Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Nov 14, 2011 3:52 PM
Joined: Nov 10, 2011
Points: 16
Hi,

I've already started another thread here about sleeping too hot on new Stearns and Foster Latex "Governor's Palace" pillowtop.

It spells out my whole, painful saga about our new mattress purchase (not even sure I like the mattress in general or the "pushback" feeling, but
 the warmth --it instantly retains body heat --is the most problematic aspect).

Now, in my quest for clarity (which, in the mattress-buying world, may be impossible), I am trying to figure out if the pillowtop itself may be adding to my woes.

Anyone know what materials that particular model pillowtop is constructed with?  The mattress is Latex -- supposedly cool, but it is not -- it is way too warm for me.

Asking the salespeople at the store is useless.  But you knew that.

Help, please!

Thanks again.

Re: Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Reply #4 Nov 15, 2011 3:52 PM
Joined: Nov 10, 2011
Points: 16
Thanks, I live in San Francisco.  And yes, I'm looking into some of the local mattress places.

Hard to know whether to condemn all latex in all mattresses.  I only know that my 20+ year old mattress was never too warm, and I kind of doubt it contained latex, but who knows.

I just get the feeling that these new, mile-high synthetic "luxury" mattresses are problematic.  And now I'm nervous about ALL of them.

And it's not just the over-heating issue...the mattress has a wierd feel to it, in general.

One of the posters here wrote about how the S&F latex mattress (or maybe any latex mattress?) creates a "pushback" sensation.  Bingo!  As I lay awake at 2AM last night, I was painfully conscious of the "pushback" -- it's an odd kind of resistant firmness -- nothing like my old, traditional mattress.    

I realize I may be a bit "High Maintenance", but after reading all these posts, I don't think I'm the only one who is suffering from Mattress Malaise.

Honestly, I feel completely defeated.  I now own a big, expensive mattress that I dislike a lot.  And I only have one more chance to get it right next time.  It's a huge and expensive dilemma.  Not to mention time-consuming.

Mattress Firms of America:  Wake up!  We HATE your mattresses!!

Re: Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Reply #5 Nov 22, 2011 3:38 PM
Joined: Nov 19, 2011
Points: 76
I posted recenlty about a Stearns & Foster purchased at Costco and informed the original poster that that particular foam bed was actually a name added to a Kirkland Brand bed... not even made at, near or by the Stearns company (which is owned by Sealy). that might be your issue. The other part of the plushness (as stated by another responder) is the more layers of material to make the bed soft, the farther in you sink. The farther in you sink, the warmer you will be.

Latex (atleast here  in America) is difficult because we Americans like softer, more plush, etc (think about how big the idea of a pillow top was for so many years) or we onlythink about "firmer is better for your back" which is inherently incorrect.

If your retailer will allow the exchange, spend the time finding the one that feels the best after being in it for about 15 minutes. If you start to get warm in that time, you may still be ok but keep looking. Remember, the more layers you have (clothing, bed linens, etc) the more dramatic effect on your overall temperature. If the top of the bed is not flat and also has "tufting" throughout, you can be assured that there are other materials between you and the latex... poly foams, etc. which are supposed to be there for breathability.

This has not directly answered the question you posted, and since I have not worked with this particular product, I can not properly inform you of its content. If you look at the law label (usually somehwere near the head of the bed on the end or just underneath) you should see some information including: Manufacturing date, location, basic materials and WHO manufactures it... that might be a good place to start for the specific answer to your question.

Sleep Well "boopboopadoop"!

Re: Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Reply #6 Dec 17, 2011 4:52 PM
Joined: Nov 19, 2011
Points: 76
Boopboopadoop wrote:

Thanks, I live in San Francisco.  And yes, I'm looking into some of the local mattress places.

 

Hard to know whether to condemn all latex in all mattresses.  I only know that my 20+ year old mattress was never too warm, and I kind of doubt it contained latex, but who knows.

I just get the feeling that these new, mile-high synthetic "luxury" mattresses are problematic.  And now I'm nervous about ALL of them.

And it's not just the over-heating issue...the mattress has a wierd feel to it, in general.

One of the posters here wrote about how the S&F latex mattress (or maybe any latex mattress?) creates a "pushback" sensation.  Bingo!  As I lay awake at 2AM last night, I was painfully conscious of the "pushback" -- it's an odd kind of resistant firmness -- nothing like my old, traditional mattress.    

I realize I may be a bit "High Maintenance", but after reading all these posts, I don't think I'm the only one who is suffering from Mattress Malaise.

Honestly, I feel completely defeated.  I now own a big, expensive mattress that I dislike a lot.  And I only have one more chance to get it right next time.  It's a huge and expensive dilemma.  Not to mention time-consuming.

Mattress Firms of America:  Wake up!  We HATE your mattresses!!


I posted earlier that I had not worked with this mattress (but I was thinking you said it was a latex bed and not just having some latex in it), but I want to make sure I am correct. I have worked with the Stearns & Foster beds with their newer (2 years old) intellicoil system. If this is what you have then you are only laying on 5/8" of "smart latex" which is supposed to get firmer the more it is compressed to provide a smart response to your body... for you this sounds like to much smartness for comfort, but there may be something else causing that sensation.

