Almost a year after starting a search for a new mattress I am, yet again, starting all over.
For the uninitiated we bought a top of the line 15" Sterns & Foster mattress from Mattress Firm that was worthless after less than a year. After a lot of reading here we purchased a 100% latex mattress hoping that would be our mattress for the next 8-10 years. Unfortunately, both my wife and I had terrible back pain from the latex regardless of the configuration or base we placed the mattress on.
Having returned the foam mattress we find ourselves seeking recommendations for where to go next.
My wife and I are in our early 50’s
I’m 5’10 170 lbs
Wife 5’1’ 110 lbs
I have chronic neck & lower back pain
Wife has shoulder & hip pain
I have sleep apnea and use CPAP therapy
Both of us have intermittent insomnia
We like a mattress that is plush, but very supportive in the lower back area and won’t develop body impressions after 6-months. After having slept on latex that had a lot of movement we would prefer something that limits bounce. That being said our short-term experience with memory foams had us feeling like turtles that could not turn over on the mattress, though this was many years ago. We were talking about this yesterday and my wife mentioned that she felt there has been nothing more comfortable than our waterbed we had years ago. While true, I reminded her we were in our 20’s and early 30’s when we had that mattress and had a lot pain in our joints. She mentioned taking a look at the air beds, but I have read horror stories about deflation, parts failing and poor warranty work. Plus they are not rated very highly here on TMU.
We live in a very rural area so there are not many places to go try out mattresses in person.
Having said all that. I am open to any and all suggestions & recommendations.
My advice in this situation would be to again follow the steps outlined in the mattress shopping tutorial here that I linked to quite some time ago.
With all of your feedback, it may be that you prefer something using a bit of latex (for durability) along with the addition of some memory foam (for motion transfer minimization). You also may wish to investigate a more “traditional” mattress using springs (pocketed springs can be assistive in minimizing motion transfer) and higher quality poly foam. If you do choose something using latex, based upon your previous comments, you probably would be best served not going with a complete latex mattress but one that uses other materials as well to address you preference for motion transfer and some of your wife’s previous comfort comments as well.
Other than that, I can certainly offer up some comments upon products you may be considering (how they might perform based upon your pervious comments and experiences), but I wouldn’t be able to make any specific suggestions for you.
(BTW, I was reading through your old thread and you may wish to place another edit on your post #9 here regarding the overall status of your dealings with Flexus, as it can be confusing for someone reading through everything.)
I tried to create a new post, but for some reason don’t see that function available to me any longer.
We purchased an Avocado bed (Latex/innerspring hybrid). I loved the bed, it provided unbelievable support especially in the lower back area. Unfortunately my wife was not as enamored with the mattress as she found the bed too hard and it did not provide her with the same support. (I would like to provide a full review of this bed if you think it will help your readers.)
So now we are headed down the road that was probably inevitable from the start and going to try an air mattress. My wife is leaning toward the Night Air 6670 from Boyd Sleep since it has a separate lumber support area. I called Boyd sleep to ask about the density and materials in their comfort layers from that bed, but the salesman told me it was proprietary and they couldn’t share that with me. I reached out to their corporate office, but have not heard anything back. Do you have any idea what these comfort layers are, the density and what type of quality they have?
2" Cooling MicroTec™ Gel Memory Foam Provides Targeted Contouring Support
1" Cooling GelLux™ Engineered Latex Foam Combines Liquid Gel with Engineered Latex for Cool, Responsive Comfort
Sorry that the Avocado is not a good match for your wife, but I am glad that you had such a positive experience with it at least you know what “your best” is. While Avocado uses good componentry it does not offer fine tuning adjusting options except for adding the pillow top so it is a bit of hit or miss in terms of matching the individual needs and preferences of any particular person. While it has not been discussed extensively on our side you can read a few comments in Post #2 here
Your contribution could be a perfect “mattress case study” for couples with different needs and preferences and I am sure that many of our visitors would find this real life example very instructive.(Feel free to include the complete set of specs either from the above link or AG) Other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can be very helpful and while I always encourage our members to share their experiences with a particular company or mattress, I make sure to point out that any such experiences are very subjective and that they are not a measure of suitability for anyone else but the “reviewer” themselves… because (as you already discovered) a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on.
I’m probably not the best source for airbed information because I am not a fan of airbeds as you can see in this article but post #3 here includes some of the airbed manufacturers that you may be interested in including in your research. This mattress has thermopolyurethane (TPU with) 6 air chambers (3 on each side of the bed) within a foam perimeter which offer some adjusting capabilities. While there aren’t any comments of feedback on the forum about the Night Air ultra-airbed they have a separate air chamber under the lumbar/pelvis area which can help offset any sagging in the middle of an airbed which can be a fairly common experience with airbeds … especially with softer settings. If you are set on the path of getting an air bed, Richmond Bedding, one of our trusted and expert members is offering quality alternatives to sleep number beds, so they’d be best to approach for some comparisons and guidance.
Just like with any mattress … you need to get the specific details. This means comparing the details between the air bladders and then especially comparing the details of the foams they use in the comfort layers (which will tend to be the weak link of a mattress).
Better manufacturers will always tell you the density of any memory foam or polyfoam they use and the type and blend of any latex. If they either can’t or won’t provide this information … you would be making a blind purchase with no way to know the quality or value of your purchase (at least as far as the comfort layers go) and I would tend to bypass them. I would also compare air bladder types, pumps, design and even the concept itself of why airbeds may work (or not) for your wife and the value of any zoning in the mattress (such as the ability to make the middle firmer) as well as the type of cover they use (which can be a significant part of the cost and contribute to temperature regulation) before you decide on what I consider to be a risky proposition.
If your wife is committed to an airbed and she convinced that there are no other types of mattresses that will meet her criteria then make sure to have a look at the other airbed options available to you that are listed above that may be worth researching and comparing
I look forward to your “case study” and your experience with AG and also to find out what where your aibed research lead you.
My recommendation would be to look for a mattress manufacturing company that may have the capability to create a his and hers mattress with slightly different feels on each side. If you need help with recommendations just let me know!