Need new mattress suggestions

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Fri May 13, 2016 2:53 pm

For the most part, money is really not a factor. What I mean is that I'm willing to pay good money for the best mattress for us. If that is $2000-3000, I'm OK for that.

I've had sleeping issues for years and I'm willing to buy a great mattress that might help increase my ability to get a good night of rest.

The choices are endless and we plan on hitting up several retailers in a couple weeks. However, I want to have a decent working knowledge of what we should look for.

Sleep number? Tempur Pedic? Serta?

All I know is we want it in King or even California King.

Anyone been through this recently and give me some ideas or suggestions?

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Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri May 13, 2016 2:54 pm

I was browsing mattresses at Sears the other day. $3000 will get you close to mid-range.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri May 13, 2016 2:56 pm

There is no substitute for being in the showroom and laying on them. I can't imagine the hassles entailed in trying to return a mattress, especially one that you never tried before purchasing.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:10 pm

We have a king size Tempurpedic purchased in 2004. I just checked on their site and have no idea what it would be called today - it's just 9" of memory foam, nothing fancy. We love it. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are larger bodied and have sleep problems - they love it. My parents are average size and they love it. The only complaint people have is that it sleeps warm, but I find it is something you get used to and dress appropriately.

Edit: I think I found it - it's called Tempur Contour Supreme now.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:15 pm

We buy the Sleep Innovations Memory foam that has the foam that draws heat away from your body. We have owned two. First one lasted us 7 years. On the 2nd year of our 2nd one.
I have paid a lot for mattresses in the past and they last no longer than the cheaper ones. Once I tried these mattresses my back pains went away.

Amazon

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:17 pm

Ignore Jeff V and his usual shit on everything post. Sears is a good place to shop for mattresses. First off the employees do not work on commission so they dont try to push or steer you. Check Sears for sales as well, they quite often run mattress sales and usually have a big one Memorial Day weekend. A few years back I got a really nice Stearns and Foster hybrid set for around $1500. This was one of their higher grade sets that had latex covered memory foam with an excellent inner spring set up. It has served me well.
A bit of general advice, as mentioned test out a bunch of mattresses for comfort. Give each mattress you test plenty of time to get the feel. I found around 5 minutes worked well. Dont go trying to find a cloud to sleep on, get the firmest mattress that is most comfortable for you. A really soft mattress may seem like a great idea but they are terrible for your back and you will realize that in the long run. You can find a good combo of soft surface and firm support in the better quality mattresses. Most importantly dont let a salesman push you into buying something you are not sure you want. Test mattresses at several stores if need be but remember you will be spending around a 1/3 of your day on that mattress. Make sure you get the one you want not the one they want to sell you.

Hyena · Post by **Hyena** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:27 pm

Wife and I bought the mid-firmness Tempurpedic, and it is phenomenal. Agreed with the above poster that said nothing replaces going and laying on them. Don't go based off price alone, especially since the most expensive ones were too soft for our tastes (we paid around $2200 for ours). Tempurpedic beds will *MILDLY* soften over time, but even then it's barely noticeable, so don't get one that is at your limit of soft/firm ratio as it will get softer over time.

One more suggestion is if you get one of these types of beds, take your shoes off and walk on it with no sheets/mattress cover once a day for about a week. The air that's "trapped" inside the microscopic bubbles has an odd smell to it, but you can make it go away by doing this. It's not like fart-smell bad, but it's just...different.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:39 pm

rshetts2 wrote:Ignore Jeff V and his usual shit on everything post.

WTF are you talking about? More than half the mattresses in the store were over $3000, a quarter over $5000 and very, very few in the $1000-2000 range. How is that observation "shitting on everything?"

And this was AFTER the 30-50% off sale they were having. I'm sure they are fine mattresses. I did not engage a sales rep and make no statement to how good they might be or not. The observation was only that $2-3000 is not high-end pricing but apparently quite mid-range.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:50 pm

My current mattress came from Mattress Firm and was $2k, financed at 0% for 2 years by Wells Fargo. And that was on some sort of sale or another.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:57 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:My current mattress came from Mattress Firm and was $2k, financed at 0% for 2 years by Wells Fargo. And that was on some sort of sale or another.

