To All,
I have to tell you I feel very fortunate to have discovered www.themattressunderground.com. Up until this weekend I was on the cusp of purchasing a memory foam mattress from COSTCO called the Sleep Science ARA - a 13" memory foam mattress made by South Bay. I have known for many years how expensive the Tempur-pedic mattresses are and never could have imagined spending $4,000 to $6,000 for a new bed. I came across this Sleep Science model on Costco’s website and thought, “Hey!, this is a great value at only $1399.” Boy was I grateful with what I learned in reading through your blogs.
Here’s my story. For the last 12 years I’ve been sleeping on a Double Euro pillowtop Chatam and Wells innerspring mattress I purchased in Las Vegas for about $1200. Well the comfort layers in the pillowtop have been breaking down and a valley sits in my queen mattress. Gradually, my back has been aching more and more each morning. I talked to my chiropractor and he recommended I try a memory foam mattress. I told him I like it plush but with underlying support because I have pronounced curvature in my lower back. Well, my chiropractor recommended I try the Tempur-pedic Cloud line, because they tend to have soft top layers and density more supportive middle layers. I was concerned off the bat because I know how expensive the Tempur-pedics run. Well, I tested all the Clouds and absolutely love the Cloud Lux, but it runs $3600 plus tax without a foundation. I just couldn’t afford that. This is when I started searching (before I knew about this forum) online for alternatives and came across the Costco mattress noted above. I was just about to make the online purchase when I came across your mattress forum while doing a search on South Bay. South Bay was mentioned on a blog when I did a GOOGLE search. I was so surprised what I discovered about how the foams are made in China and how the quality cannot be guaranteed, etc.
I continued reading other blogs, learning more and more about memory foam properties, densities, how mattresses are assembled, natural versus petroleum foams, gel infusions, and on and on. There is so much to learn! Then I came across Select Foam and noted that they were listed as a preferred retailer/manufacturer. Well, I went to there website and found they make a Cirrus Luxe-ES 13 which mimics the Cloud Lux by Tempur-pedic, but for $1500 less.
Naturally, I was pleased. I made called to the 1-800 and spent about an hour talking with Chris. He was very knowledgeable and patient with my questions. I decided to go ahead and make a purchase, taking a leap of faith that this mattress will be very similar to the Cloud Lux, but at much less cost for similar quality…just not the “brand name”.
Now, I am a bit nervous about a couple differences in the Cloud Lux and the Cirrus Luxe-ES 13. First, the Select Foams are soy based, not petroleum based like Tempur-pedics. Secondly, the Select Foams are gel infused and Tempur-pedics are not, but I’ve heard they recently purchased Serta to gain the iComfort technology in which they use gel infused foams. Thirdly, I noted the Select foam support layer is 8 lbs density but Tempur-pedics is 7 lbs. Lastly, the information on the base on the Select Foam mattress was not disclosed, so I am hoping it’s acceptable and of equivalent quality.
I hope I made a good decision. Intuitively, I feel I did make a good buy and I have this forum to thank for steering in a new, better informed direction. Once I have the mattress and are using in a few months I’ll report back!
Thanks again for all the knowledge and advice you share with consumers like I.
Paul