I am furnishing my house and need a proper mattress. For a long time I’ve been sleeping on a 3" memory foam topper on a wood floor - surprisingly comfortable, but not something I’d want a guest to see, y’know? I was THIS close to buying a bedinabox mattress when I got cold feet. It’s best-rated on www.sleeplikethedead.com, but I have questions about their rating system (how informed are their users? How much does price factor in vs. quality? What other things are weighing it favorably that I care little about?) …and I think I want something denser than 3lb/ft gel foam.
I’m 5’7" 145 pounds, I like a pretty firm bed (probably a 7 on a 1-10 scale), I know I like memory foam, and I want a good mattress. I don’t need it to be super thick (obviously based on what I’ve been sleeping on). I’m looking for
Memory foam (Latex is outside of my price range and I know I like memory foam)
Queen size
Med-to-Firm / (I’m guessing 4-4.5lb/sqft density foam)
Durable enough to last me 6-8 years.
Hopefully less or equal to $750
In general I’m a research maniac and I’ve read much of the beginner’s literature on this site, but when it comes to a site like this, I’m overwhelmed. I see tons of great information but at the end of the day I’m looking for some more specific recommendations so I’m not digging through 10s of websites looking through 100s of mattresses trying to figure out what the heck is good. I’m not the pickiest guy in the world - I just want quality.
Can you just give me some solid, tried-and-true, no-nonsense mattresses that fit the description above or get me started in the right direction? I can research the details and make a final choice from there. I just don’t want to dig through webpage after webpage to find similar specs across mattress after mattress.
I’m lost, I need a bed very soon, and the prospect of buying online is a little disconcerting. Bedinabox’s return policy is enticing, but something tells me I wouldn’t be thrilled with their low-density gel foam.
The first place to start is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choices. If you are looking for a memory foam mattress that is sold online It also has a link to a list of some of the better online memory foam retailers and manufacturers that I’m aware of.
You can read more of my thoughts about BedinaBox in post #2 here. I would be very cautious with any memory foam mattress that didn’t meet the minimum guidelines listed in post #10 here.
I’m happy to help you with “how” to choose but the specifics of “what” to choose will depend on either your own personal testing for PPP if you are purchasing locally or on more detailed conversations with online manufacturers or retailers who are more familiar with their mattresses than anyone else and can use their knowledge and experience along with “averages” based on their customers that may be similar to you to help you make the best possible choice out of the options they offer (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
It looks like selectfoam offers some good high-density choices, though it’d be about $150 more than other queen mattresses even with the M.U. discount (but I’d be getting a much denser mattress). They can be readily compared to tempurpedic so I guess I’ll track down a local store with tempurpedic and start there. In the mean time I’ll fill in some of the knowledge gaps by reading more of the articles on here.
Another question… …how crucial is the type of base underneath a memory foam mattress? Some seem bent on a solid base, others seem to think it doesn’t matter much. I don’t want to just buy whatever the seller of my mattress recommends because they probably make their money on accessories - seems like one base is as good as another so long as it’s not damaging the mattress. Do yo have any cheap-but-sufficient recommendations for bases, or perhaps you could guide me in the right direction if unwilling to point to specific options?
It’s important that the base (foundation, box spring, or platform bed) is suitable for the mattress. There is more information about different type of bases used with different types of mattresses and some good sources in the foundation post here. With a memory foam mattress I would personally choose a slatted foundation or platform bed vs a solid surface so that there is rigid even support under the mattress but it still has airflow under the mattress as well (see post #10 here).