Mattress Forum

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Anyway, I actually AM considering trying something more along the lines of a traditional S brand bed, if not an actual S brand.

Why?

There are a number of reasons. I visited my family recently and so slept on 4 different beds:

1) My mom's pull-out couch. This consisted of some flexible wire with about 3" of crappy foam on top. I thought, "Oh my god! I'm going to wake up unable to move in the morning!" I slept on it a total of about 4 nights. I actually woke up less sore than with my own "scientifically designed" DIY latex plus springs mattress. Was it comfy? No. But it did not hurt my back.

2) My sister's "Symbol Rest" mattress. I'm not sure of the model, I will try to find out today and edit this post. It appeared to be a normal S Co. type pillow top but only about 1½ inch of pillowtop, not a thick one. She said it was about 3 years old and she sleeps on it periodically, not every night, but she weighs around 250lb. I could not find any specs on it but will try to find it on the net after I confirm the name with her today or soon. I slept LIKE A DREAM on this mattress! I slept deeply and without ANY pain when I woke up in the a.m. It was amazing. I did write down what it said it was, but I lost the paper.

3) My Dad's and step-mom's mattress. I slept good on that too but not as good as the above. I didn't even check to see what it was but I'm quite sure it is at least 9 years old and an SCo mattress.

4) My younger sister's SCo mattress. I THINK it might be a Spring Air. I'll ask. It was hard as a rock and I did not sleep well on it at all.

What did I learn from all this? Well I'm not sure but I think the lesson here is that I need a SOFTER mattress, probably softer springs. I think my springs (12 gauge) are too firm for me.

I think that the fact that I could actually sleep on that sofa bed, and not wake up sore, with just soft wire underneath a 3" pu foam mattress shows that soft "springs" under me feels better than firm springs under me.

I am going to try to find out what kind and gauge of springs my sister's bed has, and see if I can buy the same mattress or one similar to it when I get the $. Then at least I'll have the right springs and can do mattress surgery on it when it breaks down.

Oh, and one other thing: I did NOT have my weepy eyes problem that I mentioned here some time back, while sleeping on these other beds. While the problem still could be dust mites in my bedroom I am somewhat doubtful that it is mites because my family does not use anti-mite encasings and in some cases these were old mattresses so I'm sure they have as many mites as we have. My new theory is that I am allergic to latex or memory foam. I'm not sure which yet but I tried sleeping with a "regular" pillow instead of my latex and memory foam pillow at home and that made no difference, but maybe it's the massiveness of the latex or memory foam layer I am using that affects me more than the pillow? I don't know. All I know is that it is SOMEthing in our bedroom causing it, because I did not experience the weepy eyes while visiting my family.