Ikea Sultan Finnvik equivalent recommendations? Sub $500 foam mattress

[phoenix]

Hi twice,

There were no noticeable depressions in the foam, but my friend is a small guy.

The biggest issue with lower density memory foam is foam softening (or what some people call virtual impressions) … not visible impressions. Foam softening can lead to the loss of comfort and/or support which is the biggest reason that most people will need to replace their mattress.

That’s why a mattress that is several years old will be noticeably softer than a new version of the same mattress … especially if it uses lower quality and less durable materials.

Is there a way I can guesstimate what resiliency it had to replicate it? It felt firmer than the mattress topper I have which is 3" 3lbs costco novaform.

Not based on the specs of a mattress no there isn’t.

While knowing the specs that can affect the quality and durability of the layers and components in a mattress is always important … unless you have a great deal of knowledge and experience with different types of mattress materials and components and their specs and different layering combinations and mattress designs and how they combine together and can translate them into your own “real life” experience that can be unique to you (which would generally be a very small percentage of people) … I would tend to avoid using complex specs to try and predict how a mattress will feel or perform for you. When you try and choose a mattress based on complex combinations of specs that you may not fully understand or only based on specs for a single layer or component that may not be as relevant or meaningful as you believe it is then the most common outcome is “information overload” and “paralysis by analysis”. Even the best mattress designers in the industry are often surprised at what a mattress they design “should have felt like” based on the specs when they design it and what it “actually feels like” when they test out their new design.

I’m curious about the base layers. Looking at the differences between the older ikea and new models, the older model use a 2.2 lbs poly foam, while the new ones use a 1.7 lbs foam. What does that mean practically?

Foam density has nothing to do with firmness or how a foam layer will feel and perform so the only thing that you can say with any certainty is that the lower foam density will be less durable.

I read the durability guide (thanks for that!) but it suggests that as a support layer, it’s not that important. With something like the lower density 3.1lbs memory foam, does that make the density of the lower layer more important?

If you want to take the time to study it in more detail there is more about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress in post #4 here.

When you sleep on a mattress the upper layers of foam will compress and deflect more than the deeper layers partly because the comfort layers are usually made to be softer than the deeper transition and support layers of a mattress (and firmness/softness is also a factor in the durability of a material) and partly because they are closer to the sleeping surface and subject to direct compression without any layers above them absorbing some of the compression forces first. It’s this constant deflection of the foam materials in the upper layers of the mattress that softens and breaks down the foam and leads to the loss of comfort and support in the mattress. This will also happen more under the heavier parts of the body such as the hips/pelvis than the lighter parts of the body. This is why the quality/durability of the upper layers (the top 3" to 6" of the mattress) are especially important in the durability and useful life of the mattress as a whole because they will usually be the weakest link in the mattress in terms of durability.

Also on that note, I realize “firm” is relative, but is there any reason that ikea would call 3.1 lbs density memory foam firm over latex?

The firmness of a mattress is rated “as a whole” and not just as a result of the firmness of any individual layers. For example a softer layer can sometimes allow you to “go through” the top layer more and “feel” more of the firmness of the layers underneath it and can feel firmer for some people than another mattress that uses the same support core but has a firmer comfort layer on top of it that will isolate you more from the firmness of the layer underneath it.

Of course the memory foam could be firmer or softer than the latex as well. Both materials come in a range of firmness levels although the range for latex is much wider than the range for memory foam which doesn’t come in firmness levels that are firm enough to be used as a support core in a mattress (which is why all memory foam mattresses use a firmer material or component underneath the memory foam).

My zip is 53146 - New Berlin, WI. Just outside of Milwaukee, WI.

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Milwaukee area (subject to making sure that any mattress you consider meets your criteria and the quality/value guidelines I linked in my earlier reply) are listed in post #2 here.

One thought I had is that I love the costco mattress topper I got for the costco mattress. But I have the rock hard mattress below it. I’ve been wondering if buying a low cost foam mattress to act as a base layer could work. Something that has more give that the rock underneath this. I don’t know if that’s practical or stupid. As mentioned above, it’s a 3", 3lbs Novafoam memory foam topper. So it’s not as dense as it should be, but I could always rotate it out yearly if it turns out I’m happy with the bed combo. If something like this isn’t a horribly terrible idea, what should I be looking for as a base mattress?

Although this can be a good strategy if you can test the mattress/topper combination in person before a purchase … you can see my comments about choosing a firmer mattress first with the intention of adding a topper later in post #2 here. In most cases I would avoid this approach because of the uncertainty involved with two purchase choices instead of only one and choosing a topper that would be suitable in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) for a specific person on a specific mattress can sometimes be almost as difficult as choosing a mattress that doesn’t need a topper in the first place. I would generally focus on choosing a mattress that is likely to be a suitable match without a topper (again unless you can test the combination in person or you are purchasing both online as a set and they both have a good return/exchange policy) and then use the option to add a topper as a “backup” strategy in case your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for rather than a “primary” strategy.

I was looking at the dreamfoam mattresses on amazon based on some of the posts here. But I’m even less sure of those as there is just not enough info on them. That seems to be true of most mattresses, very few list the foam type or density. The few that do seem to have the ikea methodology of not listing the thickness of each layer and that seemed to go for dreamfoam as well.

As you probably know Dreamfoam is one of the members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, knowledge, service, and transparency. They would certainly be well worth considering (and talking to on the phone) and I would definitely include them in your “lower budget” research.

Phoenix