Mattress Forum

It's a Serta Tranquility Nights, plush tight top, two-sided mattress. I remember getting a good night sleep myself when we stayed at a Hampton Inn last year. I don't know if it would last a long time but if anyone has any opinion on it, I'd like to hear it.

When I stayed at a Hampton Inn a couple of years ago, the first night was heaven and I thought I had found my bed.  It was a Serta with a thin pillowtop. Second night, not so great as I woke up with mild lower back pain in the a.m..  After the third night, when I couldn't touch my toes in the morning because my back was so stiff, I was glad we had stayed there three nights because I would have made an incorrect conclusion after only the first night.  Lesson to be learned:  no matter how comfortable a bed feels in the store, or after one night, you don't know for sure until multiple sleeps.

Your experience last night is encouraging because it at least gives some real clues about the direction you may need to go.

Phoenix

I just reread my earlier post and just to be clear ... the idea was to have 2" of firmer foam from the foot of your bed to just past your belly button and then 2" of softer foam from there to the head of your bed. This way you would still have an even top of your mattress. What you did though was a good idea and in the same "direction". It seemed to give a clear indication that this is the direction to go if you either choose to or have to keep the mattress.

So far, I found those two (also available with different variations from stores to stores):

http://www.sleepcountry.ca/mattress-accessories/mattresses/sub_categories/pocket_coil/products/4

http://www.sleepcountry.ca/mattress-accessories/mattresses/sub_categories/innerspring/products/1

They'd be both on the firm side to start with but I think they could become comfortable with the latex topper.

I have two questions. For someone as heavy as me, is it better to go with pocket coils or interlocked springs? Obviously, the Simmons seems to transfer less motion, which is a plus but I wonder if the Sealy might last longer and sag less, while being able to distribute the weight more evenly than the individual coils.

Also, different stores have different variations of the same models, without the center 1/3 Lumbar Support featured as an exclusivity in the Sleep Country models (same gage of coils for the whole bed but the 1/3 center of the mattress is reinforced instead of just two zones - lumbar and thighs, like on the BackGuard. The Simmons has slightly denser padding in the middle while the Sealy has its center reinforced with extra threading, or so I'm told. Sounds like a good idea for someone who is overweight but now I'm weary of zones altogether. Would you go with the stronger center or the even surface? Prices are similar.

I would not buy any mattress that I didn't know the details of what is inside it. It's just too risky. I would also be very careful buying a mattress that had a lot of polyfoam in the upper layers. Sleep Country has no details of what is in these mattresses. I would ask them for a layer by layer description and if they won't give it to you ... walk away.

If you have to buy from Sleep Country because of a mattress exchange, then get as many details as you can (coil count/size, coil guage, height of the mattress, special features, and any other details you can). This way the mattress can be matched to an outlet that provides the same or almost same mattress under a different name and does provide construction details. That information can help a lot to determine whether either mattress would be suitable for you.

My personal opinion which is probably shared with most people here is I would tend to stay away from "S" brand mattresses.

Phoenix

The Beautyrest has pretty much the same specs in all stores: 800 coils, 13.75 gage. Some have a reinforced middle (not sure I want that) or a padded contour but that's pretty much it, I didn't see any with latex. All the tight tops have a mix of PU foam and wool (probably very little wool). I know it's cheap and won't last but there isn't much of it, so I may get a few years out of it. Moreover, at this point, I just urgently need something to sleep on and can't afford to pay 2 or 3 more thousand dollars for a nice Marshall two-sided mattress (http://www.marshallmattress.com/index.html), having already lost 2K.

I decided to invest one more day into my quest, so I will visit two more stores tomorrow. Whatever the outcome, I have to try something new soon, having already suffered one month on a bed that literally brakes my back and is quickly turning me into a sore and obsessed zombie...

There are quite a few options there regarding latex. Let me look through my list and see what I can find. I'll post in an hour or two after I have done some stuff I need to do.

Phoenix

I would be a little careful about buying your next mattress so quickly. I know you are in pain but what looks good in that short a time could end up becoming another problem. You also have an option (the "zoning system I menioned earlier") that could ... at least temporarily ... alleviate your problem enough that you would have enough time to choose a mattress that would help you much more over the long term. The feeling of "I need to act now" is a recipe for choices you may not be happy with.

Another very inexpensive ... although temporary (months/years) would be to order a poly foam mattress from a place like the foam store that was suitable for your weight distribution and sleeping style.

Before any of this though ... I believe it is important to have an idea of the kind of mattress that was suitable for you ... without that you will probably tend to rely on how it "feels" in the store and possibly/probably end up spending more money on another "problem".

Have you experimented any more with the foam you had? Are you still considering trying your options I mentioned earlier both to give you some time and to find out what type of mattress would work for you? What is the size you are looking for and the midrange of your budget (the price you really don't want to go above but that you would consider exceeding for the perfect mattress at an amazing price)?

