I visited Jordan’s furniture. They sell Simmons, Tempur Pedic, Natura and some others.
Memory Foam…
I tried several memory foam mattresses and to my disappointment, they seemed hard. I laid on them for a while waiting for my body heat to soften them, but it didn’t seem to happen. Two exceptions, the Tempurpedic Cool Luxe and a Simmons Beauty Rest (more on the Beauty Rest). I did like the Luxe although I would have preferred it be a bit more sinky. The bed didn’t have an ILD rating I could find.
I also tried a few all latex beds. They seemed okay. I liked the ILD 19 best, although there were other differences. It seemed that if the comfort layer was too thin, bouncing on the bed caused me to sort of bottom out through it and hit a noticeably harder layer. Okay, I know, I don’t bounce in my sleep, but there are other things people do on a mattress besides sleep.
The first latex I tried was a Pranasleep:
The spec sheet (such as it is) seems to indicate a lot of poly foam and some Talalay latex. No hint of ILD rating. It felt okay, supporting most of my body. Not very sinky, and I wanted sinky.
Better was the Natura Latex, which seemed to support my pressure points well. I didn’t sink in much, and I would prefer to sink in a bit, but I think i would be happy with a bed like this. Here are its specs:
Finally, the bed I liked the best was the one that is probably the worst. The Beauty Rest was actually a hybrid with a pocket coil support layer and memory foam comfort layer. It was very comfortable, supported me well, had just the right amount of sink for my preference and handled bouncing well. It was also like $2,400! Here are its specs:
This was a “4000 Plush”. It described the “quilt” as:
1 inch memory foam with Try\u Temp 4 pounds
2 inch advanced AirCool memory foam 3.5 pounds
1 inch Advanced AirCool memory foam 4.5 pounds
Then there was a “comfort layer”:
1 inch density foam
Finally a support layer of pocket coils. I had not even looked at beds with coils because I assumed I could not get it up to the bedroom. But, they told me they could bend the bed to 45 degrees to get it up the stairs. I’m worried it would be damaged if they do and we would never know. Not that it matters, I don’t want to spend that much on a coil bed and I took to heart the warnings on this site against buying a major brand name.
So what I seemed to learn is that a plush all latex bed with an ILD of 19 with quality materials would probably be a good choice. A memory foam bed that’s plush would be nice as well and I would probably like that better, it it stays cool. So I’ll continue to plan to look at the Spindle all latex bed. I’ll also look at the Brooklyn Bed Luxe.
But, I am wondering if someone knows of a memory foam bed similar to the Beauty Rest described above, at least as far as the comfort layer?
If those are the three choices I’d go with the Natura.
The beautyrest isn’t going to last. too cheap foam. If you can be happy with the Natura and it’s in your price range, I’d go with that. After a while, it’s still too firm for you, go with a short topper.
ILD isn’t really a relevant specification with memory foam because it changes with conditions (temperature, humidity, and the length of time it’s compressed) and when they are provided they aren’t comparable to ILD’s in fast response materials. ILD is also a “comfort spec” and when you are testing a mattress locally then your body will tell you more about whether a mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP than any specifications.
I’m not sure which mattress you tested used 19 ILD in the comfort layers (I’m guessing it was the Natura Eco Sanctuary) but I would also be aware that all the layers of a mattress interact together and the type of latex, any convoluting in the layers, the thickness of the layers, and the other layers below and the quilting in the cover (in this case wool) can also be a significant part of what you “feel”. Once again though your own careful and objective testing for PPP will be more meaningful than ILD specs.
[quote]The first latex I tried was a Pranasleep:
The spec sheet (such as it is) seems to indicate a lot of poly foam and some Talalay latex. No hint of ILD rating. It felt okay, supporting most of my body. Not very sinky, and I wanted sinky.[/quote]
You can see my comments about Pranasleep in post #3 here and in this thread. Jordans lists the quilting layers as 3/4" of 2.5 lb polyfoam and then two 1" layers of 1.5 lb polyfoam which is higher than the two 1" layers of 1.35 lb polyfoam that your attachments lists but either way there would be too much lower density polyfoam in the top layers and I would tend to avoid this in a mattress in this budget range because of the risk of premature foam softening and the more rapid loss of comfort and/or support that goes with too much lower quality materials in the upper layers of a mattress. With polyfoam layers this thick you would also be feeling polyfoam as much as you would be feeling the latex.
[quote]Better was the Natura Latex, which seemed to support my pressure points well. I didn’t sink in much, and I would prefer to sink in a bit, but I think i would be happy with a bed like this. Here are its specs:
The specs of this mattress are much better and there are no weak links in this mattress although it would be well worth making some careful value comparisons with other mattresses because this in a higher budget range than other mattresses that have a similar design and materials.