That's about the most risk Wells Fargo is willing to take on a regular citizen. lol

I've never found a regular mattress that makes me happy. A good quality futon mattress is what I sleep the best on. I think it's the density that I like. Add a good puffball down alternative pillow with some filling removed and I'm good to go!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri May 13, 2016 3:58 pm

They gave me an $8k limit.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:03 pm

Find the right Tempur-Pedic. We'll never go back to another mattress, in part due to Mrs. Kub's back issues, but we'd probably stick with it regardless.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:04 pm

My current mattress I believe cost $400 when I got it a dozen or so years ago. After looking at current prices, I'm pretty sure my next mattress is going to be a pile of hay.

My wife wants to replace our bed with a king size when we buy a new house, perhaps next year. At those prices, I'll have to wait until we have enough equity for a second mortgage.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:22 pm

If ads on astronomy podcasts are to be believed, the Casper mattress is the shit.

But then I've never understood mattresses, I'm happy on the floor. A mattress has always been a concession to whoever I'm sleeping with.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:27 pm

Jeff V wrote:I was browsing mattresses at Sears the other day. $3000 will get you close to mid-range.

We bought a Tempur Pedic at Sleep Train last year. I think we paid about $2,100. That was for a California King. We have been very happy with it although I must admit you do tend to sleep warm in it. I think if we were shopping again I might look at the cool sleep options.

We had slept in a water bed for 35 years before this bed.

EDIT: As for the JeffV price controversy (

) I will say the prices ranged from $1k to probably $5k, although most seemed to be in the $2-3k range.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:36 pm

Those prices all seem insanely high.

Speaking of which, you know those mattress stores that inexplicably exist on almost every corner? There's one down the street from us. It's always empty except towards evening when there are hippie millenials that smoke up outside and then go in and lay down and watch TV with their buddy working there. It's good to see the space put to some use. But beyond that, no idea how they pay rent.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:42 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:If ads on astronomy podcasts are to be believed, the Casper mattress is the shit.

But then I've never understood mattresses, I'm happy on the floor. A mattress has always been a concession to whoever I'm sleeping with.

The floor's not bad, but what does a ghost need with a mattress?

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Fri May 13, 2016 4:49 pm

My next mattress will probably be Tuft and Needle. You can't try it out in stores, but there's free delivery and if you don't like it they'll tell you where you can donate it and give you a full refund.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Fri May 13, 2016 5:03 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:If ads on astronomy podcasts are to be believed, the Casper mattress is the shit.

We bought a Casper mattress. I like it.
Is it the best mattress in the word? Probably not, but it was easy to buy and I think it's comfortable.
It also helped that we were able to try one out while on vacation last year. One of the AirBnB's we stayed at had one.

One issue some might have with a Casper is that the edge doesn't have as much support as a regular mattress. If you lay too close to the edge it can squish down and you'll be sliding / tilting towards the floor.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Fri May 13, 2016 5:06 pm

i am avoiding foam mattresses for the heat issue. i have a foam pillow and i'll sometimes wake up in a puddle of sweat where my neck was

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri May 13, 2016 5:12 pm

When we were shopping, there were options at MF that had a cool layer designed to address the foam heat retention issue. IIRC, it was removable as well.

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Fri May 13, 2016 5:18 pm

Our current foam mattress has a heat dissipating layer that works really well. It gets no hotter than a regular mattress. That's a big concern of mine too and this one is certainly not as bad as the Tempurpedic mattresses I've tried.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Fri May 13, 2016 6:52 pm

I've been pleased with the Novaform Serafina Pearl Gel Cal King Memory Foam Mattress from CostCo, which was purchased just over a year ago.

It's significantly more affordable than Tempur-Pedic and the like, and received a very favourable review and recommendation from Consumer Reports:

Consumer Reports wrote:CR's Take: This Novaform memory-foam mattress from CostCo is infused with gel beads and was impressive both at supporting the spinal curve while you're on your back and supporting you while you're lying on your side. It also came out great after eight years of simulated use. The mattress comes folded in a box, but there's free pickup and return for an unspecified period if you’re not satisfied. Getting it back into the box is not required. Our tested model measures a bit more than 14 inches high, so you might get by without deep-pocket fitted sheets.

