A few years ago, I was in the market for a new mattress, looking for the firmest option available. In addition to firmness, we also needed support and comfort. At the time, I weighed 250+ lbs (now 220 lbs), and my wife is 5’4" and 135 lbs. We were replacing an 11-year-old Sealy Posturepedic Ultra Firm Pillow Top mattress, which had quickly deteriorated.
We visited a wide range of stores, from furniture and department stores to mattress showrooms. After much searching, we narrowed our options down to three models: the S&F Lux Estate Ultra Firm, the Aireloom Ultra Firm, and a Shifman mattress. We eliminated the Aireloom first because of its foam-encased edge support, which we felt lacked durability. The S&F was eliminated next, largely due to questionable reviews about its long-term durability and use of viscoelastic memoryfoam.
Through extensive research, we discovered that many of the legacy “S” brands (Sealy, Serta, Simmons, etc.) had developed a less-than-stellar reputation since the Y2K era. I had known about the reputation of these companies for sometime, but it was still surprising, given my past experiences—I’d had a Serta Perfect Sleeper super firm mattress for 26 years and a Sealy Posturepedic UltraFirm Pillowtop for 11 years. I struggled to justify spending money on one of these well-known brands, especially with their damaged reputations, despite S&F once being considered the top of the hierarchy in the “S” brand category.
At this point, it came down to the Shifman, with its hefty price tag, or exploring other options. We eventually found a “BiB” mattress that was advertised as the firmest on the market.
When we tested mattresses in the showrooms, many of the options felt similar. The S&F, Aireloom, and BeautyRest Black all had that firm, supportive feel. However, after further comparison, we eliminated one based on price, another on design, and the last one due to its questionable reputation.
Since I wasn’t able to test the BiB mattress in person, comparing to to other mattresses, we found its simple design, “less is more” build, and reasonable price tag made it a logical choice to try before committing to a five-figure mattress like the Shifman, which I already felt was a solid option.
We had already purchased a guest bedroom mattress from this brand, Brooklyn Bedding a couple months before and while not super firm, it was satisfactory as a guestroom mattress. We did not find anything particularly bad about this mattress, in fact it was quite comfortable, so we decided to take the leap for it ultra firm brother, the Brooklyn Bedding Plank Luxe mattress. The key point is it is now 2 years later and we just love the mattress. As much as I wanted that Shifman, this Plank Luxe turned out to be exactly what we like.
The whole point is, you need to try a mattress for a solid month or two before making any major judgements. It is important to put the mattress builds/construction up on your computer screen and make comparisons. Transparency is a key factor when attempting to compare mattresses based on specs. Every brand of the legacy lines and even the Aireloom failed to offer this information. Shifman was an all natural mattress so they offered their spring gauges, but the rest was cotton, cashmere, and latex, so there was not much additional information to provide.
The quality of a mattress is often determined by the specifications used in its construction. Without this information, it becomes difficult to properly assess its value. This particular S&F mattress includes a range of high-quality materials like latex, silk, and wool, but it also incorporates a significant amount of memory foam and gel infusions. As the saying goes, a mattress is only as good as its weakest layer. The concern with this mattress is that we don’t know if the memory foam or gel-infused foam layers will turn out to be weak points. A mattress may feel comfortable initially, but if these weaker layers begin to degrade over time, the rest of the mattress can lose its integrity as well.
This is where independent reviews from actual mattress owners—those found outside of the manufacturer’s website—become invaluable. Reviews on manufacturer sites are often curated, and many review platforms are incentivized to promote certain mattresses, which can make them less trustworthy. To truly understand what you’re buying, it’s essential to read independent reviews and try to uncover the composition of the mattress’s weaker layers.
While this may not be a complete answer to your question, it should help clarify the kind of information you need to evaluate any mattress before making a decision.
Maverick
