Mattress Forum

I found a "Stearns and Foster" at Costco a couple of years ago and was excited to see the price so low in comparison to the Stearns found in Sleep Shops. I found out later that (and I don;t understand how this is actually done) Kirkland had purchased the rights to place the name on their product. In essence, this made the bed a "Stearns and Foster Signature Bed by Kirkland" None of the Stearns elements were actuallty in the bed... just the name on the outside. I found quite a few complaints about that particuilar bed later on (afterowners had owned them for about 15 months).

I will use this scenario as well, when you are looking for a name brand at a low price, Costco and Sam's Club can be great options. Theproblem is that the name brand is on something at either the lower end of the quality/expectation level or is just the name used to drive sales. I bought a watch from Sam's club years back that I really like from Gruen. I had heardsome good things about the brand, but when I took it into a jeweler for a new battery, theguy actually smirked and said something to the effect of "is this a knock-off watch?" before he even got the back off. when I inquired further he said there was something to do with the clasp that  let himknow it wasn't the same quality.

Tempurpedic is the only memory foam company that Iknow of that has been selling their product for longer than the stated warranty. Having said that, I am hearing a large number of iComfort beds are sold due to their exceptional pricing (when compared to Tempurpedic). I am a firm believer in the body's response to what it needs, so:

• when testing a bed, there are 4 levels of comfort you need to find: immediate, long-term, psychological and financial.
• Immediate - when you first lie down in your sleeping position, IS IT COMFORTABLE?
• Long-term - it takes theaverage human back approx 12-15 minutes to recognize deep down support and subsequently release their "hold" on the spine. If it feels good at first... stay on it longer. Do you feel your muscles relaxing, melting, etc? If so, you are on the right track. Once yuo havefound your two "favorite" beds with immediate comfort... give those two the "long-term" test.
• Psychological - If you have a fearof "heat" in a Tempurpedic or "pressure points" in a coil because of something you read or heard, you are already psychologically programmed to not be comfortable in that particular bed. Try to avoid the ones you "think" won't help you, but, if you can get your mind outof the game andlet your back do the deciding, you may find that one of your fears is the perfect bed for you! (i.e. people who fear latex are usually afraidof the reaction whenthey come into contact with the detergents or cleaning agents or "powder" that coats latex and can irritate skin. Most latex productsin a bed are at least 2 material layers away from skin and many times "dustless" eliminating the possibility of skin contact. there are even moreproducts with latex where a water washing process has been used to eliminate detergents and still remove the proteins thatnaturally occur in the rubber sap.)
• Once you have found your 1st three areas of comfort, we must look at the reality of the financial. If the bed is too high priced for your budget, find out whatmight be given up to acquire a better price. For example, the Tempurpedic CloudLux is about $4000 in a queen set, the TempurCloud Bedis about $2000. Can you give up some of the softness and the thicker profile to still be comfortable in order to get the $2000 less price tag. The Tempur Cloud being $2000 and the iComfort Insight is about $1300 in a queen; can you still fully relax in the Insight with the same pressure point relief as the Cloud inorder to get the $700 less price?

This final step iswhere the difference between salespeople and comfort or sleep specialists are found. Price is not the motivator, comfort is and trying to find the most comfortable price AND feel is the dance you are looking for. Serious about finding it? Expect to spend anywhere from 45-90 minutes for the process. Take your favorite pillow too so youcan see if the almost 20% of your spine that never touches a bed will feel good on the new mattress... it is your back, your desire for a great night's sleep and your need to awaken refreshed and ready for the next day that should be driving this experience... don't be oversold (or undersold) if your back is asking for something else.

Sleep well 'jthomp24"!

I also had the same experience with may memory foam mattress (Tempur. Allura).  It took quite awhile for it to condition.  Now it's hard to sleep on anything else.

Try walking on it.  It may be to firm if you have had it awhile and it has conditioned.  Some complain they soften too much over time.  I haven't had that experience.