Looking for something pretty specific and need help! Thanks!

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I’m looking for:

  1. queen-size memory foam mattress no higher than 9"–in fact, 7" or 8" would be fine
  2. sleeps cool
  3. no springs or coils
  4. no latex (don’t like the feel at all)
  5. firm or nearly firm
  6. minimal or, preferably, no off-gassing
  7. decent price

I thought I’d found what I wanted in the Bed in a Box PacBed Original, however, it seems to be soft or, at best, on the soft end of medium. Not good.

Many reviews for the Lucid, Sleep Master, Signature Sleep, and Classic Brands mattresses–all of which were in the height range I’m looking for–mention stinky off-gassing, which I can’t handle. A couple of other company’s mattresses seemed to fit the bill until I saw they were 11" or 13" high, which won’t work with our bedframe–and the bedframe stays!

I’ve read a lot on this site and still can’t figure out what, if any, mattress will meet my specs. Help!

And thanks.

2

Hi mattresslook,

The first place I would start your research is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best quality/value choices based on any criteria that are important to you … and perhaps more importantly it can help you know how and why to avoid the worst ones (including any mattress that uses less than 4 lb memory foam which would be the case with many of the mattresses you looked at).

There are many different types of memory foam and even in the same density they can have a very wide range of properties and firmness levels (see post #9 here and post #8 here) so you won’t be able to tell the firmness of a mattress just by specs alone and I would make sure that you have a more detailed conversation with any online manufacturer you are considering so they can help “talk you through” your choices and help you make sure that any mattress you are considering meets the criteria that are most important to you. In very general terms though … mattresses with thinner layers of memory foam will tend to be firmer than thicker layers.

The tutorial post also includes a link to a list of the better online memory foam options I’m aware of as well. Many of these have designed some of their mattresses to be close approximations to the firmness of many of the Tempurpedic models so if you know which Tempurpedic mattress has the firmness level that you prefer then it would be easier to choose an online mattress that is similar.

If you let me know the city or zip code that you live I’d be happy to link you to the better options and possibilities I’m aware of as well because it’s possible that there may be some local options that meet your criteria that you could test in person.

I don’t keep a list of mattresses based on specific specifications or height so you will need to either check their websites or talk to them on the phone to find a mattress that is suitable but there should be quite a number of options that would be 9" or less that would be likely meet your criteria.

Phoenix

3

Thanks, Phoenix,

I’m reading the posts you cited and also looking at various manufacturers. FYI, selectfoam, brooklynbedding, and dreamfoam have minimum heights on their mattresses of 12", 11", and 10", respectively.

I’m in NYC. Of course I’d prefer to buy a mattress I could try out in advance, so lmk if that’s possible here.

4

Hi mattresslook,

I don’t normally have the time to do the more detailed research on websites for each of the members here but I did look at the Select Foam site and they have the 8" Cirrus-EX here and the Dreamfoam site and they have an 8" memory foam mattress here. Several of the others would also have mattresses that are in your height range as well.

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the New York City area are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix

5

Thanks so much, Phoenix! Now I have more research to do. It’s great that there’re so many choices. Now I just need to study up! :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Hi, Phoenix,

Since our last e-exchange, I’ve done a bit more research. One of the things I did was, with my DH, go to Sleepy’s to test out Tempur-pedic, so we could see what firmness/plushness/feel/etc. we both preferred in a memory foam mattress.

We found we both liked the feel of the Rhapsody Breeze, however, at 13" high, even a non-Tempur-pedic-brand version of this mattress would not fit our bedframe/headboard. The Cloud, which is, I believe, Tempur-pedic’s only mattress in the height range we’re looking at (it’s 8" high), was okay, but compared to the Rhapsody, it wasn’t as comfortable.

While we were at Sleepy’s, we also tried out other mattresses, among them a brand of memory foam I’ve never heard of: Sleep Options. And here’s where my decision-making process hit a huge snag. Why? Because this Sleep Options memory foam mattress was just plain old uncomfortable. It didn’t even feel like memory foam, really. And it immediately made me wonder about buying a memory foam mattress from an online vendor–because we wouldn’t be able to try it out in person first.

I’m hoping you’re going to tell me that Sleep Options is well known to be awful and that I shouldn’t be worried!

