Another foambymail experience
Nov 21, 2008 2:22 PM
Joined: Nov 21, 2008
Points: 6
I ordered 7 inches of Queen-sized HD36-HQ from foambymail, along with a cover for it, on Nov 10th.  Received it today (Nov 21).  I noticed in the UPS tracking info that it was listed as weighing 45 lbs.  This seemed a little light to me.  Sure enough, when it showed up, I simply weighed the whole box (by placing directly on a bathroom scale, and by holding it while standing on a bathroom scale).  The box (which includes the cover) weighs about 44.2 lbs. 

By my calculations, my mattress should be 5 * 6.666 * 0.583 = 19.43 ft^3.  At 2.8 lb/ft^3, it should weigh around 54.4 lbs.

I still haven't opened the box, and I immediately called customer service.  They said it will weigh more once it was expanded.  I wasn't a physics major, but this seems unlikely to me-- doesn't seem like air should add significant weight.

Anyway, a manager is supposed to call me.  But I'm guessing the box either contains a smaller mattress, or perhaps more likely, something closer in quality to what they advertise their HD36-R foam as (2.0 lb/ft^3).  I don't want to open it yet because it will be hassle to ship back if necessary if I do so.

Just wanted to start a thread to relay my experience as a data point to those considering ordering from foambymail.  I'll update as things progress. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on how I should proceed (other than what I'm already doing), or if you can point out that I'm missing something (calculations are wrong, etc), that would be very helpful.

Thanks.

This message was modified Nov 21, 2008 by chris137
Re: Another foambymail experience
Reply #7 Dec 1, 2008 11:49 AM
Joined: Nov 21, 2008
Points: 6
cloud9 wrote:

So my question to you on featherbeds is, do they compress and get hard or do they stay fluffy and soft? It will only work for me if I can compact it like my feather pillow. 


I think it does compress.  Ours is a bit over a year old now.  My wife says "it needs to be fluffed up".  But I'm not certain if it's really any different than it was when we got it-- it's difficult for me to remember what it was like.  I can tell you that despite having a featherbed, our bed feels very firm.  We have the Pacific Coast Baffle Box one.  It does have a 30-day "comfort guarantee" so I guess you could try it out and send it back if you don't like it. 
Re: Another foambymail experience
Reply #8 Dec 3, 2008 6:15 AM
Joined: Sep 7, 2007
Points: 476
chris137 wrote:
I think it does compress.  Ours is a bit over a year old now.  My wife says "it needs to be fluffed up".  But I'm not certain if it's really any different than it was when we got it-- it's difficult for me to remember what it was like.  I can tell you that despite having a featherbed, our bed feels very firm.  We have the Pacific Coast Baffle Box one.  It does have a 30-day "comfort guarantee" so I guess you could try it out and send it back if you don't like it. 

Thanks Chris. I decided to take the plunge on the featherbed even though I had my doubts. I approached it the same way I shop for feather pillows. I just went around and squeezed some until I found one that felt just right. Some were way too soft. The one I bought felt very firm and had more fill inside than most. I've had it in place for three nights and so far I'm delighted. The feathers are densely packed and it feels very firm. It hasn't even squashed down where I lie on it. Ahhh, so much better than sleeping on a pillow in the middle of the bed. And I dispensed with the carpeting. My back is happier already. Thanks for giving me that little nudge to do something I've been thinking about for a long time now.
Re: Another foambymail experience
Reply #9 Dec 17, 2008 7:53 PM
Joined: Nov 21, 2008
Points: 6
Just as an update to my mattress experience:

 - To summarize what I've already written in the thread:  I ordered 7" of HD36-HQ from FBM.  Weighed to around 2.2 lb/ft^3.  Desperate for a new mattress (old one was shot and causing back pain), decided to stick with it.  Overall not particularly unhappy with it but found it, along with just a Pacific Coast Featherbed, to be far too firm.
 - I added a $20 PU convoluted foam topper from Wal-Mart in between the HD36 & featherbed.  Didn't have a huge effect.

More recently: Wanted to add another topper to further soften things. Bought a 2" memory foam topper from Target (their midrange one; $190 for a queen).  After two days, it had mostly uncompressed and we decided to try it.  Really liked it but seemed to have finished uncompressing (without fully expanding) and had an unpleasant odor.  Also didn't seem like great value at $190, compared to say, FBM memory foam prices.  So we returned it, planning to order one from FBM.  Later that day, happened to go to BJ's.  Noticed a 2" memory foam topper for $130.  Decided to give it a shot.  Had it for a week and it never fully expanded, so we returned it without ever trying it.  Did notice that it was made by the same manufacturer as the one from Target (Sleep Innovations) and although the box was different, otherwise appeared to be identical.  It weighed 16.4 lbs which puts it at ~3 lb/ft^3 density.  Didn't weigh the one from Target.

Today, returned the one from BJ's and decided to try another (of the exact same type), just to see if we'd have more luck (surely all of these memory foam toppers don't fail to expand?)  Interestingly, I opened the box and found that it was vacuum packed completely differently (shrunk to much smaller dimensions).  Also, it weighed 3.2 lbs heavier (3.5 lb/ft^3 density).  Opened it about a half hour ago and it has already almost fully expanded, and isn't giving off a strong odor the way the other two did.  This one should be ready to sleep on tonight.  I have high hopes that this is it, and that my final configuration will be the 7" HD36 + PU convoluted foam topper + 2" memory foam + featherbed.  Yes, apparently we prefer a soft mattress (we're both side sleepers).
Re: Another foambymail experience
Reply #10 Dec 19, 2008 5:39 AM
Joined: Sep 7, 2007
Points: 476
Chris, try the MF over the featherbed. I had a 1" Overstock.com MF topper over a 2" featherbed over a 1" soft eggcrate and 3" of firm PU foam on springs. I loved the way it felt--initially. Then after a few days my back started telling me it was too soft but since you like a soft bed it might be great for you--especially with 2" of MF.