I am looking for a good gel and memory foam bed queen size for around $750. What materials should I be looking for in this price range. Also, I live in southern New Mexico but can get to El Paso TX. Are there any small companies in this area or do I need to find an online retailer?
Hi ab54smith,
Your budget may be a little on the low side for a good specialty foam mattress such as memory foam, gel memory foam, or latex and most of your choices in this budget range may not be as high quality as you may wish. Of course this would depend on your own needs and preferences and the quality and durability of the mattress you are looking for (and this will also be connected to your height and weight, body shape, and sleeping positions).
There are not a lot of options in the El Paso area but some of the better possibilities include …
http://www.popularmattress.com/main.php Local factory direct manufacturer. I know little about them and they have no information about the mattresses they make on their site but they are rated well with the BBB and these are the often the types of outlets that have the best quality and value and are also the most knowledgeable and helpful.
http://furniturerow3.reachlocal.net/locations/locationsByState.jsp?state=Texas Regional factory direct manufacturer. They make a range of mattresses and their traditional polyfoam/innerspring mattresses use better than average quality materials and also have good value. They also carry a mostly latex mattress that has either a latex or memory foam topper and some latex hybrids that also have “better” quality/value than most mainstream manufacturers. I would avoid the mainstream brands they also carry.
http://www.thesleepgallerynm.com/ Retailer. They appear to carry Boyd mattresses which do make some budget memory foam and gel foam mattresses. I would call them to see if they carry any of the types you are looking for in your budget range. I would do a little research here if you go in this direction because Boyd is widely available at a fairly wide range of prices.
Bedroom | El Paso, Las Cruces, Southern New Mexico | Household Furniture Retailer. They appear to carry Corsicana which are a line of promotional (lower budget) mattresses which also includes some memory foam and gel foam models. Again I would call them to see what they have available and if they are in your budget.
I would also make sure that the outlets you talk with or visit are informed about the different materials used in mattresses and are willing and able to tell you the materials in every layer of their mattresses (such as the density of any memory foam or polyfoam). This is the only way to know the quality (and durability) of a mattress. This article may help you to identify some of the qualities of better outlets.
As you mentioned … one other option you have if there are no good quality/value mattresses available of the type you want and that are in your budget in your area would be to consider an online purchase. Some better memory foam online options (among others) are in post #12 here.
Phoenix
What do you see are the pros and cons of a Boyd gel foam bed?
Hi ab54smith,
This would depend entirely on the specific model you are considering, the specs of the materials that are in it, and of course the price. I should ask you though is there a reason you are more focused on gel memory foam (which is being very heavily marketed at the moment).
They use some good quality materials but also make some mattresses that include “engineered latex” which is misleading IMO because it is not latex at all. They use CertiPur certified foams that are made in China and in some cases (depending on the mattress and outlet) can provide better than average value but care is needed to make sure you know what you are buying and that you know the type of foam used in each layer and the specs.
Their gel foam is the particulate type which I consider to be less durable than the type of gel foam that is part of the memory foam structure itself.
They have an online direct website here as a reference.
Bottom line is that depending on the mattress and the outlet, they can have above average value.
I also called Popular Mattress Factory to get a sense of the mattresses they making because they don’t list the specifics on their site but I haven’t connected yet with the person who knows the details of the materials they use. I would probably make this the first place I would call though because the odds are good that a local factory direct manufacturer is more knowledgeable than most other types of outlets and they usually offer better quality and value in their mattresses.
Phoenix
I was able to try out a Boyd Gel Enhanced #412 Mattress and I liked it the feel of the gel memory foam over the just memory foam. The price point was good too. However after reading more on your web page it doesn’t look like a good deal in the long term.
I am now looking into a latex or combination latex memory form mattress and the Dream foam seemed interesting but the description of their materials on the Amazon site was brief. Do you have more information or a link to more details about this mattress?
I am a heavier side sleeper so I will need at 3 to 4 inches of top support according to your guidelines. Coolness is also an factor for me since I live in a very warm climate.
Hi ab54smith,
The feel and performance of a mattress will depend a lot on all the layers rather than just the memory foam and layer thickness and the type layers over and under the memory foam will make a big difference in how each mattress feels and performs. There are hundreds of different types of memory foam (with many different qualities and differences in how they feel and perform and “firmness” levels) and gel memory foam is just one of them. Gel tends to make the memory foam firmer (and there are other ways to do this as well) and the gel is also convective which means it can help reduce sleeping temperatures (and there are many other ways to do this as well). there are also better and worse versions of gel formulations although there is not a lot of information about the comparative differences between the different types and you have to dig fairly deep to find this type of information. There is more about the different types of gel memory foam in post #26 here.
The Dreamfoam mattresses are made by Brooklyn Bedding which one of the manufacturer members of this site (which means that I believe they are among the best quality/value available) and they have a complete description of the specs on the Amazon site (the queen is listed here for example). They list the type of latex in the comfort layers, the density of the polyfoam base, and use 1.5" of supersoft polyfoam in the quilting and have a bamboo ticking. These are all the essential specs and indicate high quality materials.
Like all the business members here … they also provide a bonus or discount to all the forum members who purchase a mattress which in the case of the Dreamfoam is a free shredded latex pillow if you let them know your username here. They also give their customers a choice of different firmness levels of the latex.
The guidelines are based on averages and will of course vary with the other layers of each mattress but in general terms people who are heavier and side sleepers will tend to need thicker and/or firmer comfort layers. Talalay latex is the coolest of the foams and supersoft quilting foam is also very breathable. There was a post today (post #14 here) from a member who just slept on one for the first night and remarked on how cool it slept for him.
Of course as with all things … there is always a tradeoff in buying online vs locally because your choices are based on “theory” and you don’t have the chance to test the mattress (or return it in this case) so it’s a little riskier unless you have tested latex in similar layering.
Hope this helps.
Phoenix