Mattress Forum

Corrected to show that we got the HQ foam rather than the R.

Last year we finally decided that our Beautyrest was not working. (I found myself sleeping the edge of the bed for support). The mattress had stopped feeling comfortable after 4-5 years and at the time it was 7 years old. I was very disappointed in how it wore out so quickly.  I vowed that I wouldn't buy another Beautyrest again. I started the search of a new mattress and educated myself on the problems of the "S" brands and tried many mattresses. I have a weird back injury that was from a sledding accident and am pretty picky.  After a while, I couldn't find something that I liked so decided on a do it yourself Foam By Mail mattress. I got 2" Lux-HQ foam, 1" Lux-HQ foam, 2-1" pieces of HD-36-HQ foam, 1" of 32 ILD Latex, and 1" of 20 ILD Latex. I got the different pieces thinner in order to try different combinations. I ended up cutting much of it half to customize it for each of us. My wife, 5'2" 120lbs ended up with 2" Lux-HQ, 1" HD-36-HQ foam, and 2" of 20 ILD Latex (We used the deluxe terry mattress cover from them and a thick mattress pad (no where near as thick as the cuddlebed though).  The best that I slept on was 4" of the Lux HQ. Because of my back injury, I needed that support. This was very comfortable for me for the first six hours of sleep and then it started to hurt. Sleeping on the Lux-HQ foam would cause it to heat up and I would actually sink into it. Now this was no where near what memory foam would do, it was subtle, but enough to cause my pain to recur. I found myself sleeping on a cheap Marshall spring futon that is now basically worn out after nightly use. 

(A note about bases, we started with putting the foam on the box "spring" from Simmons We could feel the irregularity from the box so we put the mattress on the floor. Last fall, we got a platform bed to raise the mattress.)

I realized that a spring mattress is what I needed for my injury, so I spent several hours looking at beds and last week was down to two. One was a Simmons Beautyrest “Manhattan Beach” that is in the cheap studio line which was only 6" tall. It had 713 coils, very little padding and a cheap plastic feeling cover. Cost was $302 for a queen. The other was from the Original Mattress Company “Legacy Firm” that had Bonnell coils, and very little foam. There was fiber over the springs as well cotton in the padding. It was double sided and had a damask cover.  It has 416 coils that are 13 gauge  with 5 Turns. Cost was $420 for the queen.  (Mattress only, we would put it on the platform).

I decided on the OMC mattress because they used cotton very little foam, it was flippable, my wife liked it, it is well made and it was made locally. We put 1" of ILD 20 on my wife's side and it is very comfortable. This is a very well made bed and I expect it to last for years. The problem: We both feel each others movement.  I feel that with every toss and turn we are waking each other up.  I even felt the cat when he jumped on my wife's side of the bed. We have been spoiled by several years of sleeping on the pocket coils and the foam mattresses. I am hoping that we get used to this new bed, but if not, I will be purchasing the Simmons.

I've decided that there are three things that make a comfortable bed, Support, Cushion, and Motion dampening. Foam (pu, memory and latex) is excellent for cushion and motion dampening, and for most people just fine for support. Some of (usually with a back injury/disc problem) need more support and need a spring mattress. The OMC mattress that I purchased would be an great value for anyone who sleeps alone (or has kids).

The Simmons is not a good value, It is single sided and cheaply made, and will not last 5 years. However it is comfortable, and has great motion dampening. Of course, (as it has been said many times on this forum) do not buy any bed with much foam in it. Use foam and pads to customize for the cushion that you need.

Finally, many people on the forum have derided the Marshall springs/pocketed coils (myself included), because the are prone to wearing out. However, if you need a spring mattress, sleep with someone, and know that  you'll be lucky if the mattress last 4-5 years, then the pocketed coil mattress may be right for you.