New users here Question Did Make a HUGE Mistake ?

So my mattress was 14 years old time to get rid if it. I was a young teen maybe 15 and I had no choice in its selection it served me well until a year ago the cave in I had no back support a 3 inch 4lb memory foam topper helped for about 6 months but too soft. For a back stomach sleeper like me.

So I purchase a Knotty Pines Luxury Firm Euro Pillowtop at Macys it feels good Firm but not hard at the store 825 Coils 13.75 guage Sealy Postuerpedic Plus and boxspring. Not much memory foam.

When it arrives its hard as a rock the store model must have been broken in. and was softer.

So I exchange it for a Beautyrest WorldClass Teagan Tight Top Luxury Firm 1000 coils 14 coil guage and much more memory foam than the Sealy.

Questions are did I go too soft ? felt good to me

Did I step down in quality ?

Before the Macys comments I use to work there a few years ago had hundreds in store credit and rewards I used that to buy a mattress in my budget. 12 month no interest.

Hi IceCold,

The first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress. There are just too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

The major brands such as Sealy (that makes Posturepedic), Stearns & Foster, Simmons (that makes Beautyrest), and Serta all tend to use lower quality materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay which is why I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely (regardless of how they may feel in a showroom) along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).

While again nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP which is the most important part of “value”, the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

Unlike many other more transparent manufacturers, Sealy and Simmons don’t normally provide specific information about the quality/density of the foam layers in their mattresses it’s not possible to know which of the two mattresses use higher quality/density and more durable materials than the other but it would be safe to assume that both of them use materials that are lower quality/density and less durable than the guidelines I would normally suggest.

Phoenix

ok thank you for the response so much to know. I thought coil county and guage I was ahead of the curve. But foam weight and density got it.

Hi IceCold,

I would be very cautious using wire gauge or coil count as a way to determine the quality, durability, or value of a mattress because the foam layers above the innerspring are usually the weakest link in a mattress, not the innerspring itself, and the gauge of the wire and the number of coils is only one of many variables that can affect how a particular innerspring will feel and perform inside a specific mattress design and can be more misleading than helpful.

The total amount of steel in an innerspring would probably be a much more important spec that could be used to compare the durability of innersprings (although this would also be somewhat misleading) but unfortunately this isn’t a spec that mattress companies provide and again the innersprings aren’t the weakest link relative to the durability of a mattress anyway. There is more about the different types of innersprings in this article and in post #10 here.

The specifications you need to know to be able to assess whether there are any lower quality materials or weak links that would compromise and reduce the durability and useful life of a mattress are in this article.

Any type of blend of latex in the layers above the springs will be a very durable material although I would still want to know the type and blend of the latex so that you can make more meaningful comparisons with other mattresses.

In the case of polyfoam and memory foam then foam density is the single most important factor in durability and is what you would need to know.

With major brand mattresses (Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, Serta) it will usually be difficult if not impossible to find out the information you need to know to make an informed choice but in those much more rare cases where you are able to find out you will find that in almost every case they all use too much lower quality/density materials which will soften or break down much too quickly.

Phoenix

So without too much trouble I need 2 mattress brands that

A. List the foam weight/ density
B. Use innersprings
C. Use some type of natural latex.

Hi IceCold,

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article). The best way to know which type of materials or which type of mattresses you may tend to prefer in general terms will be based on your own careful testing and personal experience because different people can have very different preferences.

I would also be very cautious about brand shopping in general because you are buying a specific mattress not the brand and most manufacturers have access to the same or similar components and materials. Many manufacturers make a wide range of mattresses that can vary from lower quality and less durable materials to higher quality and more durable materials in a wide range of prices. The name of the manufacturer on the label or the price of the mattress won’t tell you anything about whether a specific mattress is suitable for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or whether there are any lower quality materials or weak links in the design that would affect the durability and useful life of the mattress. There is more about the risks of brand shopping in post #5 here and post #12 here.

What you are looking for is a retailer or manufacturer that sells to the public (not a wholesale manufacturer that sells to stores) that can provide you with the specs of their mattresses.

If you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.

I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses or their specs that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor or have available online (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the local lists is always a good idea before you decide on which retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with anyway. This will tell you which of them carry mattresses that would meet your specific criteria, are transparent about the materials in their mattresses, and that carry the type of mattresses that you are interested in that are also in the budget range you are comfortable with. Once you have checked their websites and/or talked with the ones that interest you then you will be in a much better position to decide on the ones that you are most interested in considering or visiting based on the results of your preliminary research and conversations.

In its simplest form choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …

  1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.

  2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.

  3. Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix