OT: Mattresses

[reuben]

Originally Posted by Hellgate

At least it didn't change it to Strava.

Ha! I don't do Strava.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by zmudshark

It's time to treat myself.

I have arthritis in my hips and shoulders, and am a side sleeper. I would like to get more than 4 hours sleep in a row. After a few hours I am tossing and turning due to shoulder pain. I am 5'10" and a pudgy 175lbs.

I have been researching for awhile, and get more confused by the minute. My wife has a Tempur-pedic Adapt hybrid, and that is too firm for me (we are old and snore-separate beds).

Hoping someone her can offer advice, because youse guys are really smart.

I've looked at Helix, Purple, Saatva, etc.

Anyone have any advice? I am the sort of person that doesn't return a mattress, so...

I have no advice..we tried some in a state, laid on them, thought it was perfect, it's not..too hard to return BUT
I have sleep apnea, have the 'machine', and yup, separate bedrooms..not a big deal.

[paredown]

I find the whole mattress thing impossible.

Best we have had was an Englander--natural latex plus pillowtop, seemed almost too soft on top, but the body was firm. (I have heard only bad things about the company in recent years so we didn't purchase another.)

We recently replaced it with an Ikea natural latex mattress (looks like they have already dropped it)--and I could not sleep on it-similar reasons to the OP. So we put a Costco memory foam topper on it, and I'm OK. (My lovely wife--who is a back sleeper was fine without the topper...)

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

I have no advice..we tried some in a state, laid on them, thought it was perfect, it's not..too hard to return BUT
I have sleep apnea, have the 'machine', and yup, separate bedrooms..not a big deal.

Have you investigated (or do you have) the new Philips machine? This is what my wife is using, and I can sleep fine--it's a big improvement over being woken up 10 times a night thinking that your sweetie is about to expire!

[Steve K]

Few years ago we went with https://sleepez.com/products/natural-latex-mattress/ latex bed. You can customize different layers on both sides of the bed. And this can be done at anytime if you want to change that up.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by paredown

I find the whole mattress thing impossible.

Best we have had was an Englander--natural latex plus pillowtop, seemed almost too soft on top, but the body was firm. (I have heard only bad things about the company in recent years so we didn't purchase another.)

We recently replaced it with an Ikea natural latex mattress (looks like they have already dropped it)--and I could not sleep on it-similar reasons to the OP. So we put a Costco memory foam topper on it, and I'm OK. (My lovely wife--who is a back sleeper was fine without the topper...)

Have you investigated (or do you have) the new Philips machine? This is what my wife is using, and I can sleep fine--it's a big improvement over being woken up 10 times a night thinking that your sweetie is about to expire!

Have it. I even 'need' 'white noise', and that along with machine..too noisey for wife.

[metalheart]

My wife sleeps very warm and prefers a medium firm mattress while I prefer a very firm mattress. To address sleeping warm we looked at natural latex as a material and to address the need for different preferences in firmness we chose a FloBeds mattress. These are natural latex layers different firmness that stack to compose one mattress: a side for her and a side for me. Has worked well for us, very comfortable.

[sjbraun]

We first purchased a Loom & Leaf by Saatva and remain very happy with it. When we moved that bed was placed in the guest room and we purchased Saatva's Classic model. They are very comfortable for each of us, my wife a back sleeper and me, a side sleeper.

[yngpunk]

Originally Posted by zmudshark

It's time to treat myself.

Anyone have any advice? I am the sort of person that doesn't return a mattress, so...

Most of the "mattress in a box" companies have a 90+ day sleep guarantee, since you can't really tell how well a mattress suits you by just laying on it in a store for a couple of minutes and some say it requires 90 days to fully adjust and determine if the mattress is right for you.

Conceivably, you could get a new mattress every couple of months until you find something you like. I hear that the return process is pretty easy...and that many/most will arrange to have the mattress picked up and likely donated. Still a hassle, but not the logistical issue that it once was, and a certain percentage of returns is likely built into the price

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by yngpunk

Conceivably, you could get a new mattress every couple of months until you find something you like. I hear that the return process is pretty easy...and that many/most will arrange to have the mattress picked up and likely donated. Still a hassle, but not the logistical issue that it once was, and a certain percentage of returns is likely built into the price

Or buy three at once and audition them back to back, just as you do when buying stereo speakers. Return the bottom two and add two more, or call it a day (night?)

