International Bedding Fairmont Plush - Innerspring mattress/latex and back pain

[phoenix]

Hi josh1620,

1. On a mattress like the international bedding one above, should I look for similar foam (unknown, I could cut into it to see) and innerspring styles (e.g., gauge), or just keep trying different possibilities? I live in the Washington, DC area and the market is saturated by typical high-priced brands and as you said elsewhere, not that good on smaller mattress outlets. I like the pushing back of springs, but many stores prefer all-foam.

With the “magic” of the wayback machine you can see a few details of your mattress here.

This is a fairly “basic” mattress with a firm Bonnell coil with 416 springs (queen size) and then somewhere in the range of about 4" of soft polyfoam on top and the innerspring is zoned to be firmer in the center of the mattress. Unfortunately these specs are much too vague to use as any kind of specific reference for choosing a mattress and even if you knew all the specifications of the mattress (foam density, firmness, thickness etc) it’s unlikely that you would be able to find another one exactly like it except through random chance so you will really need to “start fresh” with your research and testing.

You’ve probably seen this but the Washington, DC list is in post #2 here and there are a number on the list that would carry “basic” innerspring mattresses that you may want to test so I would check the websites and then talk to the ones that are most promising. I would also make sure that they are able to provide you with the density of any polyfoam above the springs so that you have some assurance that the mattress will be durable and won’t soften or break down prematurely.

2. Latex: Are there “all latex” and “latex layer” mattresses? The serenity one at the Helathy Back Store looked like all latex, and it was ok but I felt like I was going to free fall when lying on it. I did like ones with latex layers, but haven’t found a good outlet for that that’s not super expensive.

There are a number of retailers or manufacturers on the list that carry all latex mattresses including Healthy Back, Urban Organics, American Foam Center (you can choose the layers), RoomandBoard, Mt Vernon Sleep, Mattress Fame, Savvy Rest Natural Bedroom (3" interchangeable component layers), Ikea, Mattressstoremd and possibly some of the others as well. I would call the ones you are interested in visiting and talk to them about your budget and criteria and what they have available and then you can visit the ones that are most promising based on your phone calls.

Your best odds of success would be by following the steps in the tutorial post here.

Phoenix