I am in the market for a new mattress. After shopping in a few area retailers and reading some of the articles on here, I am one overwhelmed and confused shopper! I often have lower back pain when I wake up and I am seeking a mattress that will help to alleviate that. I tried the sleep number bed (P5) and found some relief (my number was a 35) but did not like that the bed did not seem to have any substance. For example, rolling over or sitting up in bed I could actually feel the bottom side of the mattress. I felt I should get more for my $2000 investment so I returned it. Now I am starting over.
First your site has said it was better not to buy from a national brand because it is not a good value. I live in Columbus, Ohio. Can you make some local recommendations for my area?
I have looked into a memory foam mattress for it’s pain/pressure relief reputation, but am not entirely sold on it and definitely not sold on the price (especially a tempur-pedic). I also thought maybe a more traditional coil support system with a type of memory foam comfort layer might be a better or more affordable option. Any suggestions???
Hi confused_shopper,
Perhaps the best place to start is to read a bit about the different materials used in the comfort layers and the support cores of a mattress to get a sense of which materials may work for you. The most common types of mattresses you will encounter are either latex, memory foam, or polyfoam comfort layers over either latex, innersprings, or a polyfoam support system. While there are many variations and other materials used … these are by far the most common. I would completely avoid airbeds as a support system no matter what comfort layers they may have (as you have discovered).
I would also read this to help you avoid most of the traps and pitfalls of mattress shopping … especially from an outlet that isn’t able to tell you the type and quality of the materials in their mattress. Normally local factory direct manufacturers or smaller sleep shops that sell alternative brands that are made locally are much better quality and value than the larger mass market outlets and larger national brands that you see heavily advertised.
Some of the better choices in and around Columbus, OH that I would tend to focus on include …
Find an Original Mattress Factory Store Columbus. Regional factory direct manufacturer that makes a range of mattresses including memory foam, a two sided latex/polyfoam hybrid, and traditional innersprings (including two sided) that use good quality materials and have some good value.
http://www.millersfurniture.com/mattress.html Plain city, Lancaster, OH. Retail store that carries a full range of Amish made mattresses made by Rainbow Bedding in Sugar Creek. They make innersprings, latex, latex hybrids and memory foam and use high quality materials and have good value. Well worth a visit.
http://www.designsleep.com/ Yellow Springs. Retailer that carries Berkeley Ergonomics which are a line of latex and latex/innerspring hybrids which are good quality and value. They are also very knowledgeable about mattress materials and construction and are great to deal with.
Furniture Row® Store Locations - Store Hours & Addresses Regional factory direct manufacturer with a store in Mansfield, OH. Also makes a range of mattresses including innersprings, memory foam and several latex mattresses. They also carry some major brand mattresses which I would not consider.
http://www.johnnysmattress.com/ Mt Vernon, Mansfield, Wooster. Carries the whole White Dove (including their Sleep Logic line) which includes all latex, hybrids, gel infused memory foam, and innerspring. Good people who are happy to answer (or find the answer to) questions about the materials in their mattresses.
http://www.amishoriginals.com/ Westerfield, OH. They carry some mattresses made by Country Bedding which make some good quality/value mattresses that would be well worth considering.
http://www.mackmattressoutlet.com/ Columbus. Retailer. Carries Restonic which makes some latex and memory foam mattresses which may have good value (depending on price and layering) but there are no details on their website of models. Would require more research to find out if they are able or willing to disclose the materials in their mattress.
http://www.mattressone.net/ Heath. Carry Paramount but make sure that you can find out the specifics of what is inside any of their mattresses because Paramount may not be fully transparent about the materials inside their mattresses.
mattressmartohio.com - This website is for sale! - mattressmartohio Resources and Information. Columbus. They used to make their own mattresses but they no longer do. They carry Dutch Craft, Restonic and Solstice which are the only manufacturers I would consider as possibilities here but make sure that they can provide you with the specs of their mattresses before you make a purchase.
There are also some Amish manufacturers a little further away that make some very good quality/value mattresses that may also be worth the longer drive.
http://www.manta.com/c/mmgfb8m/rainbow-bedding-co Sugarcreek, OH. Local factory direct manufacturer. They make high quality innerspring mattresses of various types including latex with good value. They are in Amish country and don’t have a website but would well be worth investigating based on a long conversation I had with them about their mattresses. See this thread for some feedback and the attachment in post #3 here for more specific details about their mattresses.
Upland Industries Phone 330-852-2113 Sugarcreek, OH. Local manufacturer also in Amish country. Another small manufacturer that I have had a long conversation with that has no web presence and who makes mostly innerspring and polyfoam cores with various materials on top including latex. They only sell through retailers however with a phone call you can find out if there are any retailers near you that carry them
Country Bedding Apple Creek, OH Another local manufacturer that makes some good quality/value mattresses. They have no phone but this thread and post #4 and #6 here will bring up some comments and feedback about them. I haven’t been able to talk with them because they don’t have a phone.
This should give you a good choice of different materials to test in different types of memory foam and latex with or without innersprings and there is some good value here as well.
Feel free to post with any questions you may have along the way.
Phoenix
Thank you so much for this list! I just have one small correction for it - Amish Originals is in Westerville, OH, not Westerfield.