To start out, thanks Phoenix and everyone on this board for the tremendous amount of useful information as I go through my first major mattress-buying process.
I had the Tuft & Needle 5 inch queen and wanted, nay, tried desperately to like it (I love the company, the approach, and the customer service) but just couldn’t acclimate to it. I’m more used to soft mattresses but read other reviews and convinced myself that with enough time, I could adjust, but 2 weeks, then a month and a half passed, and it still didn’t feel right. Just too firm, and I was squirming (I’m a back sleeper but had to sleep on my side at times on this).
When I was looking around initially, I’d encountered another promising mattress at R&S Mattress here in Arizona. It’s their house-brand, Brooklyn Bedding, which is considered reputable by this site but I’ve seen enough negative reviews of the mattresses and service to be concerned. This mattress, the “Grand Central” is apparently not available online, but is billed as a soft plush pillowtop mattress with:
-3/4 quilted
-1" pressure relieving gel memory foam
-6" verti-coil individually wrapped coil
-3" foam encasement around mattress
-10 year non pro-rated warranty
I lay down on it briefly and it did feel comfortable, but can someone more knowledgeable than I speak to the quality (or lack of) of the materials listed above, and share any thoughts about the company or things to look out for as I potentially move ahead with the purchase? Does this seem like a good value for $500?
I’m sorry to hear that your Tuft & Needle didn’t work out for you but I’m glad that you had the foresight to buy a mattress with a great return policy so that you could try it will little risk.
I would be very cautious about using other people’s reviews or experiences on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how suitable a mattress may be for you or the durability of a mattress and in many cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on or vice versa (see post #13 here).
[quote]This mattress, the “Grand Central” is apparently not available online, but is billed as a soft plush pillowtop mattress with:
-3/4 quilted
-1" pressure relieving gel memory foam
-6" verti-coil individually wrapped coil
-3" foam encasement around mattress
-10 year non pro-rated warranty
I lay down on it briefly and it did feel comfortable, but can someone more knowledgeable than I speak to the quality (or lack of) of the materials listed above, and share any thoughts about the company or things to look out for as I potentially move ahead with the purchase? Does this seem like a good value for $500?[/quote]
Outside of PPP … a mattress is only as good as its construction and the quality and durability of the materials inside it (regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label) and without knowing the specifics of all the layers and components in a mattress (see this page) it’s not possible to make any meaningful comments about the quality or durability of the materials or the mattress as a whole or identify any potential weak links in a mattress.
If you can find out the specifics of the materials and components of any of the mattresses you are considering then you can either compare them to the guidelines here or if you post them on the forum I’d certainly be happy to make some comments about the quality/durability of the materials inside it.
The “value” of a mattress purchase is always relative to how it compares to the other mattresses or “finalists” you are considering and there is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses but “value comparisons” will boil down to …
1. Testing for suitability and PPP (either with your own personal testing or a more detailed conversation on the phone backed up with a return/exchange policy you are comfortable with). 2. Checking the quality and durability of the materials in the mattress and comparing them against the guidelines (or posting the information on the forum where I’d be happy to make some comments) to make sure there are no weak links in the mattress in terms of durability (which means that I would only deal with retailers/manufacturers that are fully transparent about the materials in their mattresses) 3. Comparing your finalists for value based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you including the price and the options you have available after a purchase if the mattress doesn’t turn out to be as suitable a choice as you hoped for.
If you test, check, and compare using these guidelines then you can more easily decide on which mattress is the “best value for you”.
Thanks, Phoenix, for the helpful response and the links you passed along. I just spoke to a salesman on the phone who seemed extremely impressed with the detail of the questions I was asking, and was very thorough with me in answering them (a good sign). Based on what I read in the links, I believe the materials would count as good quality, but would love your opinion on them anyway. From the top down:
3/4" Quilt with 1.2 lb density high resilient foam (fabric is 80% cotton and 20% polyester, quilt is made from dupont fiber)
1" Gel memory foam at 4 lb density
6" of 14 gauge coil, approximately 725 coils in a queen-sized, with 3" of polyfoam edge support at 2.5 lb density
3" of polyfoam at 2.1 lb density
The guy I spoke to confirmed that all of the foam was American-made and CertiPur certified.
Also, the mattress has a 60-day trial period, but unlike T&N, it is an exchange program, not a refund (but no restocking fee).
What are your thoughts, Phoenix? Going to lie down on it tomorrow to test the PPP side of things.
The mattress uses good quality materials and the quilting layer meets the guidelines I would suggest of “no more than about an inch or so of lower quality/density layers” so there would be no obvious weak links in the mattress in terms of durability.
If your testing indicates it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP then it would certainly be well worth considering.