Bed Replacement Mattress Recommendations? (for best sleep/health)

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JP78

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I decided to invest in a king sized tempurpedic a couple of years ago and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.  My parents have a few of them (2 homes) and when I stayed with them on vacation I swore I never slept better.  I had a torn rotator cuff which never had surgery and the bed alleviated a lot of the pain. 

+1 On the Tempurpedic. Miles better for me than the Sterns & Foster and Posturpedic beds that I had.

I'm mostly a back sleeper but shoulder surgery a few months ago requires me now to sleep on my side. I'm glad to say the bed worked its magic still despite the drastic change.

jqp

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I warmly recommend a company called The Original Mattress Factory. I bought one of theirs about 15 years ago, and it's still going strong. They have four or five levels of firmness for you to try, as well as adjustable beds. The prices are good and the quality is clearly better than any of the well known brands. However, they're not national; mostly along the east coast from PA to Florida, and one or two mid-west states.

Don't get a $500 mattress (probably more like $700 now) from Original Mattress Factory if you are over 200 lbs. - it will only last a couple of years  :evil: As you can tell I have put my money into my audio gear :)

It seems that to get a quality spring mattress (Queen or King) you need to spend over $2000 (if you are a bigger man) - would anyone disagree with this?

I always wonder where these pro athletes get their cars and beds - they are bigger than the average sizes and do not fit the "Sweet spot' for how cars and beds are designed. I am taller and heavier than average, also have a longer torso. I am always wearing out car seats before their time and also beds.

Diamond Dog

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At this stage, I think that " quality " and " spring mattress " are mutually- exclusive terms. And I'm not convinced that laying out more $ is necessarily going to get you better durability beyond a certain point...The last spring mattress we bought ( continuous coil -supposedly renowned for durability ) was one of the most expensive in the store. It was also one of the biggest POS I've ever wasted money on ( but I'm not bitter...). We put in a warranty claim with the manufacturer after the mattress basically collapsed on both sides of the bed ( and it wasn't a weight issue - my wife weighs in at a whopping 105 lbs. ) and the factory rep came in, inspected the bed and proceeded to weasel out of any responsibility on the part of the manufacturer.
We put up with it for a while longer and as the problem grew worse and worse, I lit a fire under the guy we bought the bed from and he applied heat to the manufacturer. They picked up the bed and left a (brand-new ) loaner supplied by the store. About three weeks later, our supposedly-repaired bed was returned and guess what? No better than it was, in fact worse because when it came back, it actually had a chunk of spring wire sticking out through the side of the mattress. I think they just propped it up against a wall for a couple of weeks somewhere and pitched baseballs at it during coffee breaks.

Good luck bed-shopping, folks. You're gonna need it.

D.D.

werd

Just bought one of those memory foam pillows from Costco. It was about 30 bucks. Its fabulous, gives you good support. I tuck another pillow under the neck so you get the support right through. Its firm but has sink. For 30 bucks you can't go wrong and my neck isn't  so wretched in the morning anymore.

TheChairGuy

I agree, mattress shopping is so time consuming and confusing :duh: I'm shopping for a new bed for my daughter and ours is 8 yo now so it's time to start looking again.

I'm dreading it :cry:

How did our forebears and ancestors ever make it 50+ years on this earth sleeping on a slab, the ground, canvas, feathers or whatever horrible 'nest' they made for themselves to sleep the night in? 

Further, probably 1/2 of the world's population today sleeps on the same - sobering thought, ain't it?

In comparison, our choices are merely very good to superlative based on varying factors including subjective.

Perspective is good - I nonetheless dread mattress shopping :roll: 

maxwalrath

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I spent 9 days this month sleeping on the ground down in the grand canyon (no sleeping bag, 1" foam 3/4 length pad between me and the ground).  My back was a little stiff morning 1, and it was fine the other 8 days.  Right after getting out of the canyon and getting back to the real world my back started hurting again. 

Nick77

Just an FYI.... We were mattress shopping and mentioned i had just come from Chiro and the sales guy told me if i get a note from Chiro he can sell mattress with no sales tax, saved us a $150 on mattress.  :wink:

maxwalrath

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I spent the day looking for a new mattress and was leaning towards a foam design. I was close to settling on a Sealy CoolSense (forget the model...it was just about the cheapest in the line at Sleepy's) or a Sleep Options. Each was available for about $1k.

I remembered this thread from a few years ago and wondered if other people had explored latex mattresses since this thread was last active.

I just spend a few hours looking around online at latex options and found most of them to be out of my price range, but there are some more affordable models from Amazon, Ikea and a few random small companies. One problem is that I can't figure out where to try any latex mattresses out except for Ikea. Any thoughts?

