I’m a newcomer to the Washington DC area, and am shopping for a new mattress. I’ve been gratefully using your shopping tips and list of recommended retailers as my guide; if I hadn’t happened upon this website, I’m sure I would already be the regretful owner of an overpriced S-brand pillowtop by now.
However: my husband and I tested out a number of mattresses this weekend, and despite being determined to prefer latex, we wound up liking a mattress at Urban Mattresses that is mostly made of poly. Here are the specs:
So I suppose my primary question is: is this mattress worth the price? It looks to be pretty high-quality polyfoam, but I’m not sure what a “good” polyfoam mattress should go for.
Next: my husband is 5’10" and 210 lbs, which puts him right at that 30 BMI border. With that in mind, how much should I worry about buying a mattress that features 1.8 lb polyfoam in the comfort layer?
In the event your answers to my above questions are discouraging: what do you recommend to people who are looking for a high-quality mattress, but really enjoy the feel of a polyfoam pillowtop? (We went to Savvy Rest and Healthy Back to check out their all-latex mattresses, and found the latex comfort layers a little bouncy for our taste.)
Thanks so, so much for this site, Phoenix! It’s an incredible resource.
While price is certainly important of course … the “value” of a mattress purchase is what is most important and price is just one of many factors that can affect the “value” of a mattress purchase. There isn’t a “formula” that can be used to assess or “calculate” the value of a mattress because there are so many different variables and criteria involved that can affect the price of a mattress that can each be more or less important to some people and not to others who may have completely different criteria or definitions of “value”. The value of a mattress purchase is also relative to how a mattress compares to the other finalists you are considering or to other mattresses that are available to you in your area (or online if you are also considering online options). There are many reasons that a mattress that may be “good value” for one person or in one area of the country may not be good value for someone else that has very different needs and preferences or that lives in a different area.
There is more about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
Having said all that … the mattress you described only contains an inch of latex (which is a much more costly material than even good quality polyfoam) and is significantly more than most other mattresses that are primarily polyfoam (even though the polyfoam layers they use are good quality/density materials) or other latex/polyfoam hybrids that use thicker layers of latex. It would be closer to the cost you would expect to pay for mattresses that have a much higher latex content or in some cases are even all latex.
The relationship between the durability and useful life of the mattress, the quality and durability of the layers and components in the mattress, the firmness of the materials, and the BMI of the person or people sleeping on the mattress exists along a curve and durability doesn’t suddenly drop off when you go past various arbitrary thresholds.
While there is no way to specifically quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when they will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for them (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) and because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs relative to your BMI range that are suggested in the durability guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” beyond that would be higher as well.
If one or more of the variables are “on the edge” of the minimum guidelines I normally suggest relative to your BMI I would keep your expectations about the durability and useful life of the mattress to the lowest end of the range and if the variables are are slightly over the edge I would further reduce your expectations accordingly.
I would look for a mattress that your local testing confirms meets your specific criteria in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) and that also meets the durability guidelines as well.
I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses or their specs that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor or have available online (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the local lists is always a good idea before you decide on which retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with anyway. This will tell you which of them carry mattresses that would meet your specific criteria, are transparent about the materials in their mattresses, and that carry the type of mattresses that you are interested in that are also in the budget range you are comfortable with. Once you have checked their websites and/or talked with the ones that interest you then you will be in a much better position to decide on the ones that you are most interested in considering or visiting based on the results of your preliminary research and conversations.
If you can’t find a local mattress that meets your specific criteria you could also purchase a firmer mattress and add a softer polyfoam topper if you wish to as well although this may be somewhat risky if you can’t test the mattress/topper combination in person.
You can see my comments about choosing a firmer mattress first with the intention of adding a softer topper later (where you can’t test the combination in person) in post #2 here.
In most cases I would avoid this approach because of the uncertainty involved with making two purchase choices instead of only one and choosing a topper that would be suitable in terms of thickness, firmness, and PPP for a specific person on a specific mattress can sometimes be almost as difficult as choosing a mattress that doesn’t need a topper in the first place. I would generally focus on choosing a mattress that is likely to be a suitable match without a topper (unless you can test the combination in person or you are purchasing both online as a “set” that is designed to work together and they both have a good return/exchange policy) and then use the option to add a topper as a “backup” strategy in case your initial choice is too firm and doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for rather than a “primary” strategy.
If you do decide to try the mattress/topper strategy then if the only issue with a mattress is that it is too firm and there are no soft spots or sagging in the mattress then a good quality topper can certainly be an effective way to add some additional softness, “comfort” and pressure relief to your sleeping system but the only way to know for certain whether a specific mattress/topper combination is a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP is based on your own careful testing or personal experience on the combination. If you can’t test the combination in person then there will always be always some risk and uncertainty involved in adding a topper because the specifics of the mattress itself along with your own body type, sleeping position, and preferences can affect which specific topper would be a suitable choice on any specific mattress.
There is more information about choosing a topper and a link to the better online sources I’m aware of in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to which along with a conversation with a reliable and knowledgeable supplier (that can provide you with good information about how their toppers compare to each other or to other toppers they are familiar with that are available on the market) can help you use your sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline to help you choose the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that has the least possible risk and the best chance for success. A good exchange/return policy can also reduce the risk of an online topper purchase so I would make sure you are comfortable with the options you have available after a purchase just in case the topper you choose doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.
If a mattress/topper combination turns out to be a good “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP then having a separate topper does have the advantage of being able to replace just the topper without replacing the entire mattress if it softens or breaks down before the upper foam layers in the mattress (which is often likely because the upper layers of a sleeping system tend to soften or break down before the deeper layers) or if your needs or preferences change over time. A suitable topper can also help extend the useful life of the mattress underneath it because it will absorb some of the compression forces that can soften or break down the top layers of the mattress underneath it over time.
You could also purchase a mattress online that meets your specific criteria that has a good return policy as well just in case your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for. If you decide to include online choices in your research then the mattress shopping tutorial includes several links to lists of the better online options I’m aware of (in the optional online step) that include many different types and categories of mattresses that use different materials and components in a wide range of designs, budgets, firmness levels, and with different return/exchange policies that may be well worth considering.
A thousand thank-yous, Phoenix! This helps immensely. I kind of knew that while I liked the mattress I looked at, it wasn’t quite the right fit, and that I had more homework to do. You pointed me in some fruitful directions. (In particular, directing my attention to the online purveyors was a good call. Part of our issue is that we’re in DC, which seems a little less rife with in-store options than other major Metropolitan areas–plus, the ones that exist tend not to be in the city proper, and we don’t have a car. I had initially been skittish about online shopping, but perhaps now that I’ve done a little in-store testing, I’ll have a better understanding of what I’m looking for.)
You’re very welcome … and I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding and of course to any other comments or questions you may have along the way.