With the choices you have you should be able to solve all your mattress issues.

Phoenix

http://www.idealmattress.com/contact.html

http://www.factorymattress.com/contactus.html

http://www.dreameasy.com/contact-us

http://www.pafgroup.com/matresses.htm

http://www.sleepking.ca/index.php?page=contact_us.html

http://www.springtech.ca/

http://kingsandqueens-mattress.com/about_us.html

http://www.crate.ca/locations.htm

http://www.bestwaybedding.com/ Probably a ways away but I thought they were worth including

http://www.bbbedding.com/Affiliated-Locations.page

http://www.thefoamstore.ca/pro_mattresses.php

http://www.downundertoronto.com/sitepages/index.php?page_id=23

http://galaxybedding.ca/contactus.asp

http://www.flexopedicmattress.com/aboutus/

http://www.dreamstarbedding.com/contact.html

http://www.marshallmattress.com/Collection/Elite/Elite_Detail/superior.html

I should have mentioned that I actually live in Laval, QC. I have two jobs so it’s very difficult for me to dedicate a lot of time to this problem (not to mention the tensions it has created on my marriage) but I intend to take a look at what this manufacturer has to offer: http://www.matelasbourck.qc.ca. There’s a few more, such as Mirabel and Dauphin but I know very little about them and I have no way of knowing if what they make is actually better or worse than the 3 S, mattresses remaining a blind purchase. I’m still going to investigate each of the links you provided. For instance, this might work: http://kingsandqueens-mattress.com/madrid.html.

I know there’s a great risk of making another mistake by rushing into something but somehow, it just seems hard to believe that there wouldn’t be many mattresses out there that could work for me. However, having said that, I did learn the hard way that getting a new bed once you’ve gained a lot of weight can prove to be a considerable challenge and that I have to be weary of anything that is zoned or too soft. Most people are simply advising me to go with the firmest mattress I can find and add toppers to it (as much as it will take), or else it will sag quickly. One of the independent manufacturers told me today over the phone that because of my weight, I should not even consider continuous coil and stick with pocket coils. He advised to stick with the hardest model he has and that’s it. That came as a shock to me as I never fully realized until now that I have become an anomaly and that being this heavy narrowed down my choices so much since I had never before had a problem sleeping in any hotels or motels and I do travel a lot. I was also sleeping fine on our old mattress (too bad I didn’t keep it). So far, I only attributed this ordeal on making wrong choices but it seems that I fall into a category that is too extreme for “regular” mattresses.

Ideally, I’m guessing I would need a tight top with strong pocket coils (gage 13 or perhaps 12) and little padding, mostly latex if possible; firm enough that my rear end sinks just a little. I know that Simmons has a World Class model (980 coils, gage 13.75, same as there was in the NXG 250) with just a little poly and latex. This mattress alone runs around 1300$ on this side of the border and I’m not sure it’s worth spending twice as much on it than I would on a firm Classic, on which I could throw my own latex topper. Of course, if I’d be absolutely certain that this is what I need; I would splurge another 1500 dollars and go for it. It’s just that after making huge and costly mistake, one tends to err of the caution side...

Yes, I did experiment some more and played musical toppers but haven’t yet find any solution to the “hump” problem. Granted, I could purchase enough firm poly to fill the 3 zones that are lower and then throw a thick topper over it but since that would be a temporary solution at best; I don’t want to throw anything else into this money pit. Right now, I rely on sleeping pills to fall asleep and wake up 3 or 3 hours later in horrible pain. I can’t stay any longer. I know I can’t keep this up much longer, hence my hurry.

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

In general terms I believe that you can expect to get better value from almost all local or regional manufacturers than you can by going with any of the "S" brands. They all use way too much poly in all their mattresses that are anywhere close to your budget and even the ones that don't are way overpriced compared to almost all the other options you have.

If you did buy a mattress sight unseen, then in your case it should be firm springs over a thinner layer that you could use as a base for customized layers over it. Even good innersprings with a natural cotton/wool stuffing would be suitable here. Zoning in your case could also be very useful ... it would just have to be correct. The "S" brands don't make anything like this that would be suitable IMO. They all have too much poor quality poly over the springs that would make them completely unsuitable to use as a base. Almost all local manufacturers do make something that would be suitable however if you explain what you plan to do. In this group some have much greater value than others but in my experience even the worst of them are typically better value than most of what is available from the S brands.

If you plan to go with buying something sight unseen along these lines, post here first as I certainly know a few places that would be suitable and have good value.

A very high quality poly base with latex over it would be another option that would likely work at a much lower cost and with similar benefits to all latex. The tradeoff here would be the support base would not last quite as long as latex but the higher quality polyfoams that are available and used in support cores are relatively long lasting and good quality. It is in the materials used ... especially by the S manufacturers ... in the upper layers where most of the polyfoam problem exists.

Let me know what direction you want to go if you think I can help in any way.

Phoenix.