Hi yukoncornelius,
I switched your post to a new topic of its own because there are many questions that are outside the scope of the original topic you posted in.
[quote]Phoenix - I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here as I’m starting to think the entire mattress industry is a scam…
And specifically - memory foam / gel /latex variants.[/quote]
I certainly wouldn’t agree with you that the entire industry is a “scam” but I think that your comments are coming more from your disappointment than from any deeper understanding of the industry itself and with your experience I can certainly understand that. Your comments are also somewhat generic so they really can’t be answered in any specific terms and they also involve some complex issues that aren’t quite as simple as you may wish them to be but I’m certainly happy to make some comments about the main points you made.
There are several questions in your “first question” but I can comment (or link you to comments that I’ve already made) about each of them.
You can see some comments about mattress impressions and mattress reviews that deal with your question in post #20 here and in post #2 here.
You can see some comments about the differences between Dreamfoam and Brooklyn Bedding in post #4 here (before Brooklyn Bedding made the switch to selling their current “simplified choice” mattress … see post #1020 here) and in post #2 here. It’s certainly no secret that they are sister companies that are made in the same factory and they each target a different market which is a common practice in the industry (Just like car companies can have different brands).
I have been asked many times about my username being the same as the city where 4 of the 47 current members of the site are based and you can see my comments in post #4 here.
[quote]Here’s where I get REALLY frustrated - all of the reviews of 95% of these memory foam mattress that are under $1000 are completely bogus. Its not that I don’t trust the reviews, its the fact that people review these mattresses after having slept on them for 1 -2 months. Try 2-3 years. Go to the amazon review page for the Ultimate Dreams model and not to my surprise, dozens of people have the exact same experience as me. 2-3 years later, the mattress has already sagged and hurts to sleep on.
Phoenix - if you recommend such companies and are so critical with materials used - why has this occured so frequently? To me it indicates that the quality of materials used is sub-par like most memory foam mattresses.[/quote]
It actually doesn’t occur frequently at all relative to the total number of mattresses that are sold with mattresses that use higher quality materials (although it does occur with a relatively small percentage of mattresses for some of the reasons that I’ve mentioned in my earlier links).
Having said that … I agree with your point that most reviews are “mostly meaningless”.
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would be very cautious about about using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because any mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on and reviews in general certainly won’t tell you much if anything about the quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).
The materials in your mattress certainly aren’t “sub par” in any way but if your mattress is one of the few that has a defect (which is certainly possible) and there are visible impressions that are deeper than 1.5" then I would encourage you to talk with Dreamfoam about a warranty claim.
Good quality foam materials can be just as durable as innersprings and in most cases the weakest link in a mattress is in the upper layers rather than the deeper support layers anyway. There is more about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to different people and circumstances in post #4 here.
While I can’t speak to how any mattress will “feel” for someone else because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances … outside of PPP the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability and assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses (including innersprings) are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article).
“Support” is also often misunderstood and many people believe incorrectly that “firmer is better” or “more supportive” or that one type of support system is “better” than another when the real goal of a “supportive” mattress is to keep the spine in good alignment and this requires the type of contouring support that allows some parts of the body to sink in more and some parts of the body to sink in less and this will vary on an individual basis. There is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support/alignment” and “comfort/pressure relief” and “feel” and how they interact together.
Innerspring mattresses are still by far the most common type of mattress sold in the industry but they have developed somewhat of a bad reputation because so many of the innerspring mattresses that are sold in the industry are made by the major brands which have lowered the quality and durability of the materials in their mattresses over the last 10 - 15 years or so and most of them tend to use lower quality materials in the foam layers above the innersprings (see post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here). An innerspring mattress that uses good quality materials can certainly be just as suitable and just as durable a choice as any other type of mattress.
I don’t 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” or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate 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).
Having said that … there is also more information about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here 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 based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or any exchange/return options that are available to you).
I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress relative to your weight that you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or whether anyone else (including me) would have the same criteria or circumstances or would make the same choice.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences and hopefully my replies have helped you gain some clarity about some of the many complex questions you were asking.
Phoenix