Novice buyer in Houston TX

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

We moved into our first house last year and are now looking for new bedroom furniture in earnest. Our 9 yr old Simmons Beautyrest innerspring mattress feels very uncomfortable now. I can feel the individual springs through the 3" Costco Novaform gel topper.

We are looking to upgrade to a king bed and a better mattress. So far, we have tried a few memory foam mattresses and liked Serta iComfort Genius and Prodigy. I am partial to the slightly softer feel of Prodigy while my wife likes the more firm feel of the Genius. We visited a nearby Mattress Firm store where they informed us of 120 day exchange policy and they were willing to include the box spring and frame for $1999. I don’t think that I need a box spring or frame as the contemporary bed we are planning to get is a platform type.

My concern is that we may be getting a mattress that we wouldn’t find comfortable or good value for money within a few weeks and the small print may have us stuck with an expensive mistake. I have no experience or feedback regarding Mattress Firm. The Simmons was purchased from Gallery Furniture with the queen bed.

Among other options I am considering are a Tranquility GEL from Bed in a Box (as recommended by Sleep Like the Dead website) OR a mattress by Brooklyn Bedding. I haven’t spent much time yet to know which mattress from from Brooklyn Bedding would work for us.

Also, I am hoping to purchase the mattress by next Sunday Feb 23, 2014 as we have a couple of friends arriving to stay next week. Planning to get our bedroom set up and move the queen bed into the guest bedroom by then.

I am not interested in getting a custom mattress or spending days researching the mattress materials and construction. My budget is around $2000 and I am interested in a durable and reliable mattress. I am back/side sleeper and my wife is side/stomach sleeper.

Any feedback and advice will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

2

Hi Rogueskywalker,

The first place I would start your research is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how to avoid the worst ones (including major brands such as Serta and the chain stores that focus on them). An exchange policy has little value if there aren’t any good quality or value mattresses to exchange for. There have been many members that have come here because they were “stuck” in between a rock and a hard place with a mattress purchased from a chain store such as Mattress Firm that wasn’t a good match for them and they didn’t have any good quality/value options to exchange for.

You can read my comments about Bedinabox in post #2 here. As you can also see in post #13 here … mattress reviews (or mattress review sites) are among the worst ways to buy a mattress since the large majority of the reviews are written right after a purchase, a mattress that works well for one person may be completely unsuitable for another person to sleep on, and most reviewers have little to no knowledge of the construction or the quality of the materials in the mattress they just purchased.

Outside of how well a mattress matches your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) … the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is the quality of the construction and materials in the mattress you purchase.

Brooklyn Bedding is one of the members of the site which means that I believe they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of quality, value, and service and they are completely transparent about the materials in their mattress. Once you are clear about the type of mattresses and materials that you tend to prefer (and it seems you may be leaning towards memory foam although I don’t know if you’ve tried other materials) they would be well worth talking with about which of their mattresses may be the best choice for you.

Some of the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Houston area are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix

3

Phoenix,

After reading around further I purchased a king size 10" mattress from Tuft and Needle. However, I slept on it only for 2 nights and found it too firm with very little “give” and no feeling of comfort. They asked me to return it by donating it to a local charity, which I did and got the refund. Two thumbs up for Tuft and Needle on their responsiveness and return policy.

I decided against Brooklyn Bedding and Bed in a Box as they use polyfoams in their mattresses which were more expensive than the tuft and Needle.

Subsequently, I bought king size latex mattress from the Houston Mattress Factory with these specs:

6" Trizone Dunlop base layer
3" thk 26 ILD Talalay layer
2" Aerus cooling gel foam
Wrapped in a synthetic FR fabric (“sock” as called by Michael Anderson)
Velour cover

… priced at ~$2150.

On Michael’s recommendation, I laid two 1/2" plywood sheets on top of my platform bed so that the “slats” did not cut into the latex.

However, I was terribly disappointed that I could not sleep om the mattress for longer than 4 hours continuously. I slept on the mattress for only 2 nights. We go to bed around 10 pm and I woke on both the nights between 2 and 3 am with numbness in my shoulders, back and upper arms. (I am a back sleeper.)

Being unable to sleep again, I had a lot of time to analyze what may have been causing the pain. My hypothesis is that my butt and head are supported on relatively firmer latex foam, i.e. middle portion of the tri-zone and the latex pillow, respectively. Thereby causing my back and shoulders to be on the softer latex. As a result, my back and shoulders sag into the softer latex of the trizone.

