I’m moving into my first apartment and therefore in need of a mattress. My budget is low, ideally $700 or less including box spring. Queen size. Not ideal, I know. Even so, I’d like to buy the best possible thing in my range. So far I’ve read the mattress buying tutorial and many posts in the forum. I’ve also found information regarding recommended places to buy mattresses from in my local area.
However, I cannot seem to find any recommendations of brands or styles to look out for. I’ve mainly found info on latex and foam recommendations. Before I go in to any of them (I’ve already been to the big chains), I want to be able to research brands or styles online and understand my options better. Can anyone help me with this?
Also-- at Jordan’s, my favorite mattress in my budget was from their Jordan’s Factory line. Any input on whether that’s even worth considering?
All mattress manufacturers have access to the same or similar materials so the type and quality of the materials inside a mattress and the transparency of the manufacturer (or a retailer that sells them) are much more important than the name of the manufacturer. Shopping by brand is among the worst ways to choose a mattress (see post #5 here).
The style of mattress that is best for you would be a personal preference. Some people prefer one type of mattress or materials and others may prefer something completely different. Your own testing will tell you more about the types of mattresses you tend to prefer. The mattresses section of the site has more information about the various types of comfort and support layers as well. There is also more about the pros and cons of memory foam here and the pros and cons of latex here for those that are looking at the two more common specialty foams.
I’m not sure which mattress you were looking at but post #13 here has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase. If you have done some careful and objective testing on the mattress and it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP then the next step is to make sure you find out the specifics of the materials inside it (see this article) and make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the design (see the guidelines here) and so you can make more meaningful comparisons to your other finalists. To their credit Jordans lists the specs of their mattresses on their website so it’s easy to identify whether they have any weak links.
To clarify, I’m not trying to shop by brand for brand name’s sake. I was asking that question because I assume that there are some makers of mattresses that, in your experience, have shown a pattern of using the high quality material, etc., like the articles/posts you’ve pointed to me recommend. Knowing about those typically good mattress brands would help me start somewhere with intent instead of sifting through all the mattresses available online or in-store and reading each of their specs.
This the mattress that I most preferred at Jordan’s. It is a good match PPP-wise.
Details:
Origin
Made in New England
Quilt
Double stretch knit jacquard cover
FR Fibers
1/2" Bio based foam 1.2 density
1/2" Bio based foam 1.2 density
1/2" Bio based foam 1.2 density
Comfort Layers
2" Eco Fiber pad
Below Innerspring
2" Eco Fiber Pad
Support System
Single Sided Sleep Surface
Cloth encased spring unit
15 gauge steel
T/405 F/567 Q/696 K/899
Full Perimeter foam encasement
Twice tempered steel
Mattress Type
Innerspring
It seems that the density of the foam is lower than you recommend and there is more foam in the comfort layer than you recommend as well.
However, I am not entirely convinced that I will be able to find a mattress that meets such recommendations in my budget. Am I wrong?
In very general terms … smaller local or regional manufacturers will tend to use higher quality materials in their mattresses than their larger competitors but this is very general and some smaller manufacturers can be exceptions (see post #4 here and post #12 here). Even manufacturers that use higher quality materials in their mattresses generally make some mattresses that use lower quality materials so I place more value in the transparency of a manufacturer than on more “generic” comments about the mattresses they make as a whole. While many of the better manufacturers are only available locally or regionally and my comments about them would be in the many local lists around the forum … you can see some comments about the top 15 manufacturers that are more widely available in terms of their transparency in this article. More transparent manufacturers will often use better quality materials which is one of the reasons they are more transparent (they want their customers to know what they put inside their mattresses).
The overall amount of foam in the comfort layers is a matter of personal preference so there isn’t an “ideal” amount of foam in terms of thickness but you are correct that the quality/density of the polyfoam in this mattress is low. Having said that … it’s also on the edge of the thickness range of “about an inch or so” of lower quality or unknown materials in the quilting layers which would be more durable and have less effect on the useful life of the mattress (see the guidelines here). Unfortunately they don’t provide much specific information about the 2" “eco fiber pad” including the type of fiber or whether it is densified or its specific makeup so I would be cautious here because fiber materials can tend to compress and develop premature impressions … especially in combination with 1.5" of low quality/density foam.
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area which can give you a good starting point to find some additional local choices that may be in the same or better quality/value range. If you are also open to online choices then some of the better online options in a lower budget ranges are listed in posts #3 and #4 here (for latex and latex hybrids) and in post #4 here (for other types of mattresses).
Hi Phoenix! Thanks for the feedback on that Jordan’s mattress.
I live in MA (01949), but am frequently in the town that borders Nashua, NH (03060) and would probably prefer to buy there to avoid tax. I believe these lists are probably pretty comprehensive for my area, but if you know of any others, feel free to share!
I looked at the hybrid posts you linked to and am intrigued by this this and this. The first one is more expensive, but I like that I can exchange it if I am unhappy with it.
However, I’m concerned about buying latex mattress without ever having laid on one, so I would definitely need to find a local place to try one out before I commit to anything.
Yes the posts you linked would include all of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of that are closest to you.
Both of these would be good quality/value options but there are some differences between them. They both use the same polyfoam base layer (1.5 lb) and have the same 3" blended Talalay latex comfort layer but the Ultimate Dreams has many firmness options while the Cotton Camilla only has two. They also have a slightly different cover with the Dreamfoam using a bamboo cover quilted with 1.5" of polyfoam and the Cotton Camilla uses a 100% cotton cover quilted with 1" of polyfoam. The Cotton Camilla has the option to exchange the latex comfort layer for a $75 shipping fee while the Ultimate Dreams is a “finished mattress” so there aren’t any layer exchanges.
If the Ultimate Dreams is fulfilled by Dreamfoam then you would receive the pillow bonus for being a member of the forum but there would be no return options. If the Ultimate dreams is fulfilled by Amazon then it can be returned within 30 days and is subject to the Amazon large items return policy (see here) but there would be no pillow bonus. The Cotton Camilla would qualify for the 5% TMU member’s discount unless they are having a temporary sale that is more than the discount.
Dreamfoam also sells their Latex Eurotop here which has more firmness options than the Camilla and also has a comfort exchange option. There is more about how the Eurotop compares to the Cotton Camilla and the Bamboo Bliss in post #16 here.
All of these would make a good final choice but which of them would be the “best value” for you would depend on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
I think it’s always a good idea to make sure you do some local testing to make sure you like the feel of latex (or any material) before buying a mattress that uses it in the comfort layers because latex is certainly different from other types of materials (especially memory foam) and each person can have very different ideas when it comes to the type of material that they prefer.