Read, tested, but still confused -- some guidelines

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi Phoenix and friends,

Hi, this is an excellent forum, great job, so many of us benefit from it. I have spent countless hours reading on here, and even visited one local store Houston Mattress Factory (that is listed here) in Houston (where I am located).

A bit of background. We are a couple using the mattress - Male is a side sleeper, ~180lbs, sleeps warm and has mild sleep Apnea. Female is about ~130lbs, side sleeper, she feels slightly cool but not cold when at the same temperature I feel slightly warm. We are in our late 30s.

We were living in a corporate apartment that had a standard run of the mill queen sized coil mattress. We are not sleeping on the floor with a 4inch memory foam topper that we are using as our ‘mattress’.

We both have slight back pain, nothing serious. We tried out various mattresses at the store mentioned above, with a preference to a firmer feel. We did not inquire about ILD, because at that time I had not read much about it.

We tried a mattress with different layers and density of foam and found that ok, and also tried Latex and found that ok too, but we should have tried that more thoroughly.

We did not try memory foam or spring coils due to lack of time and knowledge.

We were thinking of getting a mattress with Latex but not sure if we need to combine it with another layer. We want to spend under $1000 if possible and prefer to get it through one of the retailers suggested on here. We want it to be comfortable to lie

We want a Queen sized mattress.

Any suggestions on how we can narrow our search, especially in terms of composition of the mattress, i.e. which layers should we consider and what density.

All suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,
desidude

2

Hi desidude,

The most important information on the forum is post #1 here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best choices.

I would tend to avoid deciding ahead of time about which type of mattress materials or construction is “best” for you because your body doesn’t recognize “theory at a distance” and the most important part of a mattress purchase is what I call PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences). Any combination of components and materials in a design that is suitable for your body type and sleeping positions can match your specific needs and preferences.

Other than that … it’s important to shop at retailers or manufacturers that are knowledgeable and experienced and are willing and able to disclose the quality of all the layers and components in a mattress and help educate you about why they are better quality than others. You can’t “feel” the quality of the materials in a mattress when you test it in a showroom and when you find a mattress that works well for your specific needs and preferences it’s important to be able to know the quality of the materials inside it so you can identify any weak links in the mattress, can have more realistic expectations of its useful lifetime, and can make more meaningful quality and value comparisons with other similar mattresses. That’s why besides reading some of the basic information (step 1) knowing what to avoid (step 2 which eliminates most of the worst choices) researching the retailers or manufacturers you choose to deal with (step 3) comes before testing mattresses(step 4). Step 5 is making your final choice.

All materials have higher and lower quality and durability versions and you can’t feel the difference in a showroom. The main difference is that lower quality materials soften, compress, or break down faster than higher quality versions of the same material and this leads to the more rapid loss of comfort and support which is the main reason you will need to replace the mattress. The loss of comfort and support isn’t considered to be a manufacturing defect so it isn’t covered by a mattress warranty.

In most cases … who you deal with and their level of knowledge and experience can be one of the most important parts of a successful purchase.

Basically you are looking for a mattress that is a good match for your personal value equation that you have tested for PPP, uses good quality and durable materials and components, and that has good value based on the criteria that are most important to you. One definition of a “perfect” mattress is in post #4 here.

The choice of the type of materials and components is a preference and budget issue and outside of knowing that they are good quality … particularly in the comfort layers which is normally the weak link of a mattress … any combination of materials in a suitable design can make a good choice.

Phoenix