I would like to know where i can locate local manufacturers so that i can compare their offerings against the Icomfort mattresses. I am purchasing a platform bed and the company selling it is pushing us to buy a Icomfort mattress. They said they can give us a really good deal but that we cannot tell anyone that they are discounting the mattress. Sounds bogus to me, but figure you are the person to ask! Is there a standard discount that Serta makes available to retailers so that they can appear to give customers a great deal (ala the car industry kickbacks)? I live in Orange County California. I looked at Newport Bedding but it seems they only sell Tempur-Pedic and i am not interested in purchasing that brand.
I currently have an old memory foam mattress that i purchased from roomandboard about 10 years ago. it took me awhile to get used to the warmth of memory foam, but i have gotten very used to it. I am a side sleeper of average height and weight.
Fluffy,
You should run away from the place that is feeding you the lies on the iComfort. I almost fell prey to the iComfort marketing and bogus sales pitch, but felt that I was about to be ripped off. And many months (almost a year) later after continuing my search for a mattress, I found this website. The moderator, Phoenix, is incredible and will most likely respond to you as well.
I always liked the feel and qualities of natural latex, but the price tag in the big mattress/furniture outlets always scared me off. And as you will also learn, the name brands will throw around the word “latex” without abandon. They are extremely sneaky.
But after hanging around this forum and doing a lot of research, it is quite clear that I can (and will) purchase a very high quality natural latex mattress at a fraction of the cost that is offered by the big name brands…and to boot, local manufacturer (or select online providers) will contain a significantly greater amount of latex in the build.
Read on and good luck. Your brain will be aching, but it’ll all start to sink in!
NobleRise
I certainly agree with NobleRises’s comments about the iComfort and the industry in general (and thank you too NobleRise for the kind comments)
I also believe that latex (in the right combinations) is a much superior material to memory foam however I also realize that some people do like memory foam as personal preference and overall feel plays a big role in mattress choices. I wonder sometimes though if they have truly compared memory foam to a mattress with soft latex as a comfort layer.
Newport Bedding makes their own line of mattresses (and carry memory foam from other manufacturers) which would likely make a good testing ground for you. In addition to their own wide range of mattresses … they also carry several other brands including Diamond, Aireloom, and Tempur-pedic for reference.
Roomandboard is a retail direct outlet for Restwell (who also sells factory direct) and they too carry a range of latex and memory foam.
Some other manufacturers in your general area include …
Looking at their websites and a few calls to these manufacturers letting them know in general what you are looking for, and your budget range, should give you a good sense of what they have available and help you decide which ones to visit. Some of these choices are better than others.
In general though … I would avoid any of the mattresses that are manufactured by any of the major national brands as they generally have poor value. I would also avoid retail outlets who “push” you into buying “the latest and the greatest” or make “special offers” such as you are describing as they rarely if ever are “real” or represent true value. Stores that are more legitimate will focus on helping you find the best mattress construction within your budget and tell you why each mattress may work for you. They are material oriented and will let you know what is in a mattress layer by layer rather than focusing on a fictitious “deal”.
High quality and high value mattresses are available every day of the year and the idea that there is some great sale or “special price” that a consumer will somehow miss if they wait is only misleading marketing or sales practices designed to discourage meaningful comparison shopping.
I will look into the locations you mentioned. In the meantime i did go look at the Serta IComfort Insight and Revolution at Sears. i realized that the “special price” was not all that special. i also found it very hard to obtain any detailed information. The salesman just kept saying the Cool Action Gel Memory Foam was revolutionary and superior to other memory foam on the market. Serta’s ads say the microsupport gel is infused into premium memory foam, but nowhere can i find out what the density of the foam is. My sister says the salesman told her the Serta’s will sleep cooler than other memory foam. Is this possible? I have read all of the other posts on your site and if i understand correctly the open cell memory foam made by Foamax is cooler than the memory foam manufactured by Advanced Urethane. Are there any other memory foam types i need to know about before delving further? Like, is there a difference between gel bead, gel, and plain memory foam?
Lastly, i see the terms “comfort” layer and “support” layer used. Are these different layers or just different words referring to the same thing? Since i am interested in a memory foam top, what would be the next layer i would expect to see?
I hope i am not asking too many questions. I just want to have a good understanding of what i should know before i venture out!
Thanks so much for your time and energy. The site is awesome and your answers to everyone’s questions have been very worthwhile reading. I have a whole page of notes!
The Serta iComfort uses about 5lb gel memory foam based on my calculations (since they don’t release this information specifically since it would be too easy for people to make meaningful comparisons which would lead to the recognition of its poor value).
For some people … the gel may make a small difference in heat, however it is not likely that it will make as much difference as a more open celled foam such as Aerus or even memory foam which is ventilated with holes in it. Memory foam in general though will sleep hotter than other foams because it is less open celled and you will sink in deeper than other foams. A cover made of some of the newer materials which helps regulate heat can make some difference here as well and so can a wool mattress pad (although the tradeoff is that the pad will lower the ability of the memory foam to “melt” and conform to your body shape and it will feel firmer). In general though memory foam is still the hottest of the foams which for some is an issue … and for some less so.
There is a lot of research into many different types of “gel” additives being added to memory foam in recognition of some of the drawbacks of memory foam itself which is now becoming more well known as consumers are becoming a little more aware. A good article about this is here http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/542466-Gel_Beds_in_Spotlight.php
As you can see … many manufacturers are trying to play catch up with a technology which I believe may have some limited benefits (in some specific instances) but overall will do more to confuse people. We are about to become inundated with “competing claims” and stories about the “benefits of gel memory foam” of various types and most of them will be just that … stories … meant to sell products without any real factual information behind them and with a goal of improving profits and market share. They are based on “perception” much more than fact. Much of this IMO is being driven by Tempurpedic’s increasing market share through their own “branding” information and advertising which is taking advantage of the general state of confusion and misinformation in the memory foam segment of the industry. This too is unfortunate as there are certainly memory foams which are as high quality as Tempur at a much lower cost but do not have the same brand recognition.
I wrote a reply just before this one which talked about the comfort and support functions and layers of a mattress which are the two main functions of a mattress. It is in reply #6 in this thread. It links to a couple of articles on the site which should be helpful. There is also an article about memory foam here which talks about memory foam in general and how important the support layers under the memory foam are since memory foam itself is the least supportive of all foams and needs a supportive layer underneath it. There is an even more detailed memory foam article here.
And by all means keep any questions coming. That’s why I’m here
