Hi. After buying a latex mattress from the Clean Bedroom two years ago, and not a great experience by the way for many reasons, and having the worst sleep of my life for the past two years, I decided it was time to finally acknowledge my costly mistake and again delve into the hell of mattress buying. I found this site and am grateful for all the information here. I went to my local Raymour and Flannigans to test a bunch of mattresses since I live in Poughkeepsie NY and there are no good alternative options close by. I found that going by the guidelines here the mattress that suited me best was the Simmons Black Ava Plush. The same bed with a plush pillowtop was too firm, this was without the top. I would never buy a Simmons so now I need to find a comparable softish bed from a quality dealer and maker. Does anyone have any ideas what might be similar?
Hi Mattresshell,
I’m not sure which mattress you purchased or why you aren’t sleeping well on it but it’s possible that you may be able to resolve the issues you are having with your current mattress without needing to purchase a new one.
I would avoid Raymour and Flannigans along with any store that can’t provide you with the information in this article about what is inside the mattresses they sell.
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, layer thicknesses, layer firmnesses, and overall design (which would be very unlikely) then there really isn’t a 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 which would also be very unlikely).
Mattress manufacturers generally try to differentiate their mattress from the mattresses made by other manufacturers and don’t normally try to “match” another mattress that is made by a different manufacturer so unless a manufacturer specifically says in their description of a mattress that one of their mattresses in the same general category is specifically designed to “match” or “approximate” another one in terms of firmness or “feel” and PPP and/or they are very familiar with both mattresses and can provide reliable guidance about how they compare based on the “averages” of a larger group of people that have compared them (different people may have very different opinions about how closely two mattresses compare) … the only reliable way to know for certain how two mattresses would compare for you in terms of how they “feel” or in terms of firmness or PPP would be based on your own careful testing or actual sleeping experience on both of them.
I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial (which is the best 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.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Poughkeepsie area (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines I linked earlier in this reply) are listed in post #4 here (and the other lists that it links to).
Phoenix