So I wish I had found this website before I went looking for a mattress and purchasing one without researching my choices enough. I purchased the Comforpedic Renewed Energy Plush Firm mattress recently. It is too firm. I don’t remember it being this firm in the store, but then again I had my 15 month old running around with me at the time (bad decision). My husband likes the mattress but I seem to get more unhappy every night. My shoulder and hips ache and I toss and turn. I cannot return my mattress but I can exchange it. I went back to the store by myself and really enjoyed the Optimum Inspiration. It is just the perfect softness. My concerns are; will the Inspiration become too soft in a short amount of time? Should I just keep the Comforpedic and hope that it gets softer? I have had a hard time comparing the densities of the foam and quality of these mattresses. The Comforpedic feels more sturdy if you will, but the Optimum is much more comfortable. I’m lost and emotional due to my pregnancy, hoping for a little insight from the expert here.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Cozycamper,
A floor model in the store will usually be softer than a brand new mattress which hasn’t had a chance to break in yet but this could also be the result of more “subjective” testing in the managed environment of many mattress showrooms. It’s not unusual at all that if you test only for a subjective sense of “comfort” in a store and have tested other mattresses in the same way either before or afterwards … that the mattress can feel very different at home (or even the next day or hours later in the same store) from what you remember.
So the first step is to make sure you have gone through any adjustment period (your body will need to adjust to a new sleeping surface that is different from what it is used to and this can take a few weeks) and that the mattress has a chance to go through its initial softening and break in period. How long have you been sleeping on it?
If it seems clear to you that things are getting worse instead of better and the adjustment period is going in the wrong direction … then it’s quite possible that you have chosen a mattress that isn’t suitable for your body type and sleeping style in which case it’s not likely to get any better.
It’s not unusual that there are no returns and only exchanges but unfortunately this means in many cases that you may not have the choice of any good quality/value mattress to exchange for and there could be some hidden costs involved as well.
Post #66 here and the other threads it links to has some discussions with other forum members that were in a similar situation and needed to make the best of a bad situation and some of the options that were available to them.
I would also read post #1 here and the information it links to which will give you the basic information you will need about mattresses, the materials in them, and testing more objectively to be able to make more meaningful comparisons between the options you have.
If you let me know which store you purchased from I can scan the mattresses they have and may be able to point you in the direction of any better “value” they may have there.
Phoenix
Thanks for the prompt reply! You are too kind. I am still reading through the recommended posts, but I wanted to answer your questions real quick. I have been sleeping on the mattress for two weeks and walking on it like a dweeb all the time to try to break it in. I feel like this is some kind of funny joke on the consumer! Anyway, I purchased the mattress from Mattress Discounters in Washington State. Any additional thoughts are most welcome. Meantime I will continue to read through the posts you mentioned. *****I forgot to mention that the Optimum is on sale right now… 2499 is everyday price for king set and I can get it for 1999. My Comforpedic was 2100 for the set.
Hi CozyCamper,
I took a look at mattress Discounters and there are certainly not very many good options there. All they sell unfortunately are some of the major brands.
The site does mention though that they have a 120 day comfort guarantee so I would suggest that you first give your mattress at least another few weeks to see if any further softening or you adjusting makes a difference before taking on the costs or risk of an exchange…
Just to eliminate it as a possibility as well … what kind of mattress protector are you using on the mattress and do you have any kind of mattress pad on top?
Unfortunately Mattress Discounters is almost completely clueless when it comes to knowing the details about what is in their mattresses. When I talked with them they didn’t even know how to read the spec sheet they had and it was also clear that the person I was talking to knew almost nothing about mattress materials.
If you look online at other retailers … there is also conflicting information about what is in the Comforpedic Renewed Energy Plush Firm mattress.
You can see one version here which says the layering is …
1.5″ AirCool Memory Foam With TruTemp Gel
2″ AirCool Memory Foam
2″ Independent Support Technology
5″ AirCool Transflexed Core
Which probably isn’t correct because this only comes to 10.5" for an 11.5" mattress
Another version here says the layering is …
1" AirCool Memory Foam with TruTemp Gel
1.5" AirCool Memory Foam
2" Advanced AirCool Memory Foam
2" Independent Support Foam
Which with the 5" core would at least add up to the right height.
Another version here says …
1" of 4.0lb AirCool Memory Foam with TruTemp Gel
1.5" of 1.65lb AirCool Memory Foam
2" of 4.5lb AirCool Memory Foam
2" Independent Support Technology
5" AirCool Transflexion Core
Which can’t be right because the Aircool memory foam wouldn’t be 1.65 lb and this is almost certainly the density of the base foam not the memory foam.
There are several other versions as well that are different from any of these which means that I have no idea of what is truly in the mattress.
I am fairly certain that the gel memory foam is 4 lbs and the memory foam is in the same range and possibly a little higher. The “independent support technology” is also slow recovery latex which is a good quality material (latex that responds more slowly like memory foam)
So overall this mattress probably has an inch of 4 lb gel memory foam over “several” inches of 4 lb or slightly better memory foam over 2" or 2.5" of slow recovery latex over a 1.65 lb polyfoam support core.
