| I am currently in the specialty mattress industry in a retail capacity. I have experience with latex, Tempur-pedic, Aireloom, Kingsdown, Carpe Diem, Vi-Spring, natural and organic mattresses. By the previous listings, you would correctly surmise that I have been mainly focused with premium lines. However, I am very familiar many of the more affordable options, such as Flo-Beds. If anyone has specific questions that they would like ask me, I welcome them. I have a reputation for honesty and integrity. I do apologize to those that have felt that they have not always experienced that in those they have encountered in my industry. |
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jsmatt Please tell us about your thoughts on Carpe Diem, ViSpring and how they compare to all Latex mattress? Thanks Tim. |
| First, both Carpe Diem and Vi-Spring use as their support component, pocketed coils, not latex. Second, Vi-Spring does not use any foam at all and Carpe Diem uses latex as the main cushioning element. The feels are quite different from all latex mattresses. Carpe Diem has that plush feel that can only be accomplished by the "top mattress" that is independant from the main mattress. It is typical of thte Swedish/Scandanavian high end mattresses, like Hastens and Dux that also have the "top mattress" component. The Scandanavians developed the "top mattress" in response to their long, dark and damp winters. Everything gets musty, so when summer comes along they would bring everything they could to air out into the sun. They didn't neccessarily know that the sunlight was the original source of uv radiation, that disinfects, but they knew it made evrything fresher. It was easier to transport a "top mattress" than an entire mattress. The collateral benefit was this extra plush feel that you get when it is seperate from the main mattress. Sorry, I can get long winded. The Vi-Spring because of the how much they put in the mattress, nested precompressed coils, cotton blended with wool, shetland wool, horse hair, on and on, then it all gets hand tufted, it has a very solid though confoming feel. A solid latex mattress has a different feel. Some can have a similiar feel to the Carpe Diem if the include a "top mattress". They will definitely not feel the same as any Vi-Spring. That is neither good or bad, just different. Of course not all latex is the same. There have been numerous posts here regarding that. So I won't bore you with all that here. |
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Hi..I do have some questions for you. In the spring I bought a mattress for the first time in nearly 18 years and didn't know how much things had changed. The salesmen tried to steer me towards Kingsdown. I had never heard of it so decided on a different brand in a high end pillow top. Had to return that when it started sagging within 5 or 6 weeks. This store (which sells beds only) had nothing softer than "Firm" in a non-pillowtop. So I ended up with the Kingsdown anyway and was overcharged for the mattress only since I kept the original pillowtop boxspring. It was still too firm for me but less hard than other brands. I was very disappointed in the whole process. Anyway, the good folks here gave me the info to make my bed comfortable through the use of toppers and now, thanks to them, I am going through my days pain free for the first time in over a year. What I would like to ask is how Kingsdown compares to other innerspring mattresses. I'm very worried about premature sagging on this expensive item, since that does seem to be a common complaint. I have been rotating it bi-weekly since I got on July 7. I have "Bach - NF Firm Mattress Duet". Any info would be appreciated, since the salesmen were less than cordial when I made the exchange. |
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DoreenA- Please tell us what brand bed you bought that sagged after such a short time. I and others are SO nervous of that happening. What was the bed made of? The materials and % are listed on the tag. This will help a LOT of people who are on this forum. Thanks so much. |
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Neiman, it was a Stearns & Foster, but the brand doesn't matter as much as the fact that it was a pillow top. From my experience and from all I've read on the subject since then, the evidence points to the fact that ALL "S" brand pillowtops will sag, even on good quality beds because the foam in the pillowtop is thin and cheap and will not hold up, even though the actual bed underneath may be just fine and last a long time. I'm sure a pillowtop filled with latex or other very high quality foam will be durable, but a mattress with those materials are just out of my price range. It's much better and much cheaper to get a firm mattress and soften it with toppers until it's to your liking. This message was modified Aug 28, 2011 by DoreenA
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DoreenA- Thanks for the additional post and clarification. I am completly confused and frustrated at the entire mattress buying experience. If you could clarify for me one last thing that you mentioned i would SO appreciate it...it goes to the heart of my concern. In your last post you wrote; I'm sure a pillowtop filled with latex or other very high quality foam will be durable but a mattress with those materials are just out of my price range." DorrenA-My question is how do i tell the quality of the foam in the pillow top? I have verified that the latex in the mattress is high quality but can't get anyone to tell me about the poly foam. The salespeople just keep telling me that the Aireloom bed i am interested in has the best quality of everything and that Aireloom is the RR of mattress bla bla bla.... thanks for helping me understand.
