Need help low budget

I am 5’7, 170lbs, side sleeper, have a budget of 200$. I am looking for a new mattress as my current mattress is very old and I feel pain/soreness on the shoulder I sleep on . I have done some research and found out that I need a softer kind of mattress. I was looking at this one and would like some opinions if this one is soft enough for me or I should get another one? Dreamfoam Hybrid - Dream Foam thanks

Hi CarlBrush,

Reading your post for a mattress for $200 seems low but for a twin you may have some options starting at that price range.

The plush top might help with the softness on this mattress your looking at pending what side you sleep on.

The FAQ says it list a “firmness” scale but I don’t see. Most have a 1 to 10 bar and you want something below 5 if your looking for soft.

Good luck on your sleep journey quest!

Hi CarlBruh,

Thanks for providing information about your size and sleep preferences. It sounds like you’ve already done some good research and learned that side sleepers usually need a softer comfort layer in a mattress to provide pressure point relief for their shoulders and hips.If you haven’t done so already, I’d recommend reading through the Mattress Selection Process Guide on this site. It is a treasure trove of information that will help you zone in on what you want to be looking for in a mattress based on your sleep preferences and other factors. Understanding some key concepts like foam densities and how they relate to your size and preferred sleeping position will be particularly helpful, and this information can all be found in the guide.

It might be helpful if you could provide some information about the bed you are sleeping on now that is too firm. Do you know what brand/model it is, or its general construction? It would also be helpful to know what size of mattress you were looking to buy (twin?).

While I don’t know anything about the Arctic Dream mattress, I did a quick search through past forum posts (using “Search Forum” above), and found several threads about this specific mattress. Reading through these may answer some questions and give more insight into this mattress:

Searching the forum for key words like “budget” might also help turn up some relevant posts. I’m aware that Ikea has some mattresses in your price range, and so does Trusted Member Flexus Comfort, but I don’t have any insight into whether these would be a good match for you.

To fit within your budget, another thought is to consider buying a good quality soft topper for your existing mattress that would give you more pressure point relief without having to purchase a whole new mattress. That would only be a reasonable option, however, if your mattress was still in good structural shape (not sagging or otherwise failing).

As an example, TMU member Sleep on Latex has twin, full, and queen 2 & 3" organic dunlop latex toppers within your budget.

Another benefit to that route is that if later down the road you decided to build a DIY mattress, you could potentially reuse the topper as your mattress’s comfort layer.

If you decide to look more into the topper route, be sure to read through the “comfort layer” section in the mattress selection guide I linked to above so that you can be sure to find a topper that matches your preferences and needs.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Emily

hey thanks for the quick responses. I am looking for a twin size mattress and my old mattress is a spring mattress that I don’t think I can use a topper on because in the middle where I sleep caved in a little and I can feel all the springs poking me. I’m thinking of either this one Dreamfoam Latex - Dream Foam on soft firmness or the arctic dreams, they said the arctic dreams is 4-6 on the firmness scale. . What do you think? Should I try out the element latex and return it if it is too soft? For the element latex “The soft comfort level uses 19 ILD, medium is 28 ILD, firm is 36 ILD.” If that information is helpful to you

Hi CarlBruh,

I can’t tell you which mattress to get, but I can try to point you in the direction of resources on this site that will hopefully help you make the best decision for your own sleep preferences, budget, and values.

One article I’d recommend is the one on mattress durability here, followed by the one on polyfoam support layers here. These articles will help you understand durability considerations for polyfoam, as well as the other layers in each bed.

The other area I’d recommend learning more about is the difference in feel and other pros/cons between latex (the Elements Latex) and memory foam (the Arctic Dream).

Latex pros/cons here
Memory foam pros/cons here

That is helpful to know the ILDs of the Elements Latex comfort layer, so thank you for providing that. Relatively low weight side sleepers like yourself tend to prefer soft comfort layers, and 19 ILD meets that criteria. However, each person’s preferences are different, so I can’t say for sure which firmness you would like the best…

So in summary, I’d recommend

  1. Using the durability article to identify any potentially “weak links” in the mattresses you’re considering. Gathering more info on component specs like foam densities as needed to make this determination.
  2. Using the latex & memory foam articles to evaluate their pros/cons and assessing which may work best for you. Testing out beds with latex & memory foam comfort layers in a local shop, if possible (but beware that a bed’s entire construction affects its overall feel, so this can be a tricky comparison to make).
  3. Getting in touch with Dreamfoam with your sleep stats & preferences and seeing what they recommend for your situation (they know their mattresses best).

Hopefully one of the experts will chime in on your thread here, as they can undoubtedly provide more thorough guidance than I can.

Good luck!
Emily

Hi CarlBruh.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum.

I can see you have been given some great advice and resources from both GhostBed and ebs.

ebs has gotten you started with some great resources. In general, it is impossible for anyone to choose for you which softness would be best as only you can feel what you feel on a mattress; people with different body types, sleeping positions, or preferences can make very different mattress comfort choices from each other. So you’d first need to do some narrowing down based on your preference of materials, needs, and the other parts of your Mattress buying personal value equation and things that are most important to you.

ebs mentioned the Mattress Durability Guidelines, and I would add that you also take a look at this resource about the different comfort needs related to the different sleeping positions. We also have an article all about varying budgets, including lower budgets.

And, as ebs mentioned, it’s always a good idea to reach out directly to the manufacturer or retailer you’re looking to purchase from to share your sleep stats (height, weight, any special comfort needs, sleeping position, etc.) and ask for their guidance. This is also a good way to evaluate whether or not you truly wish to purchase from a specific company; what you are looking to find out is their ability and willingness to disclose the materials in their mattresses and their knowledge, experience, and ability to give you the guidance that is necessary to help you make meaningful comparisons and your best possible choices.

Finally, I’d also recommend looking at our Mattress Shopping Tutorial. There are a number of tips there that may be of use for you.

Hoping this helps assist you in moving forward with your mattress shopping!

NikkiTMU

Once again thanks for the help. I decided to go with the elements latex on soft firmness and if I don’t like it I will just return it since the company has a 120 day trial. Ill try to let you all know how it goes.