Just purchased the Arctic Dreams 10-Inch Cooling Gel Mattress Queen size off of Amazon after reading this thread and your website. I was deciding between the Tuft and Needle and Arctic Dreams and had ordered the Tuft and Needle but then had second thoughts a few hours in and canceled just in time.
Excited to see what Arctic Dreams has in store for me and will post back with my thoughts.
I also contacted Dream Foam Bedding to see if they are still offering that free pillow promotion with purchase and subsequent commenting on the Mattress Underground website. I will see what they say about that. Regardless I am happy with my purchase and will report back with my thoughts!
Congratulations on your new mattress! :cheer: You certainly made a good value choice, and as you’re already aware, Dreamfoam is a member here, which means that I think highly of them. If you don’t receive a reply via email be sure to phone them regarding the pillow promotion.
I’m looking forward to learning about your new mattress once you’ve had a chance to sleep on it for a while.
Is there a reason for this that I should be concerned about? Do you invite members or do they ask to join? Does this mean you do not think Tuft and Needle is a good purchase?
Here’s a link describing the qualities required of site members, and post #64 here goes into a bit more detail about this process.
As a synopsis, this site has always been about education and “how” to choose a mattress. The business membership here would account for a very small percentage of the actual purchases made from research performed on this site, because I’m happy to “point to value” wherever I see it.
In short, I would have no concern purchasing a product from a site non-member if their componentry meets the guidelines as outlined on the site and in the Mattress Shopping Tutorial.
I read all those links but have no way to discern whether Tuft and Needle somehow didn’t meet your criteria so you did not invite them, or whether they did meet your criteria, you invited them, but they declined. I wish I could know.
This particular thread would seem to redirect Tuft and Needle’s potential customers toward the Arctic Dreams. Not saying that you are doing that, but that is the end result of the discussion: I don’t see anyone coming away from this thread purchasing a Tuft and Needle, but many are purchasing an Arctic Dream.
My reading of reviews on Amazon would seem to suggest the opposite, with 90% top rating for Tuft and Needle and 75% for Arctic Dreams and some alarming photographs of the latter. Who knows who really posted the photos though, right?!
I am feeling as if I cannot trust anyone including this site, since one company being discussed here is a member and the other isn’t. You do an incredible, admirable job in NOT suggesting specific mattresses but bias is unavoidable in the eye of the reader when you can say one company belongs and cannot say the other one does- by omission if you will.
I know you have dealt with this issue in the past, and it does not change my admiration for what you are doing and have done for a long time. I just wish I could know why Tuft and Needle is not a member! And I know you cannot say.
I just realized I forgot to include the link to Tuft and Needle in my original reply to your question – sorry about that. They were members previously but asked to be removed from the site membership list in 2015. I think this completely answers your question.
Actually, it seems this is exactly what you are implying. But this is not the case. Threads are started by members asking about specific products and as you stated they are not guided toward one brand or another, and if you take the time to do a cursory search on the forum you’ll see many people who have purchased Tuft and Needle, as well as other brands, in various threads. As I mentioned previously in my reply (and the links contained within), the large majority of mattress purchases made by people visiting this site are for brands outside of the site membership.
You’re assuming (incorrectly) that the only sales that result from people visiting this thread (and the various others on the forum) are the ones who take the time to post here, which of course would not be accurate. As I mentioned previously in my reply, the large majority of mattress purchases made by people visiting this site are for brands outside of the site membership.
What is stated as a “review” on Amazon or any other site would be the least reliable many in which to make an informed mattress purchase, as I can point to a myriad of memory foam mattresses on sites like that with “5-star” rating that use some incredible low quality materials. These “reviews” are generated generally in the short-term by a populace unqualified to render an educated analysis about a product. While most reviewers are certainly well meaning … because most reviews aren’t relevant to anyone but the reviewer and can be “influenced” so easily and in so many ways … for the most part (with only few exceptions) mattress reviews are a classic example of garbage in / garbage out even though the “garbage” may be well meaning and true to the experience of the person writing the review. Of course, you’re welcome to put as much emphasis into whatever information you read as suits your personal preferences and beliefs. I just wouldn’t agree with using sites like Amazon as guidance for a mattress purchase, either pro or con.
