Select Foam vs. Tempflow

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Ok, so I’ve recently become interested in replacing my Dynasty Mattress “Silverrest Monaco” bed bought on Amazon. It lasted about 4 years before the foam became mostly too soft to support me properly (and caused back pain). The first 3 years I had the pillowtop cover removed in order to present a firmer surface comparable to the Tempurpedic Rhapsody, the degradation of foam in the last year led me to put the pillowtop back on to gain more life out of the foam. I also read a review on Amazon that claimed the customer called Dynasty Mattress and got a chemical breakdown of the components. One of those chemicals (TOLUENE DI ISOCYANATE 80/20 (T.D.I.)) is a carcinogen. Perhaps the cause of my numerous and accelerated rate of eye floaters in only my 30s, but no true correlations can be drawn without evidence.

Now, that the back story is out of the way, I am interested in replacing the mattress for multiple reasons and through research and reading here I am leaning towards Select Foam Aurora-HD or Grandis-HD or Tempflow Copia or Harmonia.

Both offer warranties for a 3/4" indentation policy but Select Foam is Lifetime (10 years fully covered, after that it’s prorated at 50%) and Tempflow has a 40 year warranty (10 years full, prorated on a basis of how long you’ve owned the mattress after). I don’t expect to invoke either warranty before replacing the mattress due to it getting softer anyway.

Tempflow promotes their “Bio-green” formula and pours their own foam (I believe? Or it’s mixed for them under tight controls) with an exceptionally low VoC concentration. Select Foam uses a Soy-based formula and informs me that because of this they have no VoC concentrations (how true is this?). Select Foam gets their foam from Premier foam.

Both salesmen (Jim from Tempflow and Juan from Select Foam) own one of their products and profess to love them. I asked questions about degradation of the foam density/firmness over a period of time (in order to judge longevity); I don’t remember Jim’s answer and Juan informs me that over 4 years he feels his mattress is 10% softer than new.

Both mattresses are made in the USA and compressed at shipping. They should arrive smell-free.

One concern I have is that Select Foam has a BBB rating of C- while Tempflow (Relief Mart, Inc.) has an A rating. Maybe Phoenix would be able to assuage my fears of the low rating for Select Foam?

For pricing, according to their current deals and Mattress Underground discount/benefits:

Select Foam Aurora-HD (Tempurpedic Allura comparable) comes to $1851 for a Queen. Their Grandis-HD (Tempurpedic Grand Bed comparable) comes to $2516 for a Queen. Select Foam uses a layer from 2" to 2.5" of 8lb density in both of these mattresses that, theoretically, means they would last longer before becoming softer. They also offer free shipping both ways and a 90 day trial.

Tempflow Harmonia (Tempurpedic Deluxe Bed comparable) runs $1779 for a Queen. Their Copia ( Tempurpedic Rhapsody comparable) runs $2500. They use 5lb memory foam, however there are other factors in play I do not understand (possibly marketing speak like “Superior Density.”) Their shipping is not free at $169 and they offer 120 day trial with the purchaser being responsible for return shipping.

It appears that Select Foam is offering more for less to me, but hopefully somebody can assist me with insight and answer my few questions.

I am 5’9" 165 lbs side sleeper (75%), back sleeper (25%), slim profile, intermittent chronic lower and mid back pain.

2

Hi GrandMasterJ,

You are certainly down to a point where you are choosing between good and good and post #2 here may be helpful with making final choices based on your personal value equation.