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I really can't help you there. I don't know enough myself. I know that when I wrote to the head office of the vendor to inquire as to exactly what was in the pillowtop, I got a very terse non-answer. I could tell that further questioning would be futile. Others on this forum will have an answer for you, but I'm sure you know a mattress seller can claim to have latex foam in the mattress even if it's only 1/4", which is basically useless. |
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DoreenA, Sorry I did not reply sooner. I haven't logged in for a couple of days. Kingsdown is a 110 year old company that is based in North Carolina. They did have models that were still hand tufted and handcrfted, but honestly I was at their showroom during the recent World Market in Las Vegas and did not recognize anyone and did not see any models that were handcrafted or tufted. Tehy seemed very much liek the "4 S's". They were actual know for their soft plush models and had some of the plushest on the market. They also had in their top tier, a lifetime warranty. But honestly that waranty allowed for up to a 2" impression. that was due to the plushness of their beds. But those were at least 2 sided. In response to your model, I m not familiar with it. But from what I saw at thsi last market and from what I know about firm mattresses, my guess is you maight have over paid but probably won't have too much problems with it sagging. It is actually less expensive to produce a firm mattress without a pillow top and I'm assuming it's one sided. They probably did not use a pocketed coil for a firm model and the firmer poly foams are less expensive and less prone to compressing. Too bad you had to "doctor" up your mattresses to make it comfortable. My guess is what you have used on top of it is better than what's in it. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask. Nieman, I saw in another post that you might have gone to the Ergo showroom in Irvine. Did you and what was your experience?
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Thanks jsmatt. I know for sure I overpaid. When doing a so-called "comfort exchange" (which it was not. It was due to sagging) you've lost any bargaining power you had with the initital purchase and just have to suck up being fleeced as I was. I highly resented having to spend another $200 of my hard earned money on pads/toppers in addition to the inflated price of the mattress, just to make it usable. I'm sure most people would agree that if you spend over $1100 on an item it should last longer than a couple of months. I regret ever buying a new bed. I could have spent $200 or even $500 only and made my old bed just as comfortable as this new one OR bought a really cheap new mattress and added toppers, if only I had found this forum earlier. I guess I'm old fashioned, but I thought paying a high price meant getting durability and quality. I'm glad to hear you think I'll have less of a sagging problem with this firm mattress, since the thought of shopping for another mattress makes me cringe and it's something I never want to do again. The upside is that after spending (wasting) a lot of money and time fiddling around with the configuration of the toppers I tried, I finally found the right combination and am now pain-free for the first time in a year. |
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I did visit the Ergo showroom and nothing felt as good as the Victoria Gardens (Hybrid) Aireloom. Everything was either way to firm and flat feeling or too mushy. What do you think of the current Aireloom beds? I really love the Victoria Gardens bed but everyone tells me that it will likely start to sag within the first year and maybe even the first 6 months. Its 54% talalay latex, 39% Poly foam, 5% viscos, and 2% silk and wool. I would greatly value your analysis. People are telling me 'all pillow tops will sag' but my dual pillow top lasted 16 years. It was easier building a house than picking out a new bed. Manufactures and sales people will not tell you anything or they just make stuff up. I did speak to the BBB today and they tell me that Aireloom has had 9 complaints NATIONWIDE in the past 3 years...that doesn't seem that bed to me. |
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neiman, if you really like that bed and it's 54% latex in the top part then it might be a good idea to just get it and try it out, after you find out what the return policy is. Make sure you go over any fine print. If it's at least 90 days, then that may be long enough to find out if it's going to sag or not. It's very difficult to base a new purchase on how your last bed performed, since it seems quality has become Job 10 in the bed industry these days. My last mattress - a mid-priced Sealy Posturpedic - lasted nearly 18 years with very little sag and in fact it's now in my guest room. I really don't count on my new bed lasting that long. |