Need help on purchase...need recommendations...!

[phoenix]

Hi brianj,

1. What does 24/27 ILD mean? And is that good or bad?

2427 polyfoam means that it has a density of 2.4 lbs (the first two numbers) which is a high quality material and well above the minimum density I would suggest for a support layer (see the guidelines here). The 27 is the firmness of the material (27 ILD) which isn’t either good or bad … just a firmness rating. If the mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) then it would be a suitable firmness level for you.

2. Have you ever heard of Future Foam, or Foamex? Are they quality products?

Both of these are American foam manufacturers and both of them are CertiPur certified*. Like all foam manufacturers they make a range of polyfoam and memory foam from lower quality to higher quality (depending on the density).

ADMIN NOTE: *Removed 404 link|Archived Footprint: certipur.us/pages/for-industry/find-a-foam-supplier/

3. Would the combination I’ve described make for a quality mattress?

It would be important to test any mattress to make sure it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP but the materials you mentioned are all good quality materials and there would be no weak link in either of them in terms of quality/durability.

4. I’m a side sleeper, will the 2" memory foam be enough with the core I’ve described? Or will this likely cause issues?

Unfortunately I can’t feel what you feel or see you on the mattress so there isn’t any way for me to know. The most effective way to know if it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP would be careful and objective testing on the mattress using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post (see post #2 here).

I’m not concerned with name brand so much, but I do want a good quality mattress, something that rivals or beats the name brand guys at a better price point.

Typical of most smaller independent manufacturers, they certainly use the same or higher quality materials than most mainstream brands in the same or even higher price ranges. While you will find 4 and 5 lb memory foam in some major brands mattresses (and many more that use lower quality/density memory foam than this) … 2.4 lb base foam is very uncommon in major brands which usually use lower quality/density polyfoam in their support layers.

It’s my understanding that they buy the foam from the manufacturer and then THEY make the bed. In other words, they make the platform (what would be a box spring for a regular mattress) and they cover that as well as the mattress with their own quilting/material. At least this is my understanding. I know they make regular mattresses there as well. He also said that the platform could be whatever thickness/height I wanted since they make it in house, which I thought was a nice touch.

Yes … they are an actual mattress manufacturer … just a smaller local company instead of a national company.

Any thoughts/insight you might have would be greatly appreciated. I’d like to be as prepared as possible with questions and what not when I return to try them out for a longer period of time.

You can read about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here but you have already done most of the “work”. The two key parts to making the “best” choice is your personal testing for “suitability” and then making sure you know the quality/density of the materials for “durability” so you can make meaningful comparisons with any of your other final choices. They would certainly be well worth considering IMO.

I also have a price sheet for everything they offer here if you’re interested to see it…

That would be great if you could attach it to your post … thanks

Phoenix