How to look for and find the best mattress ... for YOU! ***READ FIRST***

[phoenix]

Hi HuskyHawk.

Really struggling to know which way to go, as the only mattresses I can try in person are the “S company” brands. Some of those I like, but (a) the prices are high and (b) I don’t trust the quality. We had a 100% natural Latex mattress that lasted 10 years. Our current “S” brand hybrid was expensive and needs to be replaced at 3 years old.

I am sorry to hear that your current “S company” mattress needs replacement after only 3 years of use. :S . Regarding attempting to match or approximate the feel of another mattress by testing a nation al brand in a department store…… boils down to the fact that spending time testing major brand mattresses or any mattress where you can’t find out the specifics of the materials and components inside it and where another manufacturer doesn’t make a better quality/value mattress that they specifically describe as being similar is mostly wasted because it would be too risky to purchase and it can’t be used as a reference point to purchase another mattress that is “similar”.

Making more “educated guesses” about layering combinations or changes that may work for you is really a process of “differential diagnosis” that relies on using probabilities and some trial and error in combination with your feedback and assessing how your actual symptoms change and either get “better or worse” with each layer combination you try.

There is more information in post #9 here about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or “approximate” another one. Every layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting materials) will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component and the mattress “as a whole” so unless you are able to find another mattress that uses exactly the same type of materials, components, cover and quilting, layer thicknesses, layer firmnesses, and overall design (which would be fairly unlikely) then there really isn’t a reliable way to match one mattress to another one in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) based on the specifications of the mattresses (even assuming that you can find out all the specifications you would need for both mattresses you are comparing in the first place).

Mattress manufacturers generally try to differentiate their mattress from the mattresses made by other manufacturers and don’t normally try to “match” another mattress that is made by a different manufacturer so unless a manufacturer specifically says in their description of a mattress that one of their mattresses in the same general category is specifically designed to “match” or “approximate” another one in terms of firmness or “feel” and PPP and/or they are very familiar with both mattresses and can provide reliable guidance about how they compare based on the “averages” of a larger group of people that have compared them (different people may have very different opinions about how two mattresses compare) … the only reliable way to know for certain how two mattresses would compare for you in terms of how they “feel” or in terms of firmness or PPP (regardless of anyone else’s opinions of how they compare which may be different from your own) would be based on your own careful testing or actual sleeping experience on both of them.

We are both mostly side sleepers (occasionally back), slightly high BMI, but that is dropping as we both are losing weight. I should be under 200 pounds by the time we buy the mattress. My wife has a shoulder problem.

Congratulations on your weight loss.! Regarding the shoulder problem your wife is experiencing please see my comments in the Memory Foam thread you inserted a comment.

Memory foam is tempting, but we want something soft. I tried the softest Tempurpedic and it feels like a rock to me. I think the comfort layer is not deep enough or the support layer too firm. We liked a plush hybrid from S&F that had gel memory foam on top. Really don’t know which way to go. I want a 12"+ mattress. Looking at the Brentwood Oceano, Nest Alexander Hybrid, and would love other suggestions .

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here ).

Regarding the plushness that you seek this is too subjective and as mentioned above depends on so many interrelated personal variables that it is impossible to come up with “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.

There are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a mattress for someone else to make specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or theory at a distance that can possible be more accurate than your own careful and objective testing (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) which is always the most reliable way to predict which mattress will be the best match for you in terms of PPP (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

Once you’ve had the chance to read through the information provided and perhaps narrow down your choices to 2-3 finalists please feel free to return here and I or any of our Expert Members will be happy to assist you.

Phoenix