I plan to buy a mattress very soon. I sent this email out to some review bloggers out there:
"I’m wondering if you can help me choose a mattress. I’ve spoken with Sakura from Nest Bedding so far, and I’ve been emailing some other mattress reviewers who blog for advice.
So a little information about me; I’m about 5’ 9.5", and currently about 170 pounds although my target weight is probably about 160-165.
I got a spinal cord injury a year ago, and had 2 surgeries, so I have plates in my neck.
Before the injury, I used to sleep halfway between my side and my stomach with the knee that was on top up and bent, and the lower leg straight, resting on a body pillow, with my arm upwards under my head and a pillow. This was initially the most comfortable position for me, and I felt like I needed it to sleep, but my clavicle would always start hurting after awhile. That would cause me to wake up, and I’d have to turn over. I don’t know if any mattress could resolve this issue, but it would be really cool if I could find one that did.
After the injury, at least for the meantime, I have to sleep on my side. But I also have some kind of injury or something in my left hip, so when sleeping on the uncomfortable Sealy Posturpedic firm bed I currently have, my left hip starts hurting. I have to switch sides back and forth throughout the night, because in addition to my left hip, my shoulder starts hurting, probably due to the firmness of the bed. It’s awkward, because for some reason my left shoulder is more comfortable when laying on my left side, but then I have the hip issue. Whereas on my right side, my shoulder is more uncomfortable, but my hip on the right side doesn’t get pain like the other one. I’m thinking surely having the right mattress can help with these issues.
Sakura suggested either the Alexander Hybrid, or the regular Alexander with the medium firmness. If I had to choose between the two, I think I’d try the hybrid first. But I wanted to get your opinion since you’ve reviewed so many mattresses.
I’m also planning to get a Krypton mattress protector, since it may offer the best protection against liquids. And I thought about getting Bedgear sheets, but Sakura said user feedback was better on the Malouf Woven Tencel sheets.
I currently have a king size Nest Easy Breather pillow with a Bedgear pillow protector, and I wonder if there’s a better pillow protector out there. Even though it’s made out of Dri-Tec, I find it gets hot. And it’s itchy, so for now I put a cotton sheet around it, which doesn’t help all that much with the temperature. I thought about trying the Krypton pillow protector if a Tencel pillow cover doesn’t solve the heat issue. After I find the right mattress, I’ll probably use the king Easy Breather as a body pillow, and get a queen Easy Breather for my head.
In terms of mattress size, I want a California King in case I’m able to sleep like I used to before this spinal cord injury.
Based on all this information, do you have a sense of which mattress you think might be the best for me? I’m also wondering about Luxi, Loom and Leaf, Brooklyn Bedding, Leesa etc etc. I know opinions vary greatly based on individual experience, and it makes it hard to sort through all the information."
So far I’ve been pointed towards Luxi by Ben who owns the Sleep Sherpa blog. Here’s what he had to say: “I love the Alexander Hybrid but I think that ultimately the Luxi might be the best choice for you. The SBT layer on the Luxi will give you great pressure relief and sleep cooler than the Alexander. I agree that Malouf Tencel sheets will probably be better in the long run than bed gear. Here’s my Luxi review: Luxi Mattress | 9 Mattresses in 1! | The Yawnder”
My response: "Thanks for your response and for the suggestion. I will definitely consider the Luxi, and call the company tomorrow. I was looking around for other reviews on their mattress, and like with all of them, I found some positive and negative reviews. For example, there’s this quote from Derek with Sleepopolis, “I have tried the Luxi. While the concept of being able to switch out the firmness is a novel one, I just wasn’t a huge fan of the feel on any of the configurations. The foam in the mushroom-like design was just odd and I could never find a comfortable sleeping position.” I’m wondering what your thoughts are on that. Does it just go back to “different strokes for different folks”?
And his response: “Luxi has since made improvements on the mattress since Derek reviewed it. I would definitely give it a try.”
So I just tried to call Luxi to speak with a product specialist, and had to leave a message.
Based on all the information above, what other brands would you all suggest?
You have some reading to do and you may need to “reset” how you are looking for a mattress.
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular store or business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress so I would be very cautious about 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 (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) 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).
You can also see my comments about most of the so called “review sites” such as the ones you mentioned which are really just revenue sites that know little about mattresses or mattress materials in post #11 here and in posts #4 and #6 here and I would be very cautious about using their advice to choose a mattress.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart (and isn’t just interested in “selling you” any mattress they can convince you to buy) and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else (including me or any of the “bloggers” that you mentioned).
While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice.
Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well he will sleep), durability (how long he will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
While again nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else or whether it will be a good “match” in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/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.
I can certainly make some comments about the quality and durability of the materials in a mattress but I don’t review mattresses because I believe that mattress reviews are among the worst ways to choose a mattress.
There is more about the type and quality and durability of the materials in the Alexander Signature Hybrid in post #26 here and a forum search on Alexander hybrid (you can just click the link) will bring up more comments and feedback about it as well (the search results that are about purchases from March 20th, 2016 and later will be about the current design of the Alexander Signature Hybrid).
There is also more about the type and quality and durability of the materials in the Alexander hybrid in post #2 here.
You can also see my comments about the Luxisleep mattress in post #10 here and a forum search on “Luxi” (you can just click the link) will bring up more comments and feedback about it as well.
There are some comments about the Loom & Leaf in post #5 here and a forum search on Loom Leaf (you can just click the link) will also bring up more comments and feedback about it as well.
There are also some additional comments about Loom & Leaf along with the Brooklyn Bedding’s Best Mattress Ever, and the Leesa mattress and many of the other what I call “simplified choice” online mattresses in post #2 here and the first post in the same topic would probably be worth reading as well. Forum searches will also bring up more comments and feedback about each of them as well.
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.
Some good local testing will give you a much better sense of the many different types of materials and components that are used in mattresses and some reference points about the types of mattresses (see this article) and general firmness levels you tend to prefer which can help you narrow down your choices regardless of whether you end up purchasing locally or online.
There is no such thing as “one mattress fits all” and any specific mattress may be the “best” match for a relatively small percentage of people, a “good” match for a larger percentage, and an “OK” match for a larger percentage yet but the only way to know for certain whether a mattress you end up choosing will be a “good enough” match for you to keep it (even if it isn’t the “best match” out of all the mattresses that you “could have tried” instead) will be based on careful testing in a store and/or your own personal experience when you sleep on it.
Many online mattresses (including the ones you mentioned) have a good trial period and return policy so you can try them in your bedroom instead of a showroom with little risk (outside of the time you spend sleeping on it and/or returning it if that becomes necessary or any costs involved in the return process) so if it’s not a “good enough” match for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP you can just return it and try another mattress if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for but once again you will only know whether it’s “good enough” and you won’t know whether it would have been better or worse or how it compares to other mattresses that you could have purchased instead that you haven’t actually tried in person. This is one of the disadvantages of buying a mattress online that you can only try “one at a time” vs local testing where you can compare many mattresses side by side at the same time.
I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or whether anyone else has the same needs and preferences, criteria, or circumstances or would make the same choice.
Unfortunately nobody has a crystal ball that can predict which specific mattress or combination of materials and components you will like best or that you will sleep best on with any certainty based on specs or “theory at a distance” and I would be very skeptical of anyone who claims that they do. It just doesn’t exist.
There is more about the pros and cons and tradeoffs involved in choosing different types of mattress protectors and some examples of each of them in post #89 here and the posts it links to. Most of them also sell pillow protectors as well.
There is some good information about choosing sheets and the pros and cons of different types of fabrics in post #7 here and the other posts and sources of information it links to that should be helpful as well.