Dormeo Octaspring Mattress

[phoenix]

Hi paddyb,

Thanks for getting back to me and the links to the various articles, most of which you’ve posted in response to every new post I’ve made! I’ve read all of these, and the various tutorials on this site. I still find it very confusing though things are becoming clearer as I go.

I have a group of several hundred reference posts that I’ve developed and edited over the years which I use to reply to the more common questions that are asked in the forum so I usually take the “better safe than sorry” approach and link them again if they are relevant to the questions you’re asking because I’d rather post them again than not at all

In terms of PPP, my problem is that I don’t have a partner to comment on the alignment of my spine when shop testing any mattress, and there aren’t that many retailers near where I live. So I’m having to rely more on the feel either n store or preferably after sleeping on them for a while.

Testing for PPP (particularly with alignment) is normally a combination of “eyeballs” and listening to what your body is telling you when you lie on a mattress (completely relaxed) and in most cases a knowledgeable retailer can help with the “eyeball” part to tell you if you are obviously out of alignment on a mattress but I would also keep in mind that nobody sleeps with their spine perfectly straight (like a ruler) in all their sleeping positions so as long as your alignment is “close enough” and you are able to sleep without any pain or discomfort and there is only slight “bending” in the spine that doesn’t produce any pain or discomfort that your alignment will likely be fine.

If you are are more sensitive than most to spinal alignment and are more towards the “princess and the pea” than the “I can sleep on anything” end of the range or if for any reason you aren’t confident that a mattress will be a suitable “match” for you in terms of PPP then the return or exchange policy would become a more important part of reducing risk and the “value” of a mattress purchase just in case your mattress doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for when you sleep on it.

I’m a lightweight side sleeper, 5’11" and 131.4lbs. The advice I’ve had to go for soft to medium mattress, but these have given me back ach in the past, so I’m looking for something slightly firmer. In terms of how much I sink in, it’s never more than about two inches at the hips, I’m skinny and small boned, not curvy. Even on a firm mattress I find it hard to slip a hand under the curve of my back. One thing that strikes me when laying on many sprung mattresses is that I get the feeling that the springs are hardly coming in to play at all, the work is being done mostly by the comfort layers. Maybe I’m wrong and the springs are subtly at work, but I often wonder what the point of a 10" deep one sided mattress is when just the top few inches seem to be utilised?

All the layers and components in a mattress will affect the “feel” and performance of all the other layers both above and below it so what you feel on a mattress is a combination of the “feel” and firmness and properties of all the layers … not just specific layers or components so any mattress that uses a different combination of materials and components will be different from another mattress.

All the layers and components of a mattress also compress simultaneously (one doesn’t start compressing when the ones above it are “finished” compressing) but they each compress to a different degree or percentage of their thickness based on their firmness level, thickness, what is above them, and how deep they are inside the mattress. Softer layers compress more than firmer layers, thicker layers compress more than thinner layers, all layers compress less when there are thicker or firmer layers above them, and upper layers compress more than deeper layers.

How much you sink into a mattress isn’t particularly important as long as your alignment is “good enough”. Spinal alignment has more to do with how evenly you sink in rather than how deeply you sink in to a mattress. Post #6 here has some comments that may help you visualize what good alignment “looks like”.

I might be wrong, but it looks like the top layer of Octosprings in these mattresses works at bit more like the intermediary layer in other mattresses. So I’m willing at least to give it a go. The zoning thing worries me though, I’ve read the threads and not sure if this is a help or a hindrance to me. Five seems like overkill, eight is just marketing!

Again the only way to know whether any mattress will be a good “match” for you will be based on your own careful testing or personal experience.

While it’s probably more information than you need … there is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel” that may be helpful as well. The middle layers in a mattress can act more as a “primary support” layer for someone that is lighter and act more as a “comfort layer” for someone that is heavier.

Regarding the materials, I thought in this thread and another that that these were “somewhat” known and relatively ok? I don’t think the two mattresses I’m looking are here are vastly different to the ones on offer elsewhere.

Manufacturers can change their materials over time and they may also be different in different countries so I would always make sure that you know all the information here and confirm the quality/density of all the memory foam or polyfoam layers in a mattress that you are considering because assuming that they are “OK” based on previous information can be risky.

I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix