Hi rockscreation16,
The first thing I would do is read this article. By eliminating the worst outlets and choices it will help you focus on the better outlets and choices in your mattress search. Better outlets will have mattresses that use higher quality and more durable materials, will tell you what is in your mattress, and tend to be much more focused on fitting you to a mattress than using sales techniques which steer you towards a mattress based on vague notions of comfort that will help their profit margin more than provide you with long term satisfaction. The information they provide you will also be more accurate and they will help to educate you more than confuse you with misleading “stories”.
Since Foam Order is in the San Francisco area … I’m assuming you are there too and post #2 here will give you a list of the factory direct outlets and better sleep shops in your area (and Foam Order is one of them).
The next thing I would do is go to the mattresses section of the website and read the overviews. This will give you some basic knowledge about mattresses and the materials that are in them so you can ask better questions and make better choices based on your height, weight, sleeping positions, and preferences. I would read them with an eye to getting a general sense of mattresses and their materials and construction rather than “studying them” to become an “expert” (unless of course you prefer to know all the finer details in which case all the individual pages in the section and on the site may also be worth reading).
It helps to think of a mattress as a firmer support layer (or layers) which keeps you in alignment and a comfort layer (or layers) which help to cushion you from the firm support layer, spread your body weight over a larger surface area to relieve the pressure points that the support layer alone would cause, and fill in the gaps in your sleeping profile (like the small of your back or your waist). There are many different ways to accomplish this and the different materials that are used to give you pressure relief and support will play a big role in accommodating your preferences (such as sleeping hot, sleeping "in or “on” your mattress, and how “springy” or responsive you want your mattress to be). The different materials and the quality of the materials you use will also play a bit part in the cost and durability of your mattress. Low quality materials can make a pressure relieving and supportive mattress but it won’t last as long.
Once you’ve done this … then the next step is to make some phone calls and talk with some of the outlets on the list and tell them a bit about you and your budget (height, weight, sleeping positions, preferences) and ask them which of their mattresses they carry they think would be worth testing. If you have developed a sense of the types of mattress materials you would like to test based on the overviews, then I would also ask them questions like “do you carry any all latex mattresses” or “latex over innerspring mattresses” or “memory foam over polyfoam mattresses” etc and their answers and the conversations which follow will give you a good sense of what you can expect when you go there.
Finally it’s time to go and visit a few of the outlets based on your phone conversations and test different materials and layering patterns. Once you know the type of mattress that works best for you and have compared a few that seem to fit you perfectly … then all that’s left is to make your purchase based on which seems to meet your needs and preferences the best and has the best value based on the materials in the mattress.
If you have questions along the way (or as you say just want to share your experiences for the benefit of the many others who are in exactly the same position) … feel free to post them here.
Take your time (the better outlets have better prices all year long and don’t rely on fake sales to entice their customers) and focus on PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Preferences) and you will do fine and end up with a great mattress that will last you for a long time.
Phoenix