Informal 25 year Mattress Tester came up with a surprise winner (Tempurpedic!) Lesson Learned!

[Basilio]

Hi BillyIdol,

I found a brand new Tempurpedic Deluxe that has been in storage for 20 years on craigslist.
The mattress has never been slept on. He is asking $500.
1-Will age still break down the memory foam after 20 years?
2-Will the temperature that it was stored in matter? It was stored in a self storage unit in
Palm Springs, CA. If it was not temperature controlled, I guess it got hot. If temperature
controlled, I guess it was cooler like in a house.
3-How could I test mattress to see if it was worn out (due to age or hot temperatures)?
I guess laying down on it…right?

In this case, buying a second hand mattress from Craigslist, I would certainly keep the phrase Caveat Emptor- Let the buyer beware – in mind. You cannot really be sure this mattress was ‘never used;, or the conditions in which it was stored. Since its’ in a storage unit – and if there were other items ever stacked on it, temperature variations, humidity and other factors. If it is a clean unit (no pests dirt etc), and if it was stored in a temperature controlled environment, because you mentioned in your previous posts that durability is not high on yourPersonal Value Equation then it may be worthwhile for you if the claims on this are true and the price is low enough, you want to take a chance with this ‘unused’ mattress, even at that age.

https://https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/49786/foamresearch.jpeg

I’d also keep in mind that you also are a high BMI and you would put more stress on the foams when you sleep than a normal BMI (You’d need at list 5lbs/cuft memory foam density) Foam aging and oxidation are definitely important factors even if the foam was not used at all. With age the foams become brittle and will breakdown faster than the same foam that is new. You may want to see Phoenix’s post onFoam Durability Factors in post #3 here; In general terms though … latex is the longest lasting of the foams, followed by memory foam followed by polyfoam (at least in the densities that are normally used). Of course, there is a lot of overlap and lower quality memory foam (less than 4 lbs. density) or some of the low density polyfoam used by most major manufacturers on the top of their mattresses also don’t last long at all … sometimes only months.

Also, I’d check if the mattress has any mold or mites internally, foams do break down with age – again depending on specific chemical composition of the materials in the mattress. As far as testing, the only way to see how it feels would be to try it out. Personally speaking, I avoid deals that seem ‘too good to be true’ as they are probably exactly that.

Basilio