The Sealy Optimum Inspiration has 2" of 3.7 lb gel memory foam over 3" of 4 lb memory foam over a 6" multi-density support core which is mostly 2.2 lb polyfoam.
What this means is that the Comforpedic Renewed Energy probably has the better quality comfort layers and the Optimum Inspiration has the better quality support core.
Since the comfort layers are the more important part of the layering (in terms of durability or “weak links” anyway), and the Comforpedic may have less memory foam, has slow recovery latex, and because you have 120 days before you need to exchange the mattress … I would be tempted to keep what you have and let it continue softening for at least another few weeks and see how you feel then because it seems to me that the quality of the materials in the most important layers is better than the Optimum and there could be less risk of the initial softening and break in period leading to alignment issues.
The terms of an exchange also complicate things because the exchange costs 10% plus a $49 delivery (in your case @$250) and if you exchange for a higher priced mattress then you may be throwing good money after bad (there is nothing there that has good value) and if you exchange for a lower priced mattress then you would lose the difference (although they give you some products in kind apparently) so you are limited to mattresses that are in approximately the same price range. More time would also allow you to make a more accurate choice because you only have one exchange.
In addition to this they don’t list the specifics of most of the mattresses they carry so knowing what you can exchange for would be dependent on working with someone there who knows what you are looking for and can actually tell you what is in the mattress you are exchanging for (which is unlikely).
So all in all … I would tend to keep what you have for at least another few weeks in the hopes that it will soften (or you will adjust) to the degree that you need and if it doesn’t then you can always add a thin topper which may be less costly and less “risky” than exchanging the mattress for something else. I would leave an exchange as a final option if nothing else seems to be a good choice.
Phoenix
Thanks again for your prompt and informative reply. I was unable to find the density information you did and was also baffled by the Comforpedic layer measurements. I am glad that you found the support technology layer is latex in the Comforpedic. I am surprised that the information is not more readily available since the good quality latex would be a selling point. I thought maybe that support layer was egg crate/low grade polyfoam or something and it worried me since you said not to buy anything that has more than 1" of polyfoam in a comfort layer). I will follow your advice and keep sleeping on the Comforpedic in the hopes that it will soften. I am inclined to keep the Comforpedic now that I know the comfort layers have better density foam. I want this mattress to last as long as possible since we have never spent this much on one before.
All that being said, I really need quite a bit more softness. I am 5’4" and about 130 (when not pregnant) and sleep on my side. My husband sleeps on his side and back. Is there a “green” memory foam mattress topper and retailer that you recommend? I really want something that will add quite a bit more softness and will be as safe as possible for the few months I am cosleeping with my newborn. Also, do you know if any of them come with a stain/water protection layer? I need to do the best I can on a small budget. Lastly, I have read about toppers moving around a lot, how do I avoid this? *BTW - I am a Costco member but I have a feeling they don’t have what I need.
You asked about my mattress pad. It is a JCPenny purchase from about 6 years ago. It is at least 1/8-1/4" thick quilted pad that is supposed to be waterproof. I am almost certain my husband and I would have paid bottom of the line prices. It does not stretch.
Thanks again, wise one…
Hi Cozycamper,
If this is a quilted mattress pad that has compressed over the years then it could be affecting both the ability of the memory foam to soften with body heat and also interfering with the ability of the memory foam to compress with your weight. I would suggest taking this off and probably replacing it with a thin stretchy mattress protector which will have less effect on the mattress than this is probably having. A mattress pad like this can make a significant difference in some cases in how a mattress feels and performs … especially with memory foam. You may want to use a thin stretchy blanket for a few nights instead of this to see how much of a difference it may make.
I personally wouldn’t recommend memory foam for a newborn. You can read more about this and the various reasons why in post #2 here and the other forum threads it links to about mattresses, different materials, and children.
If I was adding a soft topper to mattress … I personally would make sure the materials were Oeko-Tex standard 100 class 1 certified (safe for babies). There are very few memory foam toppers that would have this certification in North America and I would tend to lean towards latex or natural fibers which have this certification.
If you do decide on memory foam … I would tend towards thinner layers (less risky for babies that can’t turn over and could sink into the memory foam). An example of a memory foam topper that is Oeko-Tex certified is here but even with it being “safe” … I would still tend to wait with a new memory foam topper until the baby was no longer sleeping on the mattress.
Phoenix
I will skip the topper for now. I read through the posts you recommended. I will be using a co-sleeper bassinet but I am concerned about offgasing from the different foams. I went and purchased a thin and stretchy mattress cover per your suggestion. Hopefully the mattress I have will soften up! If I decide to get a topper in the future I will check back with this website and go with one of your recommendations. I wanted to mention that the salespeople at the Mattress Discounters store that I went to have actually been very helpful but I still wish I had better choices. Thanks for your time.