My wife and I are contemplating a new mattress to replace our aging coil and it’s 3" memory foam pad. While it’s still sleepable, it’s definitely starting to lose firmness in the springs after the 10+ years we’ve been using it. Since they are local to us and build on site, we visited the Original Mattress Factory. We were principally interested in Memory Foam mattresses based on prior experience, and that led us to trying their two models: the Serenity and Serenity Plush.
The first seems to have gotten some attention on this site but, after conducting a test on the floor, my wife had no real preference and I found the Plush to be slightly more comfortable. It appears the layering on the Plush is exactly the same for the comfort layers(1.5" 7 pound foam, .5" air channel, 2" 5 pound foam) but has some sort of ‘softer’ foam above the base, and also with some sort of holes poked in the memory foam to soften it. Does anyone have any opinions on or experience with this mattress? OMF’s exchange-for-cost is not optimal, though I was impressed with them in other ways.
I don’t have any personal experience with their mattresses (they aren’t local to me) but both versions use high quality materials and would be closely equivalent in terms of durability (with an edge to the firmer version because softness/firmness is also a factor in terms of durability). Neither one has any “weak links”.
I would make your choice based on your own careful and objective testing for PPP using the guidelines in the tutorial. I would also make sure that you have spent a little extra time on both mattresses (more than the normal 15 minutes that is suggested in the guidelines) and have tested them together (both of you on the mattress) with loose comfortable clothing to make sure the memory foam has had a chance to warm up with your body weight and so that you know how the mattress feels and performs with both of you lying on it.
If you really can’t decide between them and your testing clearly indicates that both of them are too closely comparable in terms of PPP for you to decide then I would go with the slightly firmer version because it’s much easier to soften up a mattress that is too firm using a topper than it is to make a mattress that is too soft any firmer (which would generally require either exchanging the mattress or removing and replacing foam instead of adding a topper on top).
So the fact that they’ve clearly processed the foam to add holes does not, in your estimation, introduce any risk of degradation? I also was wondering about the “plusher” foam support layer since I know that those could be a weak link long term. I’m guessing this is a newer mattress as I can find very little information about this model online. As you stated though, their price on this mattress appears to be very comparable to online stores, and their sales staff, who don’t work on commission, was helpful without being pushy.
I agree regarding the firm v plush factor-- and honestly, if we were not using a platform, both of us were content with the basic Serenity. The additional firmness of the floor, however, made me observe signs of tension in my shoulder(I am a side sleeper) that I found worrisome. Of course, pillows could easily have been a factor in that as well-- I have big shoulders even for my height, so the fact that my body seems to require side sleeping to be content really makes any switch in bedding more complicated than it should be. More plush probably means a lower loft pillow, which is what they had in the store…more firm probably means a high loft.
Just as a general note for other users, since I saw you recommending that they put things on an adjustable platform or some such in the store, I will say that OMF was very willing to move the mattress off the bed and onto a solid section of flooring for a better match. This was great as we both perceived differences on the floor vs. on the foundation. I also spoke to their regional “partner”(I am not sure what this really means in context of the overall organization) about some unclear language in their warranty pertaining to box springs-- platforms, from their policy, do count if you have a warranty issue involving body impressions.
Possibly in theory but not in any meaningful way in “real life” with the quality of the materials they are using no.
This would depend on many factors that affected how much the support layers compressed on a regular basis so to some degree this would be correct but the support layers aren’t generally the weak link of a mattress because the comfort layers are the ones that are the most subject to wear and tear when you sleep on the mattress.
I would much rather have a mattress that was a good match for me where the “theoretical” useful life was a little bit less than have a mattress that in theory may last a little bit longer but wasn’t as good a match for me and I didn’t sleep as well. The differences you would be talking about are mostly “theoretical” and in a support layer wouldn’t be as important to me as which one was the best match in terms of PPP. The “weak link” in a mattress is generally in the comfort layers.
Yes … there was a previous version of the Serenity which was sold for a short time and then withdrawn because of a patent claim and for a while they didn’t offer a memory foam mattress. They then introduced the current three versions of the Serenity a few months ago.
As you mentioned as well … pillows are an important part of alignment and comfort and a change in mattress may also need a change in pillow. A pillow that is too low for a particular mattress can lead to more pressure on your shoulders when you sleep on your side so it may also be worthwhile testing the firmer serenity on a thicker pillow to see if that makes any difference for you.
I’m glad you did this because as you mentioned Original Mattress Factory is one of the few manufacturers that sells their memory foam mattresses on a box spring which flexes so it can have a different “feel” if you use it on a solid non flexing foundation which would be the norm for most manufacturers. If you aren’t buying their box spring or if you just want to test the difference then it would be well worthwhile to test their foam mattresses on an adjustable bed in the flat position (as you did) so that you know what it feels like on a firmer foundation or platform bed.