Tried Laying on Some Name Brands... Unsure of Next Step

Hi!

I was dangerously close to buying a name brand mattress when I stumbled on this site and realized how much better I can do! I’ve read through a lot of the articles here, and decided it was time to go actually see what kinds of mattresses I liked. Unfortunately, where I live (Burbank, CA) I couldn’t find any specialty or recommended stores nearby, so I had to settle for a Living Spaces Revive Sleep Center.

It was really funny hearing the salesman’s pitch, and watching him come to the realization that I knew more than he did (he sure seemed to struggle with even just the concepts of comfort and support layers!), and while there were plenty of mattresses that seemed quality, I now know better than to trust those first impressions!

But I’m still not sure where to go from here. Given my price range (ideally ~2k, but up to 3k if necessary for something really quality to last me a long time) and the descriptions on this site, I think latex sounds like a great option for one if not both layers, but I’d really like to get to lay on it before making any big decisions, and as mentioned I couldn’t find a store nearby that had any.

I did take notes on all the mattresses I tried, and I’ll post the condensed version in case that would help any of you experts guide me to making a choice that fits my preferences. (and I’ll mention that most of the grading scales are inconsistent, because I didn’t want to be mentally comparing each mattress to the others. Also, who knows if I really know what I’m talking about with comfort/support, as I’ve only been a mattress ‘expert’ for a few days!)

MEMORY FOAM:
Allurabed: 3/6 Not comfy enough
Cloud Luxe: A
Cloud Select: 3/5, no support! Comfy though
Cloud Luxe Breeze: 96/100
Rhapsody Breeze: 5/7 good support, decent comfort
Grand: A+ Comfy, solid support

NON MEMORY FOAM:
Serta iComfort: Comfortable, bad support
Goodnight Redefined: Pretty comfy, terrible support
Sealy(?) Expression: Alright overall
Baywind: Decent comfort, crap support
Angler Ln II: Nice support, good enough comfort
Waterford: Comfortable, good support
Maples: Comfy enough, bad support
Fonda II: 3.5, begrudgingly comfy and supporting
Iglehart: The best!
Elation: Great comfy, possibly best support

Bolded are my favorites from each category. So I guess basically my questions are:

  1. What should my next step be? I’m getting a bit tired of using an air mattress
  2. Do my notes indicate at all any specific preferences in support or comfort layers?
  3. No third question, but all numbered lists need at least 3 points! So I’ll just say, thank you for any help :slight_smile:

Edit: I guess I should include a few more details about my sleep habits. I’m pretty tall but skinny, and tend to turn over a lot in my sleep. I tend to sleep on my sides most of the time (no side in particular) but am never quite as comfy as when I find that money spot on my stomach. I’d like to be able to sleep on my back too, but somehow have never been able to fall asleep like that unless EXTREMELY tired. Maybe it’s just the mattresses I’ve used, but even if I wake up in the middle of the night and roll onto my back I usually won’t be able to fall asleep until I give up and try side or stomach sleeping.

Hi willwanttosleep,

I would follow the steps in post #1 here and narrow down your local choices to just a few and eliminate any where you don’t know or can’t find out the specifics of every layer in the mattress.

Several of the online manufacturers that are on the list of online memory foam suppliers here can use your preferences with the Tempurpedic line (and sometimes other major memory foam brands) as a guideline if you can narrow down your choices to the one that works best for you (assuming that memory foam is your material preference).

If you are considering purchasing any of these mattresses then your personal testing is the only way to know which is most suitable and which you prefer. If you are using them as a guideline for an online purchase then outside of the Tempurpedics or perhaps the iComforts it’s unlikely that an online manufacturer would be familiar enough with the mattresses you listed to know which of the mattresses you mentioned were reasonable approximations for one of their mattresses unless you had all the specifics of all the layers. You can read a little more about matching one mattress to another in post #9 here.

Post #2 here has more information about how to make comfort and design choices and links to some of the theory involved but these are generic and not specific to any individual and you would either need to make a local choice based on your own personal testing (if the mattress is a good match for your personal value equation) or an online choice based on more detailed conversations with a knowledgeable and experienced online manufacturer who can use the “averages” of their customers or mattresses you have tested that they are familiar with to help you make the best choice out of the options they offer. If you narrow down your choices to two or three and list the specifics of all the layers I’d be happy to comment on the quality of the materials or help you identify any potential weak links in them but the most effective way to make design choices is based on your own testing (for a local purchase) or on more detailed conversations with online manufacturers who are in the best position to help you “match” what you have tested to one of the mattresses they make or sell.

Some of the better options and possibilities in the greater Los Angeles area I’m aware of are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix

Thank you so much Phoenix. Clearly I have a good bit more research to do! I’ll check out the links you posted first thing tomorrow, and hopefully those can guide me to the mattress of my dreams :wink: