|
Been looking through this website and while there is so much great information it is also so overwhelming. Here is a little background on my situation:
My wife and I just bought our first full bedroom set in a King size setup. Previously we had a queen size oak bed with a Simmons Beauty Rest Salisbury Pillow Top. We've been sleeping on this mattress for the last 10 or so years. Within the last two years we have really felt the sag in the mattress and are ready to move up in size and comfort. We went to our local Sleep Train mattress s tore and tried out several Simmons, Sealy and Stearns and Foster. My wife is completely against memory foam so the Temperpudics they had were out of the question. We spent a little over an hour trying out the different models and talking with the salesperson. i was happy that he did not try to "sell" us on anything or try to say that they were the catch all of mattresses. He let us lay on each one and make up our minds on which one we felt was right for us. My wife who is 5'8" 135 lbs likes a soft bed. I'm 5'10" 225lbs and prefer a medium bed. After lying on all the beds we both agreed the Stearns and Foster Eureka Springs Luxury Firm (non pillow top) mattress was the most comfortable for us. I was also happy that the salesperson did not try to do the today only price or the we only have one left sales pitches so many places do. He was able to get us what I thought was a comparable (not the best price just comparable) price. We thanked him and began to leave the store when he offered to right down all the information on the mattress and the price he gave us so we could shop around. Now I know the bed goes by several different names (Monet's Garden, Kimberly, etc) so I've been looking around and different sites. Macy's has some good reviews of the mattress. Now here is my question.... I keep reading threads on here about latex and how everyone says after reading this site latex is for them. Maybe my computer savy is just not what it needs to be but I am just not finding the information as to why latex would be a better choice. The store where we bought our bedroom set sells Englander but does not keep them on the floor. A friend of mine has one and loves it. Would the Englander be a better company and a better mattress for us? If so why? |
|
Probably your safest place to begin would be to avoid any mattresses made by the major manufacturers (Sealy, Serta, Simmons, Stearns and Foster, Spring air etc.). The biggest reason for this is their use of cheap soft polyfoam in the comfort layers (the upper layers) of their mattresses. While there are a very few models of these companies that may have better construction, these are also way overpriced in comparison to other brands ... especially regional and local mattress manufacturers who use better materials and in general provide much better value. You will probably find in searching through the many threads here that if there is one consistent theme in this forum it is to avoid polyfoam (certainly anything over 1" or less than an HR grade) in a mattress' comfort layers unless you budget demands that you buy a very inexpensive mattress where the price you pay justifies "throwing it away" relatively quickly (a few months to a few years). While there are higher qualities of polyfoam available ... even these don't provide the combination of durability, pressure relief, and support abilities of latex foam. Polyfoam in the comfort layers of a mattress is the reason you see almost universal complaints about mattresses developing depressions early in their life. Even without depressions polyfoam in the lower grades (lower densities including what they call HD or High Density) degrades quite quickly and loses the qualities that made it initially atractive. While Stearns and foster does have decent springs, the weak link in a mattress that determines how long it will last and keep the qualities that you liked about it in the store will almost always be the polyfoam in it. In the case of your mattress ... it has 4.5" of cheap polyfoam in the top layers with another 1" of memory foam put underneath this where it cannot possibly do what memory foam is supposed to do (it uses body heat and pressure to form a cradle around your body to relieve pressure). All 5.5" of this foam will break down sooner than latex and none of it is even high quality polyfoam which at least would last longer than the cheaper materials they are using. There is a little bit about the different types of foam in a recent thread here You will be much safer and far less likely to experience buyers remorse if you stay away from major brands and also from the mass market mattress outlets (unless they carry a specific brand that you know has the quality of materials and construction you are looking for at a price that is better than other alternatives). This almost never happens. Based on what they have listed on their website ... there isn't a single mattress at Sleep Train that I would even consider buying. Phoenix This message was modified Jan 10, 2011 by Phoenix
