So Close To Choosing a Mattress

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I’m not really thrilled with the local mattress choices in the Tampa area. I was just on a business trip to Dallas and had a couple hours so I chose to go to Sovn and Urban Mattress. I have really wanted to check out the Berkley Ergonomics mattresses that Sovn carries and Urban mattress has a great variety of quality mattresses. I was so excited but at the same time sad that I didn’t have more time to spend there. I’m a little curvy (there is about 1 size difference between my hips and waist) so I feel like I need a mattress that can be fairly contouring. At the same time, I weight about 200 pounds (plus or minus 20), so I want to make sure to get a supportive enough mattress and one with the best materials so it will last. I had been reluctant to try memory foam since I sleep hot, but lately I have been giving it serious consideration. I travel on a fairly regular basis for work and sleep pretty good on most hotel mattresses. Most importantly, I wake up without pain. My mattress at home is a 20 year old latex mattress and I wake up in pain every day. I have been sleeping on my back for a while since I wake up in less pain, so that it what I’ve also been doing at hotels. I have been thinking I want a luxury firm mattress due to all of this. Trying out mattresses made me remember that I would really prefer to sleep on my side, which seems to be completely changing the mattresses that I am looking at. I am liking the somewhat softer felling mattresses and want to make sure that I am still getting the support that I need.

At Sovn, I liked the Cypress, which is:

ORGANIC WOOL AND CAMEL HAIR QUILTED TOP LAYER
Triple coil design for luxurious feel and contour
Base layer of nested, highly flexible Swedish coils
Middle layer of over 1,500 mini coils with 1" of soft natural Talalay latex
Comfort layer of unique Swedish stretch pocket design with ¾" soft natural latex
Breathable organic cotton knit quilted to a combination layer of wool and camel hair for exceptional sleep climate control and cushy comfort
Dual-sided firmness option for couples

I love that it is organic and has a zipper cover so layers can be changed or rearranged. With their flexible slat foundation, which they recommend, a king would be $4,400. That is more that I would prefer to pay, but well within the range I am willing to pay for the right mattress. They also threw on a 2" latex topper that made the mattress a little softer feeling, which I liked, but that adds another $900. If I go this route, I think I’ll try without the topper first and just know that I have the options to add it. I also really liked their oxygen pillow. I think I may order that no matter which mattress I go with.

I really wish I had more time at Urban mattress. While I feel like I tried quite a few mattresses there, I feel like I missed out some on the experience there. I wound up liking their Uptown the best:

Support Layer: 6″ Pocketed Coil (884 coil/14.5GA/13.5GA Edge)
Comfort Layer: 2″ 3lb Gel Memory Foam, 2.5″ 1344 Microcoil, Two, 1.5″ 2.5 lb Quilt Foam layers
Outer Materials: Polyester Blend
Firmness: Soft
Cover: Quilted Knit Cover

When I was at the store, I was told the Uptown was 5lb gel memory foam on top of pocketed coils. I was surprised the gel foam was 5lb but I knew they carried quality mattresses so I believed it. I do not believe they were intentionally leading me astray. I am guessing they got it mixed up, or possibly the website is incorrect. I am going to be calling Urban mattress today to talk about that mattress, the other ones I laid on (since I’m not sure which ones I tried). I never thought that I would go with what is considered a soft mattress, but I liked the amount of contouring it had and it still seemed like it would be supportive. I’m assuming that the 1.5" 2.5 lb Quilt foam layers are their HR foam and that may be making a big difference in the feel of the mattress, but is a good quality material that will last a long time in the comfort layer, right? Again, not having enough time there was really disappointing. I really want to get the best quality mattress I can, so I really don’t think I want 3lb memory foam. I wonder how their LoHi mattress would compare and I wonder if I tried it (again I will call them later today):

Support Layer: 6″ Pocketed Coil (884 coil/14.5GA/13.5GA Edge)
Comfort Layer: 3″ 5lb Memory Foam, 2.5″ 1344 Microcoil, Two, 1.5″ 2.5 lb Quilt Foam layers
Outer Materials: Polyester Blend
Firmness: Medium
Cover: Quilted Knit Cover

