I’m new here, but I know how user-driven forums work, and I’ve dug in enough that I’m confident that I’ve done the searches and thread research. What I’m going to do is list a few questions/issues and check my thinking with this awesome resource. I’m not saying my questions are new, but perhaps they will be concise and generally useful. The kind of post that invites answers in between the questions. So here goes:
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Here is the easy one. Avoid the “S” makers. Sealy, SImmons, Serta, Sterns and Foster, and probably Saatva. Got it.
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ignore the youtube reviewers and pay attention to the “ingredients”. The kind and gauge of coils, the kind (and extent) of foam," latex or semi-latex. (i’ll unpack this one below)
Dunlop vs. Talalay. I get that latex is going to hold up longer – but how important is this, and how much (at which layers) is best?
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there seems to be an enthusiastic DIY community here. Either building one from scratch yourself, or fixing an existing. Cool. But that’s not for me. Maybe in 12 years, when I’m retired. but not now. Frankly, it sounds a lot like rebuilding a carburetor to save $500. I tried that once. It eventually worked, but I paid a lot more in parts and tools. And I have no idea how to value my time back in my 20s. I’m not prepared for a new obsession/hobby. Am I wrong?
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I’ve spent about 3 days reading and searching, and I really value the neutrality and non-bias of Phoenix. BUT besides a ton of “think twice” warnings, I’m not seeing actual positive recommendations, other than working with a “trusted partner”. As biased as they may be, there are “best mattress of me” choice tools out there. Is that really awful?
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I’m not the first, by any means, to complain about the misinformation of the “review sphere” online. I will ask one simple question. I’m 330, 6"2, married (and my wife is pretty heavy too – I don’t ask). I’m a side sleeper. I only toss/turn because my hips and shoulders are increasingly uncomfortable on my 20-y-o high end beauty rest. I’ve done as much research as I reasonably could, and I’m thinking the winkbed plus is the best choice. My question is, can anyone suggest a (potentially) better alternative?
Hi robberbar.
Welcome to our Mattress Forum. 
All great questions. I’ll do my best to see what I can answer for you.
Latex is, above all, a preference. So while generally most durable, some people hate it and don’t want anything to do with it. That’s fine. There are infinite numbers of mattresses out there in the world that contain no latex so the importance is relative, really. As for how much latex and in which layers, this is going to be dictated by one’s height/weight/sleeping positions and how deeply they need to sink into the mattress for adequate support without hurting alignment.
Some people get their DIYs done super fast and have great luck in not needing to do any component or layer exchanges. I’d say they are few and far between. Most people take a lot of time collecting data points and doing layer exchanges (for both firmness/softness and layer thickness) fine tuning the mattress into their perfect fit. You’re not wrong in that for some people, this can be a journey of several years. Not everyone has the time or desire to devote to a DIY.
As a rule, we tend not to make recommendations outside of our Trusted Members because we haven’t had the opportunity to investigate those companies in terms of their quality, durability, transparency, customer service, etc. That said, we know there are MANY great companies out there that are not on our list and we’re always happy to check out and review a mattress from a non Trusted Member in terms of durability. As for the best mattress tools, Sleep EZ who is one of our Trusted Member employs a tool like this. My Green Mattress/Quality Sleep Shop have quick surveys on their sites to help align you with a best fit from their stock as well. In my personal opinion, I’d say that these tools can be helpful in narrowing down choices assuming you don’t have some sort of injury or other extreme need that may put you outside of an algorithm that tries to cater to the widest possible audience.
Based on what I could find in reference to the specs of this mattress, I’d say it’s a perfectly acceptable in terms of durability…assuming their “anti-sag” foam is truly made with a high density foam and not some cheap polyfoam. They don’t disclose much about it, so I can’t say for sure. That said, it would be counter intuitive of them to put a low quality foam atop latex. As for an alternative, the only option that comes to mind is the Flobeds Big and Tall mattress which is all-latex. I don’t know that I’d say it’s better since I’ve not tried either of these mattresses myself, but it’s an alternative.
NikkiTMU