I’m considering buying a mattress from Urban Mattress in Austin, TX. I need a firm mattress have narrowed it down to one of two choices. The manufacturer is Sherwood Bedding.
One has a latex core, the pother has coil wrapped with foam.
The latex is of course more expensive, both felt fine when I rested on both for some time.
Both mattresses are 10" high- does that make a difference in quality?
I notice most mattresses are 12".
I looked everywhere on your site on this subject, but didn’t find any.
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.
As you can see … the most important part of choosing a mattress is how suitable it is for your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) regardless of how thick or thin it may be.
The height or thickness of a mattress by itself also makes very little difference in terms of quality or durability and is always much less important than the quality and durability of the materials inside it. If a mattress is thicker but uses larger amounts of lower quality and less durable materials than a thinner mattress then it would be less durable and can often be a problem waiting to happen with impressions and foam softening. This is one of the reasons there are so many durability issues with many of the pillowtops and eurotop mattresses that are made by the major manufacturers. Thicker layers of lower quality materials are an even bigger durability issue than thinner layers of the same lower quality material.
If a mattress uses only high quality materials then in some cases a thicker mattress can be beneficial for some people … especially for higher body weights (see post #14 here) but this is only if the mattress uses good quality materials that won’t soften or break down too quickly and there are no weak links in the mattress. There is nothing that is inherently “better” about a thicker mattress unless that specific mattress is a better match for you than a thinner one.
Choosing a mattress that is “best for you” will always come down to …
Testing carefully for suitability in terms of PPP (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post)
Checking the the materials and layers inside the mattress for quality/durability (see this article) to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress
Comparing your finalists for value based on all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Missing any one of these three criteria can often lead to much more risky choices and buyers remorse much too quickly after a purchase.
Hi Phoenix,
Thank you for such a quick reply!
I’m petite, a back sleeper… pillow tops don’t work for me.
Now that you’ve confirmed height doesn’t make a substantive difference, the decision will be easier.
Thanks again,
Lola
