Memory Foam Mattress Opinions

First off thanks Phoenix for a wonderful site full of informative information. I spent a better part of the weekend trying to educate myself.
I WAS interested in the Icomfort Genius or IMattress G4. The information presented on your site changed my opinion.

A little about me, 5’7 165 lbs. back and side sleeper with lower back pain. Almost 3 years ago, I bought a $2k mattress (one of the S brands) with foam encased coils and memory foam box top thinking that would help with the lower back pain. The mattress helped a little, but the pain still persisted. I recently went out of town and slept on a Hilton Hotel bed and I did not have any pain at all. As a result, I started my search for a mattress.

Again, I was going to pick up Icomfort Genius, I like the firm feeling, but after reading your opinions, my hunt continues.

That leads me to the 3 options I have found.

  1. Mlily Vitality. I’ve read that you have not been able to contact a rep. I sent them an email last night (on a Sunday) and they responded with the specs.
    The model I’m interested in has 1 inch layer of bamboo “Phyo-Foam” (desnity 4.2), 3 inch layer of “M36” (density 3.6), 7 inch layer of high resiliency base foam (2.1). Certipur-US, 10 Year Warranty. I’ve laid on it at a mom and pop shop, and find it very suitable. No returns/refunds from store.

  2. NovaForm
    Top layer: 2.5" of premium NutraFresh™ memory foam
    Middle layer: 2.5" of sculpted air channel foam
    Base layer of mattress: 7" of durable, premium base foam
    Costco has a great return policy.

  3. Factory Foam Direct (ebay) great reviews. 60 day refund period minus shipping cost.
    link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/280982010581?item=280982010581&ViewItem=&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123
    I contacted them and they mentioned “Every mattress we make is a 5.3 pounds density memory foam mattress. We always back that up by using high-density base foam and support layers appear. We use 2 pound for our base layer to ensure a longer lasting construction.” 100% made in USA.

What do you think is the better value? All are priced similarly. If you have any recommendations, as well, I’m in the Dallas area.

Again, thank you so much. Your site has been very helpful.

Hi SleepingLes

[quote]1. Mlily Vitality. I’ve read that you have not been able to contact a rep. I sent them an email last night (on a Sunday) and they responded with the specs.
The model I’m interested in has 1 inch layer of bamboo “Phyo-Foam” (desnity 4.2), 3 inch layer of “M36” (density 3.6), 7 inch layer of high resiliency base foam (2.1). Certipur-US, 10 Year Warranty. I’ve laid on it at a mom and pop shop, and find it very suitable. No returns/refunds from store. [/quote]

These appear to be the same as the Bed boss mattresses (in this case the Visco Heir) although I don’t know if the foam densities are identical (even though their foam source and layering is the same). You can see a bit more of my thoughts about them in post #2 here. the foam density of the main memory foam layer is on the low side (sub 4 lb) and their “value” would depend on how you feel about lower density/quality memory foam and of course the price they are charging. I would be cautions. For reference … the “probably” similar Visco Heir is listed here for $599 queen (click on add to cart to see the price).

[quote]2. NovaForm
Top layer: 2.5" of premium NutraFresh™ memory foam
Middle layer: 2.5" of sculpted air channel foam
Base layer of mattress: 7" of durable, premium base foam
Costco has a great return policy.[/quote]

Without foam density there is no way to assess this but Novaform also tends to use low density memory foam (also sub 4 lb)

[quote]3. Factory Foam Direct (ebay) great reviews. 60 day refund period minus shipping cost.
link: www.ebay.com/itm/-/280982010581?item=280...e=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123
I contacted them and they mentioned “Every mattress we make is a 5.3 pounds density memory foam mattress. We always back that up by using high-density base foam and support layers appear. We use 2 pound for our base layer to ensure a longer lasting construction.” 100% made in USA.[/quote]

Quite frankly … I just don’t believe the description of this one. Perhaps they are using memory foam density measured per 2 cubic lbs (which some do). There is just no way I would believe that 6" of American made 5.3 lb memory foam over 7" of 2.1 lb base foam with an organic bamboo cover would be selling for $519 queen. This is ridiculous IMO and something isn’t adding up. Without knowing who they are and having a real business behind this listing with a real address and history … I wouldn’t even consider this. As an aside … the “choose your feel” section doesn’t give me much confidence about their ability to “match” a mattress to different people and sleeping positions.

If they are all in the $519 range for a queen and I was forced to choose between them … then I’d probably go with the mLily … but with reservations about buying anything with memory foam density that low.

The “list” of the factory direct manufacturers I’m aware of in the Dallas area is in post #2 and #4 here.

Phoenix

Thanks Phoenix for the insight.
I will checkout the links as well.
I emailed the ebay listor for additional details in regards to density and will let you know what I find out.

In terms of value, do you have any recommendations sub $1k range?

Hi SleepingLes,

Some of the better retailers/manufacturers and value for memory foam I know of is in post #12 here.

Phoenix

I looked at the local folks, and most have only inner-spring or latex. The online retailer, Rocky Mountain Mattress looks good. I’ll give them a ring tomorrow.

The ebay guy responded to me and stated:
"We are using 5.3 and 4.0 density foams for our comfort layer and 2.2 and 2.8 density foams for our support layer. It depends on which the support level you choose.

What’s more important is the ILD rating. A 5.3 density with and ILD of 10 will be soft and plush. The same density with a higher ILD will be stiffer and firmer."

I also googled the number listed on the ebay storefront, and it’s number to a company Memory Foam Outlet in FL.

