Hello everyone, Since I was 11 years old I have been sleeping on a queen sized hard side waterbed. I have been through many mattress’s for it ranging from free flow-95% wave less. I came to prefer 80% wave less with multiple layers of lumbar support.
Well my Fiance and myself are moving in together. We are getting an apartment and I am moving out of a house that I have shared with my Brother and best friend for the past 5 years. And I can’t have a hard sided waterbed in the apartment. I have not had any issues with any pains with my current water mattress.
Now I don’t have a clue where to start. We are on a very tight budget and we need something that will give me a great night sleep. We are both side sleepers and she’s 5’4" 115 and I am 5’10" 165.
She has a horrible full sized spring mattress that she has been using while in college. That I have slept on many nights and woken up with extreme hip and shoulder pain.
We have checked out many memory foam mattress’s which we really like but we don’t know about the heat problems that have been noted since the stores keep the rooms very cool. And a few latex we have not found many even close to our price range in stores. Currently we need a mattress and our budget at the moment is only around 850 for a queen and this will have to include the base. We have an adjustable metal railing stand.
You can search Ultimate Dreams on this Forum and you will find quite a bit of information, but for $599 + base; a pretty good risk reward. You can add this base for another 2 Benjamins which comes in @ $50 below budget.
After doing a little more research on this site. I have found a few things. However I still am not sure if we want to go with a memory foam or a latex mattress. Any thoughts as to which would be better for our sleeping posture/size?
However I found the following mattress on clearance from foamorder.com for $419.80
Queen 10" Eco Memory Foam Mattress. Brand New - Full retail value of $1099. Made right here in San Francisco. Choose from Med, Med-Firm, or Firm. Be sure to add your firmness choice to your order comments in the shopping cart. We are overstocked and blowing these out - while supply lasts - 90 day sleep trial - Sold as is. Allow 2-5 days for store pick up or to ship. Free expedited order preparation is available. (approx 10x60x80)
Any thoughts on this place? Or mattress?
Also how would a latex/ foam mattress work with a hardside waterbed frame? Is there anyway to make it work without damaging the mattress? I have a really nice real leather (black) frame.
Also as another note, we really are not worried about the mattress lasting more than 4-5 years. So that benefit of Latex does not effect us. We intend on purchasing a house in 3-5 years and will be upgrading to a king size during the move. We are sticking with a queen now to keep costs down and the size while staying in apartments.
The choice between memory foam and latex is really one of preference and both can be used in various layering combinations to provide good pressure relief and support/alignment. You can read about some of the pros and cons of memory foam here and some of the pros and cons of latex here. Your third foam option would be to use a high quality polyfoam in your comfort layers which can be a lower cost alternative but if the quality/density is too low then it may not last you the 3-5 years you are looking for and keep the properties that provide you with the pressure relief and alignment you need. One of the main differences is that latex and polyfoam are fast response materials and memory foam is a slow response material and different people may prefer one over the other.
I think highly of Alan at foamorder.com and he uses good materials. Some of his products in the clearance are very good value. If you are local in the San Francisco area … this would be the best of both worlds because you could actually test the mattress (which would lower the risk compared to an online purchase) although I would want to know the density of the memory foam and polyfoam. No matter what the value though … the most important thing is that it suits your needs and preferences and either testing the mattress (if you are local) or a conversation with the manufacturer along with the results of any personal testing on similar mattresses to make sure that the odds of it being suitable for you would be important IMO. This is especially true when it is a final sale. No matter how great a mattress is in terms of quality or value … if it doesn’t provide for your needs and preferences then it would have little value for you.
A search on foamorder (you can just click this) will bring up more comments about them.
Kopavi has mentioned a couple of very good value options (thanks Kopavi :)) which have good value in latex (Ultimate Dreams is new and Mattresses 24/7 uses seconds and comfort return materials from a good source).
Post #12 here also includes some of the better memory foam sources and a few options that may also be inside your budget.
If you let me know the city you live or your zip … there may also be local manufacturers close to you which also offer good quality and value options in either memory foam, latex, or higher quality traditional innerspring or polyfoam mattresses.
Post #2 here includes some of the better possibilities in and around Jackson.
It’s not likely that any of them will have the same quality/value as the online outlets you already know about but they can provide good testing grounds that can help you narrow down your preferences in materials and the best choice for an online order. If in the course of your local testing you come across similar value as an “exception” (such as a clearance or other particularly good value) … then so much the better.
Just make sure that if you want to use a particular mattress as a guideline that either the outlet can and will provide you with the layering or it is available online so that you can compare it to similar materials and layering that are available online.
Also how would a latex/ foam mattress work with a hardside waterbed frame? Is there anyway to make it work without damaging the mattress? I have a really nice real leather (black) frame.
A latex/foam mattress needs a firm supportive and rigid surface so as long as it fits the waterbed frame well I don’t see a problem from a support point of view. It may be a bit strange or awkward to have it inside the wood enclosure when you are getting in and out of bed though (I don’t know the relative heights of the sides and the mattress).
My biggest concern would be ventilation and I would strongly consider at a minimum using a bed rug like this because the ventilation of the mattress will be significantly reduced with the wood enclosure on 5 sides (depending on how much space there is between the wood and the mattress) and you could be risking the accumulation of moisture and perhaps mold and mildew. I would be a little hesitant.
Thanks again for the information, Then it seems ill be throwing it up on craigslist shortly. Maybe I can get a decent amount for it to increase my budget of a mattress