I’m writing this in regards to Nest Bedding, particularly the Alexander Signature Select mattress. I’ve been considering purchasing one of these mattresses, and saw that the entire Nest line has recently been changed. The current Signature Select (medium) bears only a passing resemblance to the old one, internally and externally. I see that the main comfort layer uses 4" of “4 gel memory foam” (I assume they mean 4lb), 1" of “4 visco foam” (again, I assume this means 4lb), and that the support layers are a transition foam and a base foam.
I am wondering if you know anything about why the mattress has changed so much, and whether this is due to changing manufacturers. Additionally, I am wondering whether you still feel confident that the mattress uses high-quality materials.
Upon doing some research, it appears that the Alexander Signature Select is being made by Silver-Rest in Pico Rivera, CA. I can’t find too much info about them online, except that they also sell budget memory foam mattresses through amazon. Some of the amazon reviews for their other mattresses mention the foam breaking down completely within 1-2 years.
Do you happen to know if SilverRest is a reputable manufacturer? Do you happen to know if they are a new manufacturer for Nest? My main reason for going with Nest is that this site and others have praised the high quality of the materials used in their mattresses. I want to get a high-quality mattress that I can reasonably expect to last 5-10 years.
Obviously, it is too soon to judge the longevity of the new mattress based on reviews on the Nest website, as they only started shipping these in the last few months. I am asking through this forum rather than asking Nest directly, because they have an obvious vested interest in touting the product they’re selling.
They recently (around March 20th) changed their Alexander series and the Love bed but not the entire line.
The old Signature Select medium contained the following materials …
1.5" polyfoam quilting.
2" of 4lb gel memory foam
2" of 4lb memory foam
8" 2.0 density convoluted support layer.
The new design contains the following materials …
2" of 1.5 lb polyfoam quilting
4" of 4 lb gel memory foam
1" of 4 lb memory foam
2" of “smartflow air flow foam” (which I believe is 1.8 lb polyfoam but you can confirm this with them)
4" of 1.8 lb polyfoam.
In the case of this specific mattress … the major changes would be using 2" of 1.5 lb quilting material (which is a little thicker than I would normally suggest), an increase of 1" in the amount of 4 lb memory foam, and a change from a 2.0 lb base layer to 1.8 lb base layers.
I would consider the new design to be “very slightly” less durable than the old design because of the thicker layer of lower density quilting foam (which is “on the edge” of the thickness that I would normally be comfortable with) and the slightly lower density polyfoam base layers but with 7" of foam above it the slightly lower density of the base layer would only be a meaningful factor in much higher weight ranges.
The old design would have been suitable in terms of durability for those that aren’t in higher weight ranges (more than the lower 200’s or so) but I suggested caution for those that are in higher weight ranges where I would reduce or minimize the use of 4 lb memory foam.
The new design would be “slightly” less durable mostly because of the effect of the thicker quilting layer because the slightly lower density of the base foam would really only have a meaningful affect on those in higher weight ranges … so I would probably suggest “caution” at a slightly lower weight range (perhaps anywhere in the 200’s).
They would be the only ones that can tell you all the reasons why they decided to make some changes but you can see a few comments about this in post #31 here and post #37 here.
[quote]Upon doing some research, it appears that the Alexander Signature Select is being made by Silver-Rest in Pico Rivera, CA. I can’t find too much info about them online, except that they also sell budget memory foam mattresses through amazon. Some of the amazon reviews for their other mattresses mention the foam breaking down completely within 1-2 years.
Do you happen to know if SilverRest is a reputable manufacturer? Do you happen to know if they are a new manufacturer for Nest? My main reason for going with Nest is that this site and others have praised the high quality of the materials used in their mattresses. I want to get a high-quality mattress that I can reasonably expect to last 5-10 years.[/quote]
While nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else or how the changes would affect any specific person because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and because you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) which is the most important part of “value”, the next 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 see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and 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) so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress relative to your body type and weight that would be a cause for concern in terms of the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
I know that they changed manufacturers for their Alexander series and their Love Bed but I don’t know the name of the new manufacturer although it would be on the law label.
The most accurate and meaningful way to assess the quality and durability of a mattress is by knowing the type and quality/density of all the materials and components inside it because the relative durability of specific materials and components is already known regardless of which manufacturer uses it in their mattress or how long a specific design has been available for sale. You would need to wait for many years to be able to assess the durability of a mattress based on customer feedback (and even then the majority of reviews wouldn’t be particularly reliable anyway … see post #13 here) and in many cases by that time a mattress may not even be available for sale any longer anyway.
While there is no way to specifically quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when they will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for them (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) and because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.
If a mattress is “on the edge” or slightly lower than the minimum guidelines relative to your weight range then it would be reasonable to slightly reduce your expectations accordingly.
Thank you so much for your (characteristically) thorough response, Phoenix. I am around 150lb, and my partner is only 100lb, so it looks like the potential weaker links in this mattress may not apply to us. That’s good to know.
One response, you state that the new has 2" of 4 lb gel memory foam and 1" of 4 lb memory foam for the comfort layers, but the Nest website indicates that the medium has 4" of gel foam and 1" of visco (memory) foam, as well as all the other layers you mentioned. So it would seem that the comfort layers haven’t been thinned down from the past generation.
Anyway, based on this very helpful response, I am more confident that the mattress is still of high quality, and I think I will give the Alexander Signature Select a try. Nest, like most of the online mattress retailers, has a very good trial period, so I will not be locked in if I do not like it.
