Hello Mattress Underground,
After many hours of reading about memory foam on this forum and testing mattresses in most of the retail outlets we could find in our area, my wife and I decided to take the plunge on the Cool-gel Euro-top from Golden Mattress (GM). It has 3" of 4 lb gel foam over an 8" 2 lb core. We had tested all the Tempurpedic, icomfort and sealy versions and felt that the Golden was comparable in quality and comfort to many of the much more expensive name brands. The small distributor that we purchased it from also carried the GM Image (4" of 4 lb memory foam, 7" 2 lb core) which we really liked and felt was very comparable to the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme; however, we were concerned that it might be a little too soft. The Cool-gel in comparison was a little firmer which we felt would wear better over the years than the softer Image. We went back a second time to test out the two mattresses side-by-side taking the time to test for pressure relief and spinal alignment. Both provided good pressure relief and alignment, but the cool-gel seemed to provide better support. After another day of thinking it over, we made the decision to order the Cool-gel. BIG MISTAKE!
When our new mattress arrived we plopped down on it expecting it to feel like what we remembered testing in the store. Well it wasn’t even close. We immediately noticed that It was MUCH firmer than what we remembered. It didn’t seem to provide the same pressure relief that we felt in the store. We are both side sleepers and could feel a lot more pressure on our shoulders and hips. Is it normal for a new mattress to feel extra firm when it is brand new? I asked the guy we bought it from how long he had had the floor model and he replied that it has only been out a few months. It’s not a high traffic show room either as it is in an office complex and you have to schedule an appointment to test the mattresses, so I really doubt that it would be a well worn mattress that we were testing. Could it just be that it needs to be broken in to feel right, or is it more likely that there is just that much variability in the manufacturing process leading to unpredictable firmness?? We have only had it two nights now and haven’t slept very well either night. My wife complained that her shoulder goes numb when she sleeps in her normal side-sleeping position and that her back hurt this morning when she tried sleeping on her back. I am fortunate enough not to have any pain, but I am the type that can sleep on the ground camping and not have any pain, yet I still don’t feel comfortable on this mattress. It feels hard and I wake up a lot through the night and have to change positions. What really makes me concerned that we made a poor choice is that when we go lay on our 12 year old old innerspring mattress (in the guest bedroom now) it feels sooo much better than the new mattress. Do we just need to wait for it to break in? Unfortunately there is no trial period on this mattress, but we didn’t figure we would need it as felt that we thoroughly tested it in the store. We are at a loss…has anyone else had a similar experience??? Any suggestions on what we can do at this point?
~2ndNature