The key challenge with this, aside from having a modest amount of money tied up, and the floor space necessary, is the repacking of the mattresses when you're ready to send them back. It sure looks like they're not designed to get smaller and more compact once they've been freed...

[Dude]

We're in a similar position...we need a new mattress. And every time I'm like "I'm buying a mattress online today" I go the wirecutter and I'm immediately overwhelmed and I end up not buying a mattress.

I think this thread, while vast and full of knowledge, demonstrates just how hard it is to buy a mattress online. Ask 25 people and you'll get 25 answers....and they're generally pretty happy with their purchase. So you're kind of back to square one.

Going to a store and laying on all of them isn't really an option - covid, young kids, etc and frankly I hate the mattress buying process.

My solution will be either to just order a Leesa because it's not categorically hated OR go to Ikea and get the most expensive mattress.


PS: That jilt.co article about Casper and their content strategy and how the internet is manipulative and full of "traps" - having worked in digital marketing I have opinions on this but will save them for another time.

[benb]

I'm a lot younger but unfortunately my wife and I have spent about $7k on mattresses since we have been married... (12 years)

I think the mattress industry is about as scammy as they come and I don't think there is much value in expensive mattress brand names. Especially the foam ones.

We had a Tempur Pedic ($2k) and a Prana Latex ($4k) both fail pretty fast and got nowhere with warranty claims. At that point why would we not just go with a cheaper internet option since they are all just selling a stack of foam sheets of varying density? The expensive brands are selling you their brand name as if it provides value but they don't stand behind the product in any way to justify the higher prices. There are huge price differences and little to no evidence of anything scientific or methodical going on to actually design a better mattress.

We've got a $1k Posture pedic right now that has been every bit as comfortable and appears to be long lasting. It's got memory foam over coils.

I'm a side sleeper too, and being a cyclist I have a lot less padding than my wife.. I think lying on the matresses in the store can be really misleading.. at least for me/us I think they fool us into getting a firmer mattress that ends up hurting if you are on it all night. The ultra firm Tempurpedic & Prana would have me waking up pretty sore.

I would love to figure out how to sleep on my back. Even I manage I'll wake up on my left side, and I think it contributes to muscle imbalances and posture stuff.. stiff on one side and the shoulder that's off the bed gets stretched out.

It is also really easy to blame your mattress for your back hurting when it's something you did during the day and you just don't feel it till you stiffen up while sleeping... I definitely have had this effect from cycling where I'm straining my back while riding but don't feel it till I sleep on it.

[yngpunk]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

The key challenge with this, aside from having a modest amount of money tied up, and the floor space necessary, is the repacking of the mattresses when you're ready to send them back. It sure looks like they're not designed to get smaller and more compact once they've been freed...

From what I've read, no need to physically get the mattress to a shipper or re-pack it for that matter....they'll come to your house and haul away the mattress you're returning...just like buying a mattress from a B&M store.

If you really want to test drive a mattress, you need to commit to the full trial period to fully evaluate if it will work or not...plus I don't think you can return the mattress before the trial period is up.

[bravebear]

I went through my first mattress purchase a year ago (after taking on old mattresses from family and friends). It's quite a overwhelming market out there. My research online turned up many different thoughts. Best advice was to find a locally owned store or manufacturer.

Some good resources here: https://www.themattressunderground.com/

If you're in the northeast, and can get to the Boston area, I've been happy with my Gardner mattress https://www.gardnermattress.com/

[jlwdm]

I always go to Costco. Lots of choices, best return policy and best overall customer service.

Jeff

[gasman]

I’ve been down the mattress road myself over the last several years. Because of my restless legs syndrome my wife and I sleep in separate bedrooms. I bought and returned several mattresses and I gotta say that trying them in the store is a very different experience than sleeping on one for a week.
I think mattresses are like saddles, there is not one that works for all of us.
Agreed that the mattress industry tries to keep it way too complicated and expensive.