Need some help

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

So I have been reading the forums and have come to the conclusion that the top mattress companies sell a lower quality product at a higher price. I am from Southeast Iowa(52632) and there is nothing worth shopping for in my town, so the wife and I went to Quincy, IL to test out some mattresses. We went to Slumberland, Sleep Tight, and Factory Direct and they all carried similar brands. We currently have a standard Full Certa(not sure model) that is about 2 years old and it is just overall not comfortable anymore. I have started to develop some sciatic problems(I don’t think it is due to the bed), and my wife has had spinal fusion from scoliosis when she was younger.

Of all the mattresses we seemed to like two the best: Also, we are looking for a Cal King as we would like a bigger bed, but the width of a King is pushing it for the size of our bedroom.

#1 Sealy Classic 800 - Kate - Plush Super Pillow Top - Cal King - Set for $1879. We both liked the softness of the plush top and found it overall to have the firmness and comfort we were looking for. I have heard that a lot of plush tops end up sagging over time and we definitely want to stay away from that!

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#2 Sealy Optimum Elation - Cal King - $3499. I really liked the feel for this bed, it felt like the right median of firm and soft. My wife did not like it at first, but after about 10 minutes of laying in the bed, she started to like it as well. We have layed in other memory foam beds(Temperpedic mostly) and did not like them, they all felt too firm and we sunk into the bed too far, making it uncomfortable. However, Phoenix, I have read your big post on this made and what it is composed of and I really don’t want to spend $3500 on a bed I will have to replace after a few years.

#3 My Side Series 7GL - Cal King - $4099. We also really liked this mattress, but I could not find much info on it. I believe it was a latex mattress with some sort of cooling technology(which I am a hot sleeper, but my wife is always cold!). The price of the mattress is really on the high side of what we were wanting to spend, but if it was a quality mattress that would last and give us great quality sleep, I wouldn’t have too much of a problem.

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My question is, I know what we shouldn’t be looking for, but how do I find a bed that is constructed with quality foam? I know there is a Denver Mattress Co in Burlington Iowa, I looked on their website and was not sure what to look for. Any help on guiding us to purchase a quality mattress would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

Hi sethmo,

The first place I would start is post #1 here and the information it links to. This will give you the basic information you need and help you eliminate the worst choices (such as the major brands you are looking at) and focus on the better ones.

You are in a fairly out of the way place and most of the lists in the forum are over 100 miles away, so once I am somewhat caught up on the forum I’ll take a look in your area to see if there are any possibilities closer to you that may have some better options than the ones you are looking at.

In the meantime I would start with Denver Mattress and look at the mattresses that they make themselves and not the major brands they also carry. They are better quality and value compared to the major brands and they also disclose the materials in their mattresses so you can make meaningful comparisons with other mattresses.

Phoenix

3

Hi sethmo,

I had the chance to take a look and make a few calls around the area (within about a 50 mile radius) and here are some of the possibilities. I didn’t have the chance to have any more in depth conversations with them so you will still need to make sure on a store by store basis that they are able and willing to disclose the details of all the layers in their mattresses but I’ve included the brands I would at least consider at each retailer.

As the information I linked in the earlier post cautions … I would also avoid both Simmons (Beautyrest) and Kingsdown (MySide) because they won’t provide the details of what is in their mattresses and neither is good value.

http://www.superpages.com/bp/Nauvoo-IL/Kraus-Home-Furnishings-L0091349708.htm Nauvoo, IL. They carry Justice which is a smaller regional manufacturer that may have better quality and value. The models they carry re mostly traditional innerspring mattresses.

http://sleeptightmidwest.com/ Quincy, IL. Pure Latex Bliss (Nature, Nutrition), Englander (gel, latex, memory foam, and hybrids) and Anatomic global (memory foam).

http://www.mcgregorsfurniture.com/ Quincy, IL. Restonic (latex and gel)

Furniture Row® Store Locations - Store Hours & Addresses Burlington, Mount Pleasant, IA. Factory direct manufacturer. They have two mostly latex mattresses and some good quality innerspring mattresses that use better quality materials than most major manufacturers and are good value. I would focus on the mattresses they make and ignore the larger mainstream brands they also carry.

http://www.harveys-furniture.com/ShopBy.inc Quincy, IL. Bemco (incl memory foam and latex).

http://www.yelp.com/biz/discount-furniture-and-bedding-macomb Macomb, IL. Talked with Jeff (owner) and they also sell Bemco. They will also call the factory to find out any specs of the materials they don’t have.

http://www.wileysinteriors.com/default.asp Mount Pleasant, IA. Restonic (incl gel memory foam but none of their latex).

Hope this helps narrow things down a bit.

The most important of successful mattress shopping is to make sure you are dealing with a retailer or manufacturer that is both able and willing to disclose the quality details of every layer in a mattress you are considering including the density of any memory foam and polyfoam in the mattress and the type and blend of any latex. They should also be able to “translate” this information for you and educate you about which materials are better quality and why but if not then feel free to list the layers on the forum and I’d be happy to give you my thoughts.

Phoenix