Need help finding the right mattress for heavy person

[phoenix]

Hi 901-Memphis,

So my wife hates new mattress and after two nights on it she’s refusing to sleep on it again. The mattress is very firm even for me which was surprising, I’m guessing the Dunlap latex is to blame but that’s neither here nor there as she’s demanding we return it and won’t sleep on it another night.

I’m sorry to hear that your mattress didn’t turn out as well as you hoped for (at least for your wife). Your mattress includes Talalay latex, Dunlop latex, and Polyfoam and all three of these materials come in a wide range of firmness levels so it would probably be more about the firmness of the layers and the mattress as a whole than about the specific type of material in your mattress.

I would keep in mind that here will be a break in and adjustment period for any new mattress or sleeping system as the mattress loses any of it’s “false firmness” and the cover stretches and loosens a little and the materials settle and your body gets used to a sleeping surface that is different from what it is used to (see post #3 here). This would typically be a few weeks but it can be shorter or longer depending on the specifics of the person and the mattress (higher density materials can take longer) and it can be surprising to many people how much their sleeping experience can change over the course of the first month or so and I would tend to sleep on a new mattress for a minimum of 30 days or so if possible before deciding on whether to exchange or return it (or possibly add a topper if the mattress is too firm).

Now the other part, we went to snuggy mattress express in Florence KY per your recommendation but the owner said they no longer sale Jamison mattresses due to the previously owned family company selling to a foreign owner. He said he broke ties because he was worried about future warranty claims under the new owner.

Jamison was sold to Solstice Sleep but it was the only line of mattresses they carry that I would consider as a “possibility” so I’ve removed them from the Cincinnati list.

We decided to try out some mattresses in person even though we can’t buy until we get our money back from the other products, I have some questions because they don’t list foam density but do have a cutaway and diagram showing mattress composition without the density listed.

Without knowing the information listed here (including foam density) it’s not possible to make any meaningful comments about the quality and durability of the materials and components in a mattress or the mattress “as a whole” and if a retailer either can’t or won’t provide you with all the information that you need to make an informed choice I would pass the mattress by because it would be much too risky a purchase.

Her favored mattress was the beauty rest recharge hybrid, are these the mattresses you said to avoid?

Yes … all the major brands (such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta) tend to use lower quality materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay which is why I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely (and the major retailers that focus on them) along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).

She also liked a Miralux IV pillow top which was much cheaper. Another brand I know nothing about.

International Bedding went bankrupt and their assets were purchased by Corsicana which also aren’t generally transparent about the quality of the materials in their mattresses. Having said that … the name of the manufacturer isn’t all that important anyway because outside of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the quality/durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so once again I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

Sorry for the long winded post do you have any advice for my crazy situation?

I would deal with more transparent manufacturers or retailers so that you can avoid the frustration of testing mattresses and finding out that you like it and it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP only to find out that the information you need to identify any potential weak links in the mattress or make meaningful comparisons to other mattresses isn’t available and you’ve wasted the time you spent testing the mattress.

Other than that … I would just follow the steps in the tutorial one at a time.

Phoenix