Hi jepurdy,
Welcome to the Mattress Forum!
While the support core certainly needs to be a high-enough density to promote a long and supportive life, I wouldn’t say that these are the “common theme” for the weakest link in a mattress. There are many of the one-size-fits-all mattresses that contain lower density foams in their support cores, but there are also many that use lower density foams in their comfort and transition layers as well. Be sure to look at the mattress as a whole as you’re doing your research.
[quote]has had any experience with the Nectar Mattress*?
NECTAR’s foam layers include “Lush” 1-inch four lb semi-open fast-recovery gel memory foam, a 3-inch 3.5lb memory foam with a medical grade cooling and recovery levels and finally a 2.2lb high density base foam.[/quote]
I’m not personally familiar with Nectar, as they seem to be one of the ever-expanding list of one-size-fits-all mattresses. They do list their specifications, to their credit in their FAQ page. The polyfoam core uses a good density foam, but I would use caution with the 3.5 lb. memory foam on top of the core, as that is lower than I would recommend (see the durability guidelines here). They are a product assembled in the USA of components sourced from different parts of the world.
It can be a very important part of your personal value equation to have some sort of a return/exchange program when purchasing an unknown mattress online that you’re not able to test. Regarding the “forever guarantee” and long mattress warranties, you can read more about that in post #174 here. Knowing about the quality of componentry is much more important that a long warranty, which is often used more as a marketing ploy. Of course no one keeps (nor should) a mattress for a lifetime. I’d be perfectly happy with a five-year warranty if I knew the mattress contained materials that should serve me well for 10-15 years. I personally would put very little value into claims of “lifetime warranty” or “lifetime happiness guarantees”.
I’ll be interested in knowing if you “pulled the trigger” on this item, and your thoughts on it if you did.
Phoenix