Elizabeth

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I despise the soft white fuzzy mattress surfaces. ALL matresses seem to have this sort of surface. MY old matress has a sleek smooth surface which was EASY TO CLEAN. This 'new' stuff sucks.
So I refuse to buy a matress until i can avoid this fuzz surface. I may NEVER buy a new matress if I cannot avoid that crap finish I despise..

srb

Why would a mattress need to be cleaned?  I wouldn't think of having a mattress without a breathable, waterproof, dust mite proof machine washable mattress protector.

Steve

drummermitchell

Foam King mattress

kenreau

I spent the day looking for a new mattress and was leaning towards a foam design. I was close to settling on a Sealy CoolSense (forget the model...it was just about the cheapest in the line at Sleepy's) or a Sleep Options. Each was available for about $1k.

I remembered this thread from a few years ago and wondered if other people had explored latex mattresses since this thread was last active.

I just spend a few hours looking around online at latex options and found most of them to be out of my price range, but there are some more affordable models from Amazon, Ikea and a few random small companies. One problem is that I can't figure out where to try any latex mattresses out except for Ikea. Any thoughts?

Do you have a Costco close by?

Fwiw, we going on 2 years now with our memory foam mattress from Costco and have been extremely happy with it.  I was the OP.

Best regards
Kenreau

sharpsuxx

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I am about 230lbs and 6ft (former college defensive lineman) my wife and I went to like 10 shops and layed on mattresses and to be honest the best we found was at weekends only (I know we were suprised too) They have a line of beds with pocket coils a heat distributing gel mat and like a 4 inch bamboo stuffed pillow top.  It felt like one of the 4k beds at the other spots but the firm version was only 1100 with a 10 yr warranty.  YMMV, good luck.

jackman

They say those foam mattresses are not conducive for people doing the nasty.  Is this true?  That could be a deal breaker. 

stlrman

Jackman, I think foam mattresses suck for sex ! Pun intended. :|
Really, you sink , very difficult to get into proper position.
I enjoy sleeping , but not trying to move around.
If I had a do over I think I'd get a very good Serta

electricbear

Foam mattresses are for people who do not roll around or move about while sleeping. They are good for paraplegics as they evenly distribute body weight and help prevent bed sores. They are not good for those with amourous intentions.

jackman

I told my wife about this aspect of foam mattresses and she immediately ordered one!   :duh:


Afterimage

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I always fall asleep in about 60 seconds and sleep like the dead until the alarm goes off, but I was finally forced to admit that my old coil spring mattress was years past retirement due to an impressive amount of sag, and thus did a ton of research late last year before finally buying a new mattress.

I ended up with a 9" natural Latex mattress made up of 3 layers of 3" thick Latex foam, each with a different firmness level that I can swap around at will.  After a lifetime of sleeping on firm coil-spring mattresses, I was going to order firm/medium/medium layers, but ended up with firm/medium/soft and am glad I did.  (2 of the layers are split down the middle, so I can change the firmness separately on each side of the bed as well.)  I bought it all on sale from a local dealer after testing quite a few brand options and latex firmness combinations in the store, and the deal was good enough that I even sprang for a 3" wool topper, which I hadn't originally planned on.  All ticking is organic cotton.  It took a single night to adjust to the softer bed, but it is incredibly supportive and phenomenally comfortable - it's harder than ever to get out of bed in the morning!  It was definitely more than I intended to spend, but now that I've been sleeping on it for a while, it was absolutely worth it, especially as I'll likely use it the rest of my life.

For what it's worth, all the Latex foam in my bed was processed via the older Dunlop method, rather than the newer Talalay method.  Talalay will generate slightly softer layers that will tend to be more uniform in density, but the difference is minute at best, and very much secondary to the overall density of the given foam layer.  And if you're going to put a topper on it, I see even less reason to pay the premium for Talalay processed Latex foam.  (If you're going to use a Latex layer as the topper, rather than wool, cotton, down or some other material, then it might be worth considering, but I'd still be hard pressed to notice the difference relative to a simple change in foam density.)

Interesting.  What mattress brand/model is this?

medium jim

Get a modern waterbed or if you can afford it, a Dux, simply amazing and will last forever.

http://www.duxiana.com/

Jim

geowak

My vote is for a Sleepm Number bed. My wife and I have had one for 9 years with no backaches between the two of us.  Being able to dial in different firmness levels for each side is WONDERFUL.

Th longest life we have had for a matress before this was five years. This was for top end Sealy or Simmons mattresses. Our Sleep Number is still going strong. We have a friend who has had one for 25 years.

Air does not lose support over time.

I have a Sleep Number bed for over 10 years now and it's truly great. Very comfortable and I see many here love it too. It can be as firm as you want it to be. I think now many people get a Memory Foam style cover for the top. I do not use this, and I sleep very well on it. It lasts a long time. Because we have not had to replace the mattress, we bought a very nice elegant bedframe, headboard last year. This bed is staying for a long time.