The memory foam mattress search continues

[MLSly]

OK, so I took the info from my last post and started my search again.

I’ve ruled out latex – I just don’t like the feel of it. On with the memory foam search…

Hubby and I went to try out the Select Foam mattresses. We really liked the Plush series and had a hard time choosing between the Cirrus Luxe and the Cirrus Supreme. Hubby gave the edge to the Supreme though because he said when he sat up in the Luxe, he could feel the firmness of the bottom layer where with the Supreme it never felt really firm – hard to explain I guess. Even though the Supreme was listed as softer, I felt the Luxe was the softest … just proves “feel” is subjective, right? Besides, the Luxe was more than I planned on spending anyway.

The salesperson was fantastic, very knowledgeable and not pushy at all. The beds seemed comfy and well made. We went home and I wanted to check their reviews on customer service…and I see the BBB C-. Arrrgh…even BIAB has an A+. Anyone purchased from Select Foam recently? How was there customer service? Any feedback available from anyone who’s owned one for longer than a year? The complaints that worried me the most were the product not as specified and the warranty issues.

So, now I’ve started checking out Novosbed. With the guidelines on the construction of a decent mattress I learned from here, their mattress seem to be well made.

I questioned whether their NovosFlow technology would compromise the core layer and was assured that it would not. They explained it helps the mattress to breath when you move and therefore dissipates the heat. Any thoughts on this as I haven’t seen too many other companies doing this? Is having separate layers in the core going to effect it’s durability?

I’m stuck between the Aria and the Harmony. The Aria is more like the Supreme but the Harmony has a layer of gel foam which the woman I spoke with said might be better for someone who tosses and turns a lot (that would be me) since the gel recovers a smidge quicker. I worry it will be too soft though since support is also important.

The Harmony has 2" of 3.7lbs plush gel foam over 2" of 4.1lbs memory foam over 6" 2.0 lbs dual support foam with NovosFlow
The Aria has 2" of 4.1 lbs plush memory foam over 2" of 5.2 lbs memory foam over the 6" core with NovosFlow.
This may be a silly question (so no snickering) but I notice their density is listed as lbs/ft^3 (per cubic ft, right?) how does that differ from just per ft or sq/ft?

Just a recap – both hubby and I are average size people, sleeping warm at times is an issue as is pressure points and lower back pain.

Can’t really find too many ratings on Novosbed though. BBB Canada lists them with an A. I don’t think they’ve been in business very long, at least here in the US. After some digging on the company owners, I did find some articles from 2010 that one wrote about mattresses and a nice charitable donation of mattresses to a shelter but still not much in the way of company reviews. Anyone have any other info on them?

Again, thanks for the feedback!

[phoenix]

Hi MLSly,

Hubby and I went to try out the Select Foam mattresses. We really liked the Plush series and had a hard time choosing between the Cirrus Luxe and the Cirrus Supreme. Hubby gave the edge to the Supreme though because he said when he sat up in the Luxe, he could feel the firmness of the bottom layer where with the Supreme it never felt really firm – hard to explain I guess. Even though the Supreme was listed as softer, I felt the Luxe was the softest … just proves “feel” is subjective, right? Besides, the Luxe was more than I planned on spending anyway.

You’re certainly right that “feel” is subjective but I think that for most people the Luxe would feel softer than the Supreme (just like the Tempurpedic calls the Cloud Luxe “ultra soft” which would feel softer for most people than the Cloud Supremewhich is “extra soft”) but the difference is that the Supreme uses higher density memory foam in the middle layer which can take longer to respond to heat and soften so this may have been what your husband felt rather than the longer term softness of each mattress. How much time you spend on a memory foam mattress can make a big difference in how soft it feels because memory foam responds to temperature, humidity, and time as well as pressure and higher density memory foam takes longer to respond and conform (just like slapping honey would make it feel firm but pressing into it slowly would make it feel soft).

The salesperson was fantastic, very knowledgeable and not pushy at all. The beds seemed comfy and well made. We went home and I wanted to check their reviews on customer service…and I see the BBB C-. Arrrgh…even BIAB has an A+. Anyone purchased from Select Foam recently? How was there customer service? Any feedback available from anyone who’s owned one for longer than a year? The complaints that worried me the most were the product not as specified and the warranty issues.

