Tempurpedic alternative?

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

It’s mattress replacement time again. Last time, around 2012, I found help here and wound up buying a memory foam mattress from My Luxury Mattress. I have tried calling the number I have saved for them, but it seems they are no longer doing business. So, I’m back here again, hoping to make a better purchase.

I guess I’ll start with what I know, or at least think I know. I know I like memory foam; I know I like soft; and I know the best bed purchase my wife and I ever made was a memory foam mattress bought on ebay for $400 in total frustration after spending multiple thousands of dollars on multiple dismal failures. That $400 memory foam bed was purchased probably in 2004, and is still in service.

Meanwhile, we spent a couple of years living elsewhere and furnished a second home, which is when we bought a mattress from My Luxury Mattress. We had gone to one of the chain stores and really liked the Tempupedic Cloud Luxe, but were unwilling to pay $4200 for one. That’s when I found this site and was directed to MLM.

That mattress was a fraction of the cost of the Cloud Luxe, and was fantastically comfortable. But it STANK!! At first, I thought it smelled of mildew. I learned - on here - that is was the new foam offgassing. The awful smell eventually went away, but it took every bit of 6 months, maybe closer to a year. And in the beginning it was horrible. Washed the sheets EVERY DAY and still woke up with the smell on our skin. Walking on it helped release the smell, but it really reeked. I know I’m going on about this, but this was a HUGE issue and cannot be overstated. I spoke with the sales rep from MLM several times about this and never got any kind of satisfaction; he actually stopped answering or returning my calls.

The other issue with this mattress is that in short order, my wife became uncomfortable on it. It developed what she describes as “craters” where each of us sleeps. So after a year and a half, when we moved back “home”, that mattress went in the spare bedroom and we went back to using the ebay special.

So, here I am again. We went to Boscov’s today and again were eyeing up Tempurpedic’s top dollar, softest, memory foam mattress. This time, it’s on “sale” for $3500. My wife’s argument for it is that the last one stank so badly, she’s totally unwilling to deal with that again. And also that after a short year and a half, it was worn out. So how much did we save? If we pay the big dollars, maybe it will last. At least we know it won’t stink.

I read a few references to BMI on here. Without getting into a fitness discussion, BMI is a totally meaningless value, which has no reflection on a person’s body composition. I say this because my BMI makes me seem fat. I am anything but. I am 5-9 or 5-10, and 200 pounds with about 12% body fat. I lift weights, and I eat well. I’m muscular and therefore heavy for my height. That is significant when trying to find a mattress. I sleep on my side - I have sleep apnea, for which I had a procedure a number of years ago, but still cannot sleep on my back. As long as I sleep on my side, I sleep soundly. But, if the mattress isn’t soft enough, my shoulder HURTS. Or if it’s worn out. In that case, I sleep on one side until the pain wakes me. Then roll over to the other side and do the same. This results in cycles of about 45 minutes to an hour of waking up, rolling over, going back to sleep, repeat. Also, if there isn’t enough support, my lower back and hips hurt. No doubt from misalignment. I’m in this type of miserable cycle right now, so I NEED a new mattress.

Meanwhile, my wife is 5-3 or 5-4 and around 118 lbs, also pretty fit and in good shape. She actually prefers a firmer mattress than I, but she can deal with the soft one I need. We have a king bed.

I see a Trusted Member who is in our state, NJ. I am thinking I will reach out to them (“Magic Sleeper”) and have this discussion with them, and see what they can offer. But, wanted to make a post here and see what sort of feedback I get from Phoenix and the other experts.

Thoughts?? Any help is MUCH appreciated. I have VERY limited time available, and do NOT have time to play Sherlock Holmes trying to track down a quality/value outfit with someone who actually knows what they’re talking about! Nor do I have time to get into the weeds and learn about mattress construction and specify my own custom mattress… I need someone who can actually help me!

2

Hey northeastconfederate,

My apologies for the delay in getting back to you, a little bit of a mix up on who was replying. I understand about the memory foam and the mattress and some have an awful smell. I think you will see if you are buying and looking at some of the members who specialize in memory foam, they have made pretty good strides in decreasing this issue in the past five years.

Regarding BMI / your size / wife’s size, it’s not surprising that you would require the softer mattress, and your wife likes firmer but is flexible. BMI may not have any benefit regarding how the government decides what category people are in (agree with BMI rant), but it’s very helpful for mattress buying and evaluating type of materials needed, especially you being high bmi and side sleeper, and that very vivid description of your pressure point issue with your shoulder (story of my life at every hotel I have ever stayed in). Higher BMI does not mean firm mattress, it usually means firmer / higher quality materials in the support cores of the mattress.

The cratering issue is also common with memory foam beds, and for this reason, I think you do need to find some of the newer foams, or latex that is more instantaneously responsive to your body, and does not just “sink into a crater”…this will also happen with the Tempurpedic version. A couple of members use a combination of responsive memory foam and latex that you may want to check out their sites:

LumaSleep.com

Luma uses a pocket coil base, which in my opinion is better support material for pressure relief in the shoulders and hips for athletic, not fathigh bmi people…:). Both have high-quality materials, no smell issues, and not cratering issues…not to say they will be perfect but both can help.