My wife did not experience the same issue, but she is a side sleeper so the sagging effect I describe above is probably not apparent to her. Regardless, I am the one not sleeping well.

Interestingly, this effect of sagging into the softer zone of the tri-zone was not obvious in the 20 minutes or so that I spent testing the bed at HMF.

Both wife and I are interested in getting the mattress modified to suit our needs better. Micheal Anderson of HMF has expressed his interest and willingness to modify the mattress many times. So, I took the mattress to him on Friday (with great difficulty) and earlier had discussed how to modify the mattress.

For one, we definitely have to get it firmer so I don’t “sag” or “sink”. I am also questioning the need for the tri-zone. I am also curious about what the Aerus cooling gel foam brings to the table. I am inclined to think that we could do away with both the tri-zone (replacing it with a uniform density all over) as well as the Aerus foam. However, Michael is digging his heels in on replacing the trizone for some reason. He states that my wife and I do not weigh enough to sense the softer zone in the tri-zone. For some reason, he either does not believe me or thinks that I am mistaken.

My issue is that I do not have the patience or the stamina to keep hauling the mattress back and forth to get it just right. The sagging issue was not obvious until I slept for 4+ hours in the bed. So I am wary that any quickfix solution may not help me. I have already paid a fortune for this mattress and I am still hoping that I didn’t end up buying a lot of physical and mental anguish in getting the mattress tuned right by hauling it back and forth.

Please help with feedback, insights, experience and advice.

Regards,
R.

4

Hi Ropgueskywalker,

One of the great things about Tuft & Needle is that their return policy makes trying their mattress risk free. Thanks for sharing your feedback :slight_smile:

They both use polyfoam in their mattresses but they aren’t polyfoam mattresses like the Tuft & Needle. Bed in a Box makes either memory foam mattresses (which are memory foam over polyfoam) or a latex hybrid mattress (latex over polyfoam) and Brooklyn Bedding makes a wide range of mattresses (including memory foam and latex mattresses) but neither one of them makes a polyfoam mattress like Tuft & Needle. Brooklyn Bedding’s sister company Dreamfoam Bedding does make a polyfoam mattress (their 12 in 1 customizable here) which can be customized in many ways. Memory foam and latex are more costly materials than polyfoam so they will be in higher budget ranges than a polyfoam mattress.

[quote]However, I was terribly disappointed that I could not sleep om the mattress for longer than 4 hours continuously. I slept on the mattress for only 2 nights. We go to bed around 10 pm and I woke on both the nights between 2 and 3 am with numbness in my shoulders, back and upper arms. (I am a back sleeper.)

Being unable to sleep again, I had a lot of time to analyze what may have been causing the pain. My hypothesis is that my butt and head are supported on relatively firmer latex foam, i.e. middle portion of the tri-zone and the latex pillow, respectively. Thereby causing my back and shoulders to be on the softer latex. As a result, my back and shoulders sag into the softer latex of the trizone.[/quote]

Post #2 here and the posts it links to have more about the more common “symptoms” that can happen on a mattress and some of the possible underlying causes behind them that may be helpful but there isn’t a formula that can be used that is reliable (just like a medical professional diagnosing back issues … every symptom can have many causes).

If I had to guess I would say that the most likely cause of your symptoms would either be a pillow issue or an issue with comfort layers that are too thick and soft for you.

I would doubt that the issue is in the support core of your mattress or that your upper body is “sagging” into the softer zone (it’s much more likely that you are sagging into the comfort layers). I have also seen some comments that the mattresses they have in the showroom are wrapped in plastic so if this was the case with you as well this may also have had some effect on how the mattress felt or performed when you tested it.

I would agree that outside of a pillow issue … the most likely cause of your issues are probably in the thickness and softness or the mix of materials in the comfort layers … not in the support core. The zoning differential in the support core wouldn’t be that significant and in the large majority of cases a slightly firmer center zone would be more beneficial or at least “neutral” than it would be detrimental … particularly for back sleepers.

In most cases a manufacturer will have much more knowledge and experience about the effect of different changes than their customers and I would generally suggest that the “most effective” approach for a consumer is to describe their “symptoms” and then let the manufacturer take the lead with the type of changes that have the best chance of “solving” the symptoms you are describing and in this case I would tend to agree with their assessment. It’s not really a matter of “belief” that you are experiencing the symptoms you are experiencing but more that they would have much more knowledge than you do about the the type of changes that are most likely to be an effective solution.

Phoenix