Looking for a an affordable mattress yet comfy

wytstang

wytstang

I see you.....
All right well my mattress is just about done (dip in the middle and small back acke)) and good solid night sleeps are not happening often enough. After spending a weekend at my sister inlaws home I got a chance to sleep on a Sealy Posture Premier matress. Fist 2 nights it was an absolute dream to sleep on very deep and instant sleep (didn't want to get up and took naps during the day just to stay on it), then the very last night I tossed and turned a lot and woke up with a small back ache. I know the pillows we had were a bit to puffy for me and may have been the reason (neck angled high) but it didn't bother me the first 2 days. So I don't know if I should just pull the trigger and hope for the best. What are *YOU* sleeping on and how do *YOU* like it?? I need a Quenn size and looking to stay at most $800.
 
I think most of the big names are about the same and you get what you pay for. If you flop on a matress in the store and it feels too hard...stay on it a while longer...I think the ones that feel too hard initially are right, the ones that feel good right away in the store wind up being too soft. I've always been intrigued by the Tempurpedic...apparently the patent has run out and a local (NY/NJ/PA) chain has some Chinese imitations that are about half the price, which puts them in the ballpark of a premium (but reasonable) regular mattress...might be worth a look. Be careful with those bed stores, they are like car dealers with the upsell and hidden costs.
 
We decided to try out the memory foam mattress they offer at Costco/Costco.com and after buying 2 of the mattresses (1 twin, 1 full) we bought another Cal King for my father-in-law so we now have a total of 3 in our house.



I read how some people found the memory foam mattresses to retain heat or it feels like sleeping on a big bag of flour, but I've yet to experience that. I am a bit on the heavier side, so if you're skinny it may not feel as soft to you as it would for me. People also complained of a funky smell for the first couple of nights. The first 2 beds I bought hardly had a smell. The Cal King we later bought had a slight smell (goes away quickly), but the smell isn't anything overpowering where you couldn't sleep or stay in the room.



We decided to buy 2 of the beds anyway because Costco runs the coupon deals for them every few months and our current beds at the time needed replacement anyway. I figured if I didn't like it, I could return it to Costco without being hassled.



The first time I laid on it to go to sleep, as my body "sunk" in and with my eyes closed, it literally felt like I was rising and floating in air. My wife described the same feeling. For the first time in a VERY long time I woke up that next morning with no backache whatsoever.



It's been the best bed I've slept on ever. I get hot and sweaty easily, but I have yet to find that the bed retains heat to the point where it's uncomfortable. It retains as much heat as about any other bed. If there's anything to complain about, I have noticed that the bed feels a bit softer now, but part of the blame lies in my frame and the boxspring.



Other than that, I think the Costco memory foam mattresses are one of the best bang for your buck. To get a similar bed, not only traditional, but also memory foam, you would have to spend a lot more, double if not triple the price.
 
I'm hoping I can afford to save up for an Intellibed, but they're way out of your price range. If there's a store near you, try one out and you'll see what I mean. On second thought, don't, you'll get spoiled and wind up spending more money than you can afford. :chuckle:



There is a good chance I'll wind up with a memory foam bed, at least for a few years. My wife's all in favor of a bed that doesn't transfer motion from my side of the bed to her's during the night.
 
velobard said:
I'm hoping I can afford to save up for an Intellibed, but they're way out of your price range. If there's a store near you, try one out and you'll see what I mean. On second thought, don't, you'll get spoiled and wind up spending more money than you can afford. :chuckle:



There is a good chance I'll wind up with a memory foam bed, at least for a few years. My wife's all in favor of a bed that doesn't transfer motion from my side of the bed to her's during the night.
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Looks good but yeah more then I want to spend. Keep them coming
 
The brand King Koil is a good product and a good value. Good Housekeeping and some chiropractic society approve of them....hooray. They all run on the firm side, no plush softies so be aware of that. Look for a "no flip" mattress they have better construction than the old flip style. The no flips may be quite a bit thicker and call for fitted sheets with deep pockets. Instead of a box spring buy a platform, they support the mattress much better and don't conk out like a box spring does. A platform will last from now till doomsday regardless of your mattress choice.



The closeout area can be legit or returned mattresses that people didn't like. Legally they are not supposed to be resold but it's commonplace. Yes I used to sell bedding hence the little tips.....FWIW.
 
RTexasF said:
The brand King Koil is a good product and a good value. Good Housekeeping and some chiropractic society approve of them....hooray. They all run on the firm side, no plush softies so be aware of that. Look for a "no flip" mattress they have better construction than the old flip style. The no flips may be quite a bit thicker and call for fitted sheets with deep pockets. Instead of a box spring buy a platform, they support the mattress much better and don't conk out like a box spring does. A platform will last from now till doomsday regardless of your mattress choice.



The closeout area can be legit or returned mattresses that people didn't like. Legally they are not supposed to be resold but it's commonplace. Yes I used to sell bedding hence the little tips.....FWIW.
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Cool thanks for the tips.
 
