Hi 22bmarsh,
This thread should help you with some better outlets in the Sacramento area.
Because a mattress is primarily a comfort layer (or layers) over a support layer (or layers) surrounded by a cover … it makes sense to first narrow down your search to the type of materials you prefer in each. It also makes sense to only buy a mattress from an outlet that has the knowledge and willingness to tell you what is in every layer of the mattresses that they sell and can show you how to tell the difference between high quality (more durable) and lower quality (less durable) versions of each material so you don’t end up buying a mattress that uses materials which feel great in a showroom but don’t keep that feel or their ability to relieve pressure or support you in good alignment over the long term. This is why when you are starting to look for a mattress one of the most important things you can do is to find the better outlets which are more focused on the materials in their mattress and ignore the rest which depend more on advertising stories and sales techniques than they do on factual information.
Better outlets will talk to you about the differences in materials and help you match a mattress to your needs and preferences rather than steering you in a direction which will do more for their profit or commission than it will for your long term satisfaction. In other words … where you buy a mattress and the knowledge and helpfulness of the outlet and person you are dealing with can be one of the most important initial steps in your search. Knowing what to avoid can help you eliminate 75% (or more) of the worst choices so you can spend more time on the 25% (or less) which are worth your time and effort (and money) and this article will help you do just that.
Some of the materials you will find in comfort layers are here.
Some of the materials you will find in support layers are here.
The best suggestion is to spend some time at home on the phone to talk with some of the outlets on the Sacramento list. In the beginning … “internet time” and “phone time” is far more helpful than “travel time” because it will help you narrow down which outlets are most worth visiting and which carry mattresses with the materials that you want to test. The ones that will provide the most helpful information about their mattresses on the phone including pricing rather than insist that you go there before they will give you any information are the ones that are most worth your travel time. What you are looking for is outlets that encourage comparison shopping based on their knowledge of materials in a mattress rather than the ones who do more to discourage it by focusing more on meaningless information and stories. A mattress is only as good or durable as its weakest link and without knowing what is in every layer of a mattress and the durability and qualities of different materials … it becomes impossible to know how long any mattress will last … no matter how it feels in a showroom.
Once you decide on a few better outlets to visit …
Decide (based on your own testing) on the type of materials you want in your comfort layers (or if you have tried your other options and are committed to memory foam as in the iComfort … then limit your search to memory foam)
Decide on the type of support layers you want underneath this comfort layer (the iComfort for example uses HD polyfoam but you could also choose an innerspring or latex).
Test each “candidate” for pressure relief, spinal alignment, and preferences. Which is the “best” here will depend on your weight, body shape, sleeping positions, and preferences. There is only “best for you”.
Compare the durability of the mattresses that are the best for you (from step 3) based on the quality of materials and construction that they use. This is (or should be) one of the main differences between different price ranges that use either different materials or different qualities of the same materials.
Decide on the best value between competing “equal” choices based on an “apples to apples” comparison.
All of this is much easier and much more enjoyable with the help of a good outlet where there is an “expert” who puts your best interests above their profit and will help you make meaningful comparisons rather than discourage it.
One final comment … if when you are making your phone calls you feel pressure to buy based on “time limited sales” which will “soon” end or some other sense of false urgency … pass them by. Great mattresses and great value is available from the better outlets 365 days of the year and these better outlets don’t depend on fake sales based on inflated prices or various other “urgency” techniques to sell their mattresses. They sell mattresses based on quality and value every day of the year.
Phoenix