Highs: This mattress performed very good in our tests of side and back support. It performed excellent in our durability tests, showing no noticeable change in performance. This mattress's surface was very good at conforming to various shapes maximizing contact with the sleeper. It proved to be very stable and limited the amount of vibration transmitted and showed only a minor amount of high-pressure areas.

Lows:This mattress lacked grips, which could make handling difficult.

Detailed test results: This Novaform memory-foam mattress performed very good in our side-sleeping tests, which look at the alignment of the spine, and performed very good in our back-support tests, which analyze how well 36 points on the torso are supported. In the durability tests, which analyzes the mattress's change in firmness, sag, and damage over a period of up to 8 years of simulated use, this mattress performed excellent, showing no signs of changes in performance. This mattress's surface conformed to most shapes, and it showed a minor amount of high-pressure areas. This mattress proved to be very stable, limiting the amount of vibration transmitted, and its breathability was good. We measured the mattress's firmness to be medium.

(If you don't have a CR subscription, it's currently their highest-ranked memory foam mattress)

EDIT: FWIW, this mattress also does a great job of dissipating excess body heat.

mori · Post by **mori** » Fri May 13, 2016 7:24 pm

Extremely happy with my set I bought from The Original Mattress Factory. If they are available in your area they are made at one of their factories near that location. Excellent return policies if you do not like the set.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Fri May 13, 2016 8:18 pm

McNutt wrote:Our current foam mattress has a heat dissipating layer that works really well. It gets no hotter than a regular mattress. That's a big concern of mine too and this one is certainly not as bad as the Tempurpedic mattresses I've tried.

Yes, that is like ours. Does not get hot at all, pulls your body heat away from you instead of trapping it.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Fri May 13, 2016 8:22 pm

For those with concerns with mattresses being hot, I'm curious about those same mattresses in Colorado with our cool evenings. I just can't imagine it being uncomfortably hot.

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Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Fri May 13, 2016 8:23 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: Speaking of which, you know those mattress stores that inexplicably exist on almost every corner? There's one down the street from us. It's always empty except towards evening when there are hippie millenials that smoke up outside and then go in and lay down and watch TV with their buddy working there. It's good to see the space put to some use. But beyond that, no idea how they pay rent.

Seems to be one on every corner and I always assumed they only had to sell a few to make rent since their prices always seemed jacked up and then they would lower them to make it look like a deal. When I shopped for my daughter a cheap mattress for her school apartment, Mattress Firm had a sell on one for $400, regular price $699, walked next door to HH Gregg and saw the same mattress, regular price $449 on sale for $299.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri May 13, 2016 9:53 pm

Xmann wrote:For those with concerns with mattresses being hot, I'm curious about those same mattresses in Colorado with our cool evenings. I just can't imagine it being uncomfortably hot.

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I know a couple of people that slept in the basement because those "cool evenings" were unbearable on the second floor.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Fri May 13, 2016 9:57 pm

Xmann wrote:For those with concerns with mattresses being hot, I'm curious about those same mattresses in Colorado with our cool evenings. I just can't imagine it being uncomfortably hot.

If you go with a tradtiional memory foam mattress, you may find you have the opposite problem, i.e. particularly cold temperatures can affect memory foam mattresses, causing them to feel firmer, and slower to rebound, respond, and return to their original shape after turning over. Though I believe that's typically only a factor if the bed's located in a distinctly chilly area, such as a basement or the like.

Hamsterball_Z · Post by **Hamsterball_Z** » Fri May 13, 2016 10:54 pm

Archinerd wrote:One issue some might have with a Casper is that the edge doesn't have as much support as a regular mattress. If you lay too close to the edge it can squish down and you'll be sliding / tilting towards the floor.

There's at least one mattress maker that attempted to solve the problem. http://blissful-nights.com/features/ They stuck a hard foam wedge along the sides.

