I had not yet found this website, so I bought based solely on feel and price.
I bought through the local store of the huge mattress chain here.
Woe is me.
Short story:
Tried the mattress in three showrooms, all seemed the same.
Slept on two new mattresses, both are firmer than the showroom samples.
Many people at the store we were at have the same experience.
Here’s the longer story:
We tried out this mattress in the showroom. The salesperson had mentioned proper spinal alignment, and this seemed to fit the bill and felt good. We bought this mattress and had it delivered the next day. It arrives stained, is noted, and arrangements for a replacement are made. In the meantime we sleep on it until the replacement arrives. We notice that it seems firmer than the showroom version. The replacement arrives, and it also feels firmer than the showroom version, but equal to the outgoing, stained mattress. We give it a week and a half, but are waking up with back pain (which was the reason for replacing the old mattress.)
So, we go to another showroom and try that mattress. It is the same as the other showroom model. Talk to the salesman there, and he tells us that he has heard of this a few times now with that same mattress. While we are there he gets a call from someone else with the same complaint.
We decide to try a different mattress at the store, and then, since the sample is a king, and we want queen, we go to another nearby store to try the other mattress in queen. This one is also the same as the other two showroom mattresses.
We give it another week, to allow for some break in time, even though these are supposed to be pre-worked to break them in. There is no change in feel.
I do not know if this is only from the PA assembly plant, if it is company wide, or what the problem is, but the new Beautyrest Legend Plush mattresses here are definitely firmer than what is in the showroom.
[quote]We tried out this mattress in the showroom. The salesperson had mentioned proper spinal alignment, and this seemed to fit the bill and felt good. We bought this mattress and had it delivered the next day. It arrives stained, is noted, and arrangements for a replacement are made. In the meantime we sleep on it until the replacement arrives. We notice that it seems firmer than the showroom version. The replacement arrives, and it also feels firmer than the showroom version, but equal to the outgoing, stained mattress. We give it a week and a half, but are waking up with back pain (which was the reason for replacing the old mattress.)
I do not know if this is only from the PA assembly plant, if it is company wide, or what the problem is, but the new Beautyrest Legend Plush mattresses here are definitely firmer than what is in the showroom.[/quote]
While I certainly don’t think highly of the quality or value of Simmons mattresses … your experience is fairly normal because a mattress can take a few weeks (up to 90 days in some cases) to break in and a new mattress is almost always firmer than a mattress that has been in the showroom for a while and has gone though it’s initial softening period.
It can be different for different people, body types, and sleeping positions but the initial break in period can be anywhere from a few weeks to 90 days or so depending on the person and on the type of materials in the mattress.
Thank you for the response, and especially for creating this site. It is a bit much to get through all the info, but it certainly seems worth it.
I also thought break in was needed, but over the past two weeks it does not seem to have changed, plus the salesperson informed us that these mattresses are somehow treated before they leave the showroom to eliminate the break in period. Physically treated to actually do the break in, so what you feel in the showroom should be what you feel when you first have it in your home.
According to the salesperson that is what they are known for.
Yes … the foam in the Simmons mattresses has been mechanically pre-crushed (what they call transflexion) which opens the windows in the cell structure of the foam and reduces some of the “false firmness” in the mattress which in turn can shorten the break in period but it won’t eliminate it and there can also be a difference in the amount of foam softening in a showroom model outside of just the break in period because some Simmons mattresses can soften fairly quickly (depending on the specific materials in the mattress). If a floor model has been on the floor for a year for example it can be significantly softer than a new mattress just because of the normal foam softening that can come with the use of lower quality/density foams in a mattress.
If your mattress contains memory foam then temperature and humidity differences between the showoom and the bedroom can also play a role in how firm a mattress feels and the type of bedding you use (any mattress pads, mattress protector, or sheets) can also play a role because the showroom models are just a bare mattress.
Of course there is always the possibility that your mattress was made incorrectly but in most cases it would be “normal” that a new mattress is softer than a floor model that has either broken in or has been on the floor for some time and has softened.
So we see there’s one common denominator here. These are all brand new mattresses versus floor model mattresses that have been on the floor and tried by who knows how many people… the mattress that you get is always going to be more firm than the one you try out in the store. It’s a wonder why the store representative didn’t mention this to you to begin with.