Help with first memory foam mattress: Dreamfoam, Brooklyn Bedding, Bed-in-a-Box

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi everyone,

I am looking to purchase my first memory foam mattress, which will also be the first mattress I buy with any level of research behind it. I recently sold my bed when I moved out of my last apartment in New Haven, CT, and it was a random Ikea mattress that I bought in a rush and then attempted to make more comfortable trying at least three different mattress toppers over the course of a year. It didn’t quite work.

I have been lurking in this site and others for some time, reading about my options. A little about my search:

I’m a young professional moving to New York City and foreshadowing significant overtime, so while I am willing to invest in a good mattress that will allow me to sleep soundly when I have the chance, I also need to keep the cost under 1,500, and perhaps even under 1,000.

I’m looking for a queen-sized mattress for me and my boyfriend, who will be staying in NYC only 4 days a week. We are both side sleepers, and prefer softer mattresses. I weigh 120 and measure 5’4’’ and he weighs 135 or so and measures 5’6’'. Right now we are sleeping in his new studio in New Haven and he has an Ikea Sultan Hultsvik, which I think is a coil innerspring mattress with a 2 3/8" memory foam cushion. It’s soft, and seems like an Ok bed, but we’ve only slept on it for maybe 20 days.

In any case, I’m certainly not looking to do Ikea again! After trying out some Tempur-Pedic beds in a store, I am hoping to decide on a memory foam mattress that is comparable in quality, but better in value. I have narrowed it down to Dreamfoam/Brooklyn Bedding and Bed-in-a-Box, and within those brands, I am interested in hearing about the differences between:

Ultimate Dreams 13" Gel Memory Foam Mattress by Dreamfoam Bedding ($813.38)
10" Cotton Caress by Brooklyn Bedding ($799)
12" Bamboo Bella by Brooklyn Bedding ($1,099)
PacBed with Gel Foam by Bed-in-a-Box ($749)
Natural Silk Elegance by Bed-in-a-Box ($1,349)

If you have any insight into/ experience with any of these, please do share!

Thank you very much.

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Hi luxastraea,

The first place I would start your research is post #1 here which has the basic information steps and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices.

The minimum guidelines I would suggest for memory foam mattresses are listed in post #10 here and there is a link to some of the better online memory foam choices in the first post I linked.

I wouldn’t consider any of the Ikea memory foam mattresses because they don’t meet the guidelines (the memory foam density is too low). You can read some of my thoughts about some of the other Ikea mattresses in post #3 here.

You can read some of my thoughts about Bedinabox in post #2 here. Again their memory foam density is lower than I would consider.

Brooklyn Bedding / Dreamfoam is one of the manufacturers that were invited to become a member here and they are among the best quality/value available. They also have the knowledge and experience to be able to provide you with useful information that can help you choose a mattress that is the best match for your personal value equation.

My role is to help the members here eliminate the worst choices that have obvious weak links in their mattresses and then to make more meaningful quality and value comparisons so that their final choices are between “good and good”. In your case one of the two manufacturers you are considering doesn’t meet the minimum guidelines I would use.

There may also be some good local options available to you and the better options and possibilities in the New York area I’m aware of are listed in post #2 here and there is also a more “categorized” list with some more detailed descriptions of many of them in post #7 here.

Phoenix

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Thank you very much for your reply, Phoenix! Since posting this message, I have read about your concerns regarding Bed-in-a-Box memory foam mattresses due to the memory foam density.

Would you tell me a little about the Dreamfoam and Brooklyn Bedding options I am considering, if you have some familiarity with them? I have annotated what the websites and amazon tell me about them, but I don’t really know what all of it means, and you seem to know exactly how to put these numbers and specifications in layman’s terms! I will of course, call the company and ask too, and from what I hear BB has excellent customer service. Still, it would make me feel better in my choice to get some feedback from someone unaffiliated with the company.

Unfortunately, I do not own a car and cannot easily go to another mattress store in New Haven or New York. At this point, for me, it’s really going to come down to these options and I would very much to hear your take on these options in terms of feel, durability, etc.

I would also really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences with these mattresses! I realize of course, that everybody sleeps differently and has distinct needs and preferences.

Thank you!

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Hi luxasteraea,

The first place to start would be the “read first” post and the overviews and other posts it links to. This will give you some basic information to scan through (not “study”) about what the information means so that you can ask more meaningful questions when you talk with each manufacturer or retailer you are seriously considering. Your questions are very broad but are mostly answered there and in the descriptions of each mattress on their site.

Dreamfoam and Brooklyn Bedding are one of the invited members of the site which means that I think very highly of them and the quality and value of the mattresses they make and sell. They are certainly one of the sources I would recommend and are among the best quality and value available. Most importantly they are transparent and knowledgeable which means that they will give you accurate information about the materials in their mattresses and will also help “educate” you about the differences in terms of quality and feel between them and which may be most suitable for you.

As you can see in post #2 here … I’m happy to help with “how” to choose and to help you eliminate the worse options and help you connect with better retailers or manufacturers but “what” to choose will depend on following the steps and links in the read first" post I linked and one of the most important parts of this is your phone conversations with each of the retailers or manufacturers that you are considering. They are more knowledgeable about their specific mattresses and how each of them may compare to each other or fit the needs and preferences of each person than anyone else including me. As you can imagine … for me to do what they are better at than I am (educating you about their mattresses) would be outside the scope of a forum or the time limitations available to me. The knowledge, experience, and transparency of a retailer or manufacturer is one of the most important parts of a mattress purchase and a conversation on the phone with them will be much more meaningful than someone else trying to describe their mattresses on a forum.

A forum search on both the Cotton Caress and the Bamboo Bella (you can just click these) will bring up more information and comments about them but the best source of more specific information is a more detailed phone call to the manufacturer themselves.

This of course would make local shopping more difficult and the greater risk of online options more attractive. Feel is very subjective and relative though and when you are shopping online then again … the manufacturer will know more than anyone else about the relative “feel” of each of their mattresses and which of their models may be more suitable for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences based on the “averages” of their customers that seem are similar to you. Don’t forget I’ve never slept on any of them and feel is so subjective and there are so many variables and unknowns involved about how a mattress will “feel” that other people’s experiences in terms of “feel” may be very different from your own.

I’m certainly happy to talk about the quality of materials (which they can as well) or help you make meaningful comparisons or narrow down your options so all your final choices are between “good and good” but a more detailed conversation with a high quality/value manufacturer that you are seriously considering is always one of the most important steps and of course if you have more specific questions where you have any trouble finding answers then I’m happy to share my thoughts as well :slight_smile:

Phoenix