I’m so glad I found The Mattress Underground! Phoenix, thanks for providing such an informative site! I plan on going to The Mattress Factory tomorrow to check out their mattresses. Coincidentally I was at Sleep Craft yesterday due to a friend’s recommendation (prior to finding your site), but want to do some more comparison shopping.
Hi Texan,
I’m glad you found us … and welcome :).
You’re certainly looking at a couple of very good options in the Dallas / Ft Worth area and I’m looking forward to your feedback and of course finding out what you end up deciding.
Phoenix
Chased all the hyperlinks in the 24 May 2012 and this one is broken now thefurnituredeal.com/
Some of the sites were much better than others. Some made it difficult to tell what products they offer. I realize these are typically not large businesses but they really should spend a few dollars and make their websites usable. Since I have settled on a latex mattress, choices are more limited. One thing that remains confusing is the jargon. The words foam, gel, latex get tossed around as if they are interchangeable. Maybe they are at some high level but not for purposes of segmenting inventory. Tis a challenge to interpret some of these sites. Goes back to what Phoenix says. Talk to them. It works best.
Hi mjbotx,
The last update to the list was on April 11/2014 and they were still listed in google search and at the BBB so I called them just now and their phone number was not in service so they must have recently gone out of business so I’ve removed them from the list. Thanks for the heads up 
This is fairly standard in the industry and unfortumately it’s more of a rule than an exception with local businesses that websites aren’t current or don’t list the specifics of the mattresses that a retailer carries. Retailers or manufacturers that sell online are generally more current. Some of the best local retailers in the industry are very small and have very poor websites. They typically don’t spend a lot of time on their sites and rely more on word of mouth advertising. Some don’t even have websites at all.
I generally treat websites as a general indication of what you may find there but in some cases they don’t really give you any meaningful information at all so as you mentioned you would need to talk with them on the phone to find out more specifics about what they are currently carrying or their level of knowledge and experience. The brands I include with each of the listings in the many lists around the forum are generally “possibilities” based on how likely it is that you will be able to find out the specifics of the quality of the materials inside them. If you do some careful and objective testing on mattresses where you are able to find out the specifics of what is inside them then your odds go up dramatically of making a good choice.
[quote]One thing that remains confusing is the jargon. The words foam, gel, latex get tossed around as if they are interchangeable.
Talk to them. It works best[/quote]
I completely agree with you and the “jargon” or marketing or “proprietary” terminology that is very common is also another significant issue in the industry and in many cases is not particularly relevant to making an informed purchase. There are many different names used in the industry to describe what is basically the same materials or components. In addition to this many retailers know much more about how to “sell” a mattress using “marketingspeak” or “sales techniques” that they were taught by their company or the manufacturer’s reps that they deal with than they do about how to “educate” their customers about the quality of the materials inside their mattresses.
The sad truth is that those people who spend an hour or two on this site will generally know more meaningful information about mattresses than the large majority of the salespeople in the mainstream industry so when you find a retailer or manufacturer that are “mattress people” instead of “money machines” it can really be a breath of fresh air because they are certainly not the norm.
One of the biggest reasons for the tutorial post and the links it includes is to help bypass the jargon and focus on what is really important and to know the basics of the different types of materials and components that are used in mattresses regardless of what they may be called in a particular store or by a particular manufacturers.
Thanks again for your comments and for helping to keep the forum lists up to date.
Phoenix
Well now I really have a dilemma. Just visited the Mattress Factory in Ft. Worth. Like Doug, my wife and I preferred the firm 36/36/36, 2"/6"/2" all natural Talalay mattress. We are both above average height and weight but it does make me pause to see so few people comfortable with this configuration. Makes me wonder if I should lighten up the top layer a bit. A few minutes on a mattress is no substitute for a decade on one. As I understand it, the layers are not exchangeable in the Mattress Factory product where they are with some other producers like Brooklyn Bedding. Also, the Mattress Factory has just changed its warranty from a 15 year non-prorated warranty to a 5/20 warranty. I am not sure what that tells me about quality after year 5 since it is one of the shortest in the market.
The closes product we could find that might also meet our needs is from BB, the 10 inch Essence - 3" of 100% Natural Talalay & 6" of 100% Natural Dunlop. Its layers are exchangeable and it has a 1" wool layer not present in the Mattress Factory product. BB’s site said there would be a substantial price increase to go all Talalay.
As much as I have read on this site about Dunlop vs Talalay, I remained confused about whether one is better than the other but I have decided that they are just different. Given they are different, that leaves the layman wondering if an all Dunlop or all Talalay would be better than a Dunlop core/Talalay comfort mattress. What is a person to do?
