Not happy with current mattress

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi Phoenix,

I purchased a clearance mattress from US-Mattress about 5 weeks ago after doing some local comparisons at different stores and reading some reviews at sleeplikethedead. I’m a stomach/back sleeper and have been on a VERY firm mattress, but I wanted something a little softer. I ended up buying the Simmons Comforpedic Loft, but underestimated the softness of the mattress model (I purchased what US-Mattress calls the Olneyville). I went back and layed on different beds today and I think I found the firmness level I like. Both the iComfort Genius and Comforpedic Nasonville feel about right. After reading this forum, I see that the Comforpedic series and iComfort series are not good values. I can’t return the mattress, but I can exchange it once. Do you have a recommendation on a mattress carried by US-Mattress that would be comparable to the Genius or Nasonville, but a better quality or value? Thanks!

2

Hi Tbone1969442,

US Mattress has quite a few mattresses that would be better quality and value than either the iComforts or the Comforpedic but unfortunately the only way to know how they may compare in “feel” for you would be to lie on the mattress or trust someone else’s description (which can be very risky and subjective). Other people’s rating for a mattress may have little to do with how it will feel for you. Most of their better value mattresses are also not memory foam or if they are they are low/mid quality like the comforpedic and iComfort but are better priced (meaning similar quality but better value).

How a mattress feels to each person can be very different depending on their body type, sleeping style, and individual subjective perceptions and two different mattresses with different components may feel the same for one person but very different for another. Complex layerings are even more difficult to “predict” or duplicate without personally testing each mattress.

There is more about the difficulties involved in “matching” the subjective feel of different mattresses in post #2 here and in post #2 here.

As you can see … matching two mattresses is mostly dependent on the knowledge and experience of the person selling it and on their familiarity with the “feel” of both. In the case of US Mattress … many of their mattresses are “rated” for comfort and while this is only an approximation (and only deals with the overall feel and not the specific qualities of pressure relief and support which are independent of each other) … it would be about as close as you could get (hopefully with the help of a knowledgeable salesperson) in the absence of more specific information about the layers of each mattress you are comparing. They also dopn’t rate some of the smaller brands they carry. Unfortunately this is part of the risk of many online purchases (especially when there are few options available except exchanging a complete mattress rather than a layer exchange if you guess wrong).

Since they rate both the Nasonville and the Genius as a 4.5 … I would look for memory foam mattresses on their site with a similar rating that used higher quality materials (and they are better than most at listing the layers although they are sometimes wrong and are mostly incomplete).

Out of the mattresses they have listed … some of your options (with a few comments) include …

http://www.us-mattress.com/corsicana-gel-8610-queen.html Rated a 4.5. There is no information about the quality of the layers of this mattress but it’s probably similar to the iComforts which would mean it has better value. There is no way to know without knowing more about the specs of each layer.

http://www.us-mattress.com/spring-air-exquisite-gel-king.html Rated a 5. This uses a high quality gel foam (GFlex) but there is no information about the quality/density of the polyfoam layers underneath it.

http://www.us-mattress.com/dormia-savannah-plush-twin.html Rated a 4. No information about any of the layers.

http://www.us-mattress.com/natures-sleep-11-memory-foam-queen.html Uses high quality memory foam and base layers but not rated in their firmness scale

http://www.us-mattress.com/natures-sleep-12-memory-foam-queen.html Uses high quality memory foam and base foam but also not rated in their firmness scale

http://www.us-mattress.com/sealy-motivation-cal-king.html Rated a 4. The prices have been lowered because they are being replaced by the Optimum and this uses good quality memory foam (only 1/2" quilting layer of lower density) but it uses their lower quality/density base layer (similar to the iComfort).

http://www.us-mattress.com/clear-sdmi0912bk-prophecy-q.html Rated a 5. Uses some mid quality memory foam (4 lb) and some higher quality memory foam (5 and7 lbs) and their higher quality engineered base

Ecosleep: They don’t provide information about the quality of the layers of most of these and they don’t rate them for comfort but they are usually mid quality (4 lb) and have better than average value. Their acellaflex base layers are good quality

So none of these have enough information to really know their quality/value or the comparative feel for sure and the only thing you have to go on as far as “matching” your mattress is a vague comfort rating but this may at least narrow down your options and with a conversation on the phone perhaps you can “fill in” some of the missing information.

Phoenix

3

Thanks for the quick and thorough response! It seems that a lot of the mattresses use high(er) density top layers, but the base layer density is very low. You had pointed out the Nature’s Sleep models as using high quality foam and base layers, but the base layer is still only 2.2lbs. I can’t find the details, but is it likely that the base layers in Sealy Embody, Simmons Comforpedic and Serta iComfort all use lower quality 2-3lb polyfoam?

Would you consider the quality of the Sealy Prophecy to be enough better than the Nature’s Sleep line to warrant twice the price? Thanks again!

4

Hi Tbone1969442,

This is actually among the higher quality polyfoam support layers that you will generally find. Most mattresses use lower quality polyfoam than this (Including Simmons and Serta and Sealy uses both lower quality and similar quality depending on the mattress). Don’t forget that memory foam density and polyfoam density are very different and for example 3 lb polyfoam is exceptionally high quality (which you will never find in a mainstream mattress) while 3 lb memory foam is very low quality. The iComfort base layers for example are 1.5 lb density which is lower quality polyfoam.

The Nature’s Sleep uses higher quality base layers than the lower end Embody mattresses and similar to the higher end Embody base layers. The memory foam layers on top are similar quality in both although they are layered differently and the Sealy has more memory foam in it so its not really an apples to apples comparison. I would have to say no though but it would depend on which one was a better “fit” in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) and how they would “rate” the Nature’s Sleep mattresses which would be just as important to me as the relative “value” of each.

Phoenix