So I’ve spent the past month researching, driving, and trying out mattresses around DFW, watching my budget for a mattress slowly increase along with my frustration level. I thought I’d share my impressions of the various local manufacturers in the hopes that it might save someone else a bit of time in their own search. I should note that I started out with a $300 budget for a two-sided full-sized innerspring, which has escalated to about $600, and may go up to $900 for an all-latex mattress if I choose to subsist on ramen noodles for a while.
United and Holland: This was the first location I visited, since I live in Denton. I was particularly interested in their two-sided Dream Machine 7000 latex/innerspring, which appeared to be reasonably priced and well-made. Unfortunately, the owner became very standoffish when I started asking for information about construction and thickness of the comfort layers, to the point where he suggested that I was attempting to steal trade secrets. He was so generally unhelpful and my sales experience so poor that I choose not to return on principle.
Their cheaper mattresses are sourced from Royal Sleep Products out of Fort Worth, who I called (twice) and was unable to get any specific details on their materials, although based on the prices I’d assume it was lesser quality foam (1.2lb or lower density).
Furniture and Floors/Golden Mattress Company: Shawn at Furniture & Floors in Fort Worth was extremely pleasant to deal with and not at all pushy. I’d been having difficulty finding certain models by Golden to try out, and while he didn’t have what I was looking for in his own store, he was happy to let me name-drop him so I could check out the manufacturer’s showroom in Dallas.
The person I spoke with at the factory showroom willingly gave out ILD and density information on the mattresses I was looking at, which was regrettably 1.2lb density for almost everything except the Chiro (1.7), which was much too firm for my sleeping style and had a very thin comfort layer. That said, they do make a couple of models (Legacy, Park Avenue) that are two-sided and come in a range of comfort options which would be good on a tighter budget.
Mattress Factory: I was fairly disappointed trying out the innersprings here. While they’re all two-sided, appropriately priced, and Peter is very clear on what foams he’s using (generally 1.5-2lb), all his mattresses are on the firmer side and it didn’t seem like there was nearly enough thickness in the comfort layers to make them work well for a side sleeper (me). Adding to this was a generally cheap-feeling quilting/ticking layer and a remarkable lack of edge support in the innerspring.
Now, for latex, this is probably the best place to go in DFW. Prices are as good as you could hope for, two-sided construction, and latex is used in the quilting layer as well (rather than foam), which seems to be a rarity. The mattress I tried in the store seemed to be firmer than I expected for the ILD rating, leading me to think it was Dunlop, but apparently he uses Talalay for the top layers, so I’m not sure what’s going on there. Regardless, any firmness level is available and for sheer longevity this seems like the ideal choice.
Sleep Craft: Exceptionally nice, if somewhat pricey, innerspring mattresses (delivery costs are included, which helps). Todd is extremely easygoing and will happily allow you to spend as much time as you need testing the beds in his store, but be prepared to endure some political conversation. Uses 1.8lb foam in the quilt and 2.2lb in the comfort layer for the base Alexander Plush model, although he also has all-latex and latex/innerspring models as well. 24ILD for most everything in the showroom but can be made at any firmness. Anything with latex here is substantially more expensive and still uses polyfoam in the quilting layer, so I don’t think they represent as good a value over Mattress Factory’s all-latex or even Sleep Craft’s standard innerspring, but there are a much wider variety of options to choose from.
