Seeking mattress recommdations

Hello folks,

First off I want to say thanks for the wonderful amount of information on this page. I feel like in a few days I have already learned more than I ever thought possible about mattresses.

I am still however feeling a bit lost and perhaps overwhelmed… So I thought I would get some community feedback.

My wife and I are in the market for a new King sized mattress. Currently we have an older pillow top (sterns and foster I believe) that we have come to hate. We are really looking for something new that will meet our needs and are not adverse to going outside the big box stores to find it…

We are both between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 8 feet tall and 210lbs and 230lbs respectively. Both of us are mostly side sleeps (although we were both more back sleepers prior to our current mattress. I have some back and neck trouble… Nothing serious. As far as firmness I definely prefer a firm to medium firm mattress while my wife would rather medium or soft.

Our biggest issue with our current mattress is we both regularly wake up feeling like we went 12 rounds in a boxing ring… Although we find this does not happen after a night at a hotel (primarily Starwood if it matters).

A lot of our friends have recommended we look into the icomfort but after reading some of the information here I feel like we could do better for our money…

I would love to hear some brand or even model recommdations…

Also if it matters and their are recommended retailers in our area we are located just north of Boston, Massachusetts.

Thanks,
Steve

Hi sfb911,

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 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 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).

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is 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 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 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.

I would also be very cautious about brand shopping in general because you are buying a specific mattress not the brand and most manufacturers have access to the same or similar components and materials. Many manufacturers make a wide range of mattresses that can vary from lower quality and less durable materials to higher quality and more durable materials in a wide range of prices. The name of the manufacturer on the label or the price of the mattress won’t tell you anything about whether a specific mattress is suitable for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or whether there are any lower quality materials or weak links in the design that would affect the durability and useful life of the mattress. There is more about the risks of brand shopping in post #5 here and post #12 here.

There are also no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.

This would normally be because your mattress isn’t keeping your spine and joints in good alignment and is no longer a good “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) so your muscles are working over the course of the night to keep your body in good alignment rather than completely relaxing and recovering. This could be because a mattress is too firm, too soft, or more likely in the case of an older major brand mattress because the foam materials in the comfort layers have softened or broken down and are no longer keeping you in good alignment.

The hotel mattresses you slept on are likely a better “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP and are probably also newer than your mattress so they are in better condition and haven’t lost their comfort and support because of foam layers softening or breaking down. You can read more about hotel mattresses in post #3 here and in most cases I would avoid them as well.

All the major brands (such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta) tend to use lower quality 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 (and the major retailers that focus on them as well) 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).

Subject to confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list you wish to deal with 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 Boston, MA area are listed in post #2 here. You certainly have some good choices in the area.

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 (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 …

  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 a mattress you are considering relative to your weight range 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.

Phoenix