Good morning to all. As our search for the “PERFECT mattress for US” continues, I thought we would provide a little update into our recent findings for battle testing mattresses. This past weekend we gave Mark’s Discount Mattress and Holder Bedding of Lafayette a try. Here is what we discovered:
Mark’s Discount Mattress: First, I was relieved to find no fireworks in the store, lol. The Lafayette location was fairly small, but the salesman we spoke with was very non-pushy. He listened to what we were looking for, and as he came to understand that I had been doing my homework before walking in there, he stepped up his technical jargon a bit and tended to lean towards the mattresses that were on par and similar with what we were seeking. Their own line of latex mattresses were a little too ‘on top of the bed’ for our feel, but their line of Gel latex mattress was a better choice. It came with a quilted cotton knit top that was really comfortable. The mattress by itself in a King size was around $1600. As we elaborated more on their latex mattresses, he also mentioned that the other’s could be modified to include different softnesses or even be built with the phase change material I have been interested in. For an outlet store, they still felt like a comfortable place to shop. While the Gel mattress was a nice feel on my shoulder, it still wasn’t as comfortable as the Jamison Bordeaux. It was a tad firmer, and my shoulder just seems to require some ultra plush comfort layers to not feel sore. So, despite my skepticism, if you walked into the Lafayette location with some idea as to what you want, they were pretty helpful. In fact, they had a Kluft mattress in their showroom, that the gentlemen took the time to inform us on. It wasn’t the right fit for us, but it was nice that the gentlemen went over the details with us just the same.
Holder Bedding: I walked into Holder with some high expectations. On a couple of Pheonix’s links, the Lafayette location is held with a tad more esteem than the their Indianapolis counterparts. Honestly, I could not have been more let down. Part of TMU’s intrigue is in the wealth of knowledge on how to go about making an informed mattress purchase. Knowing how to separate hype and salesman’s polish from quality and value and PPP. Holder Bedding takes a lot of pride in their work, and the gentleman we spoke to made that abundantly clear in the way he spoke. So much so, that when I told him what we were looking for, what he had already tested, and why we chose to come see what they could do for us, he IGNORED every detail I spoke of and went right into his standardized sales pitch. At first, I didn’t know this was his sales pitch, but in the hour or so that we were in the store, he assisted roughly six other customers, and the interaction between them and him was EXACTLY the same as ours. We tested two latex mattresses and one latex inner-spring hybrid. One benefit to all of Holder’s beds is that they are ALL 2 Sided. However, none of them could provide any comfort for my shoulders. I was already feeling numbness in under 5 minutes on both shoulders, regardless the bed we tried. To make matters worse, when I started to describe what was in the Jamison bed, specifically what I had found to be comforting to me, the gentleman told me that this configuration in the mattress couldn’t work. More specifically, he told me, “It didn’t make sense to do it that way.”, and then followed this up with he importance of two-sided mattresses over the competition. Yes, Holder Bedding makes custom mattresses. Yes, they have been in business for 70 years. Yes, they have a strong customer base in the local community. However, their success transformed this salesmen not into someone that could assist, listen, and impart knowledge about their products to me, but instead created a salesman that used a story to drive the product. I was most disappointed. Looking back at the mattress selections themselves, the material the mattress cover was made of was quite nice, quilted, and I was told was made of “10 different fabrics” including some J-named cotton and 2 layers of wool. But, the overall feel on my shoulders left them feeling sore. Being told that a product that did work for me in our testing didn’t make sense to this man when asking if it was possible to duplicated it in their own production left me feeling like this person was no longer able to remain objective for the customer’s sake. I hate to say it, but this may be a source for the area that now requires a little extra caution before walking in!
In our trials of I-Comfort, Tempur Pedic, Beauty Rest Black, PLB, Jamison, Mark’s Mattress, and Holder Bedding, the Jamison Bordeaux seemed to meet and exceed our needs in quality/value and PPP for both my partner and I. As I tend to want to be thorough, I am still looking for good pillows and sheets before I commit to this purchase. I want to have the whole package squared away before going and buying the mattress. Malouf’s Encase Omniphase Mattress Protector is probably still our number one choice for that detail of the package. Lyocell or Tencel sheets have a hold on me as far as comfort goes. Bed Bath and Beyond has a brand called Eucalyptus Origins. While, I’m sure there is some variance in their line over other companies, depending upon weave, thread count, and if the Tencel is 100% or blended, it gave me a rough idea of what to expect in their feel. I’m confident these are the type of sheets we want. Interestingly enough, the 600 thread count and the 400 thread count sheets didn’t have any noticeable difference in feel. And, through a few resources, suggestions were made to look for 300-400 TC sheets when it came to Tencel sheets. I’m still poking around, but if I can’t tell a largely discernible difference, then I’ll aim for cheaper. However, finding Duvet covers in Tencel material does seem to be limited. And, finding reputable vendors that give accurate descriptions of their products seems to be an even bigger chore. So, the search for sheets and duvet’s continues.
The last issue is finding a good pillow. Apparently, this is the greatest challenge the world over. I really want one with Outlast or IsoCool or some Phase Change material built into the pillow. However, most of the ones that I am stumbling across are either memory foam pillows or the filling is like a cotton fill that I know will be flat in a year. My partner cannot stand the firmness of memory foam pillows. Although, most of the ones we have tried were all medium firmness, she felt it took too long to conform, and with her being a stomach sleeper, they almost all seemed to high for her neck. I know she probably needs a low loft pillow or two for the occasions when she sleeps on her side, but finding something of a good quality with phase change material seems like a tall order. My situation is compounded by the fact that I need a good pillow that is a high loft but soft that won’t flatten in a year with phase change material, and I need a pillow for my knees and ankles. I’ve tried knee pillows before, and they are just a sales gimmick to me. They’re too small, and I find I fight to keep them in place over a normal pillow between my legs. I’d love the head pillow to be a good shoulder pillow, but it seems like I am asking too much of this darn thing. I thought about a u-shaped body pillow too, but I’m sure there are going to be times when I want less pillow and more free space on the bed.
Anywho, the search for the icing on the cake continues. At least we think we have the cake picked out!