If I had to do it again, this is what I’d do. I would stop thinking for myself in a field I have limited knowledge in and take the advice of the pros who are in this for life: just get a solid coil/microcoil mattress from Houston Mattress Makers and then adjust as wanted. It’s really not that big of a deal. You have to trust me when I say this because I’ve been through the fire of a mattress purchase and am on the other side. I thought about my mattress, OBSESSED about my mattress, but in the end it’s really only a place you’re going to spend half your life.
Question 1: Memory Foam vs Coils?
If after you do your due diligence as Phoenix suggests and you still just don’t know: you are coils. You can always add a topper. I love New Balance shoes. A buddy of mine likes cheap shoes and just puts a quality insert in them. You don’t want to be stuck with something you obsess over and can’t change. You can always add that layer of memory foam or latex which will be supported by the coils. I know you don’t want to spend a lot of money and then have to modify the mattress to your liking, but tough it out. You will be happier.
Question 2: The mattress is in my house, what now?
When my mattress arrived at my home, I expected angels to be singing as I drifted off into the sweet sandman’s arms. That is not realistic. The mattress is much different in your house, and much different after six months. They say that there is a “break in period” to any mattress. That’s half you breaking in the mattress and half the mattress breaking in you. My mattress has coils and then a thin layer of memory foam.
The first period of break-in:
During the first couple months of break-in, I was always conscious about the memory foam. I thought I may have made a mistake. After ALL that research and searching and and questioning, I knew more about mattresses than a majority of the salespeople I talked to. At that point, I knew more about mattresses than I will ever know in my life.
Which leads me to another tip: a salesperson is not a mattress professional. Outside of the Houston stores recommended on this fantastic site, I met ONE person who knew as much about mattresses as I did. That was at the DUMP, which actually had some pretty good mattresses, but their sales pressure tactics are vicious. The knowledgable salesperson I had was low-key and informative and we had a great discussion about mattresses, but his “manager” came up at one point to another salesperson within my earshot and said, “hey we only have two of these left.” Which they might have. Except that I asked my salesperson about it and he said that wasn’t true and the mattress would probably be available through the next weekend. Only go in there if you have the power to leave.
Which leads me to another comical story. I walked into one of the big chain’s warehouse store next to Gallery Furniture (where I went to “look for a mattress” as an excuse to see the monkeys and birds and Mattress Mack), and the whole time I was educating him on mattresses. Eventually, I humored him, sat at the desk and had the “table talk”. I told him I was thinking about the other mattresses I’d seen, especially from Texas Mattress Makers (I went there three times before I bought the mattress). I told him I want to do all the research I could before I purchased a mattress. He pulled out his calculator, punched in some numbers and said, “look, do you want to have the best sleep of your life tonight? I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you this price (punches in some numbers) if you buy right now. You know what, I’ll even give you this price (punches in more numbers). We don’t even make money off this price. If you find a mattress similar to this one at that Texas Mattress Makers that is cheaper than this, I’ll refund any of the difference”. Right buddy. Which is a tip in and of itself. Once you buy a mattress, YOUR SEARCH IS OVER. Let it go.
If you’ve really studied this site, try going into one of the big chains and just ask open ended questions and listen to the responses. It’s almost comical. You know more than almost any salesperson out there because you’re passionate about it and they’re not. BUT you don’t know more than a mattress lifer. A mattress professional will know what you know plus 20 years of experience. Trust those people. A great mattress sells itself.
The second period of break-in:
After a few months, I forgot to think about it.
The third period of break-in:
The third period (about 6 months in), where I am now, the mattress is awesome. I mean it’s a mattress. It’s everything I would expect. To use a baseball analogy, the best umpires are the ones you don’t even know are there. I haven’t consciously thought about my mattress since this thread got replied to and I got an e-mail. The memory foam has settled down, and I’ve found new sleeping positions. I used to be a 100% back sleeper, never sleeping on my side, now I find myself doing it sometimes and I like it. When I answered “unknown” to coils vs memory foam, I immediately answered memory foam because I wanted to like it. My current mattress from Texas Mattress Makers does have the thin layer of memory foam above the micro-coils and then the base. The people there make mattresses. They live mattresses. Mattresses pay for their life. Trust them. Reading about mattresses is a great way to know what you’re getting, but it gets to a point where you will not know what you’re getting. Once again with the analogies, it’s like reading about how to throw a curveballl.
My advice would be:
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Know that the mattress in the store will be much different from the one in your home. Ask questions about this and trust the professional who lets you know what to expect.
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If you think the mattress is at all too soft, don’t get it. You can always make it softer.
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DO NOT get wrapped up in the hype of memory foam vs. latex vs. coils. But be knowledgable.
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Memory foam is different from your coil mattress, be sure you like that feeling.
My first few nights with my mattress, I didn’t know if the memory foam topper and myself would “gel”. I thought I might have gone overboard and cursed the seductive space-age name of “memory foam”. But now it’s fine. I’m not unhappy it’s there, but I do wish that I had a little more opportunity to soften up the bed or make it harder at my own whim via a topper, but it works just fine and I don’t have to mess with it. I’m comfy every night. My mattress broke me in, or I broke it in, or something happened. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it. It’s my nighttime umpire: I always sleep sound, never wake up with any problems whatsoever, and best of all, I never even know it’s there.