While I haven’t purchased any of their mattresses … you can read some of my thoughts about the BBB and some of their past customer service issues in post #2 here. As you can see, a BBB rating depends a lot on whether you pay for membership. They only have 2 unresolved complaints with the BBB and the rest were either resolved or the customer was making unreasonable demands and didn’t respond to a good faith effort to resolve their issue. I also know that they go out of their way to resolve any issues that are based on the reasonable expectations of a customer. They do need to do some work on their website though which like many manufacturers has some outdated information on it (which they are working on) but they are open and transparent about all their mattresses and materials and take the time to provide their customers with good information if you talk to them in person.

So, now I’ve started checking out Novosbed. With the guidelines on the construction of a decent mattress I learned from here, their mattress seem to be well made.

I also think highly of Novosbed and the quality and value of their mattresses. They would also be in the same quality/value range as the members of the site. They have also been a valuable asset to the forum as they have made some very informative and helpful posts to help assist and educate the forum members here.

I’m stuck between the Aria and the Harmony. The Aria is more like the Supreme but the Harmony has a layer of gel foam which the woman I spoke with said might be better for someone who tosses and turns a lot (that would be me) since the gel recovers a smidge quicker. I worry it will be too soft though since support is also important.

Yes, one of the main benefits of gel is that it can help the support qualities of memory foam and as you mentioned can also respond a little quicker. As you can see in mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here … outside of your own personal testing … more detailed conversations with a manufacturer is always the best way to choose the comfort and support of a mattress terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) because they know more about the specifics of their mattresses than anyone and with a more detailed conversation they can use the “averages” of their customers to help you make the choice that has the best odds of success (as long as your needs and preferences are inside an “average” range for your body type and sleeping style).

I questioned whether their NovosFlow technology would compromise the core layer and was assured that it would not. They explained it helps the mattress to breath when you move and therefore dissipates the heat. Any thoughts on this as I haven’t seen too many other companies doing this? Is having separate layers in the core going to effect it’s durability?

Convoluted support layers are often used as one of the technologies to help “cool down” memory foam (see post #2 here) and is also used by Tempurpedic. Used in appropriate layers and with good quality polyfoam it won’t compromise the durability of the mattress.

I notice their density is listed as lbs/ft^3 (per cubic ft, right?) how does that differ from just per ft or sq/ft?

Density is always expressed as a certain weight per a certain volume and volume is always 3 dimensional or a “cubic” measurement. It’s often expressed with just the number of lbs though (such as 5 lb memory foam) but the “per cubic foot” is always implied. In North America it’s expressed as lbs per cubic foot (Europe uses kilograms per cubic meter). A foot by itself is a measurement of distance and square feet are a measurement of surface area.

A forum search on Novosbed will bring up more information about them. They have been in business on the internet for over 2 1/2 years and since they switched to using North American foams they are producing some very good quality and value mattresses.

Phoenix

[MLSly]

Thanks so much for the reply! My hubby is in the service industry, so I understand about reviews. For me, they still hold some weight while making decisions.

That makes sense regarding the 2nd layer of comfort foam since the Cirrus Luxe from Select Foam does have a higher density.

I did notice that both Select Foam’s top two comfort layers are gel infused memory foams, while the Novosbed only has the gel infused on the top layer of the Harmony. Generally, does the gel infused memory foam tend to be a tad firmer?

I sent Novosbed an email regarding foundations. Generally speaking though, do you find that most people have less problems when they purchase the foundation from the same company that makes the mattress or is it again, all a matter of personal preference?

[phoenix]

Hi MLSly,

I did notice that both Select Foam’s top two comfort layers are gel infused memory foams, while the Novosbed only has the gel infused on the top layer of the Harmony. Generally, does the gel infused memory foam tend to be a tad firmer?

The softness or firmness of a memory foam will depend on many of its properties (response speed, temperature sensitivity, time on the mattress and others) and what people “feel” on a specific type of memory foam would depend on its formulation and the specific properties of each individual foam that together produce a feeling of firmness or softness but in general the gel will increase the compression modulus of a foam which is the speed that it gets firmer as you sink into it and not the actual firmness itself so it would depend on how deeply you sink into it. It can also reduce the tendency of a memory foam to “creep” which is the tendency of viscoelastic materials to get softer with constant pressure over the course of the night.

I sent Novosbed an email regarding foundations. Generally speaking though, do you find that most people have less problems when they purchase the foundation from the same company that makes the mattress or is it again, all a matter of personal preference?

If you are purchasing a foundation (that has no flex) then as long as it is suitable and meets the criteria of the mattress warranty it would make little difference where you purchased it because all non flexing foundations that provide even support under the mattress will “feel” similar. Most online manufacturers have a “standard” foundation that they sell as a matter of convenience to save you spending time looking for one that is suitable although for those who prefer something different or already have one that is suitable there would be no problem.

Phoenix