|
| Thank you for spelling it out for me. What is a basis of good manufactures to look at? I'm going to head out tomorrow to find some mattresses to try out but I'm not even sure where to go yet. |
|
I would personally look for regional and local mattress manufacturers in your area that sell factory direct and/or retail outlets that carry them or other smaller brands that use better materials and that have salespeople that are willing to show you the construction of the mattresses they carry (a "cutaway"). Englander for example is a "smaller" national brand that carries some models that are either all or mostly latex and others that have about 2" of polyfoam over latex. If you stick to the rule that you don't want more than (at most) 1" of poly in the upper layers of your mattress you won't go too far wrong. Higher quality poly in the support layers is not as bad if you need to go there for budget reasons as they will generally use higher density/quality and firmer polyfoam when it is used as a support layer (as in many memory foam mattresses that have memory foam on top and HD or HR polyfoam underneath). If you let me know what city you are in, I may be able to make a few suggestions regarding manufacturers or retail outlets that might be worth visiting. Phoenix |
| Since we have a platform bed and don't need a boxspring what is a realistic price we should be looking at for a decent mattress in a king size? I'm in Stockton CA. |
|
Well there sure isn't much available in the way of latex in Stockton ... or even mattresses in general. I guess northern CA is a lot different from Southern CA which has the most manufacturers in the US. In any case here is what I know of ... http://starmattress.net/location.php Local manufacturer. These are the only manufacturers that I know of near you that make latex mattresses. They would likely have the best value or close to it on this list and would be well worth making the trip. http://www.sleepworld.com/locations.php Retailer. Carry Englander which has Dunlop latex (firmer than Talalay). Seems rather expensive but may be worth going to just to test out latex seeing that they are the only place that seems to have latex in Stockton at least that I know of. They are rather expensive and I would also check to make sure that the Englanders you are laying on don't have more than 1" of poly over the latex. http://www.mantecabedquarters.com/products.html Retailer. Carries Cannon sleep products and Stress-o-pedic. Cannon makes latex mattresses, Stress-o-pedic makes "part" latex mattresses. Other than that I would consider taking a trip to Berkeley which has a few more which would give you a much better range of choices http://futonandsleep.net/index.php Concord Retailer. They carry Natura and Savvy rest. Natura has a wide range of different latex mattresses but are rather expensive. Would be good for testing. Savvy rest makes a "choose your own layers" latex mattress which also would be good for testing even though these too are more expensive than similar mattresses. http://www.earthsake.com/stores.html Retailer. Carries a range of latex mattresses. http://www.ergosleepsystems.net/mattresses/ Carries a range of mattresses including Natura and Pure latex Bliss (which would be well worth trying). http://www.sleepworks.com/pricelist.htm Retailer. Carries Berkeley Ergonomics mattresses which include several latex models. The value of testing latex mattresses even in brands that you have no intention of buying because they don't have the best value is that it will give you a very good sense of the type of layering and softness of latex that works for you. Once you have a sense of this you are in a good position to order a similar mattress online which can also give you very good value. In terms of budget, that would be up to you. You can buy a high value mattress with any budget but of course going higher will open up more choices and give you better quality (as long as you look at the mattress ingredients and construction and not the brand). I personally wouldn't go over about $2500 or so (unless there was something about a specific mattress that was particularly attractive to you and justified more) but there are many great all latex choices that are less than this. Star mattress for example gave me a price of under $2000 for a 9" all latex mattress in a King. Hope this helps Phoenix This message was modified Jan 10, 2011 by Phoenix
|
|
Hey Phoenix - What about something in the Austin, TX area? I was about to buy some Sealy from Sams but I was wanting to read some reviews first. Then I found this site and was just blown away with latex, cutting, mattresses. I'd prefer not to spend over $1000, but I just have a queen frame right now. Thanks! |
| Ah, nevermind...just read your post about your job situation. I'll keep searching. Good luck figuring out what you're going to do! |