A couple of comments that may also be helpful …

TDI is a component of almost all of the polyfoam or memory foam made in North America and is one of the two main chemicals that are used to make both polyfoam and memory foam. In its fully reacted state it normally isn’t an issue although it can certainly be toxic as a raw material when the foam is being made. A MSDS for TDI is here and a safety assessment document is here. The most common alternative is MDI which is also an isocyanate which is used instead of TDI and this is more common in polyfoam or memory foam made in Europe. There is a MSDS for MDI here. If a material has been tested for residual VOC’s through a certifying agency such as CertiPur or OekoTex then by most people’s standards the final product would be “safe” although this is also a question that is somewhat controversial and there are many people that avoid memory foam or polyfoam of any type because of their personal health concerns. There are also many other materials used in mattresses including fire retardants that are of concern to many people and are all part of how each person may answer the question of “how safe is safe enough for me”". There is more about this in post #2 here although these types of very complex questions can often lead down a rabbit hole of ever more complex and contradictory information and no specific or satisfying answers

Warranties only cover factory defects and aren’t connected to the useful life of a mattress and don’t cover the gradual loss of comfort and support that is an inevitable part of all mattresses and is the main reason a mattress needs to be replaced. You can read more about mattress warranties in post #174 here.

Relief Mart who makes the Tempflow is a mattress manufacturer but they don’t pour their own foam which comes from a US foam manufacturer. You can read some comments about them in post #9 here.

Without measurements this would be more of a “subjective” estimate but the useful life of a mattress is relative to each person and is subject to many factors including the suitability of the comfort choice you make and the sensitivity of each person to the effects of foam softening. There is more about the factors involved in durability and the useful life of a mattress in post #4 here.

You can see some comments about the BBB in post #3 and #4 here along with points #1 and #5 in this post by a forum member and in post #4 here. Select Foam is not a BBB member which affects how they are rated.

I’m looking forward to hearing about what you end up choosing :slight_smile:

Phoenix

3

Thanks for your input Phoenix. I did take a look at what you posted and was ready to go with Select Foam on a cost per features basis and the fact that they had an additional promotional running this week in addition to the Fall Sale bringing costs to something more affordable, however, upon speaking with Juan, I had a conversation that left me unsettled. I private messaged you about this as I would seek your advice prior to public posting. Maybe this is just a misunderstanding that can be easily cleared up.

ADDENDUM: I would like to mention that Peter from Select Foam has reached out to me this same evening and cleared up my earlier confusion with Juan and I do appreciate the timeliness and courtesy. I’m going to take 24 hours to further consider the purchase before speaking with Peter again. Whatever I decide, I’ll be sure to come back and create an ongoing review of my purchase.

4

Hi GrandMasterJ,

I talked with Peter before he called you and just to clarify for the other members that read this there is/was (depending when you read this) an additional 10% “best bed for back pain” promotion on their site for their Grandis mattress which their marketing and website department had added to the site in error and their customer service people didn’t know about it which of course caused some confusion. They are removing this ASAP because it’s not supposed to be there at all apparently but for those who order while it is still there they will honor it.

Just to clarify as well … some of the members here occasionally run temporary sales that are larger than the TMU 5% discount/bonus and when this happens they aren’t required to “stack” the two discounts (although sometimes they still might in some cases) because of course this would cut their margins too much and they would otherwise need to remove the TMU discount completely if this was a requirement. The “requirement” is that the TMU discount is in addition to any permanent sales (such as the rotating sale that Select Foam runs on a continuing basis on their site) or on their regular prices for those that don’t normally run sales but not on specially priced mattresses.

I’m glad you were able to resolve the confusion and hopefully they will remove the “special sale” on the Grandis quickly and communicate a little better with their Customer Service people when the website people make additions to their site that they aren’t informed about.

Phoenix

5

I did go ahead and purchase the Grandis-HD with the Fall Sale and 10% back pain promotion (which was what had originally pushed me over to the Grandis since I was still torn in deliberation, so I’m quite happy they honored it). It’ll be awhile until I receive it, but I’ll start a new thread that specifically reviews it over a time period. I hope I love it, I hope it’s great for my back (I do have back pain), and I hope it lasts a very long time. Time will tell.

6

Hi GrandMasterJ,

I just checked and they’ve removed the 10% special so even though it was the cause of some confusion you were fortunate that your timing worked out well!

I’m looking forward to your feedback when you receive it.

Most important of all … congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

Phoenix