One final supposition which may well be off base - because of the difference in their cell structure and the manufacturing process I would surmise that a 36ILD Talalay mattress may “feel” marginally softer than a 36ILD Dunlop mattress. ILD or IFD depending on your preference seems to be marginally useful if only to get you in the ballpark range.
Hi mjobtx,
I would use the results of your own careful and objective testing on a mattress as a much more reliable guideline for what works best for you than anyone else’s experience on a mattress. What is “much too soft” for one person can be “much too firm” for the next and each person is different. I would also make sure that you use the testing guidelines in the tutorial post and spend more than a few minutes testing a mattress. I would also keep in mind that it’s much easier to soften up a mattress that is too firm with a topper than to make a mattress that is too soft any firmer (which would require removing and replacing the foam that is too soft or thick). I would also make sure you talk with any manufacturer and are comfortable with the options you have after a mattress purchase just in case your sleeping experience is different from what you expected and you need to make any changes or do any “fine tuning” with the mattress.
Warranties only cover defects in a mattress (which will tend to happen very early in the life of a mattress) and don’t say anything about the quality of the materials in a mattress and have very little to nothing to do with the useful life of a mattress (see post #174 here). They don’t cover the loss of comfort and support that is the main reason people will need to buy a new mattress so it’s much more important to know the type and quality/durability of all the materials inside a mattress (see this article) than to use the length of a warranty as an indication of the quality of the materials or the useful life of a mattress.
You are right that one isn’t “better” than another … they are a preference choice and are just different. Post #6 here has more about the different types and blends of latex and post #7 here has more about the difference between how they feel and perform but the best way to know which one you would prefer is with your own personal testing or experience. It would be like trying to decide whether you prefer apples or oranges without having ever tried either one of them.
If you follow the steps in the tutorial post one at a time and have narrowed your options down to finalists that are all choices between “good and good” then your final choice would depend on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you and your “educated best judgement”.
I would tend to avoid trying to make this kind analysis when you don’t have the personal experience to “translate” what you are analyzing into your own “real life” experience because it can drive you crazy and you will always be on the edge of “information overload” and “paralysis by analysis”. While it’s true that if everything else is equal that Dunlop will tend to feel firmer than Talalay in the same ILD, thickness, and mattress design for most people if you compress it more than 25% (which is the compression depth that ILD is tested), there are probably enough other differences in the designs of two different mattresses you are comparing in most cases that everything else probably won’t be equal and some of the other differences between them may contribute more to any differences you feel than the type of latex.
Phoenix
I thought I’d give an update on our mattress(es)…
As I reported earlier, we got a split king all latex mattress from The Mattress Factory in Ft Worth, TX and had a great experience there. Both twin XLs had a 6" core with an approximate ILD of 36 and a 2" “comfort” layer on both sides (so it can be flipped) with an approximate ILD of 28. So we got approximately a 28/36/28 configuration.
From the very first day I felt like mine might be too firm. It felt subtly like the mattress was “pushing up” on my hips - I finally understood some posts I had read where people complained about their latex mattress having to much “pushback”. I also would wake up a couple times a night and have to switch positions to relieve pressure on various pressure points. And every morning I would have some minor soreness in my lower back, which would luckily only last for 30-60 minutes. I loved the support the mattress provided, but it was obvious pretty quickly that the mattress was too firm for my hips and pressure points.
I decided to give it a few weeks to see if things would “soften up”, and/or for my body to adjust to sleeping on a proper mattress with proper support - since I had been sleeping on an underinflated Select Comfort mattress for a long time my body was “used to” a complete lack of support. But even after several weeks the issues still persisted and it was clear that the mattress was to firm for me.
(We enjoyed our split Select Comfort and were satisfied with it for over 10 years, but in the last couple years my mattress had gotten to where it would only inflate so far. I’m sure Select Comfort would have worked with us to fix that, but I just didn’t want to hassle with it as it seemed “fine” sleeping on it to me - although I now realize I should have done something sooner because it was so unsupportive. But at least I finally decided to do something about it, and recently decided to start researching what to look for in a mattress… and found this site!)
Peter at The Mattress Factory was great about it when I asked about modifying the mattress, and since it was so shortly after we had purchased the mattress he was willing to modify the mattress for me at no charge. At first I was thinking I just needed it overall “softer”, so I took the mattress in and was going to have him change it to 28/24/28. But after hearing myself talk it through with him and my wife I realized the issue I had with the mattress was not the “support”, it was the “comfort”. In fact the support was great, but I just wasn’t getting quite enough relief on my hips and pressure points. So I instead had him slightly modify just the outer (“comfort”) layers by replacing the outer layers with an approximate ILD of 24, to change the mattress to a configuration of 24/36/24.
Well… after picking it up just a few days later and getting it home…
From the very first night it was an obvious improvement!
When I laid down on it for the first time it was a clear improvement. My hips no longer felt “pushed up”, and yet they also didn’t sink in too far to take my spine out of alignment. I didn’t wake once that night, and my back was fine in the morning. I decided to sleep on it several weeks again for things to settle and/or soften, etc. before I decided it was definitely the right configuration for me.
Well… I can now say this 24/36/24 configuration, as Goldilocks said, is “just right” for me. Not only has it continued to feel as good as it did that first night, but it has gotten even better as my body has gotten used to sleeping on a properly supporting mattress - rather than an underinflated Sleep Number mattress. I’m sleeping much better with this mattress than I had been on that mattress for the last couple of years.
I can definitely say I’ve personally had a good experience purchasing our mattress(es) from The Mattress Factory.
Hi JoelD,
Thanks for the update and for sharing the details of your adjustments.
I think your experience really goes to show the difference between “comfort” and “support” and the importance of making the “right” changes to a mattress. It also goes to show how in some cases relatively small changes can make a big difference.
It’s also great to see the kind of help and service you received from Peter at The Mattress Factory and that the changes you made worked out so well for you
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix,
Just want to drop a note saying thank you for your informative website.
I found your website about a six months ago which helped me and my wife to start our mattress search.
Last month we order a latex mattress (a firm core with a softer outer layer) from mattressfactory.com.
We received it today and will update our experience with the new mattress.
My wife has back problem and did not sleep very well on a spring mattress. We would have ended up with one of the big box brand or even an over priced air mattress. We had no idea that we could afford a quality latex mattress from a local manufacturer if not for your website.
Hi oscarspaz,
I’m glad you found us and that the site could help you.
It sounds like you made a great quality/value choice … and congratulations on your new mattress
Thanks for taking the time to post and sharing your experience and I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback once you’ve had the chance to sleep on your new mattress for a bit.
Phoenix
I’m afraid I’m not thrilled with our mattress from mattress underground after sleeping on it for one month.
It feels like it’s rolling me off the bed and the center is definitely higher than either side. After the first few days my back pain upon rising returned and while my wife still sees it as an improvement over our old innerspring she’s been waking up stiff.
They never gave us any warranty documents. I’m thinking about calling Monday and seeing what options I have. We’ve had it just over 30 days.
Kinda disheartening for such a big purchase.
Hi Doug,
I’m guessing you mean your mattress from The Mattress Factory since The Mattress Underground doesn’t sell mattresses
[quote]They never gave us any warranty documents. I’m thinking about calling Monday and seeing what options I have. We’ve had it just over 30 days.
Kinda disheartening for such a big purchase.[/quote]
It’s certainly not uncommon that someone chooses a mattress that doesn’t work out after the first few days or weeks and it’s not something that I would be too disheartened about but when that happens the first step is always to talk with the retailer/manufacturer so you can take advantage of their knowledge and experience with their customers that have had issues that are similar to you and talk about the options you have available and what would be the best “next step” to “fix” any issues you are having.
The warranty is about defects in the mattress and your mattress uses high quality materials so it doesn’t sound like this would be a warranty issue but it certainly seems to be a “comfort” issue with PPP that needs to be corrected.
Phoenix
I’m sorry, but what is PPP?
By the way, we did end up replacing the frame I mentioned earlier. I was amazed how the plastic feet bent and buckled once we took it apart.
Hi Doug,
It’s in the mattress shopping tutorial but it stands for Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences. and it’s the most important part of choosing a mattress that is a good “match” for you.
If you haven’t read the tutorial yet it may be a good idea to at least read some of the basics because it may help you describe what you are looking to change in your mattress when you are talking with Peter and the tutorial also has some guidelines that you can use to test mattresses that can help you decide on any changes or “fine tuning” that would be a better match for you.
