Many moons ago I purchased a major brand name bed at a major brand name mattress store, and it hasn’t been the worst purchase in the world but it’s starting to show its limitations. I also bought it while I was single and I’m now married and both my wife and I would prefer the wideness of a king to stretch out on, the queen is okay but feels confining at times.
I’ve spent a lot of time on this site looking at the tutorials and guides and comments on the forums. I live in the greater Los Angeles area and would prefer to get a bed from a place that has a showroom where my wife and I can test the beds out before putting one in our bedroom. I’ve narrowed the list down to Flexus Comfort and Nest Bedding, both of which are recommended here on the site and have reasonable prices for what they offer. I’ve also decided to entertain looking at Tuft and Needle. Although they don’t have a showroom, the convenience of their system, and the low prices and many positive comments about them, make them worth looking at.
Here are some of the factors affecting us:
I’m a bit on the heavier side, fluctuating around 220 (give or take five pounds), and I do worry about the longevity of the bed. Tuft and Needle worries me the most in this regard, as they’re newer to the scene. I also want something that will hold up to the stresses of an active couple, so to speak.
My wife has pretty severe allergies, and I’m not sure which of these beds may be better for that, or if it even matters at all. I know I need to look into hypoallergenic bedding and pillows, but I don’t know if the mattress makes a big difference too.
Since we’re changing bed sizes, we’ll need a new foundation. I’m considering a platform bed, but I notice Flexus in particular stresses a box spring. As long as the base uses slats with 3" spacing or under, does it matter which foundation I use?
Flexus is all latex and has the highest prices, Nest is a good compromise on price but only on their non-Latex beds (Flexus is cheaper for all-Latex), and Tuft and Needle is by far the cheapest, but also uses polyfoam. Will polyfoam be able to stand up to heavier use? Is the price difference (about $1000) justified for a Flexus latex bed over a Nest non-latex bed, like the Alexander or Love Bed?
Of course at the end of the day, the feel is the most important, but I would love to be able to include these other factors when making the decision with my wife.
I apologize in advance if some of this info has been asked for before, there’s a lot to digest on this site and I haven’t been able to get all of it, despite my best efforts!
[quote]I’m a bit on the heavier side, fluctuating around 220 (give or take five pounds), and I do worry about the longevity of the bed. Tuft and Needle worries me the most in this regard, as they’re newer to the scene. I also want something that will hold up to the stresses of an active couple, so to speak.
Flexus is all latex and has the highest prices, Nest is a good compromise on price but only on their non-Latex beds (Flexus is cheaper for all-Latex), and Tuft and Needle is by far the cheapest, but also uses polyfoam. Will polyfoam be able to stand up to heavier use? Is the price difference (about $1000) justified for a Flexus latex bed over a Nest non-latex bed, like the Alexander or Love Bed?[/quote]
There is more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price or course and the options you have available after a purchase).
While I can’t speak to how a mattress will feel for someone else … outside of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress always depends on knowing the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new or how long a manufacturer has been in business) so I would always make sure that you can find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to confirm that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
There is more about Tuft & Needle and some of the other “simplified choice” mattresses in post #2 here in the simplified choice topic and as you can see there are no lower quality materials or weak links in their mattress relative to your weight range that would compromise the durability or useful life of their mattress.
The same would be true for the Nest Bedding mattresses and the Flexus mattresses of course and with higher quality/density and more durable materials there will also be more “bonus time” relative to the useful life of the mattress.
There is also more detailed information about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to different people in post #4 here
That would depend on what your wife was allergic to (and avoiding those specific allergens). There is no specific definition or meaning for “hypoallergenic” (see here) and when it comes to mattresses this is more of a marketing term than anything else but the most common allergies are to dust mites particles and other airborne small particles rather than the materials in a mattress. There is more information about dust mites and allergies and methods that can be used to control dust mite populations or other allergens in post #2 here and in post #3 here. There is also more about allergy encasements in post #2 here.
There is more information about the different support systems (bedframes and foundations or platform beds) that are generally suitable for different types of mattresses and some examples of each of them in post #1 here
With an all latex mattress then it would be a good idea to use a slatted foundation or platform bed that has gaps between the slats of 3" or less. With mattresses that use a polyfoam base layer then slats with gaps that are about 5" or less would be “OK” although I would tend to use 4" as a more suitable guideline. Flexus suggests and sells a foundation for use with their latex mattresses … not a box spring (see the bottom of the page here). ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: Latex Mattresses, Organic Latex Mattress, Pocket Coil Mattress - Flexus Comfort
Once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” and none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design relative to your weight range and if there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some very good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations about each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences for different types of materials, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
I’m looking forward to hearing about the results of your local testing and finding out what you end up deciding … and of course any other questions or comments you may have along the way.
Thank you! I’m hoping to go to either Flexus or Nest this weekend with my wife to do some lay down tests and talk with the people there about our needs. I think the biggest issue will come down to budget. I feel it’s reasonable to spend more for a bed and foundation if it means getting the best bed for us, but I know my wife is more conservative with money than I am. It’s all about finding the right compromise!
Just as a quick update, we decided the Flexus was too far out of our price range, especially since we’re upgrading from a Queen to a King, which means we need a new foundation/frame (we’re actually going the platform bed route), new mattress protector, sheets, and we’re even looking to upgrade our pillows.
Therefore, it’s down to Nest or Tuft and Needle. We’re going to Nest in the morning to test out their beds. I spoke with Brooke at Nest briefly on the phone today to gauge delivery times. I’m looking forward to laying down on some mattresses and putting all the information I’ve gleaned from here to good use!
My wife and I just left Nest. We were helped by Harrison, who was very patient and walked us through at least half of the mattresses and platform beds in the store.
I was leaning towards either an Alexander Signature or Q3 Nest Bedding Latex Mattress , but my wife was very sold on The Love Bed and I had to admit that of all the beds we tried, The Love Bed gave me the best side support. The back support wasn’t quite as strong for me as the Alexander, but since we have 100 days to exchange in case it becomes a problem, I felt okay giving The Love Bed a try for at least 30 days.
We had a really great shopping experience. I mentioned I found the place on The Mattress Underground and got $50 off the mattress and $25 off the delivery and setup. Harrison also pointed us to some Yelp coupons so we could save another $50 off of the easy breather pillows we wanted (I got latex, my wife got memory foam).
Now we’re just waiting on delivery, which will probably be after Thanksgiving since the holiday will delay things, but we couldn’t have had a better time. Harrison wasn’t pushy at all, gave us sound advice even when we were going down in price, and was able to answer every technical question I threw at him. Just based on the buying experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Nest.
I’ll update once the mattress and bed arrive and we try them out at home.
I should be the one thanking you! It’s because of this site I even found Nest, and because of the wealth of information here I was able to make a better informed purchase that I am more confident about than had I been otherwise. This place really is a gold mine.
