We’ve been looking for a mattress for awhile and have been a bit paralyzed by the options and decisions. We are both stomach sleepers who are looking for a mattress that limits motion transfer and does a good job not retaining heat.
In the process, we’ve had the King Koil Extended Life 150 recommended to us. However, there is no one in our area (New Jersey) who carries that Extended Life series. I was hoping to find out if King Koil has a good reputation in general and if the specs show any red flags.
Apparently, the closest store to us that carries it is in Massachusetts so we are trying to figure out what to do.
For a stomach sleeper sleep eronomic research generally supports a bit of a firmer sleep surface in order to not accentuate the already lordotic curvature of the lower back. The componentry of the XL 150 certainly meets those recommendations. The Hinge-Flex spring unit is the heaviest-duty that Leggett & Platt makes domestically, and the foams are 2.0 and 2.5 pound in density, up to three ties as dense as what is typically found in the top five brands…They’re also inner tufted, which greatly enhances solidity and foam comfort life. The base uses 18 cross slats and is an incredibly heavy-duty floor under your mattress. Regarding motion transfer, this is a very solid product, but it will not feel like a memory foam and or something using a marshall coil. However, those items will tend to offer more potential for lordotic curve accentuation. So you’ll sacrifice one thing to get another. I would recommend you focus on the proper support characteristics and then make sure you are using a very solid bed set or platform bed in order to minimize features that can amplify motion. This product is very breathable and not heat-retentive.
I would be very cautious about brand shopping because you are buying a specific mattress not the brand and all manufacturers have access to the same or similar components and materials. The name of the manufacturer on the label also won’t tell you anything about whether a specific mattress would be a suitable choice for you in terms of PPP or whether there are any lower quality materials or weak links in the design that would affect the durability and useful life of the mattress. There is more about the risks of brand shopping in post #5 here and post #12 here. Outside of making sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP (or that you have good options after a purchase if it isn’t or if you aren’t sure) … in terms of assessing the quality and durability of a mattress I would focus much more on the design of the mattress and the type and quality/durability of the materials inside a mattress than I would on the name of the manufacturer on the label (see the quality/durability guidelines in post #4 here)
I don’t think there is much I can add to Jeff’s very helpful comments and as he mentioned the King Koil Extended Life mattress uses high quality materials and components and unlike many of the other King Koil mattresses … there are no weak links in the mattress in terms of durability. “In theory” it would be a suitable choice for many stomach sleepers but I would keep in mind that the only way to know whether any mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP with any certainty will be based on your own careful testing or personal experience.