Hi lilmom,
It’s great to see that you have clearly done your homework and are asking all the right questions … I’m impressed :).
As sad as it may be … you probably know more about mattress materials and mattresses than most of the salespeople in the mainstream industry.
As you mentioned (and discovered) … buckling column gel has a weight threshold before the columns buckle and with your lower BMI it’s not surprising that the mattress was too firm for you. Different types of buckling column gel materials can also have different weight thresholds.
All the layers and components in a mattress will have some effect on the feel and performance of all the other layers both above and below it and on the mattress "as a whole. In very general terms … the properties and firmness of materials and components that are closer to the top surface of a sleeping system will tend to have a bigger effect on the overall “feel” and firmness of a mattress than materials that are deeper in the sleeping system, thicker layers will contribute more of their feel and firmness to the overall sleeping system than thinner layers, and a thinner layer would “allow” more of the feel and properties of the layer(s) underneath it to “come through” than a thicker layer.
Since the Buckling column gel in the Purple mattress is only 2" thick (see post #2 here) … the polyfoam layers just below the buckling column gel will also play a significant role in the feel and performance of the mattress and there are certainly other people that have mentioned that the mattress was uncomfortable for them because of the overall feel of the combination of buckling column gel and the polyfoam layer just below it in the upper layers of the mattress. I personally think that they would probably do better using a different material underneath the buckling column gel (and possibly a thin foam layer on top of it as well) although that would also increase the cost of the mattress and they are already in the higher end of the range for “simplified choice” mattresses that typically sell for under $1000 (queen size).
Having said that … I’m sorry to hear that the Purple mattress didn’t work out as well as you hoped for but it’s good to see that you had the foresight to make sure that it also had a good return/refund policy so you could try it with little risk.
[quote] These are the specs I was given for the mattress:
Stretch knit fabric
Deluxe quality quilt package (not sure that means)
3" 24 ILD gel infused Talalay latex in the pillow top
3/8" 32 ILD Talalay latex lumbar
2" 19 ILD Talalay latex
1" 19 ILD/32 ILD/19 ILD zone lumbar support
2.5" racetrack edge
Common comfort core[/quote]
The quilting package would include the materials (most often synthetic or natural fibers or polyfoam) that are quilted to the mattress cover. It could also include the fire barrier as well. If the quilting materials are “about an inch or so” thick (in practical terms I would use 1.5" as a maximum) then it would have little meaningful effect on the durability and useful life of a mattress even if they are relatively lower quality/density materials. If a quilting package is 2" or more thick then I would make sure that you can confirm that they are also good quality/density and durable materials just like the other layers and components in a mattress because past this point there would be an increasing risk that the quilting package could also be a weak link relative to the durability and useful life of the mattress.
This is one of the reasons that I generally suggest making sure that the thickness of all the layers and components in a mattress add up to being very close to the thickness of the mattress itself (see here) so that you can be confident that there are no “missing layers” in the description that could affect the durability and useful life of the mattress.
You can also see some comments about “racetrack” edge support with latex layers in post #3 here and this is probably polyfoam as well so I would also confirm the density of the polyfoam in the edge support as well and if you tend to sleep with most of your weight concentrated on the outside edge of the mattress or sit on the side of the mattress on a regular basis I would also make sure that it was at least 1.8 lb density as well.
It’s great that you had the foresight to challenge the information you were given because if a description doesn’t specifically mention latex then almost always it’s not.
Once again you know more than the salesperson you were dealing with but since he was so uninformed I would tend to believe the specs he gave you since the information he was given from the manufacturer was probably accurate and he probably doesn’t know enough to have changed it into something better anyway even if it was a lower quality material because it sounds like he didn’t know whether the quality/density of the polyfoam base layer was suitable or not in the first place.
Perfect Bliss is a trademark of Innovative Bedding Solutions which is a fairly young company that was incorporated in March, 2014. I don’t know much about them but outside of PPP a mattress is only as good as the quality and durability of the materials inside it anyway. Mattress Dealzz itself has been mentioned a few times on the forum going back to 2013 and their private label mattresses apparently used to be made by either Southerland or an Englander licensee but it’s possible they may have formed a new company to either manufacture and/or sell their private label mattresses (they may still be using their previous manufacturers and the new company could just be a way to hold the trademarks).
I’ve also added Mattress Dealz to the Salt Lake City list here as well since some of their mattresses may be worth considering as “possibilities”…
Assuming that you can confirm that the quilting package is either 1 1/2" thick or less (or you can confirm the quality/density of the materials if it’s 2" or more) and that you can confirm the density of the materials in the racetrack surround (assuming that it’s polyfoam and not latex) so you are confident that they meet the durability guidelines and that there are no weak links in the mattress and if you have done some careful testing and are confident that the mattress is a good match for both of you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (or you are comfortable with the options you have available after a purchase to return or exchange the mattress if you’re not) and if it also compares well to your other finalists based on all the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you (including the price of course) … then it would certainly be well worth considering as a purchase IMO.
Phoenix