Both of the Urban mattresses have pocketed coils and micro coils which I’m hoping will help with my temperature issues with memory foam. You are also not directly on the memory foam, so I’m guessing that will help as well. At $2,400 and $2,900 (plus a foundation), their prices are a little easier on the pocket while still being great quality and still having coils and microcoils. I know I am would be giving up the zippable cover and organic properties that I really like, but Urban mattress has a great 10 year guarantee, “If at any time within ten years from the date of purchase, you – the original purchaser – are unsatisfied with the performance of your Urban Mattress-branded mattress, we’ll replace it with the same model and same size at no charge.” It is not dependent upon a visible impression in the mattress, it’s just based on how you feel about the mattress. Since I have some concerns with the memory foam and microcoils going the distance, I really like the guarantee that it will still feel good for 10 years.

I have been wanting an adjustable base for a while. I have lower back issues and it seems like it would be nice to be able to adjust some for sleeping. I tried a wedge for my feet and woke up in a lot of pain. I’m guessing the angle was bad for me. Lately I’m starting to think that I may not need an adjustable base if I get the right mattress, but I do want to leave that as an option. I believe all the mattresses I’m looking at would work with an adjustable base if I decide to go that direction in the future.

Based on this, can you give me any insight on how the Uptown and LoHi may feel different? Any other thoughts, suggestions, or options are very welcome too.

2

I was just able to talk to the person that helped me the other day at Urban Mattress. He said that I also tried the Gratitude and Sincerity (specs below for reference) and I did not like them as well as the Uptown. He said that they do not have the LoHi on the floor so I did not try it. He thinks that I would likely like it as well as the Uptown. I asked what type of foam the 2 layers of 1.5" 2.5lb quilt foam layer was. He said it is not HR foam. He said it’s just foam. I asked if it is memory foam and he said it’s like memory foam. Now I’m a little confused. Any chance anyone knows what type of foam this is and if it’s good quality? I could call back and try to ask again if I need to. I also asked about the fire retardant that is in the mattress and he said they do not use chemicals. He said it has a rubber fire retardant. That is new to me. Does anyone have any feedback on the rubber fire retardant?

I also asked for details on their foundation and was told it’s a slat foundation wrapped in cotton that can come 4" or 9" tall. It would be $200 for a king ($100 each), which seems like a pretty good price. I was told that he would have to ask their vendor for slat distance or the number of slats on a king foundation. Does anyone know how the Urban Mattress foundations compare to others recommended on this site?

I have also been considering the Christeli Lux Estate and Palais Grand Royale.

Gratitude:
Support Layer: 6″ 2.5lb 28 ILD Foam Core
Comfort Layer: 2″ 28 ILD Latex, 1″ 19 ILD Latex, Two 1.5″ 2.1lb Foam Layers
Outer Materials: Polyester Blend
Firmness: Medium
Cover: Quilted Knit Cover

Sincerity:
Support Layer: 6″ Latex 36 ILD
Comfort Layer: 2″ Soft 19 ILD Latex, Two 1.5″ 2.1lb Foam Layers
Outer Materials: Polyester Blend
Firmness: Soft
Cover: Quilted Knit Cover

3

Hi 70sgirl,

Thanks for the detailed description of your mattress shopping experience. I’ll do my best to answer some of your technical questions, as of course there’s no manner in which I could predict what mattress might feel best for you.

Regarding the Sovn Cypress, it certainly uses durable and higher quality materials, mostly micro and pocketed coils along with 1" of Talalay latex and organic wool and camel hair in the quilt. This is not an organic completely GOTS certified mattress (at least not listed as so on the Sovn site), but there are some materials of organic origin in there and certainly no polyfoams. They do list Oeko-Tex certifications on their site, and state that there is a GOTS certification (assuming for the cover and/or wool) but the GOTS certificate is not posted so I can’t be sure to what it might apply.

