I have 3 mattresses that I am considering and would like your input. My husband and I both like the Comforpedic IQ 180 but I am not sure of how this new mattress comfort layer will hold up. My husband is 250 and I am 118 lbs. We are also considering the Jamison LaJolla. I have read some comments made about the question of the durability of the comfort layer in this one but we both love the way this feels. We also like the Jamison Lady Lark but I am just not sure about spending that much money. I have to try out a mattress before I buy it and I do have sacral and sciatica pain in my right hip. I would appreciate any feedback you can give.
Hi Mjr3126,
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … I would make sure that you’ve read the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
The only way to know whether a mattress has any weak links in terms of durability and make meaningful comparisons with other mattresses is by making sure you know the specifics of the materials and components inside it (see this article). In general though … I would avoid any of the Simmons mattresses along with the other major brands or any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the quality of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here).
Post #13 here has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase so you can make sure that a mattress is suitable in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences), durable (uses good quality materials), and is a good match for all the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you.
Jamison tends to use higher quality materials in their mattresses than most mainstream brands but it’s always important to make sure you know what is inside any specific mattress you are considering.
In the case of the LaJolla the sites lists the materials as …
Quilting layers 1" Supersoft & 1" Hypersoft & Safe Slumber Quilting Fiber & Polyester Fiber: I would want to know the density of the polyfoam used in the quilting because with the 2" of polyfoam and the synthetic fibers it’s more than “about an inch or so” of lower quality or unknown materials in the comfort layers that I would normally suggest (see the guidelines here).
2" Soft GL Talalay Latex 21 ILD: This is a high quality and durable material.
Palladian MicroCoil Twin 798, TXL 861, Full 1102, Queen 1353, King 1722: This is also a high quality and durable component.
7" High Resiliency Ultra Premium Core: I believe that this is at least 1.8 lb density which would mean that it’s a good quality material but I would want to confirm this (especially with heavier body types) even though the support core isn’t normally the weak link of a mattress.
Overall … the thicker layers of polyfoam and synthetic fiber in the quilting are a little more than I would be comfortable with (at least until you can confirm the density) and I would be very cautious with this mattress.
The Lady Lark lists the materials as …
2" Soft Talalay Latex
2" SoftTalalay Latex
3" Firm Talalay Latex
3" Extra Firm Talalay Latex
These are all high quality and durable materials but with 4" of soft latex on top I would also make sure that you do some careful testing for PPP using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post with both of you on the mattress to make sure that it’s a suitable choice (especially for your husband) even though it uses very durable materials.
Phoenix