Time to buy a new Mattress because we are Sleepless in Seattle

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

First thanks for this awesome site- I have read a lot of information, learned a lot, but not enough hence the reason for my post.

My wife and I started mattress shopping last weekend at a few Seattle area stores that this site recommended (budget $1800). Visited slumberease, Seattle mattress and tried to get into Seattle natural mattress but the owner was traveling to Oregon for a delivery. Slumberease owner was helpful and very calm and relaxed, almost too calm for me. *note this was before I even got into latex vs. spring vs. memory or even knew what ILD was. Anyway, so we tried a spring and a latex and I sure fell in love with the latex bamboo he had there, but my wife wasn’t completely sold, probably because she likes her beds soft. I told her that based on what I have read; latex is the way to go with the back problems she seems to complain about after waking up in the morning. Funny thing is going into the search I thought I wanted a memory foam, but latex sure felt good

Here is what we tried (King size)-
Slumberease: Only latex bed HD F/L bamboo cover 6c 1 tb (remember i went there before I read this site in its entirety although I still don’t know what all this means)

Seattle mattress: tried several, including their latex brand, but way over our budget. We did both like the feel of the Therapedic Kathy Ireland Euro Top Tranquility latex , but can’t find much on this)http://www.seattlemattress.net/images/tranquility01.jpg

Then I did the online searching and looked the Astrabed latex, but after coming back here I learned that they might not be the best choice.

This morning I looked at the matresses.net in Arizona and found the King All Natural Talalay w/Free Bamboo Cover Upgrade. Of course, it all reads well and it is right where my budget is and it is latex, but wife is skeptical. 1) the cover is zipper instead of sewn 2) what do we do with our current mattress 3) what if we have problems with it, they are so far away 4) 9 inches seems to small to her (her words, so not bragging ) 5) she wishes we could test drive it

Anyway, I am so torn as to what to do- I really like the latex mattresses, but they seem a little too pricey in our area. Any suggestions? I was thinking if the reviews on the mattresses.net latex mattress is good, then maybe someone in the area can match their price.
We live north of Seattle in the Everett area

2

Hi anothermattress,

Hopefully you’ve read post #1 here which is the most important post on the forum and has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best decisions.

I don’t know what this means either and you would need to call and ask them. It’s likely that 6c means a 6" core and tb may indicate a 1" comfort or quilting layer but I don’t know the shorthand they use and you would need to ask them the specifics (now that you know the information you need to evaluate a mattress :))

this also doesn’t provide any of the layering details or specs so there is no way to know the quality or value or any potential weak links in this mattress.

  1. This is a benefit because it allows you to have access to the layers inside it and either re-arrange them or exchange them. This is particularly valuable in a mattress that you haven’t tested in person and where you may need to exchange the layers to fine tune it to your needs and preferences. This is the norm with many online manufacturers and is also becoming more common with local mattresses as well because of its advantages.

  2. You would need to dispose of it in whatever ways are available to you. This is part of the tradeoff involved in many online purchases.

  3. This depends on the options that are available from a specific manufacturer bor the mattress you are considering but is a question that should be asked with any online purchase. It’s usually best to talk with the manufacturer themselves about this because each one may provide different options and have different costs involved but in the case of many component mattresses that have layers that you can choose and zip covers … it usually involves a layer exchange where you are shipped a new layer and then you ship the old layer back. Most also have a refund policy which can also vary in terms of the cost of shipping the mattress back. Mattresses that have layers that can be shipped with UPS cost considerably less to exchange a layer or return the mattress tnan a mattress which has to be shipped with truck freight which can be costly. layer exchanges and low cost return policies reduce the risk of an online purchase considerably.

  4. 6" to 12" of latex is within the range that would suit almost anyone from those who are very light stomach sleepers to those who are 400 lbs plus side sleepers. This would be particularly true for layered latex mattresses where each layer can be chosen to have the best odds of being suitable for a particular person in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences). In most cases if your original choice is fairly close … then depending on the options available any rearranging or exchange of layers to get you very close to your “ideal” design. You can read more about the thickness of a latex mattress in post #14 here.

In most cases the “belief” that thicker is better is really a marketing gimmick that most larger manufacturers love consumers to believe because it allows them to sell mattresses with thicker layers of cheap foam at inflated prices … only for many consumers to have issues and problems with the softening of lower quality materials (especially in pillowtops and eurotops) and the loss of comfort and support that goes with this fairly quickly down the road (much sooner than the length of the warranty which is usually meaningless because it only covers defects and foam softening and the loss of comfort and support is not considered to be a defect and is not covered by a warranty).

The only thing that is important in a mattress is that it provides you with the PPP that you need and prefer and everything else is secondary to this. You can always add a thicker foundation, a higher frame or taller legs, or some very firm polyfoam under a mattress to raise the height if you prefer a higher sleeping surface but for the large majority of people 8" - 9" (and sometimes less) of latex is easily enough.

  1. Of course almost everyone that buys an online mattress wishes for this but it’s also part of the tradeoffs involved in an online purchase vs a local one. The risk can be reduced by testing similar mattresses locally so you have some idea of the type or layering that works best for you, by more detailed conversations about your needs and preferences with each manufacturer, and by the exchange options that are available with each mattress design and manufacturer that allows you to fine tune the mattress after you’ve received it. This is just part of each person’s personal value equation which includes all the parts of a mattress purchase that are more or less important to each person.

There are areas of the country where the local value or selection is not as good as others and this is where good online manufacturers can make great quality and value mattresses available to any area of the country. While most of these have return or exchange policies that can greatly lessen the risk … it’s also important to recognize that online purchases are inherently more risky than local purchases and involve some tradeoffs. You can read more about this in the online vs local thread here … and if it’s any comfort these are the same issues that most people that are considering an online purchase struggle with … even though the large majority of them that purchase from a good online manufacturer that has good exchange or return options available and that can help give you some good guidance on the phone will end up happy with their purchase.

This would be very unlikely because like all the manufacturing members here … each in their own way … they are among the best quality/value in the country and it would be very rare for a local retailer to match these types of prices. In some cases local manufacturers may have similar value but this would also not be the norm. Because of the higher risk of an online purchase … I would normally consider a 20% premium for a local mattress that was very similar to a particular online mattress to be equivalent value but even this may not be possible in some areas of the country. Of course each person may have their own percentage for “equivalent value” depending on what was most important to them.

Hope this helps … and sometimes shopping for the best possible quality and value mattress can involve “resetting” everything that you previously believed you knew (or have come to believe because of the marketing efforts of major manufacturers or chain stores).

Phoenix