After all these years of sleeper on my thinning out topper from Target on top of a ikea mattress. I am going to dive into buying a memory foam mattress. I did some research based on my sleeping needs that as a permanent side sleeper I would need 2-3 inch with 3-4 lbs density. I scoured the internet this week specifically on Overstock and Amazon. I got more confused.
Reading all the reviews within a side sleeper the reviews are vague about the individual physics and locations. The reviews were hard to discern ranging from amazing to the bed being too firm. I understand for a side sleeper the top layer is soft with a somewhat firm base. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I have a thin upper toros (almost boney :ohmy: but that’s how I am built lol) with somewhat a larger hips. Therefore leaving a huge gap in middle section when I sleep on my side with heavy pressure points on my shoulder and back. I weight 115 and 5’9 so it take awhile for my body to sink in as I am fairly light.
I am looking for a full size mattress within a budget $300 but maximum $400 only if it’s worth the differences. I want to save some money for new linens! Not quite sure if I should buy a 8, 10, or 12 inch? Would the top layer count as the two layers added?
Here are the one I found so far. Let me know what you think!!!
The first suggestion I would have is to completely reset “how” you are looking for a mattress because you are heading in a direction that will not only confuse you with specs that you won’t know how to “translate”, specs you need to know that are missing, or meaningless or irrelevant information and you will also likely end up with making a poor quality/value choice.
The first place I would start is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Some of the most important links in the tutorial post that I would make sure you read include …
Post #2 here about the two ways to choose a mattress that is suitable for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
The guidelines here and this article about the information you will need to know about any mattress you are considering to make an informed choice and the quality/durability guidelines here so that you can confirm there are no weak links in a mattress and make more meaningful comparisons between different mattresses.
Post #13 here about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase.
If you are committed to a memory foam mattress then I would be especially careful in such a very low budget range because most of your options would use lower quality materials that can soften or break down much too quickly (sometimes within months) and you can lose the comfort and support that is the reason you purchased the mattress in the first place. For example both of the Sleep Innovations mattresses you are considering use 3 lb memory foam which is a lower quality material than I would consider (unless the mattress is for a guest room or for short term use).
The Dorel Signature Sleep is also a Chinese import (see post #6 here) and based on their shipping weight and using it to approximate foam densities I would also suspect that they aren’t using 4 lb memory foam because the weights just don’t add up. For example using the queen size a 4" layer of 4 lb memory foam would weigh 44.4 lbs. The mattress itself is listed as weighing 68.2 lbs and not even taking the weight of the cover into account … this would mean that the 8" base polyfoam layer only weighs 23.8 lbs which means it would have a density of about 1.0 lb/ft3 which would be an exceptionally low quality material. If the listed mattress weight is correct it’s much more likely that the memory foam is a lower density which would also mean it was less than 4 lb density and below the guidelines I would suggest considering. Signature Sleep also isn’t listed in the CertiPur list here* which means that it doesn’t meet the guidelines I would use on 2 counts (foam quality/density too low and an import that isn’t CertiPur certified) which means I would avoid it completely as well. I would focus on much more reputable and reliable companies that have better quality and value mattresses available.
Some of the lower budget memory foam and polyfoam manufacturers I would consider are listed in post #4 here.
I would also read the replies in this topic to another member that is also looking for a memory foam mattress in a very low budget range as well which would be very relevant to your situation as well.
Thank you so much for all the detail information. Looks like i have my homework cut out for me and have to set time aside to fully investigate. All these factors I have to consider and it’s making my head spin. :side:
Once I have reset what I am looking for and read the post I will come back and post.
That sounds great. Sometimes a “reset” can be just as important as rebooting your computer when it starts getting bogged down and you need to “dump” all the extra processes that are holding you back and keeping you from doing what you want to do
Hi I found a store site that explains memory foam and how to ask questions of sales people and what to look for in memory foam mattresses. Take a look and see if this simple explanation helps.
Thanks for the link but unfortunately the article doesn’t say very much and really has very little in the way of specifics that would make the information practical so it’s not really all that helpful in “real life” because it doesn’t go far enough. It also has some misleading information when it comes to the softness of memory foam because there are many things besides the IFD of memory foam that will affect the softness or firmness of the memory foam and IFD itself isn’t a particulary useful spec with memory foam because it can change with time, heat, and humidity and memory foam IFD can also be very misleading if you use it to compare memory foam to the softness of other materials. The IFD of a single layer of memory foam is also only one of many variables that contributes to the firmness of a mattress itself.
There is more about the pros and cons of memory foam in this article and more about the different properties of different types and densities of memory foam in post #9 here and post #8 here and in the density guidelines here that provides more detailed and specific information that would be more useful as a guideline for the questions to ask (or what to test for when you are in a store) than the more basic and “generic” information in the article.
Not quite sure if I should buy a 8, 10, or 12 inch? Would the top layer count as the two layers added?