Waking up in pain daily from failing mattress. Local options in Portland,OR?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
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Wife and I seem to be in pretty dire need for a new mattress. Have had bad luck over the past 5 years or so with Simmons(?) mattresses. The first was some kind of air hybrid that failed so bad one half was about 6" lower than the other. Fought to get that replaced under warranty with our current one which i believe is the Beautyrest Black plush pillow top. This one has seemed to get worse over the last couple years, and in particular the last 2 years or so is starting to sag pretty good in the middle. We shimmed the middle with cardboard but in any case i think it just does not offer the support my wife and i need.

Every morning we both wake up in a ton of pain. She spent the last 4 months on disability for a neck and shoulder injury and i think the mattress is not helping. Myself i struggle every single morning with pain through my entire back and shoulders, none of this stemmed from an injury so i attribute it to the mattress and probably less exercise due to the pandemic. We’ve started yoga each morning and are back to regular exercise, but it’s not enough. So it’s time to finally get a good mattress!

We have tried a few memory foam mattresses in the past with mixed results. I had a “Ultimate Dreams Supreme Gel Memory foam (medium)” before we got married. I liked it but it seemed a little stiff, wife thought it was much to stiff for her and hurt sleeping on the side.

We also had a Zinus 12" green tea memory foam for the guest bed (described as firm) that felt pretty similar to the above, it actually felt more conforming. Had a few good night’s sleep on it but we only tried it a handful of times before selling it during a move.

I think we are both fairly set on a memory foam despite not super great results in the past. But we understand it’s likely best option for our back issues and part of the issue was buying the others without trying first. We don’t necessarily need to buy something local, but we plan to at the very least try a number of local options. We both sleep in just about every position, so leaning towards the medium range of firmness, though hopefully the tossing and turning will subside with a quality mattress.

So far I’ve found there is a local Tuft and Needle, Casper, Tempur-pedic in a bunch of locations i guess. Mattress Lot which seems to have a number of locally made memory foam mattresses (haven’t heard of the companies), and also BedMart which seems similar (I’ve heard of Park Lane).

The things we know we want, good edge support, ideally 12" or less (due to our bed configuration), as cool as possible to help mitigate something much more conforming, good return/exchange and warranty policy. Otherwise no real requests as long as it will get us back to better health. Price isn’t necessarily a concern, although what I’ve looked at so far I’m sure we can stay under $2k based on the options available.

The only other maybe tricky part is being water resistant or able to find a good quality mattress protector that won’t ruin the conforming ability of the memory foam. I’ve heard that can sometimes be an issue. We’ve had a couple pet accidents in the past so that’s pretty much a must so we don’t ruin a nice mattress.

So i guess I’m really wondering if anyone has good feedback either on local mattress manufacturers, or good stores to try quality options, or simply options that will help us find what will work for us? Like i mentioned we don’t mind buying online so long as we have good options to exchange or adjust as needed, and as long as we can get a good idea from other local stores as to what will work for us.

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Hi cgibsong002.

I hope the heat in Portland isn’t affecting you and your wife too badly!

Thanks for sharing your mattress history and general history of injuries and pains. It is unfortunate to hear you’ve had a streak of bad luck with sagging mattresses. Because you did mention experiencing back pain, this thread talks about some of the most common causes behind back pain post #2 here that may be helpful.

You mentioned that you’d like to keep with memory foam, despite your bad luck. My guess, without knowing your height/weight, is that it’s likely the memory foam used in these models hasn’t had an adequate density for durability based on your body mass and sleeping positions. For someone within a BMI range of 20 - 30, the recommendation we offer is that If your mattress is one-sided then to make sure that any memory foam is at least 4 lb per cubic foot. If the mattress is two-sided then use a minimum density of 3 lbs per cubic foot.

While I can’t speak to these locations personally, what you want to keep in mind when looking to identify a quality retailer is their ability and willingness to disclose the materials in their mattresses and their knowledge, experience, and ability to give you the guidance that is necessary to help you make meaningful comparisons and your best possible choices.

A knowledgeable manufacturer or retailer that carries mattresses that have fair value, that you can trust to give you accurate and meaningful information, and are focused more on educating their customers than they are on “selling” their customers, can turn mattress shopping from a difficult and frustrating experience filled with roadblocks and uncertainty into one that is actually enjoyable and save you many hours of research and frustration.

While not located in Oregon, one of our Trusted Members - Ghost Bed - has some memory foam options you might be interested in. I would also suggest looking at Nest Bedding and the memory foam options at Mattress to Go.

I also searched the forum to see if any other forum subscribers had shared positive Portland area experiences, and Parkland seemed to be the common denominator but there was also some chatter that it potentially was purchased by Bedmart.

Google led me to Portland Mattress Makers and Stumptown Mattress, but neither lists the foam densities of their mattresses and I have no personal knowledge of their transparency, etc. but it may not hurt to call and see what kind of information you can get out of them if your preference is to stay local.

I hope this helps you move your mattress search forward!

NikkiTMU

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[quote=“NikkiTMU post=88770”]

I also searched the forum to see if any other forum subscribers had shared positive Portland area experiences, and Parkland seemed to be the common denominator but there was also some chatter that it potentially was purchased by Bedmart.

Google led me to Portland Mattress Makers and Stumptown Mattress, but neither lists the foam densities of their mattresses and I have no personal knowledge of their transparency, etc. but it may not hurt to call and see what kind of information you can get out of them if your preference is to stay local.

NikkiTMU[/quote]

Thanks for the reply! Yes it seems there’s a number of local manufacturers (surprising amount really) but i haven’t found much info.

Yes Parklane got bought out and I’m not quite sure if the current products are in any way related to the original line.

Then there’s Stumptown like you mentioned. Portland Mattress Makers is a different Portland :lol: but there is also Mulligan Mattress, Cloud Natural, Bedtime Mattress, and 45th Street Bedding for local Latex options. There’s “Leisure Rest” made locally by Mattress Warehouse. There was Tualatin Sleep Products who got bought out by Southerland. Sound Sleep Products seems to make a few different lines which is a bit confusing. I also found Amerisleep as another local bed in a box storefront. There’s also Restonic, Sleep EZ, abs what seems to be a collection of quite a few others as i continue to look into it. The confusing part is where to start, especially since most don’t tend to list actual specs by default.

It seems like Mattress Lot offers a good variety of memory, latex, and hybrids, so I’ll probably start there to at least figure out what will work for us.