New Mattress Decision, down to three options (IKEA, Sleep EZ, Innerspring)!

[phoenix]

Hi arx,

Innerspring: Everybody seems to hate this kind of bed, seen as the least durable and cost effective. The only option is a hard mattress with no extra padding, as the padding tends to sag quickly. This mattress is in the running, just because it’s so cheap.

I am certainly not included in “everybody” and some of the most knowledgeable people I know in the industry that could sleep on anything they wanted to sleep on an innerspring mattress … by choice. The “weak link” of a mattress is generally in the comfort layers not the support layers of a mattress and a good quality innerspring can be a very durable component. A mattress will normally soften and break down from the top down and an innerspring is not normally the weak link of a mattress and are not nearly as common an issue as the quality of the comfort layers above it.

Memory Foam: There seems to be a lot of belief that this type of mattress can be potentially toxic and gas-off VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which have been shown to have adverse health effects. Whether or not that’s the case remains to be seen, but why take the chance and be a guinea pig, after all it’s plausible (see asbestos). So this type of mattress is out.

There are certainly some people who believe this but there are also many who believe that anything that includes any synthetic materials must “by definition” be toxic which is of course nonsense. There are also many types of memory foam with different chemical formulations that have different degrees of offgassing and VOC’s but since all materials will have VOC’s the real issue is whether they are harmful more than whether they exist. For the most part if a memory foam is certified by CertiPur (or a similar testing protocol) then by most people’s standards it would be “safe enough” although there are also a minority with greater sensitivity who may be more sensitive than the testing standards or sensitive to odors that aren’t harmful and there is also a vocal minority who for personal reasons will only sleep on natural materials and believe anything else is unhealthy. Either way … all of this is a personal preference and each person may answer the question of “how safe is safe enough for me?” in different ways.

Latex: The undisputed champion of preferred mattresses, unless you’re allergic or hate the feel. Supposed to be the most durable (no sagging and lasts the longest), as such it is the most expensive. Except there’s one issue…they are difficult to find in major retail stores. Typically consumers go with online retailers, which provide much cheaper prices, the obvious downfall is that the bed can’t be tested. Sounds perfect, but I remain skeptical.

Latex certainly has a lot of characteristics that make it a very desirable material in mattress construction for those who prefer it. As you mentioned they are more difficult to find in mainstream stores but much easier to find following the suggestions on this site and are often made by smaller independent manufacturers. Some of the better latex options are either made by local or regional manufacturers and sold either factory direct or through better sleep shops or as you mentioned are sold online.

I find myself skeptical on latex because there are no verified reviews of any of the latex mattresses I’m considering.

Reviews are among the worst ways to choose a mattress or to know it’s quality or durability but if you know the materials inside a mattress you will have a much more meaningful idea of its durability. You can read more about mattress reviews in post #13 here. Regardless of which mattress manufacturer uses it … it’s not the brand or model name of the mattress that gives it its durability … it’s the materials inside the mattress. Latex itself is the oldest of all the foam materials used in mattresses and has been used for many decades. You can see a latex mattress in the video here that was slept on for almost 50 years.

In the case of SleepEz there are many reviews around the internet and a forum search on SleepEz here (you can just click this) will also bring up many comments and feedback about them although once again reviews won’t tell you anything about how suitable a mattress will be for you or how long it may last you (you can read more about the factors involved in the relative durability of a mattress in post #4 here).

Out of the mattresses you mentioned … Ikea and SleepEz have no obvious weak links in terms of quality and durability and both could make a good choice if the design was suitable for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).

The “generic innerspring” would depend entirely on knowing the specifics of all the layers but if you are looking at a major brand then the odds are very high that there are significant amounts of lower quality polyfoam in the comfort layers. there are some very good quality “generic innerspring” mattresses available but in general they are made by smaller independent manufacturers that use higher quality versions of polyfoam in their comfort layers and/or make their mattresses two sided. As you can see in some of the links in the basic tutorial post here … you would need to know the exact materials in a specific mattress to make any meaningful comments about its quality or durability but if it’s made by a major brand I would tend to avoid it.

If not, I’m open to suggestions for other latex mattresses with verified reviews (except Savvy Rest, too expensive) and also opinions on the above choices.

If you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know of any of the better local options or possibilities I’m aware of and the tutorial post has a link to the online members here that make latex mattresses in a wide range of designs … all of which are good quality/value and well worth a phone call.

Phoenix