I’m a college student looking for a mattress that will work well on an inexpensive foundation / frame with ~7" bed risers. I’m 6’4" and about 215 pounds. I currently have an older Tempurpedic model which “gives” a bit too much for my liking, which makes it hard to get in and out of bed and move around. It also takes me some time to find a comfortable resting area, but that may just be due to the age of the bed, which is 10+ years. The bed also runs very hot. Because of the “give” and plushness I often feel like my back and neck don’t get enough support. I also have acid reflux, and using bed risers with the current bed & frame has helped me sleep a lot better – so I’m looking for something that would be compatible with 7" bed risers. I’m a side sleeper when I fall asleep that often finds himself waking up on his back. Finally, I had a bad experience with a $2800 coil spring mattress (Serta) that started having depressions and becoming uncomfortable after about 2-3 months, so I’m looking to find a mattress that will take at least 3-4 years to hit that point.
I’m looking for something similar to the Tempurpedic (latex / memory foam / hybrid / other foam) that improves on these trouble points.
I’ve done a decent amount of searching and haven’t been able to come to a conclusion, but I believe I have narrowed my selection down. I’m trying to find one under $900 with free shipping, free return w/ free pickup, and a non-prorated warranty that lasts at least the projected length of the mattress life.
I’m hoping you might be able to offer some insight that might steer me closer to making a selection.
After having searched on your site, Sleepopolis, Sleep Like the Dead, Sleep Sherpa, Amazon, and others, I’ve been looking at:
Brooklyn Bedding BME
Tuft & Needle
Casper
Leesa
SleepEZ Kiss
If there are any I am missing or not considering I would be glad to know about them.
That’s a lot of questions for a single post and some of them are very broad and general so this will be a long reply that covers a lot of information.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly help you know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).
There is more about the different types of support systems that are generally suitable for different types of mattresses in post #1 here. I’m not quite clear on exactly how you are using the risers. Are you using the risers to elevate just the head of the bed so you are sleeping on a slant to help with your acid reflux? If this is the case then you would need to make sure that all the legs in your support system are fully supported and not just the ones at each end which may require some risers that are different heights. I would also keep in mind that if your support system has legs that are longer and/or not particularly strong that using them at a “slant” could cause them to bend more easily.
There is more about the pros and cons of memory foam in this article but memory foam is a slow response material so even though it is great for motion isolation … it can tend to restrict motion or movement on a mattress (especially with thicker layers of memory foam) more than more resilient comfort layers like latex, polyfoam, or microcoils. There are also many different types and versions of memory foam that can have different properties and some will be more or less temperature sensitive, have a faster or slower response time, or be softer or firmer than others which will all affect motion restriction and freedom of movement on a mattress. There is more about the different range of properties that can be part of different memory foam formulations in post #9 here and post #8 here.
While the choice of different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses (see this article) are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (as long as all the materials and components in a mattress are durable enough for your body type) … some people who prefer the slower response and more temperature sensitive “surface feel” of memory foam may prefer thinner layers of memory foam (usually in the 1" to 2" range) on top of more resilient materials to reduce the motion restriction that can come from sleeping or moving on thicker memory foam comfort layers. Other people may prefer the “feel” of using thinner layers of more resilient materials in the top layer (again usually in the 1" to 2" range") on top of thinner layers of memory foam underneath (also usually in the 1" to 2" range) which would provide a more resilient and less motion restricting “surface feel” that still has some of the slow response and gradual sinking in “feel” of the memory foam underneath it.
These different combinations of different types of foam materials with different properties in the comfort layers of a mattress will combine the properties and “feel” of both materials to different degrees depending on the specific materials, layer thickness, and properties of each material. The properties of materials and components that are closer to the top surface of a mattress will tend to have a bigger effect on the overall “feel” of a mattress than materials that are deeper in the mattress.
The only way to know for certain whether any specific combination of materials will be suitable for you or which ones you tend to prefer will be based on your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience because different people with different body types, sleeping styles, sensitivities, and circumstances can have very different experiences or opinions about whether the same mattress provides “enough” freedom of movement for their own personal preference.
Memory foam (especially in the top layers of a mattress) also tends to sleep warmer than other types of foam materials that are more breathable but it’s not possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials. Having said that … there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types and combinations of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a comfortable temperature range.
The major manufacturers generally use lower quality materials in their mattress that will tend to soften or break down more quickly than the higher quality and more durable materials that are used by many smaller manufacturers. This is why it’s so important to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in any mattress you are considering. There is more about the quality/durability guidelines that I would suggest in post #4 here. In some cases this can also be a result of choosing a mattress that is “on the edge” of being too soft for you so that even the break in period of a mattress or a relatively small amount of foam softening under the heavier parts of your body can be enough to put you outside the comfort/support range that is suitable for you (see post #2 here).
Unless someone is a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has a great deal of experience with helping to “match” the specific mattresses they sell to the needs and preferences of different people … it’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for someone else either for which mattress, which particular combination of materials or firmness levels, or which type of mattress would work best for someone else.
The first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or if you can’t test a mattress in person then your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
While other people’s comments about the knowledge, service, and guidance of a particular business can certainly be helpful … I would generally avoid using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (see post #13 here). The fact is that the only thing a mattress review will usually tell you is how one person likes a particular mattress which is usually based only on initial or early impressions that are very subjective and little else.
There are also no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness as well and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.
What all of this comes down to is that when you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept well on and liked that they are familiar with, any special considerations you may have, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about helping you to “match” their specific mattress designs or firmness options to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences or even to other mattresses that they are familiar with than anyone else so that in combination with your own personal testing you can make the “best possible” choice with the highest chance of success.
There is more information about the new group of “simplified choice” mattresses in post #1 of this topic and about these 5 mattresses and some of the other simplified choice mattresses in post #2 of the same topic.
In addition to the link to the topic about the simplified choice mattresses (which are generally under $1000) … the tutorial also includes a link to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online (in the optional online step) and they include a very wide range of different types of mattresses in a wide range of budgets that would include your budget range as well.
The tutorial also includes a link to a list of the better online options or possibilities I’m aware of that are also in lower budget ranges.
There may also be some local options that are worth including in your research and if you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about any of the options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