If a reader were to feel that they can’t trust this site because they feel they are entitled to complete information about businesses that may or may not have been contacted for site membership and the processes involved, even though the qualifications for membership are transparent and posted prominently throughout the site (see here and here ), to me this would speak more to that person’s personal biases, and even cynicism, than any lack of transparency of this site. It is repeated here and in other areas of the site that membership of this site is not a reason to make a purchase.
Membership is generally a side effect of my ongoing conversations with retailers and manufacturers and I don’t actively “seek” new members. In other words, the process is more “organic”. In most cases I wait for them to ask and some of them haven’t even been to the site enough to realize that membership is even an option. In some cases, I have talked with them for several years and the idea hasn’t even been discussed. The Objective Criteria I use includes the knowledge, experience, and service of the manufacturer or retailer and looking at their mattresses to make sure they meet the quality and durability guidelines here and that the information on their site is relatively accurate and factual. Some of the more subjective or “best judgement” criteria I use include asking myself what I would say on the forum about a manufacturer or retailer and the mattresses they make and how they compete with others that I would consider to be among the “best in the industry” based on all the parts of each person’s personal value equation that may be most important to them.
One of the most important goals of the site has always been to be fact based and to promote full disclosure so that anyone can validate the information for themselves and not have to “just believe” anyone (including me). While I certainly have my own preferences (and latex for example is one of these), and my own biases (quality componentry and construction), my first loyalty is to information about anything connected to mattresses that can be validated or at least agrees with the “preponderance of the evidence” when black and white answers aren’t available so that people can make up their own minds about what they may need and prefer, regardless of who else it may agree with.
This site has always been about providing information about “how” to choose a mattress that provides the tools and information that will make the quality and value of a purchase self-evident, regardless of brand, so that each person has the knowledge and information to be able to assess the suitability, quality/durability, and value of a mattress purchase for themselves based on their own unique needs and preferences and criteria regardless of what anyone else may prefer or recommend and without having to “believe” anyone. It’s the difference between helping the members here learn “how” to choose vs telling them “what” to choose based on preferences or criteria that may not be relevant or meaningful to them or in many cases may not be in their best interests (or the difference between giving someone a fish or teaching them how to fish).
Even the logo of the site (Borromean rings and a mobius strip around them) is meant to represent the three “ideals” of the site (listed in the about us page here ) which is to connect educated consumers, with high quality and value manufacturers and retailers that provide exceptional service. Like Borromean rings … if one of these links breaks … they will all fall apart and like the mobius strip that surrounds them … these types of manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are all on the same side no matter where they start.
Membership only recognizes the quality, service, and value that already exists and there are many great options that are listed in many of the lists across the country that may not be a member for years or in some cases may not even realize that a site called The Mattress Underground exists (although that’s unlikely if people found them through the forum lists). My goal in other words has always been to point to value wherever I find it regardless of membership and let the membership be a side effect of ongoing conversations that looks after itself as more manufacturers and retailers become more aware of the goals and ideals of the site. There are many others that are “among” the best value in the country that are not members here and that you will find in my lists and comments in dozens or even hundreds of posts around the forum that I also think highly of.
In the end of course, what someone believes about anyone else, this site, or a particular manufacturer or brand, is always up to each person and each of us is always free to use any evidence (selectively or otherwise) that we choose to justify our beliefs, but it makes sense to me to give someone the benefit of the doubt when their history goes back many years and points to the kind of integrity that is incredibly rare in the industry today.