Phoenix
Hi guys I thought I would give an update on our mattress shopping experience at the Mattress Factory in Fort Worth. Disclaimer: I will probably butcher the mattress jargon and whatnot throughout this post. We went to the Mattress Factory on Memorial Day. I took my wife, eight year old daughter and her friend. Peter was not working at the time we were there. As others have already stated the showroom/ factory was very underwhelming physically. The salesman on duty was very friendly, and patient with myself and the girls. I told him about my back problems, he directed me to firm/ firm and medium/ medium latex mattresses. I went back and forth changing beds for over a hour and a half. The firm mattress was 36/36/36 with a gel topping on both sides (I think). I ask him about customizing the mattress and he didn’t seem real receptive about the idea. I really enjoyed the feeling of the gel so we settled on the firm mattress. I wrote a personal check and was given the 5% Mattress Underground discount and the online discount $100. The salesman even stated how much business they receive from the Mattress Underground. He told it would be a few days and the delivery guy would contact us about delivering our new mattress. 
We went on our way to the Fort Worth Zoo. I received an e-mail maybe 2 days later letting me know that they had had run out of 36 latex to build my mattress (he tried to call, but had a wrong number). He seemed sincere in his apology. A little over a week and I got an e-mail from Peter about getting the latex in and was apologetic about the situation. I talked to Peter on the phone ( as others have already mentioned he is an extremely nice guy) about my concerns that how I think the firm mattress might be too firm. Peter suggested that they could build it 28/36/28 with the gel on both sides. It cost meaabout $300-$400 more, but I had more peace of mind. Peter also assured me it would be about 15% more comfortable, with good support. A few days later, I contacted the delivery guy and set up the appointment. He and his partner were on time and did a great job removing my old king size and installing the new mattress and bed frame. The mattress is comfortable and best all my wife loves it. The Mattress Factory had excellent customer service and delivered a quality product. From my experience, I will recommend them to others and use them again myself. You don’t stay in business since 1896 without doing things right. I would say if you want to customize your mattress then I suggest talking directly with Peter Duncan. Thank you Mattress Underground for your help in this endeavor.
Hi wekstick,
Thanks for taking the time to share your comments and feedback … and congratulations on your new mattress
It sounds like you made a great choice (and if your home is anything like mine if your wife is happy then everyone is happy :))
It’s probably a good thing that you decided to soften up the comfort layers and still maintain the firmer support since the 36/36/36 would be a very firm choice by most people’s criteria and what you ended up choosing would be more in the range of most people’s needs and preferences.
Thanks again for your feedback!
Phoenix
I want to follow up on our experience with Mattress Factory.
My wife and I went to the show room around Memorial Day. We tried out the three different latex firmness and decided to go with the medium.
After the mattress was delivered, my wife found that the matress was too firm and felt pushed back on her shoulder and hips.
I weight less than my wife and used to sleep on a plank with just a couple of inches of foam when I was a kid. I found the matress was pushing against my body. Both of us did not get a good night of sleep.
Two days later, we went back and talked to Peter. We found out that the matress delivered was firm.
It was not the mattress we thought we ordered. We really like the firmness of the one that was in the middle of the showroom which was a medium. Peter offered to take our mattress back and swap it with a medium. He was very helpful. He did not argue or make excuses or try to talk us into keeping the wrong mattress.
Long story short, it took another week or so before we got our new mattress. The new mattress was excellent quality and very comfortable. We have been very happy with our matress for almost two months now.
We very much appreciate Peter’s service and standing behind his product. We would recommand others to buy from him. We are planning to get latex mattresses for our two sons once we have the money. We are glad to have found this forum. Otherwise we would have spent our money on a big box brand mattress of lesser quality.
Hi oscarspaz,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with Peter and The Mattress Factory … I appreciate it.
Congratulations on your new mattress as well … I think you made a great choice
I especially appreciate your comments about how they fixed their mistake. Anyone can make a mistake and one of the signs of a better retailer or manufacturer is how they deal with them when they happen. Sometimes when these kind of mistakes happen it’s easy to be “prepared to do battle” when we try to correct them and it can really be a breath of fresh air when there is no “battle” at all … only a genuine desire for a customer to be happy. Even if it had been the firmness you ordered, manufacturers like The Mattress Factory will usually be happy to change out a layer to make the mattress more suitable for the needs and preferences of their customers.
Now that you have been sleeping on your mattress for a couple of months and you are past the break in and adjustment period you can reasonably expect that you will be sleeping well for many years to come
Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback.
Phoenix
Thank you for all the info on this site.
I’ve been studying your site for a few months.
We have a trip to Dallas this week and will visit a few of these recommended stores in order to try the latex beds in person.
Hi ShaneD76,
Welcome … and I’m glad the site could help you
You certainly have some good options in the Dallas / Ft Worth area and I’m looking forward to your feedback after your visit.
Phoenix