Wish I read this before placing the order. Is there way to verify what’s in there when I got it? By weight?

Hi whoever,

I think you will find that these types of outlets get their memory foam from suppliers like this Wholesale memory foam topper, pillows, mattresses too. who add numbers to their products that just happen to match the densities of various memory foams. You will notice that the site is very carefully worded to make sure that the actual densities of their memory foam is never specified. They let their retailers (and anyone can sell their mattresses because they do the drop shipping) make the “translations” from their numbers to density (the numbers just happen to be common memory foam densities). There are many of these these retailers on ebay and elsewhere who can start selling mattresses without really knowing anything about mattress materials and without having to hold any stock or have any business experience.

You could spend a great deal of time connecting many dots together to discover what they are really selling but in the end it’s just not worth dealing with people who are more interested in racing to the bottom by selling whatever they can with materials, descriptions, or sources that are questionable in terms of their accuracy. They well know that the return shipping costs will protect them from refunds.

If you multiply the thickness x the width x the length of each layer (in inches) and then divide by 1728 you will have the cubic feet of that layer. If you multiply the cubic feet by the density of the layer (that it’s supposed to be) … you will have how much that layer should weigh. If you then add the weight of the layers together, you will have the weight of all the foam inside the mattress and what it should weigh (excluding any sipping materials or boxes and the mattress cover).

Phoenix

Just as a further example … you can see an example here of “5.5 memory foam” which calculates out to 2.77 lbs density.

King size 4" topper is 76 x 80 x 4 / 1728 = 14.07 Cu Ft

Shipping weight of 39 lbs (one of the very few suppliers of these who who list shipping weight) / 14.07 = 2.77 lbs.

Phoenix

Thanks for the quick update. I actually had several communications with the seller. He mentioned their 13" mattress has two 3-inch layers of memory foam, both at 5.3 lb, but different ILD depends on firmness options, made by Carpenter and pass Certi-PUR. I even order a custom combo of the ILD to my taste (or so I thought). Do you know if Carpenter in fact make 5.3lb memory foam with different ILD?

I already sent another email verifying if they are use single or double cubic feet measurement. But it would be too much a stretch if their memory foam is only 2.6 lb?! I’ll ask and double check the total weight when it arrives. It should weigh over 100lb, though UPS tracking says only 65 lb. I hope that’s just their standard shipping contract, not actual weight. Otherwise, I would really have to try to make a case out of it.

I guess there’s no way to verify if the foam is actually made by a specific manufacture?

[quote=“Phoenix” post=10777]Hi whoever,

I think you will find that these types of outlets get their memory foam from suppliers like this Wholesale memory foam topper, pillows, mattresses too. who add numbers to their products that just happen to match the densities of various memory foams. You will notice that the site is very carefully worded to make sure that the actual densities of their m
… …

Phoenix[/quote]

Funny I actually paid attention to that seller. If you read carefully between lines about his products, his numbering system does not indicate foam density. So you can’t blame him :evil:

There’s another seller having 10lb and 20lb memory foam :lol:

[quote=“Phoenix” post=10780]Just as a further example … you can see an example here of “5.5 memory foam” which calculates out to 2.77 lbs density.

King size 4" topper is 7t x 80 x 4 / 1728 = 14.07 Cu Ft

Shipping weight of 39 lbs (one of the very few suppliers of these who who list shipping weight) / 14.07 = 2.77 lbs.

Phoenix[/quote]

Hi whoever,

I seriously doubt that the foam is made by Carpenter although any of the foam manufacturers can make memory foam in any density they choose.

It’s far more likely that http://www.accutex-foam-usa.com/ is the “supposed” supplier but if you look at the site news updates you will see that it hasn’t been updated for 8 years and it looks a lot like a “dummy” manufacturer site.

If you search “accu memory foam” on google or other various combinations of connected search terms you will find more “potential dots” to connect if you are in the mood to connect enough dots to see a whole picture.

The easiest way it to avoid these types of merchants completely unless you know who and what is really behind them.

Phoenix

I can already see dots … So how bad it is if that’s true. Made in China? Poisonous gas? Collapse in years?

So there’s no much I can do at this point unless it’s half the density?

Hi whoever,

Just to connect a few more dots …

This listing (with a couple of more “honest” reviews) shows a PURGreen certification.

If you go to post #12 here you will see this is a somewhat “bogus” certification (bogus in the sense that there are no standards listed for what they test for) and that the only members of the “alliance” is the Woodbridge Group here. Which of their subsidiaries or “partners” actually makes the foam in any particular mattress is anyone’s guess but at least the headquarters of the Woodbridge Group itself is in Canada.

They have a partnership with Foam Partners with headquarters in the US so perhaps this is the source of the foam.

So based on this … there is a reasonable chance at least that the foam isn’t “poisonous gas” even though it may have some offgassing.

I think that the biggest problem could be the durability issues that come from lower quality or sub standard foam. This may show up in months or years depending on how sensitive you are to foam softening.

It would also be interesting for you to calculate the density of the foam layers based on their weight when you receive the mattress for the benefit of others who are thinking of going in this direction.

Even lower quality materials can provide you with the comfort/pressure relief and support/alignment you need (which is why you see so many initial good reviews of low quality mattresses). If the mattress is suitable for your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences and if foam softening doesn’t lead to you crossing the threshold where you no longer have the comfort and support you need in a couple of years or so (or even longer) … then you probably got what you paid for so the news is not all bad :slight_smile:

Phoenix