Review of overnightmattress.com foam mattress
Jan 21, 2009 9:24 PM
Location: L.A. area
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Points: 1161
BACKGROUND:
Okay, a little background on me for those who don't know me:
I have been in multiple car accidents, have neck, back and shoulder issues that chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture have not been able to solve, have had many tests done, etc, and no relief. I may even have fibromyalgia or arthritis too. So no mattress is going to make me feel like I'm sleeping on a cloud! (I wish it weren't true but that's the reality of it.)

I have been experimenting with making my own beds with all kinds of different foams for about 7 years after realizing the CRAP foam that the "S" manufacturers use to make their mattresses..

My last experiment was HR Foam over Sealy Springs (from a mattress I did surgery on), and various toppers of latex and/or memory foam, cuddlebed, etc... I cut my HR foam pieces into thirds, length-wise, and in one inch thick pieces times two so I could vary the firmness of each section of my body: upper, midsection and lower. You can read more about that experiment here:
http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/dissecting-my-sealy-fenway-mattress-bought-costco-4-years-ago-lousy-soft-foam-inside/1965-0-1.html

It was better than the Sealy by itself, that's for sure, even though the Sealy was only 4 years old. But as of about 2 weeks ago I looked closer at the situation and came to the conclusion that the Sealy springs were shot (yes, after only 4-5 years), even though I only currently weigh 180 and for part of those 5 years I only weighed 160-170.

Soooo, I began to look for a new mattress.

THE REVIEW:
I liked what I read at overnightmattress.com. They use a new (to me, anyway) kind of foam called "M-grade" and they use a different type of memory foam that is supposed to be better than ones I've tried in the past. What I mostly liked was their absolutely no risk guarantee with a 90 day sleep trial - they pay shipping to you and back to them if you don't like the mattress!

They have many variations on their mattresses to choose from but frankly I think all of their mattresses -except the one I ordered and only one other- all have too much soft foam on top of the "M-grade" foam core. So, for $299 (on sale) I bought the model that has the least amount of soft foam on top, which is 2" of memory foam. This is glued to a 5" "M-grade" firm core/base.

The shipping was very quick and the mattress was very well packed. I was impressed that for free shipping, it got here in about 4 shipping days. I've paid a lot for shipping mattresses and foam, before, from other companies, only to have it take 2-3 weeks to arrive. So to get it shipped free and have it arrive in 4 days is impressive!

So when the foam arrived, I threw out the Sealy springs, put the HR foam I have been using into the closet, and put the overnightmattress.com mattress on top of my Sealy box springs, with no other elements: no cuddlebed or any other topper, just sheets to protect the mattress. (Note: the mattress does have that memory foam smell and I let it air out by a window for the whole day. Even though I have asthma and allergies sometimes, it did not bother me that night when I slept on it.)

The mattress comes with a thin cloth cover that does not cover the entire bottom of it but covers the top and looks okay and is soft enough not to feel rough or bothersome.

My initial reaction was that the mattress is too soft, too cushy. My experience with memory foam in the past has not been good (I've even tried Tempurpedic) and I was skeptical about this one but I decided to try it. I figure if it is really too soft and if I like the 5" M-grade foam core, I can *maybe?* just rip off the memory foam and put some HR foam on top of the core.

Well, I was surprised that the first night I slept better and woke up less sore than I have for months.

BUT, I figured after a few nights, the memory foam would get even softer and I'd still end up hating it.

But so far, after about 5 nights on it, it is still comfortable and certainly if it stays comfortable for the entire 90 day trial period, I will be thrilled and sing the praises of overnightmattress.com mattresses. So far: Hallelujah!

However, my experience over the past 7 years or so of foam experimentation is that even the best foam always softens up too much, dips or wears out just a bit, and in a short time has to be adjusted to being firmer. But if it's too firm, that's not good either. So it's very difficult to find a balance. (That's why I went to a "component" type zoned approach with my last HR foam experiment. And that did work pretty well, and at this point I think the weak link in that experiment was the crappy Sealy springs. And from what I know now I'd have been better off putting the HR foam components over the box spring instead of using springs from the mattress under it.)

So, this is not a final review, but I will say that I am impressed so far with overnightmattress.com's 7" medium firm foam mattress for $299. This is a twin. The Eastern and Cal Kings right now on sale are $549. You really cannot go wrong with a 90 day completely no risk guarantee. I looked up their record with the BBB and they have only had a two unresolved complaints since they've been in business and if you've ever been in business you know that this is a very good record. The only issue with returns seems to be that you have to be very careful in packing it back as well as they packed it and not allow it to get damaged in shipping. We simply kept all the packing materials and noted how they packed it (vacuum compressed) and if we need to return it we will attempt to pack it the same way. I don't expect a problem with that; they seem to want to make an effort to satisfy their customers.

I will update this mattress as the 90 days rolls on. I will not be surprised if I either have to send it back, because the foam softens up too much or if I decide to keep it but tear off the 2" memory foam and replace that with a firmer memory foam or perhaps 1" of fimer HR foam and 1" of firmer memory foam. (Of course, that would void the warranty.)