We purchased an Sealy Optimum Radiance memory foam from Mattress. We had tried beds twice in about 6 months and came back to that one each time. At first we had heat issues, but a wool mattress topper from St Peter Woolen Mill solved that. ( got that reference from this site). The bed was nice and comfy and we slept well. Now after 2 months the mattress has softened too much. We are also each are sleeping in our own body depression hole.
We may have narrowed the exchange to three options: (1) Prana Vinyasa, (2) Sealy Beautyrest Black Brooklyn, and (3) Stearns Foster Mary Beth pillowtop. I have read through the posts on this site and understand that the general view is that none of these are good options. But under the circumstances this is what we’ve got to work with (though we are not tied to those three mattresses).
We would greatly appreciate any thoughts about what mattress to choose as an exchange (at City Mattress) whether one of those three, or if you have a different suggestion. Thank you so much.
Before you do the exchange I would take the precaution of making sure that any sagging or softening is coming from the mattress itself and not from either your support system under the mattress or from the wool topper over it. You can test this either by putting the mattress on the floor (to test the support system) or by sleeping on it without the wool topper.
Once you’ve confirmed that it’s the mattress itself … then post #2 here and the posts it links to has more information about the two approaches you can take when you are exchanging a mattress for another one and your options are limited to what is in the store.
If you look at the specs of the Prana Vinyasa here you can see that it has 2" of lower quality polyfoam in the quilting layer which is not great, especially for a mattress in this price range, but it’s also “not too bad”.
You can see the layering of the Beautyrest Black Brooklyn here and as you can see there is about 6" of lower quality materials. I don’t know the densities of the foams but you can see a similar Beautyrest Black mattress here (that’s about 1/2" thicker) and as you can see there is a lot of lower quality/density materials in the comfort layers and the whole line would be similar and I would tend to avoid it.
I would also want to know the details of the materials in the Mary Beth Pillowtop but in general I would tend to avoid any pillowtop mattress made by a major brand (unless you can confirm the quality/density of every foam layer in the mattress) because there would be too much lower quality materials in the comfort layers. You can see in the very general description here that there are at least 5" of questionable materials in the Heidi Pillowtop.
I took the wool topper off last night and the mattress was better. My husband is out of town and I am hoping he will like the mattress again without the topper. But, if not, then since our exchange options are limited, maybe go with the Stearns & Foster Mary Beth Luxury Firm (no pillow top) instead of the Mary Beth Pillow Top and use the wool topper I bought, or go with the Prana Vinyasa and hope for the best (which is an awful outlook for such an important and expensive purchase…)
Shame that the wool mattress topper didn’t work with the current mattress because that topper was a $400 purchase and is now not returnable. And it addressed the heat issue. I should note that there is only a heat issue with our memory foam mattress when adding a layer between the mattress and the fitted sheet. There is no heat issue when just sleeping on the mattress with only the fitted sheet. But, since any stains void the mattress warranty we need to find something to protect the mattress that hopefully will not change the mattress/fitted sheet comfort. I am now trying to find a mattress protector (not topper) that will not make the bed run hot (ro break the bank since we did that with the wool topper).
One of the tradeoffs of using a thicker wool topper on a memory foam mattress is that memory foam is temperature sensitive and while it can certainly improve sleeping temperature … it can also have a significant effect on the temperature response of the memory foam and can make a significant difference in the feel and response of the memory foam.
In many cases changing the type of mattress protector you use or the type of sheets and bedding that you use on a memory foam mattress will be “enough” to sleep cooler. There is more about the different types of mattress protectors in post #89 here and the posts it links to and there is more about sheets in post #7 here and the other posts and topics it links to.
Having said that … if you are exchanging your mattress for a mattress that doesn’t use memory foam in the top layers then your wool topper may still make a great addition to your mattress.
The Mary Beth Luxury Firm still has about 4" of unknown and likely lower quality polyfoam in the comfort layers which would still be a weak link in the mattress and I believe that it’s also a lower price than the Optimum Radiance so you would end up losing the extra you paid for the Radiance (or using it as a store credit depending on their policy). If you are exchanging for a mattress that will work for you without the addition of a topper then the “best” plan (outside of choosing a mattress/topper combination) is to choose one that has the least possible amount of unknown or lower quality materials in the top 5" - 6" of the mattress.
The Vinyasa is “on the edge” in terms of the amount of lower quality materials (2") but of course the tradeoff is that it’s in a much higher price range and you would need to spend a lot more money with your exchange for a mattress that is probably not a great value choice either (compared to other similar mattresses) even though the “weak link” is a little less.
If I was in your shoes I would probably try changing your mattress protector and/or sheets to see if you can “fix” the mattress without an exchange and then only do an exchange if the other options you have don’t solve the issues you need to “fix” (assuming there is still enough time in your 90 day exchange period).
Thank you so much. I worked my way through the links at post #89 and sent emails asking some questions of the retailers. We will choose one or two that are returnable once we hear back and give them a try. In the meantime, I put two fitted sheets on the bed and will spend a few nights on it like that to make sure it stays as comfy as it was last night. If we exchange the bed, we will likely go for the Vinyasa since the manager said he would work with us on price given the difference between that and the Optimum Radiance we purchased.
I hope that you won’t need an exchange as well and I’m looking forward to hearing about how things work out for you and your husband over the next few days.
It was a general comment comparing the Vinyasa to other mattresses that are similar in their design and materials (although they may be very different in terms of PPP) that are in much lower budget ranges. I wasn’t referring to any of the specific mattresses at City Mattress which I know in your case is what you are limited to choosing.
Oops … I know you mentioned you were dealing with City Mattress but I usually refer to Jordans when I look for information about the Vinyasa which lists all the specs so my fingers just ended up typing Jordans. I’ve edited my “brain burp”
We exchanged our Sealy Optimum Radiance memory foam for a Prana Super Vinyasa Luxury Firm in April. So far it’s been fantastic. We bought a floor model and got 30% off, which helps with the increase in cost overall.
Thanks for the update and for letting us know what you ended up choosing.
It sounds like you made the “best possible” choice out of the options that were available to you and it’s great to hear that you are happy with your new mattress
