Overweight Memory Foam

OK so my head is spinning. I posted something then took it down because I thought I saw the answer but it didn’t quite fit.

My wife and I are overweight and we are looking at a new mattress. We just got rid of a 4 year old Serta iComfort and we loved it for 3 years. The fourth year we had dips and it was tearing up our backs. I’m assuming we’re not going to keep a mattress much more than 4 years and I don’t want to spend another ridiculous amount on a memory foam.

We tried out a Saatva and it was loud and uncomfortable after the memory foam so we’re looking back at memory foam.
I saw this posthttps://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/in-need-of-a-new-mattress
and it pointed me in the right directions I would just like a little more help there. My budget isn’t as constrained but I would like some value since I am expecting to change again in 4 years although more durability would be great.
Brentwood, Dynasty Mattress Sleep Innovations all have great Amazon reviews but understand at the analysis that their memory foam is lighter and will probably break down quicker.
Saw that Tuft & Needle has a lower density polyfoam which might be a problem with my weight.

I see the great reviews about Casper but am concerned about their 10" size.

My zip is 19007. But I’m really hoping the mattress geniuses here can just say what option they’d choose or a couple. I saw a good analysis in the post mentioned above but was hoping for a little more info

Hi Flowzarus,

The first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has alll the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to make specific recommendations or suggest a specific mattress or combination of layers or materials based on specs (either yours or a mattress), health conditions, individual circumstances, or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). I can certainly help you narrow down your options by avoiding the worst ones and with “how” to choose or act as a fact check but not with which specific mattress, company, or manufacturer to choose.

Your experience is relatively common and the issue here is not with memory foam itself but with lower quality/density memory foam or polyfoam in the upper layers of your mattress which is one of the reasons I would tend to avoid the major brands completely (see the guidelines here). Higher quality/density memory foam would be more durable (just like higher quality materials of any type would be more durable).

I don’t know your weight but there are some guidelines here that can help you choose a more durable mattress regardless of which type of materials or which types of mattresses you tend to prefer.

Post #3 here also has more information that will be helpful for those that are in higher weight ranges as well.

I would be very cautious about using other people’s reviews or experiences on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how suitable a mattress may be for you or the durability of a mattress and in many cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on or vice versa (see post #13 here).

The Dynasty is made in China which means that the quality/durability of the materials are more uncertain than materials that are made in North America and it’s durability could also be affected by any fillers that are used in the foam or how long the mattress was compressed during shipping and storage (see post #6 here). You can read more about Dynasty in posts #3 and #4 here and a forum search on dynasty (you can just click the link) will bring up more information and feedback about them as well.

You can see some comments about Brentwood Mattress in posts #31 and #32 here and the rest of the topic as well and as you can see either the shipping weights are wrong or the specs they provide are completely wrong. Either way though … they tend to use lower quality/density memory foam which I would consider to be a weak link in the mattress and I would avoid lower density memory foam completely … especially in a higher weight ranges.

I would also be very cautious about Sleep Innovations because many of them also use lower quality /density memory foam as well and I would avoid buying any mattress where you haven’t confirmed that there aren’t any lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress. All of these would be very risky choices.

I’m not sure where you read this but you can see the specifics of their design in posts #2 and #6 here. The Tuft and Needle uses 2.8 lb high performance polyfoam in the comfort layers and 1.8 lb polyfoam in the support core and as you can see by comparing this to the foam quality guidelines here there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the design and for most people that aren’t in unusually high weight ranges they would make a very durable choice.

The design of a mattress and whether it’s a suitable “match” for you in terms of PPP is much more important than the thickness of the mattress. Thickness is only one of many factors that can affect whether a mattress is suitable for you and by itself has very little meaning.

There is more about Casper and Tuft & Needle and other “one choice fits all” mattresses that offer a single firmness choice in post #3 here. If you are in the higher 200 lb weight range or higher then there is also some information in post #3 here that may be helpful as well.

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the the Philadelphia/Wilmington/Trenton areas (subject to the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in post #4 here

Phoenix

Thanks for the information, I’m in a similar situation to the OP so this was useful for me as well.

So I ended up getting the Tuft and Needle and last night was my first night on it. Wow it was rough for me. I came from the Serta iComfort which was really comfortable when I first got it but broke down over a few years. The T&N was really firm which I now realize is not what I need. I plan to give it a week to see if my body adjusts but right now I’m not liking it at all. This is a personal preference and if you like a firm mattress then you will love it. The T&N Diary post here did describe it as a cushioned floor but I had assumed they were exaggerating. That was a poor assumption on my part.

The Saatva I originally purchased when this search started got better over the week but it still isn’t what I was looking for. I might look at the DreamFoam if T&N doesn’t work out.

Hi Flowzarus,

Thanks for letting us know what you ended up deciding and for your comments and feedback about your Tuft & Needle … I appreciate it.

I would consider giving things longer than a week if possible because there is a break in and adjustment period with any new mattress that can make a significant difference in how a mattress will feel over the course of the first few weeks that you sleep on it. There are also some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful.

Phoenix