First, thanks so much for your helpful website. I’ve spent days reading on my computer and phone digging deep into old threads, stickies, all about the PPP and the other guidelines and topic threads that Phoenix links to in posts. I have done research on both this site and others so I am familiar with all the tips and recommendations for finding a mattress, but I am still looking for personal recommendations (explanation of why below).
Background: This purchase is unique in that as important as PPP are (and I firmly believe and agree on the points Phoenix makes; mattress comfort is such an individual experience), however, the fact is that I am currently in the midst of medical treatment that limits my ability to travel more than a few minutes from our home, which means that personally testing beds in a mattress store or factory is out of the question this go 'round. I am in the market for a twin bed so that I can spend more time downstairs in the living area with family. But this purchase is going to have to be made without in-store/personal feeling data. I know that is a big hurdle since alignment and support are so subjective, but it is what it is right now.
What is most important to me in my search: Since PPP will be an on-site experience at home, a flexible return policy is ideal (though I am hoping that all my research will pay off and limit any buyer’s remorse and I will get lucky). Quality of materials is important alongside a product made in America. I am leaning toward an innerspring hybrid with latex instead of memory foam. Our main bed is memory foam (more later about it) and from everything I am reading now, it sounds like we have been sleeping on an off gassing nightmare for the last decade (but at least loving it). And the new gel stuff is kinda sketchy to me, seems like chemical goo since I can’t pronounce the ingredients.
An innerspring hybrid appeals to me as I have been sleeping without them for the last decade unless traveling, and I now find most memory foams too soft. My husband’s wedding gift to us about eleven years ago was a Tempur-pedic king mattress. We lived in Lexington at the time (where they were headquartered), so this was before they were marketed to death like now - and the cost was nothing like it is today. Back then there were only two options and the difference was just thickness, not any fancy silly names like now. Perhaps the manufacturing was different back then too because we did not have off gassing problems like my in-laws have had with their purchase a few years ago. I know it’s a minority opinion around here, but we loved the bed. We lived in the Midwest and East Coast so did not have any of the heat problems that others have had. But then we moved to Florida recently and the bed definitely is squishier here no matter what I set the thermostat on (perhaps a function of mattress aging has caught up with us too). Despite our enjoyment of the bed, I have no interest in buying another Tempur-pedic for a variety of reasons… I am a copywriter in real life, so the meaningless buzz words they have been using are frustrating to read. With so many varieties of what seems like essentially the same bed with foam layers swapped around, it seems as though they are trying to confuse people with vocabulary and big mark-ups. The off-gassing now is an issue, and my in-laws bed sleeps nothing like ours, so I suspect they are now cutting corners with material since they went IPO shortly after our purchase which means that the status quo of a good mattress and great customer service is trumped by the bottom line for shareholders. In short, I’m ready for something new with this twin bed purchase.
I am looking for a mattress that comes in a twin size that is made with domestic parts and labor that would be ideal for a 130 pound, 5’2" height, primarily back sleeper with some left side sleeping. I’d like it to last at least 10 years. I’m leaning toward wanting it to be an innerspring/latex hybrid. I have a natural latex sample square en route to our house to text out the feel in hand just to familiarize myself with the material…
I have looked at the power core Charles Rogers beds that are often recommended in hybrid posts, but that version is not made in a twin. St. Regis is the one in their line that is a twin size, that version gets mixed reviews and I just read in another thread (thank you) that that version is made overseas instead of how the power core beds are made (those are the ones with the best feedback).
Re: return policies, I would rather eat $50+ in return shipping or a return fee rather than have to be stuck switching out layers (for example with the SleepEz). So flexibility in returning the mattress is important.
Thanks for any personal recommendations or advice of mattresses that people have enjoyed with these parameters - While I know each person’s comfort level and PPP will differ, I welcome feedback on mattress models people have enjoyed 1) with quality customer service/flexible return policies, 2) that are manufactured in the US with US made components, and 3) that meet the quality guidelines Phoenix and others advocate (i.e. density). Hearing testimonials on those more objective parameters will help considerably given my situation.
)