You might want to check on Amazon. They have a boatload of mattresses with varying layers of memory foam, latex, and whatever else is supposed to be the cool new mattress material. Most of them are significantly less than the prices mentioned here so far. I've gotten some basic twin size mattresses from there and didn't have any issues.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Fri May 13, 2016 11:18 pm

Archinerd wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:If ads on astronomy podcasts are to be believed, the Casper mattress is the shit.
We bought a Casper mattress. I like it.
One issue some might have with a Casper is that the edge doesn't have as much support as a regular mattress. If you lay too close to the edge it can squish down and you'll be sliding / tilting towards the floor.

My wife and I have been sleeping on a Casper for a little over a year now... best mattress I've ever owned, and a steal at only $850 for a queen. The idea of buying something that you don't have the opportunity to try might seem a little odd, but Casper's 100-day trial period after you buy takes away all the risk and is much better than the five minutes you get to try something at a mattress store. Buy a typical mattress after a few minutes trial in the store and you're stuck with your purchase. If you don't like the Caspermattress, give them a call and they'll not only give you all your money back, but they'll also send a truck to haul away the mattress and donate it to a charity. We took the leap because we figured there's nothing to lose and it worked out great.

As for the comment about soft edges, we've never found it to be a problem. I've never noticed it when I'm lying in bed, and I sit on the edge frequently to put on my shoes...have never felt like I'm getting dumped off the bed.

Hamsterball_Z · Post by **Hamsterball_Z** » Fri May 13, 2016 11:21 pm

This website also might be useful: SleepLikeTheDead.
Looks like it has lots of useful info on mattress types. They even went so far as to survey this: Mattress Types and Sex Suitability: Ratings and Comparisons.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Fri May 13, 2016 11:34 pm

Lassr wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote: Speaking of which, you know those mattress stores that inexplicably exist on almost every corner? There's one down the street from us. It's always empty except towards evening when there are hippie millenials that smoke up outside and then go in and lay down and watch TV with their buddy working there. It's good to see the space put to some use. But beyond that, no idea how they pay rent.
Seems to be one on every corner and I always assumed they only had to sell a few to make rent since their prices always seemed jacked up and then they would lower them to make it look like a deal. When I shopped for my daughter a cheap mattress for her school apartment, Mattress Firm had a sell on one for $400, regular price $699, walked next door to HH Gregg and saw the same mattress, regular price $449 on sale for $299.

Heard this on the marketplace podcast a few days ago.
Why are there so many mattress stores?

The short answer is each store only has to sell a few a day to stay in the black and mattress stores act as billboards for all other mattress stores in the area, increasing sales at other stores nearby.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Fri May 13, 2016 11:40 pm

disarm wrote:
Archinerd wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:If ads on astronomy podcasts are to be believed, the Casper mattress is the shit.
We bought a Casper mattress. I like it.
One issue some might have with a Casper is that the edge doesn't have as much support as a regular mattress. If you lay too close to the edge it can squish down and you'll be sliding / tilting towards the floor.
My wife and I have been sleeping on a Casper for a little over a year now... best mattress I've ever owned, and a steal at only $850 for a queen. The idea of buying something that you don't have the opportunity to try might seem a little odd, but Casper's 100-day trial period after you buy takes away all the risk and is much better than the five minutes you get to try something at a mattress store. Buy a typical mattress after a few minutes trial in the store and you're stuck with your purchase. If you don't like the Caspermattress, give them a call and they'll not only give you all your money back, but they'll also send a truck to haul away the mattress and donate it to a charity. We took the leap because we figured there's nothing to lose and it worked out great.

As for the comment about soft edges, we've never found it to be a problem. I've never noticed it when I'm lying in bed, and I sit on the edge frequently to put on my shoes...have never felt like I'm getting dumped off the bed.

I have a question with a mattress like the Casper.

Do you also use a box spring or just the mattress?

We've only ever used the traditional mattress/box spring combo.

