New king mattress

Hi,

I am buying a new king mattress in the Atlanta area. I’ve spent some time on this forum perusing, which has been very helpful.

I also went to Macy’s to try several mattresses. We have two favorites:

  1. Stearns and Foster Scarborough Lux Firm - $2100
  2. TempurPedic Contour Signature - $3000

We’d ideally like the TempurPedic, but want to spend $2000 or less.

Based on those 2 mattresses that we like, does anyone have recs? It seems that the SleepEz would be a great contender if we went memory foam. Is that as good as Tempur?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Hi aredman71,

The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

The Stearns & Foster isn’t a useful reference point that you could use to choose another mattress and I certainly wouldn’t consider buying it but the tutorial post includes a link to a list of the better options I’m aware of for memory foam mattresses and several of them make mattresses that are designed to be reasonable approximations of many of the Tempurpedic mattresses.

SleepEZ certainly makes some great quality mattresses and they are a member of the site which means that I believe they compete well with the best in the industry but they specialize in latex not in memory foam and these are very different materials (although they do provide the option of replacing the top layer of some of their latex mattresses with memory foam). There is more about how memory foam compares to latex in post #2 here.

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Atlanta area are (subject to following all the steps in the tutorial post) are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix

Thanks for your quick reply! Very helpful! We’ve done a lot of reading on your site and also have explored a number of companies.

We are leaning towards a memory foam from Brooklyn Bedding, Rocky Mountain, or Select Foam.

I do not see RMM or Select Foam listed on CertiPur, so I am leaning towards BB. But maybe I am missing something, because I see you’ve listed RMM and SF as recommended and best of the best. Thoughts?

Also, do you have any posts or thoughts on deciding on the amount of foam. We prefer a slightly firmer mattress. I am 190 lbs and my wife is 120.

Thanks again!

Hi aredman71,

Both Rocky Mountain Mattress and Select Foam use foams that are manufactured by North American foam manufacturers that are CertiPur certified even though they themselves aren’t (see the guidelines here).

Nobody else can feel what you feel and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to use specs (either yours or a mattress) or "theory at a distance to predict which mattress would be the best match for someone else in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences). When you can’t test a mattress in person then the best approach would be a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced online manufacturer who can help “talk you through” the options they have that have the best chance of success for you and who will know more about their own mattresses and “matching” their mattresses to different body types and sleeping positions based on the “averages” of their customers than anyone else (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

Phoenix

Thank you.

One clarification - I see that RMM uses Bayer in the mattresses that I am looking at. And I don’t see Bayer listed on CertiPur. Is that correct and would you not recommend Bayer for that reason?

Thanks!

Hi aredman71,

Bayer is one of the chemical suppliers that foam manufacturers use to make their foam … they aren’t on the CertiPur list because they don’t pour the actual foam. For example you can see Softcel polyols here and Ultracel polyols here (Polyols are one of the two main chemicals used to make polyurethane foam).

Bayer is one of the largest chemical suppliers to the foam manufacturing industry.

All the Rocky Mountain foams are made in the US and would be fine.

Phoenix

Hi all,

I’m down to 2. Same price point at BB and SelectFoam - basically they’re versions of the Temper Rhapsody.

Any recs on going with BB vs SelectFoam? I won’t be able to lay on either, but do believe both would meet our preferences / needs. So ultimately it comes down to quality of the product and service. Both seem like good options. Any thoughts?

http://www.brooklynbedding.com/memory-foam-mattresses/cool-symphony-memory-foam

http://www.selectfoam.com/cat-regalis-luxe-coolmax.html

Thanks!

Hi aredman71,

When you are down to final choices that are between “good and good” and there are no clear winners between them then I would use the suggestions in post #2 here to help you decide but it will really come down to a matter of “best judgement” based on all the objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you or on which one you find yourself leaning towards based on your conversations.

I would also keep in mind that while both would make great quality/value choices … Select Foam has had some history of delays in communication and customer service lapses for the minority of their customers that have issues that come up after a sale (see my comments here and some examples here and here and here). They have always been resolved to my knowledge but they they tend to take too long or communication is sometimes poor and these types of issues can be a source of significant frustration for the minority of their customers that experience them (and for me as well).

Phoenix