We just completed a 120 day trial of an Optimum Elation. Slept wonderfully first 2 mos. Than noticed indentation where we slept and no support in our recessed places. Back pain in the am. Got it at Slumberland (groan) and just now found your site :(. So- Stearns and Foster Brighton has quilt top, 1" of latex, 2 layers totalling about 4 " of gel foam, cotton wool pad and encased coils. Top is actually a pillow top type. It’s not comfy for me - no sink in but hubby likes it. Can a foam topper be successful on top of this? What do you think of the bed? It sounds so close to one you thought was pretty weak in the comfort foam area in another thread.The Brighten cushion foam has more foam and no latex. Undetermined quality of foam in both models.
The Optimum may meet warranty fail with indent at 1.5" but a new one might do exactly the same thing. Unless I can find something online at their site these seem to be their best ones in our 3G range. I would so appreciate any suggestions you have. I Read the tutorial. Your sight Iis so great- just found it too late.
Hi gseaver,
I’m glad you found us even though it may have been a little too late :unsure:
The tutorial includes links to most of the information you would need but I would also read post #2 here which is more about your specific situation and the approach I would take that can help make the best out of a bad situation where you need to exchange a mattress and there are no particularly good quality or value options to exchange for and there are no refunds available.
Unfortunately … outside of the latex … this doesn’t include enough information me to make any meaningful assessment of the mattress (see post #4 here). I also don’t see a Stearns & Foster Brighton listed on their site. At the very least I would need to know the type and thickness of all the layers in the mattress to see how much “unknown quality” materials were in the comfort layers.
A topper can work if a mattress is too firm and doesn’t have any sagging and all you need to do is add some extra softness and pressure relief but it isn’t an effective solution for a mattress that is already too soft or that has any sagging or soft spots (see post #4 here) because you would need to replace the layers that are too soft or have softened or are sagging rather than add to them. I would be happy to make more comments if you can provide more information about the mattress (or perhaps link to it).
Phoenix
Thanks for your quick response to my first post. To bring things up to date the company did come through on the warranty for the Optimum fail at 1.5" indentation! But we were also within our trial period so we can exchange for a different bed which may be better. We loved the feel of the Optimum except for the heat but fear the possible break down of the foam based on my read of your articles and after our experience with it actually indenting 1.5" on my husband’s side after a couple months. The other beds that are comfortable for us have many layers of different types of foam which concerns me.
One is the Stearns and Foster Lux Estate Port Royal with a pillow top of “cashmere” quilted fabric with outlast and 1" gel quilt foam, 1 1/2" of gel foam then layers of 1" gel foam, 1.5" SS (super soft) foam, 1" SS foam, .79" Intuit soft smart latex, 1" gel foam and a core support layer of latex. He couldn’t find out how deep or what kind. The bottom is titanium coil, (825 for queen so more for the king I understand) wrapped coil within a coil and with foam side support. This one has a pillow top. I think this may be the Luxury latex line at the $3500. level. They seem to be named differently in the stores. I saw the Luxury latex line at US Mattressl. I can find no online detail at Slumberland’s site. Anyway I counted 8 to 8 1/2 inches of these layers including the pillow top. My description is missing a layer in there somewhere. The sales man couldn’t find out more info about any of the layers.
Another is known as the Stearns and Foster Cushion Firm or the Luxury firm from the Lux Estate line running from about 2 to 2.5 Gs: These have a Cashmere quilt top with outlast of 1" gel quilt foam, 1" gel foam. The Luxury firm then has foam layers of 1" prima cool gel memory foam, 3" Sense HD gel foam, 1/2" prima core gel foam over a coil base. The cushion firm has an almost identical top then 1" gel foam, 1" Intuit smart soft latex (synthetic they think), and 2" HD foam. These S and Fs all have the same titanium coil base of wrapped coil within a coil. There’s 1 to 1 1/2 more inches of some kind of foam in the luxury firm (I didn’t get the details down exactly right) which makes it the most comfortable. I count 6 to 6 1/2 " of these various foams in the Lux Estate models. If the description of the missing 1" in the S and F beds above would make a difference in your answer let me know. I’ll find it. It’s not on their literature and the salesman has to read off a spec sheet only he has and I have to copy it down. I’ve tried to find these beds on other sites but I can’t find the exact same names and even the specs sound different though similar
The Optimum Elation has the 4 lb foam which feels great to us - until it breaks down. I understand they are coming out with new models in this line and I’ll find out about those within the next week.
The other option I looked at is the Sealy 9000 cushion firm. It has a quilt top with a coolfast cover. 1" Opticool gel mem foam, 1" smart latex, 2" HD foam, 1/2" latex core then Apex wrapped titanium coils. I count 4 1/2" of total foam - the least of all. This is a firm mattress with the least quilt or pillow type top which is barely ok for comfort and I’d have to go out of pocket somewhere else to get a good topper. We’d end up with a store credit of 1G here. I think I hear you say this type of option may be the best if the bed is good enough quality. Is this innerspring a decent option?
I’m concerned about all the layers of unknown foam in the Stearns and Foster line but the coil system may be better than the Sealy 9000 - I don’t know. The 9000 is not as comfortable as the S and F which are quite comfortable for now anyway but I know all those soft foam comfort upper layers could break down pretty quickly and be worthless.
There’s also the S and F Haverhill Plush hybrid with 3" of elite gel mem foam with outlast and 3" prima sense super soft foam over the coil within a coil system and 1/2 " mem foam under the coils! It feels cushier than the 4 lb but they have no specs on it. It’s very comfortable but I don’t think it would hold up to my husband’s weight at 250 over time. I think the Optimum may be better quality in the long run between the two.
I sure would appreciate your opinion on these beds. Our options aren’t great. The S and F Lux Estate luxury firm is the most comfy to me now. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis so I’m very sensitive. But I want a bed that will last a while longer than a few months. I prefer not to have to spend additional money on a topper but don’t want to buy something that will break down quickly due to poor quality upper layers. I sincerely appreciate what you’re doing here and all the really good info and help you are to all of us out here in this spot. Thanks a million.
Hi gseaver,
[quote] The other beds that are comfortable for us have many layers of different types of foam which concerns me.
I sure would appreciate your opinion on these beds.[/quote]
I would be concerned as well and I would need to know the information listed here to make any meaningful comments about any of the mattresses you mentioned and unfortunately it’s unlikely that you will be able to find out what you need to make an informed choice.
All of them are likely to have a weak link in their design because of the use of lower quality foams in the comfort layers which is the reason behind the two main suggestions in my last reply (either choosing a mattress where you can confirm the quality of the materials in the comfort layers or minimizing the use of lower quality or unknown materials and then adding a higher quality topper).
The Optimum line is the only line of mattresses you mentioned where you may be able to find out the quality of the materials inside it although there is some mixed information in various online sources about the density of the materials. You can see the density of some of them in the Jordan’s listings here which I believe are likely to be accurate and I would stick to the ones that use memory foam in the range of about 4 lbs or higher (3.7 lbs would be “close enough”). Since you may have chosen a mattress that was too soft in the first place it may be worth doing some careful testing on a slightly firmer model such as the Inspiration. The Optimum line now also has several models which use latex in the comfort layers which would also make a more durable choice but once again I would want to know as much as possible about all the layers so that you can have some confidence that there isn’t too much lower quality materials in the mix that could be the weak link of your mattress.
If you can’t confirm that there isn’t too much lower quality or “unknown” foam … I would likely choose a firmer mattress that minimizes the use of lower quality or unknown comfort materials as much as possible and then add a higher quality topper for the additional softness, pressure relief, and “comfort” that you need.
Phoenix