Regarding the Urban mattresses, I’m thinking you may have received a bit of incorrect information during your visit. The Essentials Uptown uses 2" of 3 lb. Gel Memory foam (unless they’ve made a very recent change). The Essentials LoHi uses 3" of 5 lb. memory foam. All of the other specifications are the same between the two. If the Uptown did have 5 lb memory foam as you were told, then the only difference between these two mattresses would be one extra inch of the same 5 lb memory foam in the LoHi, which wouldn’t account for the $500 difference in king, nor would it be a considerable difference in comfort.

Yes, 2.5 lb polyfoam would be a durable quilt material.

The memory foam layer is beneath the quilt layer, and in combination with the microcoils should provide better airflow than in a typical mattress, which should assist with your temperature issues.

I can’t find any information on the foundations they offer. I’d make sure that their foundation meets the requirements listed in the foundation thread here.

I think that your best course of action would be a more detailed phone conversation with the store, and I would specifically ask for someone who is completely familiar with the Urban Mattress line so that you can be assured you are getting accurate information. The materials used in the LoHi are good quality and it would seem that there are no weak links in that mattress.

Phoenix

4

Here’s a blog which explains some tips for buying a mattress - http://downsviewchiropractic.com/6-tips-buying-mattress-sleeping-well/. Hope it helps!

5

Hi Kathleen3,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

While I appreciate you posting here on the forum, the link you shared isn’t specific to the questions placed by the original poster, and the information doesn’t provide much if anything that would help to educate an individual when shopping for a mattress. While the link is bordering on being promotional (which would be against the rules of the forum), I’m leaving it up as there is some interesting chiropractic information contained within that blog, which would be much more useful than the generic mattress information presented.

A more appropriate link for learning how to shop for a mattress would be our own mattress shopping tutorial.

Thanks again!

Phoenix

6

I was recently able to get more details on the LoHi mattress at Urban Mattress. They said:

Regarding the mattress itself, the build from bottom to top is as follows:
6 inches of pocketed coils
2.5" of microcoils
3" of 5 lb Ares Memory Foam
then, two layers of 1.5" 2.1lb Certipur high density foam
and finally the knit cover.

I wonder why they put the memory foam under so much high density foam. Do you lose some of the contouring benefits of the memory foam that way? Is the Certipur a good quality foam as well? I had assumed that 2 layers of the quilt foam meant one on top and one on the bottom of the mattress so I was surprised to find that they are both on the top.

7

Hi 70sgirl,

[quote]Regarding the mattress itself, the build from bottom to top is as follows:
6 inches of pocketed coils
2.5" of microcoils
3" of 5 lb Ares Memory Foam
then, two layers of 1.5" 2.1lb Certipur high density foam
and finally the knit cover.[/quote]
As this order of componentry differs from what is listed on the Urban mattress web site (and it’s not as common in a configuration like this to place the microcoils directly on top of the pocketed spring unit), I contacted Urban Mattress to confirm, and they did indeed confirm what you were told. Thank you for the update! I advised them to correct their web site information. The material used in this mattress is good quality and there are no “weak links” that would be a cause for concern.

Mattress design is as much art as it is science, and many manufacturers like the dense feel of memory foam, but they place it a layer or two down so that people can experience the dense feel but they are not as close to the memory foam, resulting in a bit less sinking, easier mobility, and less temperature sensitivity. There’s really no right or wrong answer, just their choice in design. The key thing would be to make sure that whatever the combination, the materials are durable, and in this case they are.

CertiPUR-US is a certified standard that a polyfoam has passed. It doesn’t speak to the quality of the foam, but certifies that the foam is made without ozone depleters, is made without PBDEs, doesn’t use heavy metals or formaldehyde or phthalates, and is low VOC.

This is a one-sided mattress, so both of these foam layers are quilted to the ticking (covering) on the top of the mattress. It is common for a quilt panel to have one or two layers of foam.

Thanks again for your updates.

Phoenix