Hi kayla,
Step 1 is doing some basic reading (not studying) which I’m pretty sure you’ve done. It doesn’t matter if you remember everything or even if you only remember a little of what you’ve read because you only need to know enough to recognize when you are dealing with someone who is knowledgeable and experienced and is “educating” you about their mattresses instead of just trying to “sell you” anything you are willing to buy. These are the retailers and manufacturers that will already know what you would otherwise need to learn.
Step 2 is all about knowing what to avoid so that you don’t end up dealing with retailers or manufacturers that aren’t transparent about the materials in their mattresses, setting your budget range, and deciding on the types of materials and mattresses you are most interested in testing. Have you done this?
What is the midrange of your budget (the price you would like to stay under but would go over a little if there was a compelling reason to do so)?
What are the types of materials and mattresses you are most interested in testing or are you considering (Based on your comments I’m assuming you are most interested in latex … is this correct)?
Step 3 is deciding which stores you wish to deal with to test mattresses locally (so you can confirm which materials and types of mattresses you tend to prefer). If for some reason you aren’t able to test mattresses locally then the only alternative is to decide on the online retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with that sell the types of mattresses you are interested in that are inside your budget range. This will involve some phone calls so you can decide on the ones you are most comfortable dealing with and who are knowledgeable and experienced enough to provide you with good guidance on the phone.
Do you have a list of the local retailers or manufacturers you want to visit?
Have you done any local testing on different types of mattresses so you can confirm which types of mattresses and materials you tend to prefer?
Have you decided on the online retailers or manufacturers that you are interested in working with (from the Canada list I linked especially)?
Step 4 is to choose your finalist at each of the local or online retailers/manufacturers you are considering. This will either involve testing mattresses in person using the testing guidelines (if they are local) or basing your choice on a more detailed conversation on the phone (if they are online) so they can help “talk you through” the options they have available and provide the guidance you will need to choose which of the options they have available will likely be the best match for you. If you aren’t certain whether a mattress is a good match for you (either locally or online) then you will also need to make sure that there is a good return or exchange policy so that you have good options after your purchase once you sleep on the mattress just in case your sleeping experience indicates you make a choice that isn’t suitable for you to sleep on.
These are both part of step 4 (not steps 2 or 3) and the only way to choose either one is to either test mattresses in person for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post or to talk with online retailers or manufacturers so they can provide the guidance to help you decide on a single finalist at each of the ones you are working with based on your more detailed phone conversations. This isn’t something you will ever know or be able to decide on without actual testing or based on your own personal experience no matter how much you think about it or try and figure it out based on “theory” so trying to decide this without any personal experience is probably where you are getting “stuck”. It will either be a matter of your own personal testing or deciding on a finalist based on your conversations in which case you will actually need to sleep on it in person before you know whether it’s a good match for you (which is the reason you would be wise to make sure there is a good return/exchange policy if you aren’t confident about the finalist you are choosing). At the end of this step you will have your list of finalists (the one mattress you would purchase at each of the retailers or manufacturers that you are seriously considering if there were no other options available to you).
Step 5 is to narrow down your finalists to a single mattress that you decide to purchase by making good comparisons between them based on your conversations (or your local testing) and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.’
From your comments it sounds like you are working on step 3 which is deciding on the manufacturers or retailers to deal with and unless you know of others that you are confident would make a good choice I would focus on either the better local options that are available to you (I can link you to a local list if you let me know your city or postal code) or the ones in the Canadian online list (or any others that you are comfortable dealing with) and look at their websites and talk with the ones that are most interesting to you so you can start to choose your finalists.
Phoenix