Hi-
I’ve been reading this forum during my search for a mattress and appreciate everyone’s insight very much. I’m a little different than the average mattress shopper- I have very serious injuries- they are muscular in nature and entrap nerves (nothing spinal). The “right” Beds are hard to generalize for me but most likely include
a very soft pillow top very soft
Very good supportive coils - but not heavy guage or those with strong resistence (I’ve rejected OMF orthopedic line with 12.5 gauge coils)
No memory foam- or very little but many layers down
Generally no latex on top- it provides too much resistence back on my muscles
I don’t frankly care if the mattress is a good value or if it will last forever right now. I’d be happy if it lasted 1-2 years and would let me recover, but I’ve been through 3 mattresses and am now on a horrifying Sleep Number trial that’s killing me (too hard above 30 PSI for my body and at 30 PSI my body hammocks/sinks in so far it’s also detrimental).
Any thoughts? I’m in Minneapolis/St Paul and have been to look at and/or purchased from:
OMF
Restwell Mattress factory
Mattress Firm (Simmons, Sealy, S&F)
A Savvy Rest dealer
Natural Mattress Co
Platinum Dreams line at PM Bedroom Gallery
Room & Board
Sleep Number
A return policy is also pretty necessary since I never know if something is good in the store. Thank you!!!
Before you exclude latex completely it may be worth trying some of the Pure latex Bliss models with their topper which is the softest latex you will find to see if you do well on these. You will find retailers in your area listed on the Pure Latex Bliss site here.
It seems that you have also been to many of the manufacturers or retailers on the Minneapolis list in post #2 here but there are a few others listed that may be worth considering.
I don’t think it would be possible for anyone to suggest a specific mattress in your circumstances and you will likely be dependent on your own personal testing to see how well a mattress fits your criteria but I would also consider a phone call and if that goes well a visit to Rochester to visit Rest Assured Mattress who may be able to customize a solution that would be suitable for you. They are good people and have been building mattresses for a long time.
Thank you very much for your suggestion! I am on my way to Gabbert’s to try out the PLB mattresses- they have 3 available plus the toppers to try. I would never have thought of that!
yeah pure latex bliss topper is really soft, but i would have to guess the 14 ILD latex topper from brooklyn bedding is probably very similar. i believe you can also get 100% natural 14 ILD talalay topper from sleeplikeabear which probably would be even closer to pure latex bliss topper but also closer in price.
frankly your requirements are confusing. the softest thing you can have on top is pretty much memory foam but you don’t want that - and the second softest thing you can have is 14 ILD talalay and you don’t want that too … but you want the top to be very soft …
I’m going back tomorrow to look at the PLB mattresses again – my body was too broken on Friday night after all the mattress shopping to truly test them but I’m not 100% sure that that’s what I’m looking for. This weekend I had a Stearns and Foster luxe estate (marlyn) pillow top delivered but unfortunately it was way too plush – my butt sunk into much and it pulled on my body and all the wrong ways- Giving me back muscle problems which I didn’t have before and I definitely don’t want to add .
Do you have any thoughts On the luxury mattress lines? I’m debating a trip down to Chicago to try out the Duxiana, Hastens and Carpe Diem beds. While I would very much prefer not to spend this much money on a bed, at this point I’m somewhat at a loss for a supportive foundation that keeps me in proper spinal alignment but with a comfort layer that also provides very nice cushioning on the top for my muscular issues.
There will be some who disagree with me but my own thoughts are that it’s unlikely that one of the super premium brands would provide any better pressure relief or alignment than every other mattress in significantly lower budget ranges and these are the two main functions of every mattress. They would also not be any more durable than other mattresses that used high quality and durable materials. Of course there are people whose “value equation” is different from most other people and for those who can comfortably afford it, how they feel about the mattress they purchase may be just as important as how they feel on the mattress. There may also be some who for some reason believe that no other mattress will do.
Based on conversations I have had with many others who have a great deal of experience with these brands (including manufacturing) … if I was buying a super premium brand then VI Springs would probably be the direction I would lean.
You can see more of my thoughts about the Super Premium brands in post #2 here and in post #2 here.
They are beautiful mattresses and as much a work of art as anything else but IMO they would be difficult to justify in the context of why most people buy a mattress or what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences). Among all the many mattresses that are available at much more reasonable prices you will find almost any combination of support/alignment and comfort/pressure relief and preferences that almost anyone could wish for. If I won a lottery or I was in a different income bracket I would certainly consider buying one … but not because I would sleep any better than any other mattress or because it would last me any longer … but just for the experience of owning such a finely made and crafted “work of art”.
Thank you for your thoughts! Wanted to let you know that as a last ditch effort before leaving town I took your advice and chatted with Rest Assured Mattress and will be heading down there tomorrow. Sounds like a great company!
