Hi Reb_enfilade,
[quote]It looks like I may have found a way out of my icomfort genius. I just want to be absolutely sure I shouldn’t get this mattress. Why would Serta make the above assertion unless they are just blatantly misrepresenting the facts. And if they are this is reprehensible.
My wife and I both weigh about 150 lbs. we are not super heavy. Do you think 1.5 lbs could actually work for us? I wonder if 1.5 is just not enough for folks that are heavier.[/quote]
The Serta website will tell you what they want their customers to believe (or hope they will). While this may not be a “blatant” misrepresentation of the facts … it is certainly incomplete and misleading. It will also make a difference whether you are looking at comfort layers or support layers. While a support core that is 1.5 lb density would generally be fine if you are in a lighter weight range because the weakest link is generally in the comfort layers of a mattress … the same wouldn’t be true in a one sided mattress that used 1.5 lb polyfoam (or lower) or lower quality memory foam (under 4 lb density) in the comfort layers.
They also have a few contradictions on their site. If you look at the Serta glossary here … you will see the following …
ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: Mattress Guides - Serta Comfort 101
And yet if you look at some of the foam densities in some of their iComfort mattresses that they list in their questions page here (scroll down to the question about “PD Applause vs Vantage”) or their page here (scroll down to the question about “iComfort Directions Reinvention - thickness & layers?”) … you will see some very low density polyfoam in the 1.2 lb range and if you go to their page here (scroll down to the question about “What is the foam density for each layer of the iComfort Prodigy mattress?”) or their page here (scroll down to the question about “What is the density of iComfort Renewal Refined (pounds/ft)?” you will see two of many examples of mattresses that use 3 lb memory foam which is a low density memory foam.
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here and you can see the guidelines I would suggest using for foam densities in post #4 here. There is also much more information about the many variables that can affect durability and the useful life of a mattress relative to each person in post #4 here and the posts it links to.
Phoenix