Where to start in Sioux Falls, South Dakota?

[phoenix]

Hi dbergan,

Don’t feel like you have to cancel and settle for a Comfort King mattress just because of this thread. Yes CK was more transparent on what’s in their foam layers, but if bbd feels better, that’s still primary.

While comfort and PPP is certainly the most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase … I would also be very cautious about buying any mattress where you don’t know the type and quality/durability of all the materials and components inside it because how long you sleep well is also a very important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase and there is little value in buying a mattress that softens or breaks down prematurely no matter how it may feel in a showroom or when it is new.

BBD had 4 or 5 different kinds of foam they use, but they are all supposedly synthetic latex.

I don’t believe that you are correct here (I’m pretty sure that you’re not) and I would be very cautious about providing information to someone else that you haven’t confirmed is correct. Have you confirmed that your mattress is all latex? Have you looked at the law tag to see which type of materials are listed there?

NOTE ADDED: I have talked with Chad and have confirmed that none of the materials in any of the Beds by Design mattresses are either synthetic or natural latex and they are versions of polyfoam. Some of the materials are high performance polyfoams that are certainly a good quality material and have many of the properties of latex but are less costly than “real” latex (synthetic or natural).

The foams had different properties (softer, firmer) and came with different durability ratings. But they also had warranties for each foam type. Some were 15-year, others 20 and 30. The core at the bottom of my mattress (energy core, I think) had a lifetime warranty, which Chad explained that if it ever showed signs of wear, his foam manufacturer would replace it. (Their factory guaranteed it.). Nothing at CK had more than a 20-year warranty.

I would keep in mind that the length of a mattress warranty has very little to do with the durability or useful life of a mattress or more importantly how long it may be before you need to replace it. Warranties only cover defects in a mattress and not the gradual (or rapid in the case of lower quality materials) loss of comfort and support that is the main reason people will need to replace their mattress. There is more about mattress warranties in post #174 here.

At BBD, you could feel and fondle the foam samples as much as you’d like. When you buy the mattress, you can unzip it and see that that’s what’s in it. That’s awfully transparent.

If you can’t find out the information you need to know about the type, quality, and durability of the materials in a mattress then it’s not transparent at all since a consumer would have no idea what they are “feeling and fondling”.

Like you, I would like to know more about their synthetic latex. But it would be fallacious to take a lack of information and assume that they’re using cheap poly knock offs that will degrade within months (which is what CK alleged of them). The samples certainly didn’t feel like poly to me. And CK showed colossal ignorance when they explained somnigel as “water in a gel state” (wtf!) and said that synthetic latex is “no different from polyfoam” because they are both made from chemicals in a lab.

I would want to know that it was synthetic latex in the first place. Not knowing what is in a mattress doesn’t necessarily mean that they are using “cheap poly knockoffs” it only means that they could be and that you won’t be in a position to make an informed choice or make meaningful comparisons with other mattress. Suggesting that a “lack of necessary information” or that not being able to find out the information you need to know to make an informed choice about the quality and durability of a mattress is somehow OK is just plain bad advice.

Phoenix