I’m interested by what he says regarding the LP Body Print coils and the micro coil option for comfort, but can’t find a lot about either on here. Can you tell me more about using an additional row/micro coils as part of the comfort/contouring portion of the bed?
Thanks for all of your help! I let the owner know that I’d heard about him on here :cheer:
I think Chuck at Rest Assured is a great guy and he certainly knows his mattresses.
Microcoils are a softer and thinner version of pocket coils that are used in comfort layers instead of as support layers. You can read a bit about them in this article and a forum search on “microcoil” will bring up quite a few references to them and mattresses that use them as well.
Microcoils or springs have a different response curve (more linear) than foam (which has a more bananna shaped response curve) and they work well for those who prefer their feel and resilience or whose testing shows that they do better with this type of response vs foam. They will usually use some type of foam above them and how they perform in each specific design that uses them will depend on the other materials that are over and underneath the microcoils. They are certainly well worth considering as a comfort layer option.
Phoenix – I just wanted to follow-up and thank you for sending me to Chuck. He is a great guy who obviously takes a lot of pride and in his work and also puts a lot of thought into his mattress components. Unfortunately nothing there worked very well for me – too much latex and I was sinking in – or micro coils with not enough cushioning on top and my body freaked out at the resistance. Rock and hard place. I will be heading to Chicago this weekend to look at the luxury beds that I can’t believe I’m actually looking at. The one I’m most interested in is the Carpe Diem-Let’s see if it actually holds true to the weightless feeling! I will be sure to let you know when (optimism) I am actually able to purchase something that works.
That’s unfortunate … but at least you had a taste of a good mattress manufacturer and the information and service they can provide.
If you are going to Chicago anyway … I would make a point of visiting Tim at My Green Mattress and Quality Sleep Shop (who are sister companies) who have a very wide range of mattresses they build (and can customize) as well.
I have some similar issues and I just bought a mattress with European pocket coils underneath, and then two layers of 3 inch latex on top, one very soft and one medium/soft. It’s similar to what Berkeley Ergonomics does. The coils provide the support, but the thinner latex layers covered by soft wool add the cushioning for pressure points. I bought it from a local shop that customizes mattresses and lets you swap out layers, but you might want to try a European coil system with either a synthetic or latex foam layer on top.
Phoneix-
Good and bad from today’s shopping so far and wanted to get your opinion- the quick bad being that the QSS in La Grange had fabulous mattresses but none for me. It appears that my body really just wants a very unique European type of coil system as I was very happy to find that, at least preliminarily, my body is happy with both a Hastens superia and a Dux 818 mattress. I am trying both again tomorrow. They are in similar price ranges – again, would not even consider spending this much money if it was not an investment in my personal health and recovery!-but wanted quickly to get your opinion on either. You mentioned vi spring earlier to me but we I did not have good luck on those. Any opinions on either of those two manufacturers – Hestens or duxiana? If I’m spending this much money I definitely want to be getting good quality and longevity along with something that will help me heal. Thank you for your thoughts as always
My thoughts on both of these as I’ve mentioned is that they are not great value unless you are in very unique circumstances where you measure value in very different ways from most people … but it appears that you may well be one of those people.
The Dux matttresses and other “Swedish” styles like the Carpe Diem with innersprings and separate latex natural fiber comfort layers that can be added as a separate topper are very similar to others that are available and although both the support and the comfort layers can be adjusted or customized in some of them … there are many manufacturers who have many options with similar components with much better “value”. The Hastens on the other hand is a more “English” design with an innerspring / natural fiber mattress which is much different from what most other manufacturers make (other than other super premium brands like VI Springs, Savoir, Relyon, Hypnos and others) so from this perspective at least they have a design that is clearly different from more mainstream mattresses that are made by many other manufacturers. In other words they are more “unique” and you would be less likely to find something comparable made by others.
Of course … this is just a comparison at the most basic level because both Duxiana and Carpe Diem have some unique features that you wouldn’t find in most other mattresses (although you will find their equivalent in some) and with your unique challenges I would base my choice on which one was closest to your criteria in terms of PPP and options because quality is not an issue with any of these and value in more traditional terms is not a strong point of any of them. It seems to me that the biggest part of your personal value equation would be the suitability of a mattress for your unique circumstances rather than the more normal comparisons that most people would be making where more than one mattress may be suitable or very comparable. From this perspective … your own personal testing will be the most important criteria. Comparisons with other mattresses that may be “similar” but not the same wouldn’t be as meaningful in your case where the smaller differences between individual mattresses … regardless of manufacturer … may be more important than their similarities. In other words small differences (objective or subjective) in how a mattress feels and performs may be much more important to you regardless of whether these differences have anything to do with quality or more typical ideas of value.
While it would be rare IMO … you may well be one of the few exceptions where nothing but a super premium brand will do and with circumstances as unique as yours and wit such a very “narrow range” of comfort and support and preferences that appear to be suitable for you … your own personal testing will be the only realistic way to decide.