[quote]Finally, the bed I liked the best was the one that is probably the worst. The Beauty Rest was actually a hybrid with a pocket coil support layer and memory foam comfort layer. It was very comfortable, supported me well, had just the right amount of sink for my preference and handled bouncing well. It was also like $2,400! Here are its specs:
This was a “4000 Plush”. It described the “quilt” as:
1 inch memory foam with Try\u Temp 4 pounds
2 inch advanced AirCool memory foam 3.5 pounds
1 inch Advanced AirCool memory foam 4.5 pounds
Then there was a “comfort layer”:
1 inch density foam[/quote]
You’re right that the materials in this mattress are questionable. The top 4" are “in the range” of medium quality memory foam although the 2" layer is on the low side (less than the 4 lb guideline I would normally use) and the additional inch of polyfoam underneath them is also low for a one sided mattress (1.5 lbs which is less than the 1.8 lbs I would normally suggest in a one sided mattress) so overall this would be a somewhat risky purchase in terms of durability and it certainly isn’t particularly good value compared to other mattresses that use better quality materials and would be less risky and are in a lower budget range. The specs they list for the 4000 Plush here are even worse than the ones you attached.
To their credit … Jordans is one of the few retailers that lists meaningful specs for some of their major brand mattresses.
It would be fine to bend most pocket coil mattresses around corners (or use them on an adjustable bed) because the springs aren’t joined together with helicals and it doesn’t have a border wire but it could damage other types of innersprings. I would definately avoid this though based on the quality/density of the materials.
You can read a little more about trying to “match” one mattress to another in post #9 here. There are some online memory foam retailers or manufacturers (there is a list in the tutorial post) that use some of the major brand memory foam mattresses such as Tempurpedic, iComfort, or Sealy Optimum as a reference point for comparison but I don’t know of any that use Simmons as a reference point. This means that the only way to “match” the Beauty rest to another mattress in terms of PPP would be based on your own personal side by side testing in “real time” (if there is too long between testing two mattresses then your body won’t “remember” what the first one felt like or how it compared). Of course if another mattress seemed similar to you in terms of PPP I would make certain that the quality of the materials was better because otherwise it could lose the comfort and support and the “showroom feel” that was the reason you purchased it much too quickly.
Oh no, I’m not limited to those choices. Those are just the ones I tried yesterday.
Yeah I figured that, and Phoenix also confirmed it (thanks to you both)!
Its much too expensive. I think it was about $3,500! Maybe if they take off 55%, but even then, wow. I have at least Spindle within driving range and I can probably get a comparable mattress from them for much less. I’m still debating memory foam vs latex with myself. My daughter has a memory foam mattress that I have been sleeping in (she is off at college) while I choose and I am liking it. So I’m thinking memory foam is a safe bet. Maybe I would like latex hetter, but the only way to know is to buy one. I would hate to return it.
[/quote]
And they are appreciated.
Beats me, but it seemed like it was okay. The sales woman said it was straight.
I would make sure that you are using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post when you test mattresses because alignment is one of the most important parts of PPP and the suitability of a mattress and a salesperson’s opinion by itself may not be a good indication of whether the mattress is a good “match” for you. Some salespeople are much more knowledgeable and experienced than others and some are more interested in making the sale than “matching” a mattress to their customers.
Thanks very much Phoenix, I appreciate all the time you took to reply. I’m going to study your post again very carefully then get back into the hunt. Spindle replied to my email with very detailed information about their latex, and mentioned that they have a showroom. So I’ll go visit them and talk with them in person about the options.
I’m still leaning toward memory foam though. So many choices, but if I don;t decide memory foam is a clear winner for sleeping, I’ll probably go with latex, because I think it might be better for other on-mattress activities.
While you will find a wide range of opinions about this … I would tend to agree with you and I think that most people would agree that more resilient materials can be more “sex friendly”
You’ve probably read it but for the sake of others that read this post there is a little more about this in post #2 here.
From reading the specs on the Spindle Abscond again, I see it has a “¾” comfort layer of certi-pur soy based foam." I’ll ask them, but why so thin? Wouldn’t the comfort layer need to be thick enough to sink into? Or maybe we’re sinking into the top 3" layer and this just makes things a little softer?
I’m just real nervous about this mattress. The Brooklyn Bedding Cool Luxe looks better to me each time I look at the web site. I wish I could lie on one
The quilting layer is just part of the comfort layers and will “modify” the surface feel of the comfort layer below it. There is more about quilting layers in post #12 here and the posts it links to.