You’re certainly free to take the information presented (and not presented here) and weigh it according to your own personal scale of importance, and through the fact of omission discount any brand that is not a member here of the site (which I think would be a mistake), or discount any member here of the site for which you don’t have a complete explanation of everything involved in them becoming a member (which I also believe would be a mistake), or you could simply use the guidelines presented in the mattress shopping tutorial to objectively analyze the componentry within any mattress you’re considering and make your decision in that manner (which I strongly suggest). The information is here for you to use (or not) as you please, and as some say, worth the price you pay .
“I just realized I forgot to include the link to Tuft and Needle in my original reply to your question – sorry about that. They were members previously but asked to be removed from the site membership list in 2015 . I think this completely answers your question.”
You are right, the paragraph above did answer my question My concern was more with Tuft and Needle for not being a member than with the quality of this site.
Thank you for the information on the subject! I spent several hours on this site last night in making my mattress decision. I have decided to go with the Arctic Dreams 12" mattress. I have just ordered and can’t wait for it to arrive! Thank you for all of the helpful information on this site.
Welcome to the site! And congratulations on your new mattress! :cheer: As you’re well aware, you certainly made a good quality/value choice with the Arctic Dreams.
I hope you’ll post again once you’ve had the chance to try out your new mattress for a while and let us know how it is working out for you.
Thanks to this forum/thread I picked out Arctic Dreams as well! Ordered me the medium at 10" as the price was just too good, gonna wait a while till I upgrade to a full latex later on. Also posting for my free pillow!!
Phoenix, how long do you think a polyfoam like this could last with an adjustable bed? I’ve heard the adjustments usually make them get softer quicker. Just ordered an adjustable off of amazon and was wondering if this could kill the mattress.
Congratulations on your new mattress purchase! :cheer: You certainly chose one of the better quality budget values available.
I wouldn’t be able to quantify how long a product would last, as besides the quality of the materials contained within the mattress, this will also come down to the use of the product and the mass placed upon it. It is true that frequent adjustment (bending up and down) of a mattress placed upon a power foundation will increase mechanical stresses placed upon the foam, and the specific weight concentration will be increased in certain areas (usually around your hips/seat) when sitting upright with the head section elevated to its higher settings. My best advice would be to frequently rotate your mattress to best extract the maximum useful comfort life out of your product.
I’ll be interested in learning about your new mattress once you’ve had a chance to sleep upon it for a while.
I have been searching for a new mattress for some time and this site has been very helpful. Based on the info I found here, decided to go with the Arctic Dreams 10" mattress from Dreamfoam Bedding. The fact that is American made with good quality and a budget price is why I chose this mattress. I also read a lot of reviews on this site which really helped. Thank you!
Phoenix, do you know if the reduction in “spec” of the Arctic Dreams from a 1.8 lb polyfoam core to 1.5 lb polyfoam core was due to a change in the material used? Or was it solely a change to the listed specs when in fact the material has always been in the 1.55-1.75 lb range? I couldn’t tell from your earlier post, but the change in specs makes me a little bit wary. (Also, I could not locate the density specs on the DreamFoam website, for whatever reason).
This was explained to me by Brooklyn Bedding a while ago as a more accurate (and conservative) representation of the density of their polyfoam cores. They were finding their cores in the 1.7 lb range, but to their credit, put the listing at 1.5 lb (even though the 1.7 would fall within the “bucket” of ILDs to rate the core at 1.8 lb, which many manufacturers opt to do). Basically, more of an “under-promise/over-deliver” philosophy.
If you go back and read through this thread or do a search on the forum, I’ve tried to be quite clear in my thoughts about the Arctic Dreams representing one of the better values in budget-priced foam mattresses. Overall, it’s a great quality/value choice, but you are the only one that can decide whether it’s the “best choice” for you in terms of personal preference, quality, application and durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the return/exchange options you have available after a purchase if the mattress doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
And you’re correct, I don’t believe they list the foam density on their web site for this particular polyfoam core.
