Sherwood Conforma Cool 5.0 vs. Dreamfoam Latex vs. Helix

Hi Phoenix,

I was thinking about getting the Sherwood Conforma Cool 5.0, but it is really pricey at $1640 for a queen. The sales person was willing to knock off $200, but that’s still a couple out of my budget.

I then started browsing your mattress forum and came across the Helix, which is much more manageable at $900 and then also saw posts about the dreamfoam. I like the customizability of the Helix and dreamfoam. Quality-wise how would the dreamfoam stack up against the Sherwood? Are there any dreamfoams that you think would be comparable to the Sherwood Conforma Cool 5.0? The one that I was looking at is the Ultimate Dream Eurotop Queen.

Also, between the Dreamfoam versus Helix, which do you think is the better quality/brand? How good is the “we will contact you” with respect to the dreamfoam firmness? How does that compare to the survey method of the Helix?

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

Hi DonJuanFromNom,

I’m assuming that you’ve read 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 most 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 (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your 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).

While I can’t speak to how a mattress will feel or how different mattresses will compare in terms of comfort and PPP for someone else … outside of “comfort” and PPP the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing all the specifics of its design and construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to confirm that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

These are all very different mattresses that use very different materials and components and have very different designs and there are so many variables involved that there really isn’t any way to predict how they will compare or will feel for you outside of your own testing or your own personal sleeping experience. The Conforma is a memory foam mattress, the Ultimate Dream Eurotop is a latex/polyfoam hybrid mattress, and the Helix uses a combination of latex, a microcoil, and polyfoam in the comfort layers in different arrangements (depending on the results of your questionairre).

There is more about some of the pros and cons of latex vs memory foam in post #2 here and there is more about microcoils that are used in comfort layers in this article and in post #8 here and post #2 here (although how much you will feel the microcoils will depend on the order of the layers).

You can see some comments about the Conforma Cool Perfection Luxury Firm Gel 5.0 in posts #1 and #2 here but I would make sure that you confirm the current specs of the mattress so that you can make sure that there aren’t any lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress relative to your weight range.

If the specs in the posts I linked are correct and if you are in a more average weight range there wouldn’t be any lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress although the 1.5 lb base foam is lower quality/density than I would normally like to see in this budget range and if you are in a higher weight range (more than the lower 200’s or so) then I would be cautious with this mattress.

You can see some comments about Helix and some of the other simplified choice mattresses in post #2 here in the simplified choice mattress topic. This would also be suitable for more average weight ranges but I would be cautious here as well if you are in a higher weight range.

the Ultimate Dreams Eurotop Latex Mattress uses 3" of blended Talalay latex on top of an 8" support core that is 2 lb density and has a quilted cover that includes 1.5" of softer polyfoam so as you can see in the quality/durability guidelines I linked earlier there are no lower quality materials or weak links in this mattress in terms of durability regardless of your weight range.

The Sherwood has the advantage of being local so you can test it in person before your purchase but it’s also in a higher budget range and there is only the single firmness option (although of course they also have other mattresses). I don’t know their return/exchange policy.

The Helix has several different firmness and design options that you can choose before a purchase and also has a 100 day trial period so if for any reason the mattress doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for then you can return it for a refund without any cost or risk.

The Dreamfoam Ultimate Dreams Eurotop also offers several different firmness options before a purchase and also has the ability to exchange the latex layer after a purchase for a low exchange cost (see here) if you like the feel of the mattress and latex but just need a different firmness level so you don’t need to return the complete mattress and start all over again. They also have a 45 day trial period that allows you to return the mattress for a refund for a shipping cost of $99. One of the advantages of a replaceable top layer (outside of firmness exchanges) is that if the top layer softens or breaks down before the deeper layers after an extended period of time or if your needs or preferences change over time then you can just replace a single layer without needing to replace the entire mattress.

Again … assessing the quality/durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label and I would focus more on the materials in a mattress than the name of the manufacturer which means little.

While there is no way to quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when you will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for you (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.

The Ultimate Dreams Eurotop uses higher quality and more durable materials than either of the other mattresses you are considering so it would most likely be the most durable choice out of the three of them.

I haven’t seen any feedback about Helix from the members of the forum so I don’t know the results of their algorithm but I imagine it would have a fairly high rate of success. Again though … their return policy lets you try the mattress in your bedroom instead of a showroom with little risk outside of the time you spend sleeping on it or returning it should that be necessary.

Dreamfoam has a very high success rate and because of their layer exchange if you are one of the minority that makes the wrong firmness choice then you can exchange the comfort layer for a softer or firmer version as well which would increase the odds of success even more (although it would add slightly to the cost).

Once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” and none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design relative to your weight range and if there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations about each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences for different types of materials or types and blends of latex, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix