Any advice in choosing new Mattress?

[ladelfina]

no, THIS is the Mac of mattresses:
Hästens Sängar - Hästens Beds

Seriously.. I wouldn't take a tempurpedic as a gift. We have a 'regular' mattress but I don't even like the slimy poly fabric, stuffing and foam there is in it now.. I would rather get a more "breathable" natural fiber one of some kind.. even a cotton futon would be better (and more environmentally friendly). In Italy there are some places that still make mattresses out of natural materials like wool and horsehair.. often they are two-sided (winter/summer). The downside is that they should be opened up and re-carded every few years and this is a dying art/practice.

Sadly, it seems that, even for many Italian shepherds, wool is now a byproduct that is often tossed out, since there's no longer the mattress market the commercial value is not worth the effort of cleaning.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Hmm, let's see.. choosing a new mistress, eh?

Well, first make sure the old one doesn't work well. Try it out. Sagging? Unfamiliar lumps? Time to replace.

Try jumping on the new one. Can you feel the bounce? Soft, with pleasing feel and shape? Those are good signs.

Finally, if you can't rotate and flip periodically, it may be more than you can handle. Choose a smaller and less challenging model.

Hope that helps.

Oh.. mattress. Sorry. Never mind.

 

[REWahoo]

Wow, people are sure passionate about their mattresses. You'd think they were sleeping with them...

 

[pfpelican]

And furthermore....

Pillows - two for $14.99

Serta Memory Foam Contour Pillows (Set of 2) : Bedding & Bath from Overstock.com

 

[tightasadrum]

I had a latex foam mattress a few years back. I believe it's taking up valuable space in the landfill today. I now have one of those crazy air-filled things now...VERY expensive. I bought it because DW and I CANNOT sleep well on similar firmness. I'm not completely happy with the current system, lower back gets very stiff when I sleep on my back. Frankly I'm not certain the perfect matress exists for our combination of backs. Oh, and my side has developed an air leak! I have to pump it up each night before I go to bed. Did I mention how expensive this thing was?

 

[calmloki]

Pillows - two for $14.99

Serta Memory Foam Contour Pillows (Set of 2) : Bedding & Bath from Overstock.com

That's a great price - the pair we got from 'ol favorite Costco were about 3 times that as i recall. While i'm jazzed about the memory foam mattress the pillows didn't make the cut - went back to down. The pillows were just too unforgiving and non-compliant: unscrunchable. Could be there's a lack of weighty matters running 'round my brain that would have squished the pillow into submission.

 

[JonnyM]

I was totally skeptical, ok downright negative about the Sleep Number Select Comfort thingy. I supported DW's choice to try one, and I tell you, I'll never go back. Combined with a nice feather bed topper, it is just glorious. They really do hold up and keep their pressure setting. I check it now and then, and it just doesn't change, a real suprise. She and I use totally different settings and are both very happy with the total effect. We sleep better with much more comfort. I add that we didn't find it particularly expensive purchased thru a mail order discount house. Some assembly required, but maybe 20 min. one time total effort.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I had a latex foam mattress a few years back. I believe it's taking up valuable space in the landfill today. I now have one of those crazy air-filled things now...VERY expensive. I bought it because DW and I CANNOT sleep well on similar firmness. I'm not completely happy with the current system, lower back gets very stiff when I sleep on my back. Frankly I'm not certain the perfect matress exists for our combination of backs. Oh, and my side has developed an air leak! I have to pump it up each night before I go to bed. Did I mention how expensive this thing was?

You oughta do what my parents did. Buy a pair of twin mattresses in different firmnesses and feel to suit themselves, push them together and put a big comforter over the two of them.

I used to fall in "the crack" a lot when I was a little kid.

 

[Khan]

You oughta do what my parents did. Buy a pair of twin mattresses in different firmnesses and feel to suit themselves, push them together and put a big comforter over the two of them.

My parents did this in their later years.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

This also provided a nice mechanism for me to know when my dad was in the dog house. My mom would push his mattress to the other side of the room.

 

[smileydog]

For those of you that chose the memory foam style mattress - What type of a foundation are you using? I would like to keep the look of a standard bed and I guess I can build a suitable frame to get the proper size if needed.

 

[calmloki]

For those of you that chose the memory foam style mattress - What type of a foundation are you using? I would like to keep the look of a standard bed and I guess I can build a suitable frame to get the proper size if needed.

I built our bed - got to pick the exact height i wanted and spent under $200 on it. Think it was 3 sheets of 3/4" finish plywood for the sides and ends, cut with the legs nesting. That also gave enough wood to build a center lengthwise beam. 2 sheets of 3/4" sanded shop to go under the mattress. Some oak trim that was laying around, a bit of sanding and stain, some carpet remnants under the feet, and it works just fine. Mattress top is 30" high, nested into the frame 1", which holds the sheets without making it tough to tuck them in, top of the sides is about 20".

