Information Overload

[phoenix]

Hi Brian,

I think the first place I would start is post #1 here and the information it links to which is the most important post on the forum. It will give you or point to all the basic information that will answer most of your questions and give you a “step by step” approach to finding the best mattress for you.

I live in the Bay Area and am planning on visiting Bay Bed & Mattresses and/or Sleep Select Mattress this weekend based on your recommendations for the area. I like the Bay Bed & Mattresses adjustability for firmness and the fact that both sides of the bed can be customized down the road for another person, but am concerned that they specialize in latex and only certain bases. I am also concerned that I could lose days/weeks of my life trying to find the ‘perfect’ bed for me. Since you’re an expert, please point me in the right direction to make an educated but efficient decision.

My “expert” opinion is that you are already going in the best possible direction by connecting with the ‘experts" that sell good quality and value mattresses in your area. I don’t sell mattresses and there is no formula in existence that can "translate’ height/weight and sleeping position information or any other 'theoretical" information into one mattress out of all the material and layering combinations that are possible in the mattress industry. This would be like asking someone what is the best food. This is only possible when you deal with an “expert” that can help you choose between the mattresses and materials they offer (just like a restaurant can help you choose the meal that you may enjoy the most out of what they offer). They are the place to find specific guidance … my role is to help you find them (not design a mattress based on theory which isn’t possible).

As the post I mentioned outlines … I would choose several places that I wanted to visit (based on my phone calls to them beforehand) … find the best choice at each one (your favorite “meal”) … and then choose between your favorites at each place you visit. How many places you visit would be up to the time you have available and how much testing you want to do but half a dozen would normally be more than enough to test all the materials combinations you would need to and in most cases you would need to visit much less than this (if you make the phone calls first). I would visit at least two if for no other reason than you will feel better about your choice. You could find a great mattress by just visiting one manufacturer such as BayBed but it’s not possible to describe to you what you have “missed” by not trying other choices because only you can know how you would have felt on the other options they have (just like you won’t know what another restaurant’s meals may be like until you try them)

1. If money is not an issue, is Talalay latex the best choice for someone looking for a firmer mattress that runs cooler?

The choice of material is a preference that only you can determine based on your own testing. There isn’t a 'better or worse" choice between them although each material does have a wide range of firmness levels and different quality levels as well so the choices available in each combination of materials in terms of feel, comfort, and support are almost infinite but I would choose the best possible quality in any material category I preferred.

Does memory foam or buckling gel warrant a try, or would a place like Bay Bed & Mattresses that appears to only have latex options be sufficient?

If memory foam is available close to you to test and the idea of testing it attracts you, then I would probably include it in your testing because you probably won’t be happy with any choice until you do. If buckling column gel was close at hand and available in a store where you were anyway or easy to find and travel to … then I would consider this as well but I personally wouldn’t “seek it out” if it involved much effort or travel time. The “basics” are innersprings, latex, polyfoam, and memory foam and the various combinations and types of each.

would a place like Bay Bed & Mattresses that appears to only have latex options be sufficient?

For someone that preferred the feel and performance of a pocket coil with a latex comfort layer they would certainly be sufficient. This is a great combination for many people but I can’t answer how it would be for you. Preferences of materials and combinations are an individual thing. Again … this is like asking are potatoes sufficient or “better than” rice.

I’d like to only visit Bay Bed & Mattresses if I’m not missing out on anything by skipping Sleep Select Mattress.

The mattresses at Select sleep are different and only you can answer how you may feel if you don’t include them in your testing. Again though i would make preliminary phone calls before visiting anyone to help you answer how you may feel about either going or not going to any of them. You could always visit any local store that carried various material combinations you wanted to try (that were close to you and you confirmed that they carried what you wanted to try before you went there) regardless of price and then use this experience to compare these materials to the material combinations available at Bay Bed or Select Sleep. Since they each carry different mattresses I have no way to know which you may prefer although I do know that Bay Bed can build a mattress that would be suitable for almost anyone that liked a latex/innerspring hybrid and no matter what you purchased there it would be great quality and value. Questions about how you would feel about mattresses you didn’t test and what you may be missing by not testing them are really questions that only you can answer because they are about preferences not better worse and nobody can tell you or even predict what your preferences are or may be.

2. How do you approach testing the mattresses sufficiently? Your site mostly says to find a knowledgeable person who can assist you, but I don’t know if I will get that lucky when I go down to visit (multiple trips is not really an option). Do you have any guidelines on how many beds to try, which combinations generally work best for certain positions (back), or movements/ways to evaluate each bed without sleeping for 8 hours and seeing how you feel afterwards? I have not been able to find any succinct information on what to do when in the store.

The post I linked has information and guidelines for all of this except how many mattresses to try. The only answer to how many would be “enough” to find a mattress that matches your needs and preferences.

3. Do you have cheat sheets or a database of recommendations for positions, size of person, temperature, etc. that lists variables and generally good/bad combinations? I’m reading between the lines on most postings (e.g. since I run hot memory foams seems like a bad choice due to its heat retention characteristics, but I haven’t seen that spelled out directly on any posts). With the number of layers and combinations that make up a bed it will take me a year to make a decision if I’m thorough about everything.

Again there is lots of information linked in the first post I mentioned about all of this but these are guidelines only and not specific to any individual. They will help you work with the 'experts" more effectively.

I think you may be overthinking this and making it more complicated than it needs to be and perhaps trying to find a formula which will replace your own personal testing and unfortunately it doesn’t exist. Once you have read the basic information … if you have specific questions I’m happy to point you to any more specific answers but first you need the basics. Finding the experts is much more effective than trying to learn all the information you need to become one yourself which as you mentioned would likely take you years. As one example if you want to know about all the factors that affect sleeping temperature then post #2 here and post #29 here would be helpful (and you won’t have to read between any lines) but any good manufacturer will already know all of this … at least as far as their own mattresses go … and which of them are either cooler or warmer.

Thanks so much for your help, and truly an awesome site…had no idea anyone could be so dedicated to finding good mattresses.

You’re very welcome … and if you follow the steps that are outlined then this will all be much simpler. Minds are intellectual and “theoretical” and bodies are tactile. I think at this point what you need is some tactile feedback that can give you some reference points for the information that you are absorbing that can be overwhelming. I’m happy to point you to as much of the specific information that you may want but it will have no real meaning without personal experience on different materials and mattresses.

Phoenix