Mattress Shopping: A Painful Experience

[phoenix]

Hi forrest,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

This website is quite amazing and I have recommended it to several friends after discovering it myself.

Thank you for the compliment and your very entertaining post!

Nevertheless, all of the information has left me sleepless and confused.
The problem is that knowing more (and after spending time on your site I surely know more about mattresses than most mortals) I find I am only more dismayed about pulling the plug and making a purchase.

I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here. I suggest reading it as you would a good book, referring to it and not attempting to memorize things.

To make things easier, 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 (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) … 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/BMI range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress (see the durability guidelines here).

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.

The Prana ASANA 6.2 with lo rise European foundation felt sublime, I must say, but the price is $3,000. (Yes, I know, that will be amortized over many many years, with luck.) And I have read here that people have experienced rather quick loss of integrity in their Prana beds.

I would always make sure that you find out the information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase. This mattress uses a 6" polyfoam core, on top of which is 2" of Talalay latex and the 3" of polyfoam quilted to the ticking. Unfortunately neither City Mattress nor PranaSleep provide the density of these polyfoams or the blend of their Talalay latex on their web sites, so you’d want to inquire about those layers before making a decision.

I also have been looking at Charles P. Rogers Powercore Estate 9000 Plush or Extra Plush

Like the PranaSleep, the complete specifications are incomplete about the Charles P. Rogers mattress, so I would phone them to see if they would provide for you that information about the mattresses you are considering. You can read some of my comments about Charles P. Rogers mattresses here. They do use some good quality componentry but you would need complete specifications in order to make an informed decision.

I also spoke to Nature’s Rest which now sells direct and ships free. With a discount, their top of line Organic Latex in Luxury Firm https://naturesrest.com/products/natures-rest-organics-all-latex-mattress?variant=27463871041 is about $3,250 with custom lo rise foundation.

This would most likely be the closest to your current mattress (I don’t know the exact makeup of your 18.5 year old mattress but I’m assuming it would be mostly latex), and it is available in many different firmnesses, using all Talalay latex layers, which would be a good quality and durable material. One thing to note is that while shipping is listed as "free’, it is actually a cost that is already bundled into the overall price for your mattress.

Don’t the Japanese just use mats on the floor? It is beginning to seem a fine idea…

You may be referring to a “futon”, which originally referred to the “makura” (pillow) in a traditional Japanese sleep system that consisted of the “shike” (bottom futon) and the “kake” (top futon). More “Western-style” mattresses are being purchased in Japan, but like most Asian countries, a firmer style of mattress / sleep system is most popular.

One thing I have noticed here is that you’ve stated that you want a “firm” mattress, but two of the three products you’ve mentioned are classified as “plush”. While terms for assessing the comfort of a mattress are subjective, it may be beneficial for you to stay closer to home for your purchase so that you may properly assess anything you’re considering and attempt to approximate the feel of your old mattress (when it was newer, of course), and also be able to arrange the level of service you desire for your delivery and set up.

One of the advantages of trying mattresses locally is that you can try many different types and styles and combinations of materials and components and firmness levels and compare them to each other in “real time” based on your actual experience rather than just “theory” instead of trying one online mattress at a time and not knowing how it compares to the other mattresses that you could have tried or purchased instead.

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, FL. areas (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here ) are listed in post #2 here . From that list, I would check with the factory direct manufacturers to see what they might be able to offer in a “firmer” mattress and specifically in latex. In the retail listing, Naples Mattress, Lenny’s Furniture, and Mike’s Mattress all show that they offer all-latex mattresses.

I hope that information is helpful to you and provides you enough options to do the personal testing and receive the localized White Glove service that you desire.

Phoenix