I am beginning my first informed hunt for a mattress, and this website has been an incredible resource. Thank you so much to everyone for contributing to this wealth of information!
I currently have the IKEA Hansbo mattress, which is a coil mattress with a memory foam pillow top. I think it goes without saying on this forum, but I would not recommend this particular IKEA mattress to anyone! It was fine for the first month or so, but two years later my back is a mess and I wake up feeling like I’ve been hit by a bus every single morning. It’s time for a change!
I live in NYC, so I am slowly working my way through the various mattress options we have here. These are what I’ve tried so far:
DixieFoam DreamBed Deluxe - A bit too firm for my taste. I found it difficult to get comfortable, especially when lying on my side.
TempurPedic Cloud Supreme - I found the firmness of this mattress to be much more pleasing for me, and the level of “sink” (if that makes sense) was not overwhelming. I believe this is a medium firm mattress, so I am thinking that this might be the kind that I like best!
TempurPedic Cloud Luxe - I liked the gel foam, but the feeling of sinking into the bed was very intense, and I’m not really sure if I liked it or not. I have a feeling that would probably change over time.
Keetsa Tea Leaf Supreme - I loved the feel and level of firmness of this mattress. It felt perfect to me. Unfortunately, at $1,300 it is way out of my price range. I have also heard mixed things about this brand on this website (the questionable eco-friendliness is not as much of a concern to me as is the questionable nature of the foam quality). I also tried the Keetsa pillow top mattress, and I liked it, but it was definitely not as good as the Tea Leaf Supreme.
I suppose I am somewhat confused about where to go from here, so I have some questions:
For those familiar with Keetsa mattresses, does anyone have a recommendation for a mattress similar to the Tea Leaf Supreme that is lower in price? Ideally I would not like to spend more than $800 total. Additionally, I usually sleep on either my side of stomach.
Based on what I’ve experienced above, do you think that the DreamFoam Ultimate Dreams 13" Gel Foam mattress or the Ultimate Dreams Latex Mattress might be a good fit? I have heard that the 13" Gel Foam is like a firmer version of the Cloud Luxe, and I am not very familiar with the latex version, but I see that both have come highly recommended from several people on here.
Are there any other places in the NYC area that may have good choices in my price range? Unfortunately I do not have access to a car, so traveling around is difficult for me.
Did you try any of their other mattresses or their memory foam mattress? Your comments seem to indicate a preference for memory foam and their Dreambed Deluxe is polyfoam not memory foam.
[quote]2. TempurPedic Cloud Supreme - I found the firmness of this mattress to be much more pleasing for me, and the level of “sink” (if that makes sense) was not overwhelming. I believe this is a medium firm mattress, so I am thinking that this might be the kind that I like best!
TempurPedic Cloud Luxe - I liked the gel foam, but the feeling of sinking into the bed was very intense, and I’m not really sure if I liked it or not. I have a feeling that would probably change over time.[/quote]
Both of these use good quality materials but as you know they are also significantly more costly than many other memory foam mattresses that use similar quality materials in lower price ranges. The tutorial post also has a list of some of the better online memory foam options I’m aware of and some of these make mattresses that are comparable to many of the Tempurpedic mattresses in terms of comfort/pressure relief and support/alignent although the “feel” may be different because there are many types of memory foam that are the same quality but can have different properties in terms of temperature sensitivity and response time (see post #9 here and post #8 here). There is also more about the different ways that one mattress can approximate or “match” another one in post #8 here.
I’m guessing you may have meant the Cloud Luxe Breeze (the Cloud Luxe and Cloud Supreme are closeouts and don’t have gel).
I would certainly be cautious with Keetsa memory foam mattresses because most of the Zinus mattresses (of which Keetsa is one brand) use memory foam that is less than 4 lb density.
[quote]You hear a lot about foam density. What does that mean?
It is easy to get confused about foam density. It is true that the higher the density, the better the foam will perform, up to a point. It is generally accepted that foams higher than a 1.8 pound per cubic foot will last longer than those of less density. Keetsa utilizes around 3 pound per cubic foot density foams in its product manufacturing. [/quote]
Which is really misleading and adds to the confusion they are mentioning. 1.8 lb density is a foam density that refers to good quality polyfoam (not memory foam) and memory foam comes in higher density ranges than polyfoam. Outside much lower budget mattresses, I would use 4 lb density as a minimum guideline for memory foam. Using polyfoam densities as a reference point for memory foam densities would make even “junk” memory foam look good.
Outside of talking with a manufacturer that is familiar with how their mattresses may compare with the Teal Leaf supreme for most people (which is unlikely because it’s not a mattress that most manufacturers would use as a reference point or that most consumers would be looking to approximate), the only way to know how one mattress feels to you compared to another would be your own personal side by side testing and experience. There are too many differences between different types of memory foam and different designs to use specs to predict how one mattress might compare to another for any particular person.
Outside of your own personal testing … the most effective way to choose a mattress would be more detailed conversations with the manufacturer (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). Having said that … as you’ve mentioned and based on feedback from many people who have purchased it … the Ultimate Dreams 13" gel memory foam mattress has a similar firmness level (perhaps a bit firmer) than the Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe for most people although there will always be some who disagree because each person’s perceptions can be very subjective and may be different from others.
The Ultimate Dreams Latex mattress is a completely different mattress and latex is really more of an apples to oranges comparison with memory foam. It There is more about the differences between them in post #2 here. You have the option to choose your comfort level and the firmness of the latex but again the best way to do this for any mattress that you haven’t tried in person is a more detailed conversation with the manufacturer where you can tell them more about you and your testing experiences which can help them to help you choose the comfort level that you think would be best for you.
While I don’t keep a record of the specific mattresses that each retailer or manufacturer carries on their floor or their prices (which would be more than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) … the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the New York area are listed in post #2 here. I would do as much preliminary research into what they carry on their websites or talking with them about your criteria on the phone so that you can narrow down your choices and visit the ones that have mattresses on their floor that you think would be a good candidate for testing.