I’ve been sleeping on one of them for a while at their house and want something similar for the FULL-size frame in my apartment. Something that preferably matches the Dearborne in terms of value… $500 or less. Something fairly common that I could find without too much trouble. Somewhat firm. Longevity is not too much of a concern for me. I tried some mattresses at Bob’s discount furniture but couldn’t really find anything I liked. The only innerspring mattress in my price range had a nice comfort layer, but underneath was rock hard.
The only way to find a mattress that may “feel” similar is with your own side by side testing or with testing that compares another mattress to your “memory” of how the Dearborne feels (which isn’t usually accurate when it comes to matching matresses).
You could also look for another Sealy mattress that used the same innerspring and had the same thickness and type of foam layers and the same type of cover but this would be difficult and could take many hours or days of research if you were able to find it at all and even then Sealy doesn’t provide the specific information about the density or firmness of the foam layers in the Dearborn so you may not end up with a “match” anyway.
In most cases you would be better off following the steps in the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you find the best choice for you. It would be much more effective to “match” a mattress to your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) than it would to try and match a mattress to your “subjective memory” of another mattress and there would certainly be better quality and value options available to you than any of the major brands.
Ok, so having read the guide and some of the links, the first step is to find a good store with knowledgeable and helpful salespeople?
Do you know any in Lawrence, Lowell, Andover, Methuen, or Haverhill, Massachusetts? I don’t have a car, so those are the easiest places for me to get to… I might also be able to reach Salem, NH.
I found this one in Lowell, which sells Therapedic mattresses, which were mentioned to be of good value in other posts (though I know they need to be evaluated individually):
The closest lists to you are the Portsmouth area list in post #2 here and the Boston region list in post #2 here and the list for the Merrimack area in post #4 here.
Other than these (and even with these) I would do some preliminary research on the phone first (along the lines of this article) to make sure you would be able to find out the specifics of what is in any mattress you are interested in or you may find yourself in the position of liking how a mattress feels in terms of PPP but with no way to know the quality or durability of the mattress or make meaningful comparisons with other mattresses.
Depending on the licensee that makes them… Therapedic is usually more open and transparent with their foam specs than many other larger manufacturers (see the list of the top 16 manufacturers here) and can have better than average value but it’s always important to make sure that any retailer that carries them will take the time to get the information you need to make an informed choice instead of looking at you like you are crazy for wanting to know more about the quality of the materials in a mattress.
At the very least any retailer you deal with should be willing and able to find out (from the factory if necessary) the thickness of all the foam layers in a mattress, the density of any polyfoam or memory foam, and the type and blend of any latex. They should also be knowledgeable enough to be able to tell you what they mean but if they don’t then you can always post them here and I’d be happy to make some comments or help you identify any weak links in a mattress you are considering.