Looking for mattresses with HR Foam

[phoenix]

Hi seraphicsiren,

You may be making your search much too complex and technical than it needs to be.

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but 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 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”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own 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.

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article). The best way to know which type of materials or which type of mattresses you tend to prefer in general terms will be based on your own testing and personal experience because different people can have very different preferences.

While knowing the specs that can affect the quality and durability of the layers and components in a mattress is always important … unless you have a great deal of knowledge and experience with different types of mattress materials and components and their specs and different layering combinations and mattress designs and how they combine together and can translate them into your own “real life” experience that can be unique to you (which would generally be a very small percentage of people) … I would tend to avoid using complex specifications to try and predict how a mattress will feel or perform for you. When you try and choose a mattress based on complex combinations of specs that you may not fully understand or only based on specs for single layers or components that may not be as relevant or meaningful as you believe it is then the most common outcome is “information overload” and “paralysis by analysis”. Even the best mattress designers in the industry are often surprised at what a mattress they design “should have felt like” based on the specs when they design it and what it “actually feels like” when they test out their new design.

1) Based on MU’s article on polyfoam support cores, you mention that HR Foam is the highest grade polyfoam. Can you link me to some mattresses with HR foam as their support core? I haven’t seen it anywhere.

I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses or their specs and prices that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor or have available online (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites (which often don’t include every mattress they carry) and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the local lists is always a good idea before you decide on which retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with anyway.

[quote]How long do you think an HR foam will last you in keeping it’s firmness/resiliency before breaking down?

2. Am I correct when I say that HD polyfoam is estimated to last around 7-10 years (mileage may vary of course)?[/quote]

While there is no way to quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when you will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for you (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines here (which they all do) then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.

3) On another note, I am also looking for latex mattresses in the same price point as DreamFoam. Off the top of your head, which other companies should I consider that are similiar? I have poked around your membership list but I haven’t come across any in the same price point for latex upper layer yet. I know I won’t find an HR foam support core in this price point.

Again, I don’t keep a list or record of the specs of individual mattresses or their prices but outside of any local options that may be available to you … posts #3 and #4 here include some of the better latex and latex hybrid mattresses I’m aware of that are in a lower budget range (although of course it’s not a complete list of everything that may fit your criteria in the industry).

4) You often recommend when buying online to have an honest thorough conversation with the company so they can best help you figure out what you need. How can one compare these mattresses if say Company A says that their mattress X would be the best mattress for you and Company B says that their mattress Y would be the best mattress for you? (I’m one of the ones that suffer from analysis paralysis as you can see )

The only way to know for certain whether any mattress will be a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP will be based on your own personal experience so if you aren’t confident that an online mattress will be a good match for you then the return/refund policy would become a much more important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase so you can try out the mattress in your bedroom with little or no risk.

[quote]“This would allow the use of HD foam for example which has lower progressive resistance to be used in a budget mattress if it was used over a lower cost innerspring that was soft on top and also had higher progressive resistance (such as a softer bonnell innerspring) and still be comfortable … at least until one of them wore out.”

…and later this: " Because they have high degrees of many qualities, Latex, Pocket coils, Offset coils, and HR polyfoam are usually the best choices here and other types of support layers that are often used (Bonnell and continuous coils and HD polyfoam) are far less advisable."

Am I understanding correctly that HD foam alone would not be a good choice for a support core? [/quote]

HD polyfoam in a suitable density and in a mattress that has an overall design that is suitable for you can certainly make a suitable and durable support core and it’s used in many good quality/value mattresses in the industry.

In its simplest form choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …

1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.

2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.

3. Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix