Need help buying a new mattress?

Question

I need a comfortable bed that is not too hard or soft.

Answer 1

Firm talalay latex with a wool fleece pad.

http://www.foambymail.com/LatexMattress....

http://www.cuddledown.com/shopping/produ...

Answer 2

I was in the industry for 18 years but have been out of it since 2003. I will try to give advice from my experience.

If I were you I would stay away from the firms, these days firm means ROCK HARD in the mattress business. I would also stay away from the pillow-tops, these were what we got the most returns for (due to body impressions, sagging and the panels shifting).

I would go with a plush or plush firm.

Mattresses use a pad or net to insulate the foam from the innerspring unit. This keeps the foam from pressing into the innerspring unit. Look for a mattress that has padding as an insulator This will give you support down in the mattress and help keep the mattress from going limp on you.

As far as the innerspring unit goes, I would look for a continuous coil unit. Instead of having seperate coils afixed together (by wire or pocket), it has a single piece of wire formed into coils that run from head to foot or side to side. This allows you to use a lighter guage wire to make the springs (giving more "feel" to the bed) while maintaining good support. Don't let the smaller guage of wire used to make these units scare you off. You can run over them with a forklift and they will come right back. This is the type of unit that your hotels use. When I left the industry in '03 Serta had these units.

The memory foam is the only thing that I have seen that really makes a big difference, as far as the foam and fill that goes into them is concerned. Be careful of the "silk" and/or "wool" blends. These can be a total rip-off. Some of the blends are as little as 5% silk or wool. There are different qualities of the pillow-fills, just don't pay more for a marketing gimmick that has no real benefit.

When you are shopping for a mattress don't buy one just because of the pretty material (tick) that it is covered with. Find a mattress with the features that you are looking for and shut your eyes and feel of the material. That is what counts is the way it feels, not the way it looks. It will be covered with sheets anyway.

The place with the lowest % of mark-up is Sam's Club. Some places have as much as a 50% mark-up, Sam's is only like 15%. Sam's sell so much volume that it makes up the difference.

Just shop smart and see what's available at  different places before you buy.

If you have any more questions, I'll try to keep an eye on this.

Answer 3

We have a sleep number bed.  It's great!!!