Hi Phoenix,
We live in New Jersey (zip code 07041) and have started looking for new king mattress and hoping for some suggestions to narrow down the vast number of choices. I have looked at some of the threads on NJ (can’t say I have gone through them all). It appears our area has plenty of choices but it is somewhat overwhelming. Some of things that might help you give us some suggestion
-We generally like sleeping on firmer beds. Not a fan of the plush luxury hotel beds you sink into
-We are not very picky (wife is more pickier than I am)
-We would like a bed that is reasonably chemical emission free. We are health conscious but not obsessive about eliminating every synthetic ingredient in the mattress
-We currently sleep on a 15-year old spring mattress so no experience with foam or latex (except probably in hotels where we dislike the soft generally soft mattresses)
-We are both around 5’ 8" and around 150 pounds. Sleep mostly on back and stomach (less side)
-We were at Ikea last weekend and tried out a few mattresses. Our experience was as follows. MORGONGĂ…VA latex (medium firm) - liked that it was (mostly) natural latex but thought it was softer than we liked. MYRBACKA latex (medium firm) - we liked this one and probably could live with it. MYRBACKA memory foam (firm) - we thought this was firmer than we liked.
As I said, we could probably live with MYRBACKA latex (seems liked synthetic latex with foam core) but don’t know if it is a good choice from a reliability/quality and emission standpoint. We thought there might be comparable or better products or better values elsewhere and are hoping for some suggestions.
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article ) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Millburn, NJ area would be listed in either the Monroe Township/Newark list in post #7 here or the New York City list in post #2 here (there is a fair bit of overlap between them).
While I can certainly help with “how” to choose, it’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components, because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress. There are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
The first place to start your journey would be to read through the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones. Two of the most important links in the tutorial are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for, and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase 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 all the parts of your personal value equation.
Outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new so I would always make sure that you find out the information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
There is more about the different types of safety certifications such as Oeko-tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold, C2C, and CertiPUR-US in post #2 here, and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here. The only reliable way to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on lab tests and the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOCs (regardless of whether they are organic or natural or synthetic) so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification. If the materials in a mattress or the mattress itself has a reliable “safety” certification then for most people they would certainly be “safe enough”.
Your preference for “firmer” mattresses would generally align with your sleeping posture.
Ikea doesn’t list the complete specifications of their mattresses, nor any certifications, on their website for the mattresses you described. Any latex you come across (natural, blended or all synthetic) would likely have a reliable certification for testing of VOCs and harmful substances.
You have quite a few options available to you in your area that I linked to in the beginning of this post that provide a wider range of mattresses than what you’ve already tested, so I would take some time to peruse the web sites of those businesses and perhaps place a few phone calls before making some showroom visits.
In the end, choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …
Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.
Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight/BMI range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.
Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
I’ll look forward to learning about your progress and of course any specific questions you may have after you’ve had a chance to read through the information I’ve provided.
Thanks for the detailed reply Pheonix. Those are very helpful guidelines. I have already called a couple of people on that list. I am going to call a few more and then make showroom visits and come back and report what we saw and any specific questions.
Ok, I went through the above material (most of it). This weekend we visited a local store to try out latex mattress. In particular, we focused on the Savvyrest (Serenity) which has three layers. We like a firm mattress. We tried various combinations, most were soft and the last one we tried was the most comfortable. It was two three inch Dunlop firm layers (they had only two firm layers, two firm and one medium did not work for us). We also tried some other mattresses in store and the only other mattress we really liked (my wife liked this better than the latex one since she much of a fan of the latex bounce) was the Beautyrest Black Calista (extra firm). We are trying to keep it natural as much as we can so leaning towards the latex. Savvy rest can do a 7-inch mattress but is pretty expensive over 2K. So do I have cheaper and comparable options? I tried calling spindle, they don’t think their firm will be firm enough for me. They recommended taking a look at
Sleep on latex (7-inch option), - They have a 7" pure natural latex mattress. Their Firm is ILD 44
Foam Order ( 6-inch GOLS) - They have various firmness options which take ILD that goes up to 62 for hard.
I could not find the ILDs for Savvyrest Dunlop Firm. Do you guys know? I can call them and see if they have the numbers. Are the ILDs for all the Dunlops comparable? (roughly?) It is not clear if the readings are for the whole mattress or three-inch layers. Please let me know if there is a way to get close to the Savvyrest firmness. We are not picky about a perfect match but reasonably close will be good enough. We are also wondering if there are other options like the Beautyrest Calista (understand it is a different feel but wife want to see if there are other like that we should try). Thanks for your help.
Narayan
The Savvy Rest does use good quality and durable materials. The Beautyrest doesn’t use any latex, but is instead a combination of pocketed springs, polyfoam and memory foam, so if you’re looking to stay more “natural”, it definitely would be an item you’d want to avoid, combined with the lower density of polyfoam and memory foam it uses:
.75" Gel Touch polyfoam 1.5LB, 1" Luxury Firm Comfort polyfoam 1.65LB, 1" Energy polyfoam 1.5LB, .5" Micro Diamond memory foam 2.8LB, pocketed coil spring unit,1.5" density foam 1.2LB.
Savvy Rest uses 100% NR Dunlop from Cocolatex and they rate their firm at 40+ for the ILD. The ratings they provide are approximate and not official. If you stay in the low/mid 40s ILD for the Dunlop you should be “in the ballpark”. The suggestions Spindle gave you are good ones, and you may also wish to consider some of the other site members listed in post #21 here who are all very experienced and knowledgeable, and some of whom have a wide range of Dunlop latex options available, and all of them compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.
ILD is only one of several variables or “specs” that will determine how soft or firm an individual layer or a mattress “as a whole” will feel to different people (see post #4 here). While the ILD of different materials or different types and blends of latex also aren’t always directly comparable to each other (see post #6 here), if you compare Dunlop, specifically 100% NR Dunlop, in similar ILDs to what you tested locally and find products using similar coverings (cotton quilted to wool), you should be able to stay within a similar range of comfort.
There is more information in post #9 here about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or “approximate” another one. Every layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting materials) will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component and the mattress “as a whole” so unless you are able to find another mattress that uses exactly the same type of materials, components, cover and quilting, layer thicknesses, layer firmnesses, and overall design (which would be fairly unlikely) then there really isn’t a reliable way to match one mattress to another one in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) based on the specifications of the mattresses (even assuming that you can find out all the specifications you would need for both mattresses you are comparing in the first place).
The major brands such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta all tend to use lower quality and less durable materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay which is why I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely (along with the major retailers that focus on them as well) regardless of how they may feel in a showroom along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).
I hope that information was helpful to you. I’ll do my best to answer other questions for you as you go through your search.
Thanks Phoenix, That is very helpful. I compared offerings from members on your site to addition to the two vendors I mentioned above and reaching out to a handful of guys with offerings that met by firmness requirements. I ordered from Sleepez a 7" king mattress with Firm/Extra Firm layers. I got a mattress underground discount too!
I’m glad the information listed here was useful to you as you performed your mattress research across different brands and products.
Congratulations on your new mattress purchase! :cheer: You certainly chose a product using high quality materials. I’ll be interested in learning about your new mattress once you’ve had a chance to sleep upon it for a while.
