My experience buying a new Mattress

[AeroFan_07]

This may be one of the most odd things I have ever posted on FL, but I think it will help me process my thoughts, and hopefully it will help someone else out at the same time.

Mattresses are simply something most of us never think about - until we really need to. In my case, my queen bed mattress is getting to around ~ 15+ years old now. I am having some back and sciatic nerve pain, seeing a good Chiropractor and sometimes a Physical Therapist. As I have moved along a recovery process from a back injury in March, I became aware that my bed really was not helping me any longer. So I did what any single dude would do; I ignored it and kept sleeping on my old mattress.

Finally I went looking at mattresses, and went home and laid back down on my old mattress and again ignored the thought for as long as I could. Why?

Well my current mattress is a Serta Firm-top Redwood inner-spring mattress. Honestly not all that bad of a mattress, as it has lasted a decade and a half. What is bit troubling is that my mattress cost around $395 in 2007. today something like it from Serta is nearly $1300.

I have also visited several hotels and slept on some really great mattresses, as well as some that bordered upon lousy. A family member I visited frequently up till ~ 2022 had a very new memory-foam mattress and I recalled sleeping very well on this. So I started down the path of memory foam - only to find two extremes. You or I could easily go buy a store-brand MF mattress for $300 - $600 that "expands upon opening" After about ~ 24-48 hours, you have a good 8" - 12" mattress ready to use, with no inner-springs, base foam + a layer of memory foam, and hopefully some sort of guarantee about sleep quality. (in many cases this does not exist). The tricky part of this option is you likely cannot try the mattress out in a store first - they are just packed in a box that you take home. Buying online would be highly similar - no try-out.

The next step is a name-brand memory foam or hybrid mattress, still bought in a box from a store, with a name such as Nectar. For a time I considered these, however finding that many of these were made containing a fiberglass portion that tended to flake out over time, and make amess in a bedroom's carpeting, I pushed that option aside. Oddly I could never confirm what is the fiberglass portion of these mattresses, and the company does not disclose this information. There are still more areas to consider in this $500 - $800 price range, however again most of these are not going to have a method to try them out first. More to research and develop.

Finally, the name-brand furniture store high quality products. This is where you will find the Setra, Sealy, and Temper-Pedic products. Each of these offers both Memory foam and hybrid mattresses (some containing ~ 1300+ inner springs!) These mattresses are a real treat just to lay down on. The higher the cost, the more honestly delightful the product. However these start out just under $1k and move straight upward to over $5K for a Queen. In other words, more than the cost of a brand new Langlitz, Aero J106 and Schott combined.

The honest truth is you are spending 1/3 of your lifetime hours on it. It should be good (and good for you).

Compared to doctor's appointments and PT appointments, which add up quickly, buying a good mattress is a worthwhile investment. It appears to also be worth taking time to research, try out and consider several options.

I would welcome any input - does anyone have some good experiences (or vice versa - ones you would avoid?)

At this point, I am thinking the front-runner is the Temper Pedic Adapt - which runs about $2200 - but that is still quite a bit to put out there for a mattress. However if you can get ~ 10 years out of it, so $2200 / 36,500 nights = $0.06 per night.

Maybe I should go one model up - $3400 /36,500 = $0.09 per night

 

[99Tjadams]

I went through a similar experience and found a helpful forum called mattress underground.

From there I tried memory foam but after trying in store it felt like sleeping in quicksand.

Then decided on a latex foam bed. it was about $2200, sort of a bed in a box buy latex instead of memory foam.
Mine came from memoryfoamcomfort. I couldn't be happier. I recommended it to a few people and they are happy as well.
It came as three foam layers and you can interchange the layers for a softer or firmer feel, when the topper wears out, you can easily replace it for $400 instead of throwing away a whole spring style mattress.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Update - I visited a local Menards this afternoon, (Midwest home improvement store) and tried out three - the Nectar Original Mattress, the Serta Sheep Retreat 10" Medium Gel MF in a box and the Serta Sheer Slumber 8" Medium Firm MF in a box. All three felt like a slightly soft brick. Very little give, supportive but not very pleasant to lay down on. I take it the trying out of other, more expensive mattresses has started to spoil me a bit. I started this search a few weeks back in Menards, interesting how much my perspective has changed already.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I would avoid anything with toxic outgassing.

 

[Turnip]

Maybe IKEA might be be worth a try. You could return your mattress within a 90 days period at full cash back conditions or within 365 days after purchase at full price return on a voucher, at least at this side of the pond, so the risk of a bad investment is relative low.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Maybe IKEA might be be worth a try. You could return your mattress within a 90 days period at full cash back conditions or within 365 days after purchase at full price return on a voucher, at least at this side of the pond, so the risk of a bad investment is relative low.

Thanks for the thought. I went through the IKEA in Schaumburg IL a few weeks back and tried everything they had out. Nothing felt comfortable for me. They are also ~ 3 hours away so the logistics would be tricky. They punch toward the lower end of the market, I have had various experiences with their products. But their meatball dinner is excellent!