Hi cosmos,
Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :).
Thanks for your very kind words and post. We hope we can help a little on your mattress buying journey. As you mentioned it may be overwhelming, to begin with, but it helps to know you are not the only ones and that with a bit of determination to get things right, like everyone else you’ll get there.
Thank you for noting your sleep styles and sleep patterns, well organized, which means as you learn the materials / different constructions, you will know what to look for when you go shopping again.
While you focused a great deal of understanding how a mattress could be a good match for you and your “A” and tested your choices for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) … you are correct that it would be difficult if not impossible to “decipher what it was we tried out and/or help us translate our preferences into more technical terms” Perhaps the most important aspect I’d keep in mind is that a mattress is as good as the materials inside of it. It may feel good in the showroom but if it starts sagging in a few months or years all the good testing for the perfect match is wasted and you’d need to start your mattress journey once again. Also, someone else’s experience cannot “translate” into what you will experience with the same bed because only you can feel what you feel on a particular mattress and we are all very unique in what we each need and prefer.
I’d press the reset button and now that you’ve gained some valuable experience through your very careful testing (which will greatly simplify your search and help you make the best possible choices) I’d make sure to find out exactly what is in the mattress, layering and densities once you learn to avoid the worst ones (like the major manufacturers or any manufacturer or brand that doesn’t disclose the quality of the materials in their mattresses and most mass-market stores that have little knowledge about the mattresses they sell).
Of all of these “specs” … the specs that affect the quality/durability of all the foam layers in the upper layers are the most important. In many cases and with many manufacturers they are also the most difficult to find out. Most people that sell mattresses have very little knowledge about even basic foam quality specs. This is usually enough to make meaningful assessments and comparisons or identify any potential weak links in a mattress. For those who want more detailed information about the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to each person then post #4 here and the posts it links to has much more information about all the variables that can affect durability.
Throughout this website, it is often mentioned to avoid “major” mattress manufacturers. This is primarily due to a clear lack of transparency about the quality and specifications of the materials used in their mattresses vs. smaller independent manufacturers that make similar mattresses with the same or better quality, are transparent about their materials and designs and often times sell for better prices.
In general, for a 2000+ budget innerspring king mattress If you do not know the complete specs and if the mattress does not meet durability guidelines here, I would not waste much time with it. In general, 2nd tier companies like Spring Air, Restonic, Southerland, etc. with independent owners, as well as the remaining plethora of mattress manufacturers, as a group, do not have the QC systems to provide consistency and they were cost driven. This means that shop floor management would make decisions of putting cost ahead of quality (for example substituting components). I would tend to avoid the 2nd tier players in way more than I would avoid the majors when it comes to quality and consistency. Independents like Corsicana, Southerland, are even more likely to be inconsistent and have poor QC practices You may wish to peruse through this Article here.
Comfort/pressure relief and support/alignment are the two most important functions of a mattress for everyone so you certainly aren’t alone in this but the only way to know for certain whether any specific mattress will be a suitable choice that provides you with both will be based on your own careful testing or your own personal experience when you sleep on it because different people can have very different needs and preferences in a mattress in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences)
I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists.
Regarding the mattresses, you mentioned all of them, as far as I can tell from researching, all of the ones you tried, are innerspring mattresses see the description in this article. When you are trying the mattresses, it’s important to note the mattress specifications you need to know.
Maybe most importantly please look at our list of trusted members, which Flo Beds is actually in the Fullerton area. TMU thinks highly of our members and we believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. All members use high-quality materials at fair prices so they would certainly make a great quality/value choice.
Phoenix