So wytstang, are you looking more like your avatar now-a-days! :chuckle:



I was in the same situation about 11 months ago. I was researching and reading all the forums as possible. My wife and I agreed to spend more for a quality mattress and initially set a budget of $2000. Being in Hawaii, we are more limited to the brands available locally as compared to the mainland. Prefer not to mail order as shipping cost would be expensive.



Being middle aged, we felt it was time we deserved a quality bed. A mattress that we can fall asleep in minutes and not want to get out of bed in the morning.



When visiting a store with multiple brands, I always ask which mattress the sales person prefer. My stats show, 4-5 sales people prefer the Simmons brand. After trying several models, we both agreed on the "Oprah Winfrey" bed, a whopping $3500! :shocked



My wife got out the spatula to get me off the floor! I told her, if we were going to spend that amount of money, let's at least look at the Tempur-Pedic and other foam mattresses.



All I can say is that for the last 9 months, each night is just as comfortable as your first 2 nights on your sister's Sealy. I used to stretch every morning due to lower back pain. After about 2 months, no more back pain. Even our kids know better, they are always asking to sleep in our bed. A foam mattress may not suit everyone as some say it is too hot, but we use 100% cotton sheets and have a ceiling fan.



I know it's more than your budget, but it's warrantied for 20 years, dust mite resistant, and never needs flipping. We are now considering Tempur-Pedic toppers for the kids.



The cheapest Tempur-Pedic was a bit too firm for our taste, but I think it starts at about $999. Check out ebay, but verify on warranty claims first.



When you do find that perfect mattress, would you consider changing that freaky avatar? :grinno:
 
I've laid on an actual Tempurpedic, and it doesn't feel as nice or high quality as the NovaForm memory foam mattress from Costco.com. It's too soft and plushy. It also depends on which Tempurpedic, because I believe they have different models with different quality of foam. I've laid in one where it felt cheap, and another which felt almost as good as mine (both were Tempurpedic brand). I really had no clue what I was going to get when I purchased the beds from Costco.com, especially since Costco never has any display model to feel at the actual store. I have a bad back and I never wake up with a sore back anymore. The best deal is when you have the $50 off coupons and it comes around every 3 or 4 months.



Here's a link to the NovaForm. If it doesn't work out for you, you can't beat Costco's return policy (minus their new electronics return policy)



Costco search results for "memory foam"
 
I'm glad you've found the NovaFoam to be your mattress of choice and Costco is a great place to get it. More importantly, your back feels great.



I too tested the NovaFoam, ask people whom have them, and read forums not associated with specific brands. I just decided on the Tempur-Pedic and couldn't be happier. It's just another mattress from many to choose from.



Foam mattresses are not the cure of all mattresses, like the notorious Z---- debate. :soscared:
 
The Tempurpedic folks don't mention that their mattresses are initially stiff from the manufacturing process and need to be "broken in". How? Put it on the floor and walk on it for about 30 minutes total. Sounds ridiculous but it's true. This may be true of other brands featuring memory foam but I don't know that for a fact.



The break in was true back when there was only one model available. Now that there are several they possibly changed the density of the foam so it may no longer be correct.
 
I haven't heard of that break-in method regarding the Tempur-Pedic. It arrives in a large box, fully extended to it's natural size and shape. Ready to use.



In comparison to the foam mattresses you've seen at the warehouse clubs, they are vacuumed sealed and packaged in various sized boxes with wheels. Once you unpack the mattress, the cells need to absorb air. My friend said his Cal-King took about 4-5 days to fully expand.
 
I've never heard of having to break it in.



The warehouse club mattresses comes in a box and its contents are vacuum sealed. Some of the original people who purchased the NovaForm mattresses from Costco complained of the mattresses never fully coming into its shape, but I think this may have been a bad batched and those customers got a really quick replacement too.



It's actually sorta interesting when first cutting open the bag because it starts to take in air right away. Your kids will get a kick out of it. I know I did on the first bed. The bed already comes in a very nice mattress cover and the instructions for cutting the bag and everything is super easy. The hardest part is carrying the box into your room (if you have a 2nd story house) because the box is a good 60-75 lbs (for twin size IIRC) while according to the website, the Cal King is 154 lbs. The 2nd hardest part is getting the contents out of the box. The rest is a matter of laying it on your platform or boxspring, and cutting the line where they tell you to cut.



Within less than 30 mins, the bed will go back into its intended size and shape and within the next couple of days, you might notice it fully getting into its size. It's not something you have to wait 3-4 days before you sleep on it. You can literally sleep on it right away.



Just be ready to buy new sheet covers because if you get a good quality memory foam mattress, it's going to be at least 12" thick and regular sheets won't fit. If you already have one of those thick, pillowtop mattresses then your old sheets might still work. My wife is the one that takes care of that so I can't help out as to what sheets to get.
 
I've been reading and what I found is that stomach sleeper (which I am) have a hard time sleeping on foam mattresses. The only way I can sleep is on my stomach so I'm spretty sure foam is all all togherther. The sinking that occurs makes it difficult to breath properly, not sure if all stomach sleeps have this problem on foam mattresses. I'm going to look for a pillow top non flip mattress.

So wytstang, are you looking more like your avatar now-a-days!
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Only when I wake up, then I have my hazelnut coffee hmmmm.

