Mattresses - What’s working for you?

Hello Everyone,

Several years ago, my wife and I bought a Select Comfort mattress that was heavenly. Over the years, the pillow-top that made it so nice has flattened - making pressure points at various points on my body (I’m a side sleeper. Best way I’ve found to not fight gravity to breathe while sleeping.).

Now looking at the “Purple” mattress and their associated line of products. Hoping to make what little rest I get just a bit more restful...

What types have worked well for you guys?

Thanks in advance!

Brent / Argy / ArgyrosfeniX

 

Welcome to the forum
Interesting topic. I'm happy with a basic traditional sprung medium to firm mattress. But have to avoid memory foam at all costs or I get dreadful night sweats and no sleep at all.

 

I am currently using a medium firm pocket sprung mattress, with the largest number of pockets that seemed reasonable at the time I ordered it, I currently have no idea how many this is.

On top of this I have a fairly thick (i.e. a couple of inches) bamboo mattress topper, which can be rotated so it doesn't get crushed in one place over time, and of course it's replaceable, although you can get cheap mattresses for what it cost (around £80 if memory serves).

 

I use a tempur mattress. It's not quite the thickest -one down from that, I think.

It made a difference to me in comfort, but as @Liv aka Mrs Sowester says, if have night sweats etc.....not so great.

On the other hand, if you feel the cold, it's quite good. Snuggly.

 

I use a very firm pocket sprung with 2 thick feather & down mattress toppers - so the support is very firm but no pressure point issues. I cant get on with memory foam because i find it too hot plus it takes effort to turn over -to get yourself out of the dip created by your body when you sink in, so if you're severely affected that can be an issue unless someone else is turning you. I toss & turn a lot & got PEM from being on a memory foam mattress for 2 days.

You may also want to research mattress off gassing, especially if you're chemically sensitive/have asthma, as the fire retardants they impregnate mattresses with (esp foam ones) are mean.

Quite a lot of companies now do sleep trials so you can send a mattress back after 30/60 days if it's not comfortable.

 

Yeah, this can be an issue. They do come in different thickness levels and the thickness affects how firm the memory foam mattress is.

 

I need a high quality firm spring mattress. No pillow-top, no memory foam. Old fashioned but so comfortable !

On average, when I buy a new mattress, I return the first two and I keep the third one. My back kills me when I don’t have a proper mattress, so much that even turning in bed is like torture.

I like this site for information and reviews : http://www.sleeplikethedead.com/bed-mattress-review-home.html

 

Thats interesting, the one in question was very deep - deeper than a standard sprung mattress

 

I have a medium firm pocket sprung (1600 I think) with a light memory foam top layer. The all memory foam ones I found difficult to reposition due to hip pain etc (it's a sort of shuffle and turn affair that happens several times in the night ...I effectively got stuck in quicksand in the memory foam ). I don't have night sweats any more thank goodness so that isn't a big problem for me now.

 

Yeah, when I was buying mine they explained it. You've got your memory foam and you've got the backing. As far as I can recall, when I bought mine there were three levels. The more memory foam, the softer.....I think.

I know the hardest was just a bit too hard for me - I was just too sore. The softest, too soft. The middle one, as they say, was just right.

That was a while ago, so they may well have updated the range.

 

Was the shop owned by three bears?

 

Memory Foam nearly killed my body creating more pain and was very hot. However, the Purple brand is made differently so I don't know how it will perform. I was thinking about it but it only comes in a LONG Twin and would not fit my bottom mattress so when I get another mattress I think I will get another Serta Pedic "Alleena" pillow top if they have it. My mattress will be 8 years old this summer and they say to get a new mattress every 8 years if possible.

 

Haha @Liv aka Mrs Sowester

 

TBF isn't it mainly people who sell mattresses that say this? I'm not really disputing the figure, as I don't think I've had a mattress last that long before it became a problem, but before believing it I'd want to see peer reviewed studies, not funded by mattress makers, or sellers

 

I think PwME get the dreaded "well" in their mattresses at least 2.5X sooner, due to being in them at least 2.5X more than your average 8hour bedrester.

Latex seems to last much longer before breaking down, but beware, some of it is impossibly stinky and ensickening.
I got mine from sleeponlatex.com and it's fantastic. It has a mild smell of burnt milk out of the package but after airing does not bother me or make me ill (i have also MCS so mattress-buying is a huge dilemma.)

 

A lot of these issues were on my mind too, JemPD. It’s one of the reasons I’m looking so closely at the Purple brand of products. They have three different layers for solidity at different depths. Their foam is a new type that supposedly breathes - preventing the overheating/sweating issues. They also claim to not having any off gassing like other foam mattresses.

Wife and I are going to see if we can find a retailer where we can test one.

 

Heard back from Purple this afternoon.

They have 3 markets right now (where they’re heavily invested). Washington DC, California and Texas.

We live in a suburb of Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota - about as far away from all three markets as you can get in the continental US.

Wife and I will talk some more and likely do their 100 day / 100% money back trial period.

Thanks again, Everyone!

Brent / Argy / ArgyrosfeniX

 

I found information that the Purple Mattress isn't supposed to get hot, per their experiments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLDLRx2atLQ

Also, let us know if you get it and did the 100-day test. In time I will need a new mattress. Also, do regular sheets fit? I think it comes in a Twin but only a long twin which is a pain but as long as it will still take sheets I can buy at Walmart and isn't way too deep or way too shallow then I can get it.

 

I had to go to some trouble to get "organic" beds here in California as at the time we purchased new ones (about 10 years back) my state had legislated that all beds be sprayed with some pretty worrisome chemicals as a fire-prevention measure.

Having CFS, I didn't want to risk the exposure, so I got a doctor's note. The wife and I got a sprung bed with a thick latex and wool topper. For my son, we went pure latex. If I had a do-over, I'd have gone pure latex for us too. The boy's bed is a dream. Not that I can complain about ours.

Bill

 

Hi Melanie,

We did the 100 day test. My wife laid on it for about two minutes and said it felt "disgusting". I stayed on it the first night and was actually cold due to the airflow and cold room. I also was heavy enough (255#/116kg) to sink through the first squishy layer into the more solid layer, so it wasn't as comfortable as it might otherwise have been. We decided to return it almost immediately. Purple's policy is to have a company come and collect it to give as a donation. They didn't have any companies that came out to our area, so to get our money back, we had to find someone to donate it to. Was lucky that one of my coworkers was looking for a bed at the time and was very interested. They got a bed they love and I was able to get my money back!

Wife and I are planning on going to a store called "Mattress Sherpa", whose business model is to have a showroom for various online mattresses for people to come in and try. We'll see if there's anything there that works for both of us.

Brent / Argy / ArgyrosfeniX