Mattress shopping guidelines - finding the best quality & value

[phoenix]

Hi Marino.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum!

.i purchased one of the original tempurpedic mattresses 20 years ago at 10 years it was badly sagging and replaced under warranty. Same thing happened only sooner with the replacement. always slept well on it until it started sagging.

Athough all foam tends to soften over time, one thing that you may wish to check on is to make sure that whatever you are placing your product on is a firm surface that is still perfectly flat and that there are no parts that are sagging or that are bending under the weight of the mattress and the people sleeping on it. It should provide similar support to having your mattress on the floor and you can test this by putting your mattress on the floor to see if it makes any difference. If it does then it’s possible that your support system could be part of the problem as well. You can find more information about this in

that i had what i believe to have been a latex mattress one of the reasons to originally have purchases the tempurpedic closest i could find to the original fee

If your original mattress was latex as you are probably aware latex and memory foam have very different feels and have very different characteristics. Latex is highly resilient, has a more “on the mattress” feel to it, and responds to pressure. What you feel on latex stays the same over time. You can read more about the pros and cons of latex in this article and more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here

Memory foam on the other hand has very low resilience, has a more “in the mattress” feel to it, and changes its feel and response with pressure, temperature, humidity, and length of time it is subject to compression forces. It can feel firm in some conditions or circumstances and soft under different conditions. You can read more about the pros and cons of memory foam in this article and more about the different formulations of memory foam in post #8 here .

Memory foam is more motion restricting while latex is more resilient and doesn’t restrict free movement on the mattress.

Both are good at motion isolation because they are both very “point elastic” (one area can compress without affecting the area around it) but memory foam is a little better at this.

Latex is more breathable and tends to sleep cooler than memory foam.

Latex also comes in a wider range of firmness levels than memory foam and in firmer versions can be used in the deeper support layers of a mattress while memory foam is in a softer range and can’t be used in the bottom support layers of a mattress (it needs a firmer material or component underneath it). Latex in general is also a more “supportive” material (gets firmer as you compress it more deeply) than memory foam.

Latex is also a more durable material overall than memory foam although higher density memory foam is also a very durable material.

The only way to really know or appreciate the difference between them is to test both of them in person at local retailers or manufacturers and if you let me know the city or zip where you live I’d be happy to share some of the better retailers

If you are interested specifically in latex or latex hybrid mattresses then this link in the tutorial is to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online and many of them sell latex and latex hybrid mattresses that use different types and blends of latex that have a wide range of different designs, options, features, return and exchange policies, and prices that may be worth considering.

Looking at charles p. rogers but without a local show room they are a long way from Tampa, Florida to know what direction to go, exchanges can get costly. suggestions certainly appreciated

I understand your concern regarding the CPR product as a good return/exchange policy is definitely part of most people’s personal value equation As you are looking at purchasing another mattress (whether online or testing in a local showroom) I suggest that you look at more than one option and try to understand what your needs and preferences are, You can certainly check our Trusted Members here which I think very highly of in terms of quality of products, knowledge, service, and transparency, but I would first make sure that you’ve read 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.

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 that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in (either locally or online) and that you have confirmed can provide you with all the information you need to know to make an informed choice and make 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 the mattress 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.

Once you had a chance to read through this information and decide what type of materials would best suit you and perhaps narrow down a few mattresses that use good quality and durable materials, if you have more specific questions I would be happy to assist you.

Phoenix