When you do find that perfect mattress, would you consider changing that freaky avatar?
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Nope I'm kinda fond of it and makes me stand out on such a high volume forum. I know deep down inside you like it lol.
 
I've had a top of the line Sealy Posture Pedic, several Simmons Beauty Rests, a custom made bed from Newport Bedding, an adjustable type hospital bed with a custom mattress, a latex rubber mattress, Tempur-Pedic, Bergad IsoForm, etc, and the best mattresses I've found for “me� so far are the Select comfort mattresses. Not everybody will like them, but that’s what works best for “me�.



The Sealy and all the Simmons mattresses I've had sank after a while and did not maintain a uniform surface. Hopefully these companies are now using a better quality of steel in their springs. The cornerstone of my argument with Simmons was that we still have a ~40+ year Beauty Rest that’s been heavily used by several people and it still is not sinking / dipping, but the newer mattresses they kept giving us all sank within a couple years or sooner. I was too warm in the memory foam mattresses and sweating was an issue at times for me with these mattresses. The key for me was the adjustability of the Select Comfort and we now have 6 of them between our house and a race trailer, one of which is now ~10 years old and still working great.



The one I’m laying on now while typing this in our race trailer is their basic queen and we have it topped with Bergad memory foam. It’s great for me! We also have a top of the line pillow top cal-king Select Comfort in our master bedroom which is really comfy, but again, the key for me is the adjustability of the mattresses and even their lowest cost extra long twins we have are great for me. My biggest problem was and still is that I can’t sleep comfortably in the same bed every night. I also can’t sleep in the same sleep position every night. There are some nights when I hurt a lot more than others or I’m a lot stiffer, etc, and custom tuning the firmness to my liking goes a long ways towards me resting more comfortably and feeling much better in the morning even if I didn’t sleep because of pain, etc. A Select Comfort may not be the best solution for everyone and I don’t always rest easy, but the adjustability gives me something to work with when I need something different and it’s definitely been the best mattress I’ve used so far for my needs.
 
qadsan said:
I've had a top of the line Sealy Posture Pedic, several Simmons Beauty Rests, a custom made bed from Newport Bedding, an adjustable type hospital bed with a custom mattress, a latex rubber mattress, Tempur-Pedic, Bergad IsoForm, etc, and the best mattresses I've found for “me� so far are the Select comfort mattresses. Not everybody will like them, but that’s what works best for “me�.
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Whoa! Do you work for Consumer Reports or what??? I also like the Select Comfort beds. No I haven't slept on one, I can only go from trying them out in the store. That said, I never thought I'd find one I like better until I tried out an Intellibed. You give up the adjustability, but it's so nice I could handle that. Either of these, however, are well beyond the $800 budget range. Well, perhaps SC has a low-end one closer to that, but I really didn't care for their bottom of the line stuff.



wytstang said:
I've been reading and what I found is that stomach sleeper (which I am) have a hard time sleeping on foam mattresses. The only way I can sleep is on my stomach so I'm spretty sure foam is all all togherther. The sinking that occurs makes it difficult to breath properly, not sure if all stomach sleeps have this problem on foam mattresses. I'm going to look for a pillow top non flip mattress.
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Where have to heard about the problems for stomach sleepers? I fall in that category as well, especially since I had a little nerve damage to my big toe that makes the weight of bedcovers uncomfortable at night. I can only lay on my back and keep my foot turned sideways for just so long, and I've never been able to sleep on my side well.



I've only had one pillow-top, but I don't think I'd get one again. I'd much rather just get a replaceable topper, such as the memory foam one qadsan mentioned. My M-I-L also has one and swears by it. The pillow top can pack down and when/if it does you have to replace the whole mattress. I just don't see much of an upside to having it part of the actual mattress.



BTW, I've been seeing ads for foam mattresses that talk about being cooler to sleep on. I can't remember which brand I saw bragging about that recently, but it looks like the industry is trying to address the problem. I have no idea how successful they've been.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I think most of the big names are about the same and you get what you pay for. If you flop on a matress in the store and it feels too hard...stay on it a while longer...I think the ones that feel too hard initially are right, the ones that feel good right away in the store wind up being too soft. I've always been intrigued by the Tempurpedic...apparently the patent has run out and a local (NY/NJ/PA) chain has some Chinese imitations that are about half the price, which puts them in the ballpark of a premium (but reasonable) regular mattress...might be worth a look. Be careful with those bed stores, they are like car dealers with the upsell and hidden costs.
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So true. Mattress sales are like a dark art. It's like buying an appliance. Every store has a price guarantee, but they all name the same exact item by a different name so you can never truly compare apples to apples. You CAN negotiate a mattress price.
 
velobard said:
I'm hoping I can afford to save up for an Intellibed, but they're way out of your price range. If there's a store near you, try one out and you'll see what I mean. On second thought, don't, you'll get spoiled and wind up spending more money than you can afford. :chuckle:



There is a good chance I'll wind up with a memory foam bed, at least for a few years. My wife's all in favor of a bed that doesn't transfer motion from my side of the bed to her's during the night.
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Boy does that ever look like a gimmick. :nervous2:
 
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