Searching for a Mattress on Vancouver Island

First I wish to thank you for this informative website and forum which I just recently found. Through your site my wife and I have learned a lot about mattresses.

We are planning to replace a TemperPedic we have had for about 10 years. It has been comfortable but always a “hot” mattress especially for my wife. We tried numerous changes such as toppers and sheets that were supposed to lessen the overheating. None were very successful. We are also going to upgrade from a queen size to king. A number of stays in hotels over the last few years have convinced us of the benefits of a larger bed.

We are at the stage of feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the myriad of choices in brands, materials and the different ways mattresses are constructed. Suppliers we are feeling more confident about after reading your post of “Mattresses in Victoria”. It has been extremely helpful in determining which suppliers are nearby (we live in the Comox Valley) and which ones you recommend.

We would like to buy locally but have already had a bad experience at one of the large mattress stores in our area. We have had a better experience at two of our local smaller stores. They were both helpful but we wish to shop around more to see what else is available. They also did not have any natural latex mattresses. These seemed to be a good option for a cooler mattress. We plan to visit a number of the smaller mattress suppliers in Parksville and Nanaimo this weekend including the M&N Mattress Shop, West coast Foam and The Foam Guy.

We have two important criteria when choosing a mattress, besides of course comfort. One is the breathability of the materials so that we stay cool. The other is to find a mattress that will fit our different sleeping styles and physical size. I am a side sleeper, my wife is a stomach and back sleeper. I am about 5’10" and 175 lbs. She is 5’9" and a very heavy build.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi jdgb_cvalley,

I know you’ve seen this already but just for the sake of others in the area that may read your post the Victoria/Vancouver Island list is in post #2 here.

[quote]We have two important criteria when choosing a mattress, besides of course comfort. One is the breathability of the materials so that we stay cool. The other is to find a mattress that will fit our different sleeping styles and physical size. I am a side sleeper, my wife is a stomach and back sleeper. I am about 5’10" and 175 lbs. She is 5’9" and a very heavy build.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.[/quote]

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … I don’t 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 and 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 or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your 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 accurate 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).

I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial (which is the first place to start your research) but two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read 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” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) 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 that are most important to you.

It’s not possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials but there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a neutral and more comfortable temperature range.

In its simplest form … choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to first finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in (either locally or online) and that you have confirmed can provide you with all the information you need to know to make an informed choice and make meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …

1. 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.

2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress.

3. 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’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 that I or the other more knowledgeable members of the site can help with.

Phoenix