The Search For My Next Mattress (Greensboro, NC)

[phoenix]

Hi SleepEasy,

I will confess to an almost information overload with all of the knowledge you’ve compiled. I’ve read a lot and compiled a lot of choices, but the best qualifier is how I would feel on the memory foam mattress I plan on buying.

In case you haven’t read it … the best way I know to help bypass the information overload that can come from a site like this is to follow the steps in post #1 here and scan the information it links to. This is perhaps the most important post on the forum. The key is always to connect with the experts either locally or online (for those that choose to go in this direction as well) and to know just enough to be able to identify them. This way you will have the help and guidance of people who already know what you would otherwise need to learn.

Half the battle sometimes is knowing who and what to avoid

I did enjoy, like many others on this forum seem to, the Serta iComfort Revolution mattress for the time I laid on it. But, I’ve read your thread(s) on the Serta iComforts and want to steer clear.

Serta clearly hit a “home run” with the “showroom feel” of their mattresses and their marketing and advertising efforts but unfortunately how a mattress feels in a showroom may have little to do with how it will feel when you get it home (if your testing was more subjective than objective) or in a year or a few years down the road (if they use lower quality materials that will soften and degrade much more quickly than higher quality more durable materials that will keep their feel and performance for much longer). Most consumers also believe that a warranty protects against this but the truth is that a warranty has little to nothing to do with how long a mattress will last because the loss of comfort and support that comes from foam softening is not covered by any warranty even though it is the biggest reason people need to replace a mattress.

In one of the stores, I tried out a Pure Bliss latex mattress, the cheapest one felt very… bouncy/hard. The two levels up definitely felt better, softer, than the lowest. However, I still think I’d like a memory foam mattress.

Talalay latex (which is what they use inside) is a very high quality and durable material but as in all things different people can have very different preferences in terms of how certain materials perform and feel regardless of their quality. The key is alwys that no matter which materials or combinations you prefer that you know the details of what is in your mattress so you know the quality and durability of the materials inside. All types of foam for example comes in higher and lower quality versions and you can’t tell the difference between them based on how they feel in a showroom.

I would tend to lean towards getting one of the Novaform or Spa Sensations mattresses, as the price is definitely right, but am leery of some of the things you’ve mentioned about them.

I would be leery as well. The key is always to know the quality of all the layers in your mattress so you can make apples to apples quality and value comparisons between mattresses. Lower quality materials are cheaper than higher quality materials but in the longer term they can also be much more costly because they don’t last nearly as long. The guidelines I suggest if you are looking for a memory foam mattress are in post #10 here.

My information is as follows, 5’10", 230lbs. Side/stomach sleeper. I’ve slept on a Tempurpedic mattress before, for many nights, and loved the sleep I was able to have with it, though it did sleep hot. Currently, I am on an older innerspring mattress, with back pain, but I am not sure if it is related to my current sleep setup, though. I also wake up several times a night, not really restful the next morning.

Regardless of your height, weight, sleeping position, or preferences … a good local retailer will know how to help you “match” a mattress to your needs and preferences. The first post I linked will help you recognize who they are. If you do decide to go online … then the knowledge and experience of the retailer or manufacturer you are working with becomes one of the most important parts of buying a mattress because they will know which of their mattresses “on average” will tend to match your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences. This is more risky because nobody can know for sure whether you fit the “averages” of their customer base but many of them have exchange policies or layer exchanges that can reduce the risk.

No matter what the quality or “raw value” of a mattress … if it isn’t suitable for your own needs and preferences then it would have little to no value to you. The quality of your sleep is one of the most important parts of our overall well being and if you buy a mattress that doesn’t provide you with what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) then anything you spend is wasted … or at the very least you would need to exchange it for something else and in some cases start all over again from the beginning. When you are starting out … finding the experts that can give you the help and guidance that you will need and that sell high quality and value mattresses is one of the most important things you can do. Where you buy can be just as important as what you buy.

I know you recommend checking out local manufactures if they are available in my area. I found one thread mentioning some locations in High Point, NC, but it was for a person a few hours away.

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Greensboro area are listed in post #2 here (the Hickory list you may have been looking at includes these as well).

Phoenix