What should we rule out? And then what?

[phoenix]

Hi KevinTMC,

I’ve been reading tutorial pages and searching threads here; have also been looking at Sleep Like The Dead (pretty helpful) and Consumer Reports (less helpful), and even scanning Amazon reviews. I’m having trouble determining what we should rule out, and what options we should then investigate.

The tutorial post includes a link to this article which covers most of what I would rule out. Other than that I would use your testing to decide which type of materials and mattresses you tend to prefer (the overviews and the pages in each section also includes more information about most of the mattress materials you will encounter). The choice of the type of material that you like best is a preference but regardless of which type of mattress or materials you like best I would always make sure that it’s a high quality and durable version of that material.

Here’s some basics. We’re both somewhat tall (I’m 6’3", she’s a bit shorter) and both over 270 pounds. I’m a side/stomach sleeper; she’s a side/back sleeper. One of her big concerns is sleeping hot (I’m a bit of an oven, it seems). I’m particularly interested in durability. My nightmare scenario is that I spend a bunch of money on a mattress that, at first, is much more comfortable than what I’m used to; then, once I’m good and spoiled, it starts to break down, and by year 3 or 5 it’s actually worse than what I’ve got now.

Post #2 here and the posts it links to goes into more detail about all the many variables that can affect sleeping temperature and post #4 here and the posts it links to has more information about the variables that can affect durability and the useful life of a mattress relative to each person.

There are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a mattress for someone else to make specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or theory at a distance that can possible be more accurate than your own careful and objective testing (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) which is always the most reliable way to predict which mattress will be the best match for you in terms of PPP (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

This nightmare is made more vivid by the fact that I’ve done enough research to find credible-sounding horror stories about virtually every single sleep product that has ever been sold to humankind. Heck, even on this site–full as it is of people taking great care to make the best possible choices–there are long threads dedicated to continuing problems with manufacturers, threads where deals went bad when retailers got flaky or went out of business, threads where people bought a good bed that turned out to be the wrong one for them, and so forth.

If you follow the steps in the tutorial post one at a time then the odds are overwhelming that you won’t be one of the people that is posting about “issues” you are having after a purchase. While nothing is ever 100% of course, the very few people that do have issues after an “informed” purchase have a much more visible presence than the huge majority of people that buy a mattress and you never hear from them again.

Basically I’ve learned enough so far that my head is spinning, and my worrying has kicked into overdrive.

This is usually the result of too much “analysis” and reading too much technical information which leads to information overload vs just following the steps in the tutorial post one step at a time. Once you have read the basic information like you would read a book (and not “studied it”) and have a general sense of what you are interested in and what to avoid (steps #1 and #2), then it’s time to decide which local (or online) retailers or manufacturers to deal with (step 3) and then visit them to start testing mattresses or talk with them on the phone if they are online (step 4). Once you have narrowed down your choices at each retailer or manufacturer you are dealing with to a single mattress then comes step 5 which is making a final choice.

I would avoid using your mind to try and figure out what your body needs to tell you with your testing because specs won’t tell you much if anything about how suitable or comfortable a mattress will be in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferenes). I would also avoid using your body to tell you what your mind needs to tell you because you can’t “feel” the quality or durability of the materials inside a mattress and you can only know this if you find out the the type and quality of all the layers (see this article). I would focus as much or more initially on the knowledge and experience of the retailers and manufacturers you choose to deal with because they will already know what you would otherwise need to learn and who you deal with can be one of the most important parts of a successful mattress purchase. Finally I would avoid mattress reviews because other people’s experiences will tell you very little about the quality of a mattress or how it will feel or how suitable it will be for you (see post #13 here).

Now I do have a couple strong endorsements from family members to guide me. My brother and his wife have had a Tempur-Pedic for four years now and still love it; my parents have had one of the Sealy Optimum series for a year now and are very pleased. Obviously, those recommendations run quite contrary to the opinion of this site; I imagine replies to this thread might point me in somewhat different directions.

As you will read in the tutorial post (and the earlier link) … I would completely avoid both of these and all other major brands and similar to reviews I would always keep in mind that a mattress that is “perfect” for someone else or even a large group of people may be completely unsuitable for you to sleep on.

Phoenix