We are in the process of deciding if it is time for a new mattress - and if so what type.
Here are some details about us:
Him - 135 Lbs - 5’6" tall - Really messed up back - several compressed vertebra from childhood - spine is s-curve - side/back/tummy sleeper now - used to be a back sleeper, but as lower back got more stiff - switched to side etc…
Her - 115 Lbs - 5-4" tall - occasion sore neck and shoulders - mainly a side sleeper
Main Mattress: Tempflow Eclipse King (Owned it for 18 months)
Other Mattress: Costco “Brand” Novaform Queen Mattress
Most of his life he slept on a very firm innerspring mattresses - and in the 1990’s a Comfort Care Resotonic (non pillow top) with extra center support. We added a memory foam (3" Tempurpedic) topper at one point to that Resotonic many years ago - before converting to an actual memory foam mattress. Most of her life was on standard inexpensive innerspring national brands - never a pillow top etc…The Resotonic just became a bit too firm and he experienced lower back pain, since his lower back wouldn’t even completely touch the stiff center section.
Now we think the Eclipse mattress may actually be too soft for us after the 18 months of use. He has some leg and hip nerve conditions now that seem to correspond to the introduction of the Eclipse mattress, she has some shoulder and neck soreness that goes away on other mattresses. We are currently testing the theory out by using our older “guest room” queen Costco memory foam mattress which feels much firmer than the Eclipse. We want to change to a different mattress if 30 days off of the Eclipse mattress helps us.
We have had several trips to high end hotels and condo’s this year - all having mostly innerspring mattresses with soft pillow/foam tops - and while our symptoms didn’t go away, we both generally slept better (showroom/hotel syndrome).
So we are looking for help - any advice is appreciated. We are open to inner springs, air mattresses etc…We are in the San Francisco area if that helps, and have a budget of $2500 for a eastern king mattress only (platform bed foundation).
The first place I would start your research is post #1 here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you learn how to make the best possible choices in terms of the suitability of your mattress and it’s quality/durability and value.
You are also fortunate to be in the San Francisco area because you have some great options that are certainly within your budget range and post #2 here has the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the area.
You can also read more about hotel mattresses in post #3 here and the posts it links to and for the most part I would avoid them because of their lower quality and value.
Of course if you have questions or comments along the way they are always welcome
I have been reading many many posts on this site - thanks so much!
I had already looked at each of the links you provided. Hover, I am still reading and reading!
I am leaning towards looking at BayBed in Santa Cruz as my next option for some serious bed shopping to gain some more knowledge.
The most recent bed we liked is a hybrid Sealy bed. Best I can tell is that it has a little of everything - tiny bit of latex, tiny bit of memory, some std foam, over a coil base. I am sure we can do much better at somewhere like Bay Bed, or some other options in the Bay Area.
So far it looks like we will stay away from air beds & memory foam - seems to be the current memory foam beds are much softer than the old original Tempurpedic beds from 20 years ago…
With our experience with the Eclipse memory foam - do you have any tips as we look at latex materials?
There is a lot of information there so I would read it like you would a good book rather than “study” it like you would a textbook. As long as you know enough to recognize when someone “knows their stuff” and is talking about and understands materials instead of marketing stories then you will be fine.
There are still some firm memory foam mattresses available but they will typically have thinner layers of memory foam … often 5 lb density like the old Tempurpedics. They will also be less costly than softer memory foam mattresses that use thicker layers of memory foam.
Latex and memory foam are not really comparable (see post #2 here) and what works well for you with one material is not a good guideline for what may work well with the other. Your own careful and objective testing is by far the most reliable guideline in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) compared to using any comfort specs as the basis for a choice. Specs can tell you about the quality and relative durability of a mattress but will tell you very little about it’s feel or performance and in many cases the “comfort specs” of the materials in a mattress (such as ILD) aren’t available or particularly meaningful anyway.
Comfort is also very subjective and the Eclipse has a relatively thin 2.5" layer of firmer 5 lb memory foam and for many people it would be a firm mattress but this would depend on the specific characteristics of the memory foam (which can vary widely even in the same density) and on the ILD/IFD of the support layers below it which I don’t know.
If a mattress is “soft” or “firm” to you and that’s how you perceive it … then that’s what it is for you … regardless of how it may feel to anyone else. There have been people on the forum who have been convinced that even 40 ILD latex is too soft for them which I can’t personally imagine and for the large majority of people this would be unsleepable. The old tempurpedic beds took longer to warm up and were more dependent on temperature so they may have felt firmer until they softened with body heat or in a cooler environment.
I’ve been reading lots about mattresses, because I need help deciding too! I think I"m getting close, I’ve settled on an all latex mattress, and I’m leaning towards buying online to save money. I like the SleepEZ system with layers that can be rearranged, and I like the SleepEZ price. The hardest thing is choosing which layers to buy. My wife is 5’5" 125# and I’m 6’0" and 175#. We both sleep mostly on our sides. We’ve tried some latex mattresses in local stores, and I think we’ll try M/M/S for her and F/M/S for me. And, we’re planning to order a 6" latex mattress for our son (daughter already has one bought 4 years ago).
I’m glad to have found this forum and other places online where people discuss these topics, it’s so helpful.
Post #2 here has more about making layering or comfort choices but I would go by their “standard” suggestions as a starting point based on your body type and sleeping positions and any local testing you have done and on your more detailed conversations with them unless there is a compelling reason to choose something different.
It only took 3 more years to finally decide on a new mattress!
We did some experiments with various mattresses and after being more comfortable on more traditional beds during vacations etc…we finally got our bodies into Bay Bed & Mattress to figure out which bed to get!
She really liked the traditional national brand mattress they sold with the regular foam - she found that all of their house made mattresses with the latex foams to be too bouncy and not firm enough…
He really liked the top of the line 4 layer latex with wool cover, but found their firmer more moderate model to be very comfortable.
In the end we decided on the middle range model with the organic cotton cover, 2 latex layers and a convoluted poly foam pillow top section. We chose firm coils for both sides and the standard firm latex/soft latex combo for his side - and a special firm/firm latex combo for her side.
We have it at home now and it feels really good in our limited time on it. She really likes the firmer feel and with both latex layers being the firmer version it has less “bounce” on her side. Now we just need some more time on it!
Hopefully we have the right combo for comfort – if not we are happy that Bay Bed can come out to us and adjust it if needed.
Well, the important thing is that you did actually make a decision – good job!
It sounds like you certainly made a good quality/value purchase. Congratulations on your new mattress! :cheer: As you know, Bay Bed & Mattress is a member here, which means that I think highly of them.
I’ll look forward to your comments once you’ve had a bit more time on your new mattress (hopefully sooner than another three years ).
10 nights into our new mattress and we seem to be sleeping better than our last bed.
He will fall asleep in one position - and when he wakes up many hours later he is in that exact position - that hasn’t happened for some years.
No new back pains - and even though both of us are doing some form of PT work on shoulders for her and hips and core for him - the bed isn’t making either of us sore in the morning.
Last night he was able to try out the extra firm side - but didn’t like it much
Thank you for taking the time to post an update! I’m glad you’re both sleeping better so soon into the life of the new mattress. I hope you’ll be able to post back here “down the road” once you’ve slept on your new mattress for a while longer.
