen. you got extra firm is that too firm? I had a great mattress and now I have this horrible foam thing from mattress firm and used up all my trials. all of them had memory foam and were too hot would so appreciate more information as it’s scary to buy something without trying it. thanks so much. marianne

hi amatrine.
what mattress did you get? I am looking for an old fashioned innerspring mattress without the memory foam. if you did get it, can you tell me more about don’s mattress? I live on Long Island . would have to purchase sight unseen. I had a great mattress and now I have this horrible foam thing from mattress firm and used up all my trials. all of them had memory foam and were too hot would so appreciate more information as it’s scary to buy something without trying it. thanks so much. WOULD SO APPRECIATE A REPLY just to let me know your experience what you ended up getting and where… thanks so much marianne

Hi Marzee
I did buy an Extra firm Mattress from Don’s Mattress’s and it is Very firm But not as firm as I wished – that is because I asked them to make it “bendable” for my Adjustable bed frame, but as stated it is still quite firm. The mattress feels Exactly like the old time Inner-spring mattresses I grew up with and had rite up until summer 2017 when I bought the Firmest mattress that Mattress Firm had to offer.
That Mattress was waaay to soft and HOT even tho I bought the special cooling layer and Btw, it was late Fall.
I bought sight unseen and it was shipped to me in Arizona 6 weeks later ---- Perfection ---- I slept cool and still do in our Super hot AZ summer.
Gabe Sr and Gabe Jr are easy to talk to and do it the old fashion way.
I doubt I will out Out Live my Don’s Mattress- I am 70 - BUT I will not hesitate to buy another from the Donadio’s if I have a need.
Good Luck
Frisco

Hi Frisco thank you so much for responding. When I spoke to Gabe senior he suggested I get the one that was one level down then extra firm. I’m struggling with whether to get the extra firm or the one he suggested which was one level down. Given I will have a mattress cover on top of it or the topper that they recommend getting with it I would imagine that would soften it enough that even if it was extra firm it would be fine. Did it bother you that you were not able to test the mattress before hand? Also did you get the topper with it that they recommend?
I am not sure where you live …how did the delivery go? Lastly they don’t take the mattress away like mattress firm or other companies do, how did you handle that situation?
I so appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. Thank you so much.

Hi Mazee
I live in Arizona so I was Not able to test it out But, I was sure I wanted an Old Fashion Inner Spring unit and Don’s has been in Bizz since Columbus landed AND because it was NOT in any way a foam mattress I was confident it would be OK and I was correct. I did not buy a Topper, I am using an old fashion kinda quilted style pad that has been around since dirt was invented.
My Don’s extra firm is Not as firm as the 25 year old Beauty Rest Inner spring mattress I shoulda Never given up BUT Don’s is a close 2nd.
As far as which one to choose – If you were my best friend or my sister I would suggest the Extra Firm especially if you will be using a Topper.
I did Not let my Trial period expire with Mattress Firm so the day after my Don’s unit arrived I called Mattress firm to tell them I am ready to turn it in. I already prepared the Manager at Mattress Firm and he was ready to send the guys to fetch it, Btw, I got back every cent in the deal with Mattress Firm, my experience with Mattress Firm is a 10 — it is the Product that was Not correct for me.
Sooo, perhaps you can give away your mattress or donate it OR Just Maybe, Mattress Firm will give you the courtesy of picking it up with a partial return, might be worth a call.
Good luck mazee, don’t hesitate to contact me again AND if you talk to Gabe Sr or Jr tell them Hi from Greg in Arizona.

Hi marzee.

Welcome to our forum :)!

I’ve noticed that you are providing your email in a few of your previous postings which means that automated spambots will be able to harvest this email and add it to their spam lists. Please let me know if you would like us to remove the email from the body of your first 3 posts. Note that while sending emails is still an option (by clicking on the profile and then the email icon), most of our contributor members often prefer to reply directly within the forum thread, thus adding and making our forum a more useful resource.

@ frisco,
Thanks for taking the time to update us and for sharing your comments and experiences … I appreciate it. It’s exciting that months later your sleep is still close to… “Perfection” … :cheer: "

please do correct whatever I did incorrectly
thanks much
marzee

Hello marzee,

Thanks! I removed your email address from the body of your posts to protect it against spambots.

Good luck with your mattress research!
Admin