At any rate, I also carefully looked over your list of mattress stores in the NYC area. Many of them simply don’t have mattresses that fit the bill of what we’re looking for–they’re latex mattresses or they make only mattresses that are 11" or 12" high at a minimum or they’re way way way too expensive or they’re places we’ve already rejected (Ikea, for example, whose mattresses even in their showroom have an incredible stench, although I love many of their other products, or Dixie Foam, which, if you’d ever been in their store, you’d need no further explanation).

We may try out the Casper mattress, which at 10" is a bit over the high end of the height range we’re looking at and which also has a layer of latex on top of the memory foam, so I may not like the feel, but at least we can go there in person. Seriously, that was the only in-person vendor left after I combed through the list in your link.

When we started out looking for a new mattress, neither my DH nor I had any idea this would be such a long-drawn-out and frustrating process. I hope I have good news to report in the near future.

At some point, we may just buy something from an online vendor and hope for the best. I wish I could find reviews for the SelectFoam Cirrus ES 8" mattress, but so far I haven’t been able to find anything, which I don’t consider a good sign. At least with BedinaBox, for example, there are zillions of reviews (both positive and negative) to read . . . although I found that they tended to cancel each other out.

Thanks again for your help, Phoenix!

7

Hi mattresslook,

[quote]While we were at Sleepy’s, we also tried out other mattresses, among them a brand of memory foam I’ve never heard of: Sleep Options. And here’s where my decision-making process hit a huge snag. Why? Because this Sleep Options memory foam mattress was just plain old uncomfortable. It didn’t even feel like memory foam, really. And it immediately made me wonder about buying a memory foam mattress from an online vendor–because we wouldn’t be able to try it out in person first.

I’m hoping you’re going to tell me that Sleep Options is well known to be awful and that I shouldn’t be worried![/quote]

I would keep in mind that the “feel” of a mattress is very subjective and that a mattress that feels “awful” to you may feel “great” to someone else.

There are also many different types of memory foam that can have very different properties and densities (there is more about this in the posts I linked in my earlier reply here and I’ve also added the link that I missed in this reply as well) but in very general terms thinner layers of memory foam will have more of the “feel” of the layers that are underneath them and lower density memory foams will also have less of a “memory foam like feel” than higher density memory foams (they will generally have a faster response with less “memory” and be closer to the feel of polyfoam). In the case of the Sleep Options 8" mattress it has only 2" of memory foam over a firm support core and it also uses 3 lb memory foam so for most people this wouldn’t be comparable to the “feel” of most memory foam mattresses that use either thicker layers of memory foam or higher density memory foams in their design.

I would also avoid Ikea memory foam mattresses because they use lower density 3 lb memory foam but Dixie Foam makes mattresses that use higher quality materials and are much better value and they are also much more knowledgeable about the materials they use although I do understand that they aren’t a typical “mattress showroom” and more of a “mattress factory” and may not have the environment or be in the area that some people may prefer. (NOTE ADDED: They are now a member of this site as well)

While Casper may not be in the “best” value range for most people and only have one mattress which would only be the best option for a relatively small percentage of the population (although they would be an OK choice for a larger percentage) … they do have a local showroom where you can test their mattress and as you mentioned they also have a great return policy if their mattress isn’t the best match for you. If you are open to a 10" mattress or to other materials besides just memory foam then that would also open up many more choices for you as well. It would also be worth calling some of the other options on the list to tell them your criteria and budget range and asking whether they have anything on their floor that would be suitable for you to test rather than just going by the information on their websites because websites of local retailers are often not up to date. The research that you do on the phone can often be one of the most effective parts of your mattress research and can save you a great deal of time over only looking at websites or visiting them in person when you don’t know exactly what they have on their floor or have any sense of their knowledge or experience.

While I certainly understand the desire to use mattress reviews as part of the research process … they can be more misleading than helpful and I would tend to be very cautious about using mattress reviews as a significant part of your decision making process (either positive or negative) because other people’s experiences on a mattress or even a larger group of people may be very different from your own and a mattress that is “perfect” for some people can be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on. Most mattress reviews will tell you little if anything about how suitable a mattress would be for you in terms of PPP and will tell you even less about the quality or durability of the materials or the mattress or the mattress itself. Reviews about a business can be much more helpful but I would be very cautious about using mattress reviews as a significant part of your decision making process. There is more about mattress reviews in post #13 here but overall there are far better ways to choose a mattress that would be “best for you”.

Phoenix