Thank you for this extremely informative website. I have been lurking here and learning a lot of new things.
Based on your guide, my wife and I went to the store to try out the memory foam mattresses. We are in the Dallas TX area in Plano and we did not find a good mattress store that carried Latex.
Based on a fairly extensive test, we have decided on the Tempurpedic Rhapsody as the mattress that we liked the most. Our order of preference was
Rhapsody
Cloud Supreme (My wife was more partial to this)
Nature’s sleep Tuscany - This seemed to be right between Rhapsody and Cloud Supreme. However, I cant find the specifications for this. But that could be because SleepExperts might have changed the name.
Again, since I am about to close on a home and I am trying to be very very careful with money, I want to see if I can get a better “value”.
This mattress is available at Costco for $1299. This is manufactured by South Bay and the specifications are here.
I think there is a very thin line here. But in our reviews of Tempurpedic, I felt that the Rhapsody could be a bit softer and my wife felt that the cloud supreme could be a bit firmer. On a scale of 1 to 10 between Rhapsody and Cloud Supreme, my wife would probably lean closer to 7 towards cloud supreme whereas I would lean closer to 3 towards Rhapsody. I hope that makes sense. (P.S. Phoenix, You have no one else to blame but yourself for helping us understand exactly what we want , kidding aside, this website has been amazingly informative and I like the fact that your posts are informative and are geared towards helping people help themselves. That is really great…)
Based on what you said about the Rhapsody having the 7lb density for the comfort layer, I think the costco one would probably be ideal for us in terms of matching the specificatiosn.
Do let me know if I have made incorrect assumptions or if you have any other ideas.
Some of the better options I’m aware of in the Dallas area are listed in post #4 here and there are several of these that carry latex mattress or latex hybrids.
[quote]1. Rhapsody
2. Cloud Supreme (My wife was more partial to this)
3. Nature’s sleep Tuscany - This seemed to be right between Rhapsody and Cloud Supreme. However, I cant find the specifications for this. But that could be because SleepExperts might have changed the name.[/quote]
Nature’s Sleep is made in China but they are CertiPur certified so I would certainly consider them if you are able to find out the foam densities. Were you not able to find ou the specs from the retailer? if you are testing locally then the “comfort specs” are not important because you can actually test for PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) but of course the quality specs are still very important.
The density of the memory foam layers in this mattress appears to be good (both memory foam layers are 5 lbs) but they don’t mention the density of the polyfoam base layer which I would want to know. They also pour their memory foam in China and if I was buying Chinese foam I would want to know it was CertiPur certified which they aren’t.
On a whim … I thought I’d check the Costco specs as well and I should also tell you that the specs don’t seem to match the shipping weight.
In a king size … 6 5/8 inches of 5 lb memory foam would weigh 116.6 lbs
This means that the base layer would weight 138 lbs (shipping weight) - 116.6 lbs - the weight of the cover (which I’ll ignore here) = 21.4 lbs.
The 6" base layer would be 21.1 cubic feet which means that if the shipping weight and the memory foam density was correct then the base polyfoam would only be 1.0 lb density which clearly wouldn’t be the case (if it was I wouldn’t buy the mattress under any circumstances)
Besides all this though and if its just the shipping weight that is wrong, quality/density is very different from how a mattress will feel and perform. The design and layering in this mattress is different from any of the Tempurpedics that you are looking at and the memory foam may also have different characteristics so the only way to know which Tempurpedic model they may compare to in terms of “feel” and performance would be to talk with Southbay and ask them. Other than this you would be dependent on the return policy in case you roll the dice and your number doesn’t come up.
I’m not quite sure how to interpret your comments. On a 1 - 10 scale it sounds like your wife likes the Cloud Supreme (rating it a 7) and it sounds like you don’t like the Rhapsody at all (rating it a 3) but then you also said you both preferred the Rhapsody so I have to admit I’m a little confused.
Testing Tempurpedics can be very helpful but only if you are considering a mattress where the manufacturer knows how their mattresses compare to the model you are looking at in terms of either “feel” or “specs”. Some mattresses may have different specs but have a similar “feel” to one of the Tempurpedic models and others may have the same specs and layering in terms of foam density/quality and thickness but may have a very different feel (the foams may have different characteristics even though they have the same quality). In some cases a manufacturer may have both similar layering and a similar feel. With all the variables involved … the only way to truly match a mattress would be through side by side testing, finding a mattress that was close to identical in terms of materials, thickness and layering, or dealing with a manufacturer who knows which of the Tempurpedics will feel similar to their mattresses. There is more about “matching mattresses” this in post #2 here.
The mattress at Costco doesn’t have any 7 lb memory foam in it at all and the thickness of the memory foam layering is also very different. The Rhapsody has 1.2" of 7 lb memory foam over 2.8 inches of 5.3 lb memory foam which is a very different layering.
If you are looking to “match” one of the Tempurpedics in either 'feel and performance" or in “design and construction” or both (keeping in mind that these may be different) … the best way I know would be either to use side by side testing in a store that carried Tempurpedic and other alternatives or to work with an online manufacturer that could help you “match” their mattresses to the Tempurpedic that you preferred. Some of the better online memory foam options I’m aware of are in post #12 here and these are the ones I would talk with if you are looking for an online memory foam option rather than local.
, kidding aside, this website has been amazingly informative and I like the fact that your posts are informative and are geared towards helping people help themselves. That is really great…)