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Put ours on a regular box spring I got at sams club for $98. You dont need a foundation with them though, they can be placed on a solid platform, or even on the floor.

I briefly considered building a platform attached to the wall with a custom headboard, but my wife listened to that idea and I saw her brain jump to the year and a half before I finished it and another six months before I stained or painted it and she said "Umm...no!"

I guess I shouldnt have cut that hole in the garage ceiling and then never fixed it for four years.

 

[Darryl]

pfpelican Thanks I think for the overstock link, you just helped facilitate the first consumer purchase as a result of my participation on this board.
After reading some of this link the other day I decided to stop at a tempurepedic store today. I tested out a couple beds but at $2,500 it would have to be a planned purchase (maybe in the spring) so I asked how much for a pillow it was $100 for the cheap one and $200 for the one I liked. I just made a purchase at overstock.

 

[DektolMan]

Memory Foam Mattress, Adjustable Beds, Mattress Toppers, Foam Bed

We looked at TempuPedic and then compared with Bragada and just ordered a Bragada bed. It got good reviews at Epinions.com - Compare Prices and Read Reviews on The Vienna Memory Foam Mattress by Bragada at Epinions.com

We our now sleeping on a 7 year old select comfort and waking up with aching body parts.

 

[kumquat]

When I look at a new mattress the most important feature is how much cash can we stuff under it without causing lumps. Why hasn't anyone else mentioned this?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ours came from Costco. It was about $500ish for each in queen size during one of their semiannual coupon sales on memory foam mattresses. Novaform is the manufacturer.

The newer "coolwave" novaforms are supposed to reduce the memory foam heat problems.

 

[spncity]

Oh, and my side has developed an air leak! I have to pump it up each night before I go to bed.

BIL had the same problem - they sent him a replacement part - a little piece where the air line goes into the mattress.

 

[spncity]

Tried several mattress toppers. And the Tempurpedic reflected too much heat back.

Serta Blissful Dream II. Glad I waited for it.

 

[Achiever51]

Yeah, this looks REAL comfortable...instead of horsehair, are you sure the entire horse isn't inside??

 

[ladelfina]

He hasn't done his 'trapunto' thing yet! It's still all puffed up.

A few people who still do this kind of thing will even come to your house to refresh your old trad. mattresses. That way you can make sure they are re-filling it with YOUR wool and not inferior wool from who-knows-where!

In the old days you just didn't waste materials that could be re-utilized.

 

[W2R]

I am SERIOUSLY thinking of buying a memory foam topper to put on top of my slightly lumpy king-sized mattress. The memory foam will just help me sleep between now and 2009, when I ER to Missouri and buy a new bed.

(What, me, buy something? Stop the presses!)

I am thinking of getting one of the thinner memory foam toppers (1.5-2.0 inches?) since they are cheaper and will fit inside my fitted sheet. (Yes, singular "sheet", not "sheets" - - I just wash it and put it back on the bed rather than buying a second sheet, to save money). I might just go to Wally World today and see if memory foam toppers are on sale or something.

Sleep is a priority!

 

[happy2bretired]

I had a thinner foam topper and I had to give it to my daughter. It was hot and I couldn't take it any longer. My daughter loves it tho.

 

[DallasGuy]

I'm also in the market for a new mattress. After reading reviews on the internet I've sort of come to the conclusion that the thick mattress toppers built into the mattress is sort of a waste of money. Many of the reviews from consumers say that the topper portion of the mattress ends up getting an indentation within 6 months to 2 years and then the mattress companies won't honor their warranties to fix the problem. The indentation then becomes a new source for back pain because you sink in too much in one area. Is that the experience of any of you here? I'm sort of thinking of getting a name brand mattress (Simmons, Sealy, etc.) but getting the one with very little padding on top and then adding my own topper. In the long run I'm think the mattress will last longer and I can replace the topper if I need to. Any thoughts on that?

 

[happy2bretired]

I'm also in the market for a new mattress. After reading reviews on the internet I've sort of come to the conclusion that the thick mattress toppers built into the mattress is sort of a waste of money. Many of the reviews from consumers say that the topper portion of the mattress ends up getting an indentation within 6 months to 2 years and then the mattress companies won't honor their warranties to fix the problem. The indentation then becomes a new source for back pain because you sink in too much in one area. Is that the experience of any of you here? I'm sort of thinking of getting a name brand mattress (Simmons, Sealy, etc.) but getting the one with very little padding on top and then adding my own topper. In the long run I'm think the mattress will last longer and I can replace the topper if I need to. Any thoughts on that?

I just bought a new mattress last year (Serta) with a built in topper. Yes, I have an indentation problem, that's why I bought the foam topper that I couldn't use. Since I now sleep alone, I am just going to turn it more often since I can only indent one side at a time. Doing so, seems to fluff it up some. I'm not too sure may solution would work if there were 2 people using my mattress tho.