More frustrated and confused.

[phoenix]

Hi ShopperGirl,

Outside of dn’s great advice … I’ll make some comments based on the assumption that you both want to cancel your purchase (which I would consider carefully before you do so) and are able to do so and start all over again.

(1) What is your impression of the quality of Natura mattresses? I haven’t found hardly any reviews online. Do they sag? Are they worth the price? What, exactly, are they made of? (I also had a hard time finding any info about that, too.)

A mattress is only as good as its construction and materials and the brand name of a mattress means very little to me. It would depend on the quality of the materials that were inside the specific Natura mattress you were considering. In most cases … Natura uses good quality materials (often latex in many of their mattresses). Mattress reviews aren’t nearly as useful in evaluating the durability of a mattress as knowing the specifics of what is inside it (see post #13 here)

(2) What is the track record for SavvyRest?

SavvyRest is certainly a reputable company, uses good quality materials, is transparent about their materials, and provides good service to their customers … but the quality and value of any mattress depends on the specifics of the design and materials that are inside it and how they compare to other mattresses you are considering. This is the most important part of evaluating a mattress … not the manufacturer.

My Savvy Rest combo, by the way, was Medium Dunlop/Medium Talalay/Soft Talalay. I’m 50 years old, 5’6, weigh 120, have back trouble, and like a soft yet supportive mattress. No firm/hard-as-a-rock stuff for me. I even thought the combo I bought was too firm in the store, so I went out and purchased a nice wool topper on the way home from the SR store. I realize, though, that it is not good to get a mattress that is too soft, so that’s why I sort of “gave in” on the harder-than-I-wanted SR instead of the Natura and bought the topper. Still, if the price were what was originally quoted, I would be happy. But, as I said, if I am going to spend THAT much anyway, I may as well go with the Natura which was more comfy. Still nearly $4000 for a mattress is getting a bit up there. No longer sure if it is worth it. I’m just really confused at this point.)

S/M/F would be a fairly “standard” layering for most people of your height and weight but each person is unique and only your own experience can really know what type of layering is best for you. A wool topper may have some of the “feel” of softness that you like but it may also firm up the softer latex in your mattress a little in terms of pressure relief (see the comments in post #2 here which would apply to wool toppers as well). I would agree that $4000 for a mattress is “getting up there” and there would be no “need” to spend this much when there are mattresses that use the same or similar materials available for less unless your personal circumstances or preferences or the specifics of the purchase gave you a compelling reason to do so. Of course “value” is very subjective and individual and I would make some careful value comparisons based on all the parts of your personal value equation that were most important to you to make sure that you were comfortable that the purchase was the “best value” for you (and that you believed it would still be “worth it” 10 years down the road as well).

(3) Do you have any info on the off-gassing for Jamison mattresses?

The latex in Jamison mattresses would be OekoTex certified just like most of the latex that was sold in North America and any polyfoam or memory foam in their mattress would be made in North America (and likely CertiPur certified) so by most people’s standards offgassing wouldn’t be an issue unless there were particular health or sensitivity issues that your answer to the question of “how safe is safe enough for me?” is different and more restrictive than the norm.

Other reviewers said the mattress they ordered was NOTHING like the mattress they tried in the hotel – despite the one customer giving the exact serial number of the hotel bed he slept on when making his order with Jamison. (Again: I have no idea if those reviews are valid or not.)

Again … comfort is so subjective and most consumers know so little about what is in their mattress that I tend to pay little attention to reviews about the “comfort” of a mattress or reviews that don’t mention the specific materials in the mattress they purchased. Most people for example have had the experience of testing a mattress in the morning and then going back and testing it later in the day after testing different mattresses and being surprised at how different it felt because their reference points have changed.

Hotel mattress will usually have bedding packages that are a significant part of how they feel and perform. You can read more about hotel mattresses in post #3 here and the other posts it links to. All new mattresses will also feel different from a mattress that has already been broken in.

As you can imagine, now I am so confused, deflated, and frustrated I don’t know what to do.

If you follow the steps in the basic guidelines post here one by one you will generally be fine and be able to make the best possible choices. Once you have the basic knowledge of the different materials … who you deal with can be one of the most important parts of a successful purchase. Finding the “experts” can help you avoid the need to become one yourself because they already know what you would otherwise need to learn (which is usually the reason people get overwhelmed).

I guess my final question that I need answered is this: Is the off-gassing issue real for non-“S” mattresses. I know just from going into a store and smelling the fumes from the Sertas, Simmons and Sealys that they offgas. But does that dissipate and become a non-health issue after a few weeks in something less “commericalized” like the Jamison? How does one find out just HOW much a particular mattress may offgas.

All materials offgas … even fruits and vegetables … but the real issue is the safety of the VOC’s not the smell or the fact that there is some offgassing with all materials. For the most part the amount of offgassing with North American produced foams or materials that are CertiPur certified or OekoTex certified are well within the safety margins that most people would be comfortable with unless they had specific sensitivities, tolerance, or health issues or specific beliefs, priorities, or preferences that lead to different choices than the majority of people would make. You can read more about the very complex issues that are connected to offgassing, fire retardants, safety, and natural vs synthetic materials and other related issues that can help you answer the question of “how safe is safe enough for me?” in post #2 here and the many posts and sources of information it links to. For most people though … this would be the beginning of a rabbit hole that can lead to more and more complex and often conflicting information the more they research and in the end there may still be no clear answers that are specific enough for them. For most people… basic foam certifications and information about the fire retardants used in their mattress if this is an issue for them would be fine and they don’t need to devote many days and weeks (or longer) of research into ever more finely detailed and complex information only to find that the clear and specific answers they are looking for don’t exist to the level of certainty they were hoping for anyway.

In most cases any offgassing is diminished to a level that is below most people’s threshold within a few days to a few weeks if the mattress they buy is using North American or certified materials but of course there are always exceptions (which can sometimes seem larger than life in an online environment).

Hope this helps … and outside of the “read first” information if you let me know the city or zip code where you live I’d be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area. All of this of course is assuming that you both want to cancel your purchase and that it’s possible as well since the mattress you purchased is certainly high quality and with its component construction also has some good options for fine tuning after your purchase as well.

Phoenix