Seeking reputable mattress companies in the Seattle/Tacoma area

[phoenix]

Hi marshmallow,

It is so tempting to get the Serta iComfort Epic model as I loved the feel of it in the store. I tried contacting Serta again to get more information about the density of their foam layers. It has been over 2 weeks since I contacted them and still no response.

It’s quite likely that you won’t get the information you need since Serta usually doesn’t provide it. It’s also the retailer that should be providing you with this information about any mattress they sell. I certainly wouldn’t consider any mattress where you can’t find out the quality/durability of the materials … especially with your higher weight.

I am nearing 400 lbs

Post #3 here and the posts it links to has more information that may be helpful for those in higher weight ranges. It will be particularly important to make sure that all the materials in any mattress you are considering are very durable. I would also keep in mind that what you “need” and what you may “want” may not be the same and you may be looking for mattresses that are too soft for your body type. I would make sure that you do some careful and objective testing so that you have “just enough” pressure relief in your most pressure prone position so your risk of alignment issues is less. I would also keep in mind that you can make a mattress that is too firm softer by adding a topper but it’s much more difficult to make a mattress that is too soft any firmer because it would normally involve removing and replacing the foam layers that are too soft.

Do you know anything about the bariatric mattresses that www.absolutecomfortonsale.com sells? I am nearing 400 lbs and they offer 2 different foam mattresses for heavier people. One for persons up to 300lbs and one for persons up to 400lbs.

You can see my thoughts about them in post #2 here.

I have been in contact with one of their salespeople, Terri, who doesn’t seem very knowledgeable. I asked if their foam was Certipur certified and she didn’t even know what that meant. I explained to her that I like a super soft bed and they can custom make a bed to your specifications. They said they could make a mattress for me that is a little bit of an alteration from their standard “Comfort Max 400” bed. It would have a 6 inch base of HR poly foam with a 24-45 ILD, and a 4 inch topper of 12-14 ILD of Dunlop latex. Still waiting to hear back from her regarding the densities of the foam.

I am very, very, very hesitant to buy another mattress online, however their prices are very reasonable, so I am reconsidering. Another concern I have is that since the mattress will be custom made, it is not returnable and I would have no recourse if I didn’t like the feel of it.

I agree that she probably doesn’t know a great deal about the mattresses since the ILD range of the polyfoam is probably wrong and the mattress description says the mattress uses Talalay not Dunlop. A polyfoam layer doesn’t come in that wide a range of ILD’s in a single layer and if it really is Dunlop then the listed ILD of the Dunlop is most likely lower than it really is. If it’s Talalay and it really is 12 - 14 ILD then I would be very hesitant in considering latex that was that soft at your weight. In any case when you are considering an online purchase that you can’t test in person and you aren’t completely confident that a mattress will be a good match for you in terms of PPP based on your conversations with them then the return or exchange options you have after a purchase would become a more important part of most people’s personal value equation.

I also contacted Easy Rest, and they said their Bella Pedic model is their softest model. It is very reasonably priced as well. However no one in my area carries that mattress, so I can’t try it out. I also would have no recourse if I purchased that mattress online and didn’t like the feel of it.

I would probably avoid the softest model with any manufacturer and once again when you can’t test a mattress in person and you aren’t confident that it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP then the return or exchange options you have after a purchase would become much more important.

If you are considering purchasing a mattress online then there are many good online choices that have much better return and exchange options that are linked in the tutorial post so I’m not sure why you are considering those that don’t unless you are completely confident that they would work well for you.

So I am not sure what to do at this point. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

The best advice I have would be to follow all the steps in the tutorial post one by one and you may need to either visit some of the other stores in the Seattle list or talk to some of the online manufacturers that are linked there if there is nothing of interest locally (although you have more options available to you locally that you haven’t mentioned). I would also make sure you talk with each store you plan to visit before you go there to make sure that they have some good options available that you are interested in testing and that are in your budget range.

Phoenix