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gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Sat May 14, 2016 5:45 am

I guess I'm the outlier. We went with the SleepNumber over the foam mattresses mostly because of the heat issue. We've had it since 2003 and it's still functioning like new. We've been really happy with the adjustability.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Sat May 14, 2016 9:20 am

gbasden wrote:I guess I'm the outlier. We went with the SleepNumber over the foam mattresses mostly because of the heat issue. We've had it since 2003 and it's still functioning like new. We've been really happy with the adjustability.

That was going to be my next question.... anyone use one the the fancy Sleep Number beds with the so called sleep IQ and such?

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Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Sat May 14, 2016 10:34 am

Xmann wrote:
disarm wrote:
Archinerd wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:If ads on astronomy podcasts are to be believed, the Casper mattress is the shit.
We bought a Casper mattress. I like it.
One issue some might have with a Casper is that the edge doesn't have as much support as a regular mattress.
My wife and I have been sleeping on a Casper for a little over a year now... best mattress I've ever owned, and a steal at only $850 for a queen.
As for the comment about soft edges, we've never found it to be a problem. I've never noticed it when I'm lying in bed, and I sit on the edge frequently to put on my shoes...have never felt like I'm getting dumped off the bed.
I have a question with a mattress like the Casper.

Do you also use a box spring or just the mattress?

Mattress only. That's part of why we got the Casper, you can't get a queen size box spring up the stairs to the bedrooms in my house.

And regarding the edge case, that's only ever a problem for me when I get forced to the side of the bed by a shivering dog attempting to hide from the thunder. That was on my mind as we've had several storms roll through the last few days.

ALSO- if you decided to go for a Casper look for a coupon code. They give them out all the time to podcast listeners for $50 off.
Two Podcasts you can check where Casper is often advertised are; 99% Invisible and The Heart

killbot737 · Post by **killbot737** » Sat May 14, 2016 10:48 am

Last time I bought a mattress all I did was lie (lay?) on every single mattress they had in the store and bought the one I felt most comfortable on. The salespeople were less than pleased that they didn't get to spout their extensive knowledge of whatever mattress knowledge they had available.

I discovered I hate pillow-top and extra-mushy mattresses. They didn't have those memory foam things at the time but I imagine I won't like those either. I never liked waterbeds. I guess I need a springy bed because the floor is always lava.

I suggest you do the same, do what feels right for you.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Sat May 14, 2016 1:56 pm

**UPDATE**

After breakfast this morning, we stopped by a couple mattress stores, including a Sleep Number.

First store had your standard Tempur Pedic and Sealy type stuff. Everything from box sets to pillow top to foam and everything in between. Couple hundred dollar stuff up to $10k.

Our salesman was cool and let us know he didn't work on commission and didn't want to pressure us. It was a fun experience and he was great. We were the only customers in the store, so we had the place to ourselves.

We laid on practically every bed in there and our favorite was the Tempur Contour Elite Breeze. Has the cooling technology, however it works, and it is awesome. I'm dreading having to sleep in my own bed tonight. That thing is a beauty. The King is $4700 for the mattress and with the bed that lifts the head up and down and vibrates and all that extra crap puts it at $5900.

Next we hit the Sleep Number store a couple blocks down the road.

This was a fun experience as well. They put you in their most popular, middle of the road model, and then give you a demo on how the Sleep Number system works. My number turns out to be either a 45 or 50 and the wife is a 50.

Initially, we weren't all that impressed with these mattresses. However, it wasn't until we got off the pillow top and went on the foam/Tempur Pedic-like mattress that we found one we really liked. We laid on the $1800 and then the $10k mattress and we really liked the M8 model. Just the mattress, without the bed that raises and lowers head and vibrates and what not, is $3800. However, since I'm a RN, they told me they would offer me a 20% discount on the mattress.

All in all, I was dreading doing this. I hate shopping for specialty items, but this was really fun. It really does make a difference to lay on so many different beds. I really thought about going with the Casper, but no way now, without having tried it out.

I'm going to crunch some numbers, but right now the Sleep Number seems like a nice deal with the 20% discount. Additionally, they would not charge sales tax if we had a note from our doctor that states we have back pain.

Had alot of fun actually.

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TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Sat May 14, 2016 2:05 pm

The big question is, will they still do the 20% discount off their Memorial Day sale price? Or is it an either/or?