Depending on which pillow-top you have (I have worked with four of them and there are more than that called pillow-tops within the S&F line-up). If it truly has the smart latex, you are probably in one of their Estate Collection beds. If this is true, there are several options in the various pillow tops including:

  • Cashmere infused ticking in the top
  • smart latex
  • memory foam
  • VRT (variable response technology) which is a series of holes in a layer of foam much like latex has creating softer and firmer feels in the same piece of foam
  • Marvelux foam, a very high ILD foam, in their Estate Collection it is used as a base foam (you would not be able to feel it), in the Core Line Collection, it is used to make the firm pillow top feel firm)
  • Omalux foam, a very high density foam creating a luxurious, not too soft pillow top
  • the fire retardant material layer and the rest of the quilting layer as well...

As you can see, depending on which pillow top you have, there could variations all the way up to all of the above materials in your bed... bottom line is the deeper you sink, the hotter you feel. With these Estate Collection beds, some of the higher density materials can be too firm for comfort...

Not sure if that helps, but I go to reading your post again and realized I may have been mistaken the first time! Sleep Well BoopBoopaDoop!


 

Re: Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Reply #7 Dec 21, 2011 8:33 PM
Joined: Dec 21, 2011
Points: 6
GuyMakesSense wrote:

 

I posted recenlty about a Stearns & Foster purchased at Costco and informed the original poster that that particular foam bed was actually a name added to a Kirkland Brand bed... not even made at, near or by the Stearns company (which is owned by Sealy). that might be your issue. The other part of the plushness (as stated by another responder) is the more layers of material to make the bed soft, the farther in you sink. The farther in you sink, the warmer you will be.

 

Latex (atleast here  in America) is difficult because we Americans like softer, more plush, etc (think about how big the idea of a pillow top was for so many years) or we onlythink about "firmer is better for your back" which is inherently incorrect.

If your retailer will allow the exchange, spend the time finding the one that feels the best after being in it for about 15 minutes. If you start to get warm in that time, you may still be ok but keep looking. Remember, the more layers you have (clothing, bed linens, etc) the more dramatic effect on your overall temperature. If the top of the bed is not flat and also has "tufting" throughout, you can be assured that there are other materials between you and the latex... poly foams, etc. which are supposed to be there for breathability.

This has not directly answered the question you posted, and since I have not worked with this particular product, I can not properly inform you of its content. If you look at the law label (usually somehwere near the head of the bed on the end or just underneath) you should see some information including: Manufacturing date, location, basic materials and WHO manufactures it... that might be a good place to start for the specific answer to your question.

Sleep Well "boopboopadoop"!

Um....Kirkland is a Costco branding that is added to an S&F mattress....NOT the S&F name added to a Kirkland mattress. At least in California, where my store is at...the Costco S&F matts are produced at the Sealy factory in Southgate. The date, location, materials, and manufacturer's name and address are all included on the law label located at the end of the mattress...The intial statement is 100% in error. (Sorry...but it is)

A mattress sold by Costco, manufactured by Stearns and Foster, and labeled with the Costco Kirkland Name...(along with the S&F name I might add...)

The other part of the post is dead on. It's going to be incredibly difficult for you to find out what's inside tyour pillowtop. Even the law label is going to be of no real use. Even if ALL the materials used are listed, to which my experience says they will NOT be, it wouldn't break it down as to which of those materials are actually IN the pillowtop portion of your mattress. The only real way isn't going to happen for you which would be to tour the local Sealy factory while they actually produced one of thoe beds!

This message was modified Dec 22, 2011 by a moderator
Re: Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Reply #8 Apr 20, 2012 10:39 PM
Joined: Apr 20, 2012
Points: 1
The Kirkland Stearns and Foster Mattress is the lowest grade of S&F mattresses known as the Traditional model. It has signle coil springs and not the newer Intellicoil with titanium alloy coil-in-a-coil springs in the next model up known as the Estate model.  The Kirkland Stearns and Foster mattresses suffer the same sagging problems as other brands. For the most part S&F mattresses are not supposed to be discounted S&F tell the dealers what the price is supposed to be.. But they can be had at a discount.

 

 

From the S&F website.

The Tradtional model filling is listed as High-density, prestressed, furniture-grade upholstery foams  to ensure durability. (Whatever that means).

The Estate model filling is listed as memory foam or rich latex foam that conforms to your shape while resisting compression. Sounds like a higher grade of foam.

For the most part S&F mattresses are not supposed to be discounted.

 

 

Re: Anyone know what's INSIDE the PILLOW TOP on Stearns and Foster?
Reply #9 Apr 21, 2012 4:30 PM
Joined: Jan 24, 2012
Points: 70
Hi..  Your first mistake was to buy a pillow top on any mattress.. pretty much that is what you paid your money for that little pillow top. once the pillow top breaks down from body weight, your mattress is pretty much shot.... I believe it is the memory foam that is causing the heat.. however do you have one of those protective mattress pads on as well.. if so you will have to take it off to let the mattress breathe thus letting the heat out.. Trouble with all these mattresses is the fact that they all have different names and you have no clue what they mix in together to make it feel plush when you are trying these out..  Many have combinations of memory foam, visco, and latex.. by the way a good bed made of all latex usually is never sleeping hot.. but once you mix it up with a little of this or a little of that..( they like the sound of many materials so the consumer thinks he got a lot for his money).. LOOK OUT...you have been sold alot of garbage material.   I have made so many mistakes with mattresses in the past 4 years .. not to mention the money I have spent, and I am still searching for the right bed, if it even exists.. Another thing to be on guard for is the material used (fabrics) on the top covering of your mattress.. some actually contain wool.. YOU will be HOT with that woven in as well.   I do think regulation of this industry is needed to provide major guidlines for the sellers of these mattresses.. NO sleep makes for irritable shoppers..

Good luck..

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