Right off – great site and a HUGE thanks to all who post research info, experiences or just general observations.
First time memory foam mattress shopper here, who’s head is about ready to explode! I’m 5’3" 120lbs and hubby is 5’11", 165lbs. Excessive heat in the middle of the night is definitely an issue as is some lower back pain.
Tempurpedic was a no go from the start. Regardless of construction +'s or -'s, I’m much too cheap to spend $4000 on a mattress
Bed In A Box, PacBamboo – any thoughts? Their foam core is a 2.4lbs, while BB is 2.17lbs – is the difference really going to be noticeable? We are hot sleeper so that is a important factor. BIAB has the CoolRest Memory Gel which they claim sleeps cooler. What the difference between their cool gel and Dreamfoam or Brooklyn Bedding? They have a 120 day money back guarantee
Brooklyn Beddings Bamboo Bella looks to be comparable to the BIAB and seems to be an upgraded Dreamfoam Ultimate, correct? BB offers the 120 day swap-out policy on the comfort layer. Both BIAB and DF have 8" HD cores, while BB only has 6" – again, will that be noticeable or no?
The Dreamfoam (aka Brooklyn Beddings cheap sister who hangs at Amazon) looks to be the biggest bang for my buck. Being first time memory foam user’s I’m tempted to go cheap and see how we like it. Is there any type of warranty offered with this mattress either from DF(BB) or Amazon? I’ve never ordered from Amazon – is this a returnable item? What are the biggest draw backs going to be with this mattress compared to the other two?
DreamFoam Ultimate 13" Memory Gel – $820.00
Brooklyn Bedding Bamboo Bliss – $ 1100.00
Bed In A Box with upgraded CoolGel – $ 1300.00
The BB Cool Supreme looks good also but hubby has nixed that one due to it’s $1800.00 price tag.
The weak link of a mattress is almost always in the comfort layers … not in the base layers. With conventional polyfoam … once you are past about 2.2 lb density there would be little practical difference in durability in the foam itself and in a base layer which doesn’t compress as much in nightly use even lower density may be equally durable in practical terms. At higher densities above this then the performance characteristics of the foam (such as like resilience, elasticity, compression modulus) and how it contributes to the feel and performance of the mattress would be the biggest factor in its cost.
You can see in my comments about BedinaBox in post #2 here. They use 3 lb memory foam in their comfort layers which is the weak link of their mattresses and is lower density than I would consider.
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Brooklyn Bedding’s Bamboo Bella looks to be comparable to the BIAB and seems to be an upgraded Dreamfoam Ultimate, correct? BB offers the 120 day swap-out policy on the comfort layer. Both BIAB and DF have 8" HD cores, while BB only has 6" – again, will that be noticeable or no?
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I’m not so sure I would make the same comparisons as you have. The Bella uses 4 lb gel memory foam an has polyfoam/wool quiting while the BIB uses lower quality memory foam which for me would exclude it from consideration.
The Bamboo Bella is also “different” from the Dreamfoam Ultimate Dreams 13" gel memory foam mattress (if that’s the one you meant). I don’t think I would call one an upgrade over the other as much as just a completely different mattress with a different design and different options. The thickness of a core is only one of many factors (IFD, resilience, compression modulus and others) that determines how well the core performs in a specific mattress. By itself it means little.
There are no returns if the Amazon mattress is fulfilled by Dreamfoam and if the mattress is fulfilled by Amazon (which has a slightly higher cost and doesn’t include the Mattress Underground pillow bonus) then it can be returned subject to the Amazon large items return policy (see post #11 here).
Final choices between “good and good” options can certainly be difficult. The “value” of all the mattresses made by the same manufacturer is usually roughly equivalent across their line so your own personal value equation and the differences between them in terms of design and options that are most important to you is really the best way to choose.
I think that the most important part of making a choice between their different mattresses would be a more detailed conversation on the phone.
lol … a more detailed conversation with Brooklyn Bedding only gave me more choices to think about!
I hadn’t really considered any of the latex options since I didn’t like the springy feel but it seems the addition of the memory gel layer gives you the memory foam feel but less give?? Can anyone describe this more accurately for me??
Also, should year round temps be included in the equation for picking materials. I’ve read that latex gives a cooler sleep and that is definitely a concern for us. We live in a year round warm temperature area that is fairly humid.
I’m not sure which mattress you are referring to here or whether you are comparing gel memory foam to regular memory foam, gel memory foam / latex combinations to memory foam or something else. Could you clarify what you wanted to compare?
That’s really a personal preference issue and only you can really decide on the relative importance of sleeping temperature (in any season) vs any of the other factors in a mattress purchase that may be most important to you. Most questions that have “should” in them are a matter of preference and involve weighing which of the tradeoffs involved are most important to you. I tend to think more in terms of the pros and cons of each choice rather than “better or worse” or “should or shouldn’t” terms. Certainly a mattress that sleeps warm for someone in normal climates would sleep warmer in a climate that is hotter or more humid but your own experience on other types of mattress in the past would also be a good indication as to how warm you tend to sleep.
Post #2 here also has more information about the many factors that contribute to the sleeping temperature of a mattress besides just the foam itself and all of these work together. Latex is generally a cooler foam category then either memory foam or polyfoam but all the other factors will also play a role regardless of what foam is in your mattress. All foam is primarily an insulating material (some less than others or course) so a mattress that is made of an innerspring and natural fibers will be more temperature regulating than most mattresses that contain foam (whether it’s memory foam, polyfoam, or latex foam) but these types of mattresses are usually more costly than mattresses that contain foam and for many people they are also not as comfortable.