Please ask any other questions after you talk to them, and we would gladly offer any other advice. Good luck and please let us know how it works out.

Thanks,
Sensei

3

Sensei, thanks for your reply. We ended up taking a ride to Magic Sleeper in Pottstown, PA 2 weekends ago after speaking with someone there on the phone. Very nice, knowledgeable and helpful folks.

We ended up buying a “hybrid” mattress from them. It has a wrapped mini-coil base and latex and memory foam top layers. It was quite reasonably priced, also. Not manufactured by Magic Sleeper, as they only do certain custom mattresses these days. We discussed the longevity issue of the foam mattresses with Christina on the phone, and John in the store. They both explained that is pretty much the nature of foam mattresses and suggested that we could get the same softness and comfort from a hybrid with soft coils without the short lifespan issue.

It seemed soft enough and quite comfortable in the store. But now that we have it and have spent some full nights on it, I’m not so sure. I’ve been doing the “shoulder shuffle” every night. It seems like a quality mattress, but I feel like I should have stuck with what I know works and accepted the short life of a memory foam mattress. My wife was uncomfortable all over after the first night, but seems to be adjusting, attributing her initial discomfort to a major change and a need for an adjustment period. Though, she remarked that she USED to really like a firm mattress, but has been on soft ones for so long, now, that she’s used to, and is more comfortable on, a soft one. And that this mattress now seems too firm.

I HATE this about mattress shopping. It is absolutely impossible to get a real feel for what it’s like sleeping for hours on a mattress you lay on for 15 minutes in a store. And despite the reasonable cost, we’ve still put out close to 2 grand for what may have been an inappropriate mattress. Extremely frustrating.

I want to be clear that this is in now way a complaint about Magic Sleeper or the family who owns and operates it. They were extremely knowledgeable and helpful and absolutely a pleasure to deal with. We have not reached out to them about this, either. I think we’re both hoping we’ll adjust and grow to like it and be comfortable.

4

Sorry to hear about the lack of comfort you seem to be experiencing. I have no first hand experience with Magic Sleeper but just checked out their website and see that they offer a Comfort Guarantee. It seems quite straightforward - “Within the 30-day comfort trial period, we provide one full credit exchange, minus a $150 exchange fee. This allows you to make sure that you find the right mattress with less risk.” Since it seems that you’re within that window of time I’d suggest contacting them about making an exchange for a mattress that will hopefully be better suited to your needs. Seems like that would be worth a shot rather than taking a $2,000 loss and going to another seller. Good luck and let us know how you proceed.

5

Hey northeast confederate,

That’s too bad about the hybrid mattress that you got from Magic Sleeper. I can definitely hear the frustration of many people summed up so well in your post.

They do sound like a really nice company with good owners and good people that are making decent mattresses. It is one of the age-old issues with mattress retail, as you pointed out, you only get around 15 minutes to try the mattress and then when you get home the mattress doesn’t feel the same as it did in the store.

They make good points about that mini coil base and its longevity compared to a polyfoam base core especially some foams that are mediocre quality.

And I have no doubt it’s a quality mattress, made by a quality company…it’s just not the fit for you. Your comments are clearly noted this is not about “them” Magic Sleeper and a complaint you were actually happy with their service.

As sweetdreams suggested in her prior post in their prior post, you definitely should contact them and begin the process of possibly returning the mattress within 30 days. Of course it will break in a bit over time, as most mattresses do. At least see what they recommend when you explain what happened. Yes, it may mean another trip, (like we all have so much time on our hands to do this!!!), but its 1/3 of our life spent sleeping so it is important.

I would recommend reading and thinking about spending a lot of time in the store trying many different products. This article, five steps to perfect mattress, also this article, the basic functions of a mattress simplifies things about what one is looking for and how to approach each mattress in the store.

People sometimes say to me… “how can people buy a mattress online?” “That’s crazy don’t they have to lay down on it”, “I would never take a risk and spend so much money online”

Really!!! Compare that to the existing process, as you describe so well with your quote:

Let us know if you have any other questions, hopefully, you have already started this process, but update us when you can. Thank you again for the post.

Thanks,
Sensei

6

We decided to wait and see, and I’m glad we did. After however long it’s been as of today (2/28/19), we are both comfortable. It seems after a few days or a week we both adjusted. Niether of us has slept on a mattress with springs regularly in quite a number years, having been in memory foam. We both perceived this mattress as being firm, though in fact it was the softest hybrid Magic Sleeper had.

I also bought a pillow from them specifically designed for side sleepers, which has also helped greatly.

So at this point, overall I am pleased with our purchase.

7

Hey northeastconfederate,

I am really glad to hear your post…two great points, always give it a little time, and an awesome point about the pillows, which I have to say is very well done by Magic Sleeper.

Sleep well!

Sensei