Hi JenWV,
Englander is an interesting brand and in some cases can have better value than its larger competitors. It is a group of licensees which makes different mattresses in different areas of the country and which also make house brand mattresses for various outlets. The key, like with all mattresses, is to only buy from an outlet which will show their customers the layers in the mattresses they sell so that consumers know what they are buying and can identify the “weak link” (usually lower quality polyfoam) in a mattress that may otherwise use good materials. They do make some gel memory foam mattresses that use gel cylinders but their prices appear to be fairly high.
There’s not a lot available right in Parkersburg or Marietta but out of what I saw there, these may have some possibilities in their alternative brands. Bear in mind I haven’t talked with them so a phone call first to find out what models they carry and a sense of their knowledge, service, and transparency (willingness to show you what is in their mattresses) would be a good idea.
http://www.mattressmax.biz/ Vienna, WV. UPDATE: they now carry White Dove, King Koil XL, Dutch Craft, and Savvy Rest component latex mattresses which may be worth considering.
Mattresses | Belpre and Parkersburg, Mid Ohio Valley area | Belpre Furniture Belpre, OH. Carries Springwall which makes a few mattresses which may have better quality and value.
A little further away your options become much better.
http://www.imperialbedding.com/ Huntington, WV. Factory direct manufacturer that makes some high quality mattresses with better value. They even make their own springs. Well worth including in your research if a phone conversation justifies the drive.
Post #2 here includes the better options I know of in the Columbus area.
The Prodigy also has quite a bit of soft foam in the comfort layers (it’s the same as the Revolution with an additional layer of slow recovery latex). The slow recovery latex though would make it a little firmer than the Revolution in most people’s perceptions. I didn’t include the inch of polyfoam which it also includes in my review of the iComfort mattresses in post #10 here which I’ve now corrected. The Insight may be the best choice of all but it may be a little on the firm side for you and I also don’t think it has great value (it’s basically 2.75" of medium quality memory foam over a polyfoam support core). I would probably order an online memory foam mattress before considering an iComfort unless there was a particularly compelling reason to consider it (such as one particular model being absolutely perfect for PPP and I was convinced that for some reason nothing else would come close).
The Aerus is a good value but it uses medium density memory foam and also has a little lower quality support layers. The advantaqe here is the cheap price and the fact that it is returnable if it isn’t right. It’s difficult to say how long any mattress will last because the biggest factor is the degree of softening each person finds acceptable before the mattress becomes “unsleepable” because of reduced pressure relief or support and this is different for different people. I usually estimate that a high quality memory foam mattress would likely have an average lifespan of 10 - 12 years but this would depend a great deal on the layering and the people sleeping on it. There could be a very wide range between different people who consider a particular mattress to still be OK for either much shorter or longer. A 4 lb memory foam over a lower density polyfoam base would last a fair bit less but longer than the lowest quality 3 lb memory foams. It has good value but it’s also not in the same league as other options.
Englander makes a range of Dunlop latex mattresses but they sometimes add several inches of polyfoam over the latex so knowing the layering is important. Sealy also has a series of latex matresses in their Embody line with either 3, 4, or 5" of latex on top but this is a blended Dunlop latex and is not the same quality as either natural Dunlop or talalay. They are also on the firm side but may give you some sense of latex. Simmons Natural Care also have latex in the comfort layers but they don’t say in their description what type of latex (although it’s probably Dunlop). They use a layer of polyfoam above the latex but in most of them this is less than an inch or so which I usually consider to be “OK”. They used to make a series of models called the natural care elite which were almost all talalay latex but they don’t make them any more. Restonic also makes several latex mattresses in it’s Health Rest line but again in some areas they use polyfoam above the latex and in some areas they don’t. There are quite a few others that make latex hybrids (latex over polyfoam) but the easiest way is to call the local outlets and ask them if they have any latex mattresses … followed with asking if they have a spec sheet that shows if they use any polyfoam above the latex. Ask them to read you the layers one by one until they add up to the thickness of the mattress.
Hope this helps
Phoenix