Hello,
I am glad I found this great forum here.
Since two weeks now I am researching, test laying and reading all about mattresses.
The more I read the more I get confused and hesitant to buy a mattress.
I finally came to the Serta IComfort. It was firm which I liked a lot. Raised in Europe I like firm mattresses. Instead of buying it I decided to do a research for this mattress too. So I cam to this forum, reading a thread from an admin saying that this expensive mattrass is about the same on like the Novaform from cosco.
Now I am more confused than ever.
I would need some recommendation on which mattress I can buy at a price range to $1200. Queen size.
I am 5’7" and my weight is 220lbs. (no, I am not fat, I am a power lifter)
I need a firm mattress which is not saging after a few month.
Thank you for any help.
Hi Agent Smith,
With your heavier weight I would make sure that the materials inside your mattress are very durable. The iComfort is not a great choice IMO but the Novaform would likely be even worse because it is a similar material but the density is lower than the iComfort meaning that especially with a heavier weight it will be even less durable.
The most effective first step in looking for a mattress is usually to focus on local manufacturing whenever possible. As a rule, they not only use higher quality materials than larger brands but sell their mattresses at lower prices. As a group they are much more knowledgeable about mattresses and how to fit them to each individual and more importantly they will tell you the truth about the materials in their mattress and how durable they really are. Many of them can even customize a mattress to accommodate heavier weights or specific needs (I would imagine for example that your upper body is both wider and heavier than the norm which could change the layering that would work best for you).
Here are a few mattress shopping guidelines that hopefully will help steer you away from major brands and chain store types of outlets and the traps and questionable materials and sales tactics that so many of them use.
If you let me know which city you are in I’d be happy to see if I know of any local factory direct outlets or sleep shops in your area.
Phoenix
Hello Phoenix,
thank you for your reply.
I never thought that is would be really that difficult.
I have found two local manufacturer here in Nashville, TN, but both do not look like they were made for me either.
One is Capitol City Mattress http://www.fluffo.com
and the other one is Southerland http://www.southerlandsleep.com
Capitol City Mattress uses only innersprings and I read that is not a good choice.
Southerland mattresses are only available through dealer, means they price it up. Southerland mattresses starts at $1300 and go up to $3000 which I think is ridiculous for spring matresses.
Hi Agent smith,
Hopefully post #7 in this thread will help you out a little bit.
I also agree with your comments about both Fluffo and Southerland.
Fluffo is not “typical” of many local factory direct manufacturers in that they don’t offer latex as a choice and seem to be less materials focused. They do offer memory foam without innersprings though. I suspect that their polyfoam may be higher density than larger manufacturers but I would want to confirm this before I purchased anything from them.
I don’t think that “innersprings” are a real problem though in most of the mattresses sold today because the “weak link” of most of these mattresses is the foam above the innersprings rather than the springs themselves. Many people blame the innersprings for the premature sagging or softening of their mattress when the real culprit is the foam that was used above it. Of course there are some poor quality innersprings as well in the lowest budget ranges but innersprings themselves are not nearly as big an issue as low density foam.
Southerland does make some latex and polyfoam mattresses but the prices (as shown here) I have seen seem to indicate that in some outlets (not all) they are somewhat overpriced and should be heavily discounted to put them in a reasonable “value” range. If they were available at lower prices or if the listed prices I’ve seen in some outlets were lower, they may be worth considering. Some thoughts about them are in post #2 here.
Overall you have some better local choices but it may well worth using your better local options as a testing ground to decide on a “prototype” for an online purchase depending on the prices you encounter compared to similar mattresses available online.
Phoenix
Phoenix, I read everyhting what you recommended and made some notes. I will go today to the smaller mattress stores here in Nashville and bother them with my questions. Hopefully I can do it right.