Today we went to a store with the purpose of finding a mattress that best met our needs. After reviewing most options, we determined memory foam seems to meet our needs, provided that it won’t get too hot, which I think I will be okay.
The two mattresses that stuck out were the Serta iComfort Wellbeing and the Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe. As you’d probably figure, I’ve seen a plethora of discussions on Select Foam, and see the “equivalent” of the Cloud Luxe available from them, but wasn’t sure how to go about finding a similar makeup (with a little higher quality component based on what I’m reading here). Any direction or ideas for that.
I’m just outside Pittsburgh, and I viewed the posts about those in the area. It seems like some of the online retailers may be my best bet for these type of mattress, but I welcome any feedback or suggestions.
It is really impressive to see the amount of knowledge being shared here - I’m really excited to see what I can tune in with just a fraction of it.
The first place I would start (if you haven’t already) is post #1 here which has the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and avoid most of the worst ones (such as major manufacturers like Serta and Tempurpedic who tend to either use lower quality materials, don’t disclose the quality of materials at all, or in some cases use better quality materials but have poor value compared to many smaller independent manufacturers).
You can read a little more about trying to match another mattress in post #2 here. Many online memory foam manufacturers will have a good idea about how their mattresses compare to the Tempurpedic line because they are so widespread and are often used as a comparison or frame of reference so people can test a similar mattress locally but comparing other memory foam manufacturers would generally require side by side comparisons (which of course isn’t possible with an online purchase) unless a particular manufacturer happened to be familiar with the one you wanted to compare.
The list of some of the better online sources for memory foam mattresses I’m aware of is in post #12 here and it would be well worth talking to them about your criteria and preferences. They can give you some good insights into which of their mattresses compare to the Tempurpedic mattress you tested in either “feel”, quality of materials, or in design (or in some cases all three) and some may even have some insights into how the iComfort compares to their mattresses as well if they are familiar with it and have made specific comparisons.
I would always start with some of the better local options and compare them to the online options you have available and this will give you a better frame of reference and some good comparisons based on your personal value equation so you can make the best possible final choices.
Thanks for the response. As I start down the path of having some discussions, I want to make sure I have things framed right and understand the general concerns. Can you (or someone else) please review/confirm and make suggestions of what is “better” in terms of what I should be looking for in these support layers:
Icomfort Wellbeing
(Separate Pillow Top)
2" 5 lb KoolComfort breathable memory foam which is a faster reacting good quality memory foam.
1" 4 lb Cool Action gel memory foam. IFD is 10.5
(Remainder)
1.5" of Cool Action gel energy foam (Talalay latex)
2.75" 4 lb Cool Action gel memory foam. IFD is 10.5
1" of support foam (1.3 lb polyfoam/IFD 52.5)
6" support core (1.5 lb polyfoam/IFD 33)
Biggest concern areas - support base: low quality materials. Next - 4lb gel foam has durability concerns
Tempurpedic cloud luxe
2.75" TEMPUR-ES Comfort Layer (4.1 lbs)
2.0" TEMPUR-HD Support Layer (7.2 lbs)
4.3" Convoluted HR, AirFlow System Base Layer
Biggest concern/question - what is in their base layer (sorry, I searched, but there’s so much tempur stuff that I couldn’t find)
The gel memory foam is in the mid range of density so just because I’ve labeled it as medium quality (using durability as the measuring stick for quality) doesn’t mean it’s not suitable or that a higher density would be “better” because while it may be more durable there are many people who prefer the feel of at least some 4 lb memory foam in their mattress over higher density.
The first layer of lower quality materials in the mattress are below over 7" of higher quality foam so the compression forces would mostly be taken up with the higher layers and this would increase the durability of the 1.3 lb foam. It is also very firm and only 1" thick so this would improve its durability as well. in other words… the lower quality materials are deeper in the mattress where they would have less effect on durability unless someone was much heavier than the norm and tended to sink into the deeper layers of the mattress more.
So while there are some lower quality materials in this mattress which I don’t like to see in a mattress in this budget range (there is no reason to use them in a mattress of this price range) … they wouldn’t really be a “weak link” in this design for most people.
The biggest issue with this mattress would be it’s cost and relatively poor value.
Once again the same comments would apply and with 4.75" of medium or high quality memory foam over the firmer support layers … the lower density of the support layers wouldn’t be a durability issue for most people unless they were very heavy in which case the fairly thick layer of 4 lb memory foam on top would probably be the weak link of this mattress. I still don’t like to see 1.5 lb polyfoam in a mattress in this budget range though.
The main issue here would also be high cost compared to other mattresses that used similar quality materials and poor value.