Mattress Shopping: Round Two!

Hi JeanneS,

Welcome back! You posted a similar question asking for people’s opinions of similar mattresses in three different threads, so I thought I’d answer you in one place here. :slight_smile:

While other people’s comments can certainly be helpful regarding the knowledge and service of a particular business … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).

This is one of the main reasons that this site will never be a “review” site, as there are just too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a mattress to make specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or theory at a distance that can possible be more accurate than your own careful and objective testing (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) which is always the most reliable way to predict which mattress will be the best match for you in terms of PPP (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). The only way to know for certain whether any mattress will be a good “match” for your specific body type and sleeping style will be based on your own personal experience, and if you’re considering something online then a detailed conversation with the manufacturer will be your best resource, as you can use their expertise to “help them help you,” as they’ll have your best interests at heart. You can also at that time familiarize yourself with any exchange/return policies that the manufacturer might have in case your purchase doesn’t work out as well as you had hoped.

You had previously stated in July that you were choosing the Brooklyn BME Medium. Did that purchase not turn out to be a good match for your own PPP?

Regarding the Dreamfoam Ultimate Dreams Supreme Gel and Ultimate Dreams 13" Gel mattresses, they use good quality materials and there are no obvious weak links in their mattress in terms of durability for those that are in more average weight ranges. You are certainly looking at a great quality/value choice, and Dreamfoam is a member of this site, which means I think highly of them.

The materials in these two mattresses are similar (there is 2" of 5lb. memory foam in the Ultimate Dreams 13" Gel mattress), and if the materials are suitable for your weight range (see the foam quality guidelines here), then the choice between them will be based more on your personal preferences rather than being a better/worse choice.

The Brooklyn Bedding BME Medium that you said you purchased in July used 2 – 2" layers of latex in the upper layers, with a 6" - 2 lb. polyfoam core, where the Dreamfoam mattresses you’re asking about use memory foam in the upper layers.

Latex and memory foam are very different materials with very different properties and both of them come in a wide range of different versions that each have differences in their properties and a different “feel” or firmness level but the choice between them is more of a preference and budget choice than a “better/worse” choice. There is more about some of the general differences between memory foam and latex in post #2 here. Some people tend to prefer the faster response and more resilient and “on the mattress” feel of latex and some prefer the slower response and more “in the mattress” feel of memory foam and some people may prefer some combination of both of them but the only way to know which one you tend to prefer in general terms will be based on your own careful testing in a store or your own personal experience when you sleep on them.

Of course, every layer and component in a mattress including the cover and any quilting layers will have some effect on the feel and performance of every other layer and component both above and below it and on the mattress “as a whole” so the overall design of a mattress and whether it’s a good “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) is much more important than the thickness of any specific layer or layers which is only one of many variables that can affect how well a mattress works for you. The only way to know for certain whether any mattress will be a good “match” for your specific body type and sleeping style will be based on your own personal experience.

Phoenix