I have been on the hunt for quite some time looking for the perfect foam mattress that would give me the same feeling that my old Tempur pedic gave in terms of spinal alignment. I bought that mattress in 1998 and that mattress lasted 14 years. But for me Tempur pedic changed their models and do not even make the original any longer and the price is crazy now and yet I did purchase one of the beds contour select and for me it was horrible. I would waken from a sound sleep and my glutes were down in a deep crater there was no rebounding like the original had done so beautifully. AND now I know that Tempur pedic is toxic.
SO I am now looking into mattress number one which is called Cradlesoft Deluxe by Jeffco which is 14 inches in ht and it is a gel infused Memory Foam with Coolmax Cover. I like sleeping on a bed not in a bed and I prefer firmer since i sleep on my back mostly. This had a feeling similar to my old Tempur pedic where the bed seemed to support all of me but this is based only on a 10 to 15 min store test lay. There is no information on the spinal alignment of this bed although it does report that it has pressure relieving points and it is described as med/firm and I like that it is Certipur so not toxic. but i cannot find customer ratings and not sure of the quality of the bed. Will it hold up? It has a 10yr warranty. Also would like to know if the 11 inch or 12 inch mattress would be the same feel as the 14 inch mattress since I would prefer the bed not to be so high.
Mattress number two is called Gemma Firm Support and it is a made in Spain and relatively new. It seems firm but it gives me more of a feeling that I am sleeping in the bed rather than on it but again this is based on a 10 to 15 store test lay. This bed too has the oekoteck which I believe I spelled incorrectly but this is the highest rating a bed can get for being non toxic. However no spec on the spinal alignment. This bed comes with a 20 yr warranty.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this Phoenix and hopefully help me sift out which bed is of higher quality and would hold up on holding the firmness through the duration of the warranties. I do not want a squishy mattress. Nor a mattress that sounds like it has been built with quality but then is not.
Be Well and Take Care Phoenix.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the best place to start your mattress research is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible choice … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
Post #13 here has more information about the most important parts of the value of a mattress purchase.
As you can see … the most important part or “value” is how well a mattress matches your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and the best way to tell this is by careful and objective testing on a mattress using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post. If it’s not possible to test a mattress in person before a purchase then a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced online retailer or manufacturer who is more interested in selling you the “right” mattress for your body type and sleeping positions than they are in selling you anything you will buy is the next best way to decide whether a mattress would be a good match for you (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
It’s not possible for a manufacturer to “rate” a mattress in terms of pressure relief or spinal alignment because they would both be different and relative to different people and a mattress that provides good alignment or pressure relief for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on depending on their body type, sleeping positions, and individual sensitivities and preferences. Even firmness ratings aren’t consistent between different manufacturers or even between different people and a mattress that feels “too firm” for one person or even a group of people can feel “too soft” for someone else. All mattresses provide some degree of pressure relief (at least compared to sleeping on a hard surface with no give at all) but only your own personal testing or experience can tell you whether a mattress is a good “match” for you and provides you with good alignment and good pressure relief in all your sleeping positions.
After PPP … the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is to make sure you know the quality of all the materials in a mattress (see this article) so you can compare them to the guidelines here to make sure there are no “weak links” in the mattress and make more meaningful comparisons with other mattresses. Without this information you would be making a “blind purchase” which is very high risk and has a high chance of buyers remorse much too quickly. If you can find out the specifics of all the layers in the mattress then I’d be happy to make some comments about the quality and durability of the materials inside it.
In other words it boils down to testing for suitability, checking specs for durability, and then comparing each mattress with your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and any return or exchange policies if that’s also an important part of your purchase decision).
You can see my comments about the Gemma mattress in post #2 here and the memory foam is on the low side (3.2 lbs) in terms of density but I would always confirm the quality/density of all the layers in a mattress before you purchase it not just a single layer.
While the Gemma deserves credit because it’s one of the few memory foams that are Oeko-Tex certified for VOC’s and harmful substances … I would also be aware that all latex mattresses are also Oeko-Tex or Eco Institut certified to the same standards and they are a more resilient material than memory foam if you prefer to sleep “on” your mattress. There is more about latex vs memory foam in post #2 here.
Thank you for letting me know what you thought about the Gemma Firm Support. It sounded like you felt that it would not be supportive enough which is the “feeling” that I felt when I tested it and laid on it in the store. This is “why” I was leaning towards the Cradlesoft by Jeffco.
The specs for the Gemma Firm Support were starting at the bottom and working up…7 1/2 Support at bottom…and then in the middle was a 2 inch memory foam…and then on the top layer was 1/2 inch of HD foam
vs
The specs for the Cradlesoft by Jeffco which is a 14 inch Deluxe Gel Infused Memory Foam with Coolmax Cover are…
10 inches of HD foam at the bottom… and then in the middle is a 1.75 transition foam and then the top layer has 2 inch memory foam.
So what do you think of the Cradlesoft specs? Does it stack up to quality?!
This mattress felt firmer than the Gemma and did seem to be a close call to what I remembered in my old original tempur pedic bed that I purchased in 1998. It seemed to be firm enough and yet also supported me even under my knees since the rebounding found it’s way to even cradle and support me behind my knees. Yet, not sure how supportive and firm it will be throughout the night for my back and the rest of my body as the days turn into weeks and months and years to come on this mattress. I also liked that I felt I was sleep on the mattress and not in it, too!
Hope you can help me with this tossing and turning decision to make, Phoenix
Also I would prefer the bed to be less in its ht. This Cradlesoft Mattress by Jeffco does come in a 11 inch and a 12 inch and has all that the 14 inch say that is has. NOW, would this change the specs if I went with the lower ht in the mattress?
I hope you can help me Phoenix in all this tossing and turning to make a good decision on whether to purchase this mattress or not
These are just generic descriptions of the type of foam but don’t say anything about the quality/density of the materials. The information you need is in this article.
The same comments apply here. None of the information you listed says anything about the quality/density of the materials.
As you can see in the guidelines here … if you can’t find out the information you need to make an informed choice about the relative quality and durability of the materials in a mattress … I would pass the mattress by because there are too many good quality and value choices that make this information available to their customers to spend much time with those who don’t.
I am back with the specs for the Cradlesoft 14 Inch Deluxe Gel Infused Queen with Coolmax Cover
The top layer which is the Gel Memory is …2 inches…and has a ILD of 10…with a Density of 3.8
The Transitional Foam in the Middle is 1 inch and 3/4…and has an ILD of 23…with a Density of 1.8
The Support Base is the Bottom which is 10 inches…and has an ILD of 34…with a Density of 1.8
I would like to get the 12 Inch Deluxe Gel Infused Queen with Coolmax Cover which has all the above specs of the queen except that the support base is 8 inches instead of 10 inches.
So this bed also has the Certipur for being nontoxic for foam
SO, given THESE specs… what would you rate this bed in quality and firmness?
I don’t know how firm this mattress would feel for you or how well it would match your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, or Personal preferences), especially without a reference point of a similar mattress you have tried that I could use as a reference point, because firmness is relative to each person and their body type, sleeping positions, and preferences and sensitivities and there are too many unknowns and variables involved to use specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” for anyone to predict how soft or firm a mattress will “feel” for someone else (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). If you have a more extended phone conversation with the retailer or manufacturer then they “should” be much more familiar with how the mattress is likely to feel for different body types and sleeping positions based on “averages” than anyone else.
The specs you listed are “close to the edge” but are still inside the guidelines here which means that there are no low quality materials and I wouldn’t consider it to have any obvious weak links in the design for most people that aren’t in higher weight ranges.
