Mattress Forum

Am doing research to get a mattress and I thought the above few threads gave some great advice. I'm thinking about the following possibilities (all mentioned above) and have some questions:

1. get a firm mattress and buy top layers that can be changed.

I am confused about this because does that mean that I just choose the firmest mattress without regard to comfort because I am going to use a topper? How do I know if I am going to like the topper and is there a place to try those out, or do I just go on recommendations and order it online?

2. Where do I get a foam mattress? I went to a local highly rated mattress warehouse and the selection was all Simmons, Serta, and Therapedic, with one King Koil. I didn't see any foam or latex or the kind of stuff discussed here.

3. The last poster raved about a waterbed, and adjustable temperature and firmness, which sounded good, plus he added an additional layer on top. Again, where would I find this to try?

I am thinking about getting a queen (have a full now). I live in eastern MA.

Thanks!

Here are some suggestions for local mattress makers that make incredibly high quality mattresses and if you were to compare them to the S brands that you are focusing on you will find that the cost to quality ratio is MUCH higher with these folks.

Gardner Mattress ( www.gardnermattress.com ) - I recommend that you visit their showroom in Salem. Their sales staff is incredibly knowledgeable. Spend at least 15 mins lying on the mattresses the way that you would sleep. If you decide to buy - haggle, haggle, haggle.

Worley Beds www.worleybeds.com in New Bedford great products same story as Gardner.

Mystic Bedding in Medford www.mysticbedding.com is a small shop with innerspring options but no full mem foam or latex

The Mattress Maker www.themattressmaker.com in Brockton.

When you are dealing with the S brands the unfortunate reality is that the materials they use, especially the foams, are not the highest quality and can breakdown much faster than one of these smaller label mattresses as they use higher quality materials and really take the time to craft a product.

I have been to Gardner and Mystic and their products are very nice and much higher quality than even the best of the S brands as I looked and tested those too.

Good luck.

My 2 cents...

o  The core structure should support your weight so that your spine does not sag/stretch.  Front sleep needs a firm mattress... if it's too weak, you'll feel it right away since your spine does not bend that way.  Back sleep can tolerate some sag, but a little can become too much.  Side sleep is the trickiest... requires a pillow... keeping the spine level while the hips and shoulders sink a bit.  Once you know what you're looking for, you'll begin to feel it right away.  Don't let the surface cushion confuse your evaluation of core support.  Find core support first for your body weight and sleep positions.

o  The surface structure should contour to your body, imparting some support to distribute your weight to the core structure.  Lay on a floor and all of your weight is on a few bearing points.  You want a surface structure that contours to your body to help spread those bearing points over a greater area for pressure relief.

o  The surface should be comfortable, cushion, and breathable.  Too much cushion can get in the way of moving around, collect heat, and breakdown prematurely with body set.

The rest is how they do it and for how much... design, materials, quality, durability.  I feel that a good quality, middle-of-the-road innerspring mattress that functions right is better value than an expensive 'luxury' mattress that can be over-built and over-priced.  Find a store that feels sensible from the minute you walk in the door... they will have a decent selection worth looking at.  Like-Wise, at the first sign of mattress non-sense, walk out... it's not worth your time trying to find a decent mattress in a store that is only there to move ridiculously over-built over-priced mattresses.

Start with the mattress you are sleeping on now.  Identify what works and what doesn't and why.  Try some props for cause and affect.  You'll soon discover what you are looking for in a mattress.

Don't blindly spend a lot of money thinking that will be a solution.

Hope this helps!

GK

Are you familiar with the Newton and Woburn locations of Gardner Mattress? They are closer to me but I could also go to Salem.

Any opinions on toppers, should I consider getting a really firm mattress and then using a topper to try to combine the best of both worlds, that is good support + comfort? Is this possible? I almost always sleep on my back but probably turn a bit during the night.

Also, is there any way to search this forum by just the topic threads? The search functionality doesn't seem that great and I don't want to answer questions that have already been discussed.

I'm in the Los Angeles area. do you know any good, local, trustworthy manufacturer's out here? trustworthy is key. we visited a few small stores selling mattresses in LA, but they were just saying anything to get you to buy from them and not the guy down the street. i would not mind buying from a local trustworthy source if I could find one...

Thanks.

In Covina you have Flexus Mattress Co. ( www.flexuscomfort.com ).

Also www.customcomfortmattress.com - higher price with superb quality - 7 showrooms including w. Hollywood and Pasadena.

www.royal-mattress.com again in Covina

Hope those help as they are all good manufacturers.

Good Luck.

I'm in process of checking out their websites. I like the fact that flexus comfort makes double sided flippable mattresses. that is very hard to find.

what experience do you have with any of these manufacturers? have you purchased anything from any of them?

does anyone know why?

i slept on type of waterbed for years and found it very comfortable, it was the kind with 6 or 7 large tubes in it filled with water that were set into a mattress like container. it looked like a mattress, but there were no foams or springs, it just held the tubes.  but it was old and we inherited it from a friend so when we moved we left it behind and i figured it wouldnt be that hard to get a new mattress.

how i wish i had held onto that mattress..little did i know the hell that mattress shopping is...

imjay did highly recommend his waterbed. I might see if they have any in Salem. Not sure why he would be banned or if anyone here knows him. It might be possible to track him down on another forum.

Jordans did have a waterbed like the one you were mentioning at their Nashua store. It was just to the left of the front window in their hokey "Sleep Lab".