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thegreek_gw

Bed/Mattress questions

thegreek
18 years ago

First things first, am I posting in the right place?

I am interested in feedback from people on memory foam mattresses. I am tall and heavy, is this kind of matress even a viable option for someone like me who is already an insomniac? Are there any good matress blogs?

Thanks in advance!

Comments (14)

  • steve_o
    18 years ago

    You are in the right place. However, you would do yourself well to go back to the topics page and click on the search toward the bottom of the page. Search for mattresses (or mattresses foam). There already are a couple of threads still on this forum discussing exactly what you're looking for.

  • hamptonmeadow
    18 years ago

    Memory foam is hot for those who don't like to sleep hot. It also makes it difficult for one to turnover and feels "dead" to those who don't like it.

    You might prefer latex which is not hot and is easy to turnover in. But look for Latex that doesn't have any other kinds of foam as edges etc.

  • steve_a
    18 years ago

    Regarding memoryfoam being hot. Yes, we have recently purchased a memoryfoam mattress and I sleep hot on it. My wife does not, she's very happy with it. FYI its a Millenium kit from memoryfoam.com, a company that I would recommend, and I also recommend their website for info. I have added a Coolmax mattress pad and that has helped the hot situation some. Next sheet change, I'm going to double up a cotton sheet under the fitted sheet on my side to see if that helps more. All this being said, I still love the mattress and have not found the heat issue to cause me to lose sleep. The site I mentioned had several different mattresses, including latex, designed for different types of sleepers. Worth a look. Steve

  • hamptonmeadow
    18 years ago

    I agree, memoryfoam.com is a good place to look. They have everything.

  • Confused_in_Carolina
    18 years ago

    We are looking for a mattress for our new King sized bedroom that will arrive in about 3 weeks. Needless to say we have been looking all over at the various types and styles. The ones we seem to like the best are the latex with some memory foam at the top. However, neither of us have ever owned anything like this, all previous mattresses have had springs. Of course with the traditional springs mattresses without fail, they all started to have the springs felt through the top, or sag in the middle.

    It seems that the latex would be less likely to have problems with the sagging. But now we are more confused than ever. With the costs involved we are reluctant to make a purchase we would soon regret. Any opinions or advice would be welcome.

  • randiik
    17 years ago

    i am looking for a mattress pad to help my memory foam stay cooler. i am not sure which one is made for that. i have the foam already and it gets pretty hot and i have heard that there are pads to put over it to help cool it. does anyone know where to get those? thanks so much ;) randiik

  • steve_a
    17 years ago

    randiik: I've tried several solutions to the heat problem on memoryfoam and haven't found a real solution yet. However, that being said, I've gotten used to it, it's a part-time problem for me, so overall I'm ok with our memoryfoam mattress. Sleeping hot is a complex issue that involves more than the mattress material. I've tried the expensive high-tech mattress pads that are supposed to alleviate this problem, and they don't work for me. I've also tried using natural materials (wool and cotton) for a pad and find some slight improvement there. I think that the thicker the cotton pad, the more it helps. Of course that may affect the feel of the memoryfoam somewhat. That's my experience, anyway. I've also read (on the mattress forum referred to above) that latex sleeps cooler than memoryfoam. I'd like to try a 1" latex pad, but that's an expensive solution. Good luck.

  • raygunclan
    16 years ago

    we too are looking for a mattress. and i too had my heart set on memory foam. a friend of the family works for serta and so we get a pretty hearty discount. so serta it is. i went into the showroom and talked to the salesman about the mattresses. he says memory foam is great, but that latex is awesome. so i tried the memory foam matress. it was comfy, but to be honest a little hard. then i tried the latex. WOW!!! what a darn difference!!! he says that latex doesn't get hot, and that it has a whopping 30 year warranty! i must say that i hope that i don't have my mattress in 30 years, but the sales guy says that i would be able to give it away in 30 years.
    one problem that we encountered with our current mattress, a simmons pillowtop, is that we have created sleeping troughs (although i am pretty sure that this isn't what they are called!) on our mattress. my husband and i aren't big heavy people, so this is rather annoying. the sales guy said that the latex pillowtops don't settle like the fiber does so you should never have any sort of trough. he said that if you do, it would be covered by a warranty!
    good luck with your purchase! i'm sure other manufacturers make a latex pillowtop mattress. you should go check it out! it was truly amazing! i can't wait to take delivery!!!!!

  • tucker2930
    16 years ago

    I have had a tempurpedic Rhapsody bed for the last 60 days. I will call them tomorrow to have it picked up. Too hot.

  • dcollie
    16 years ago

    Ho Boy....lots of misconceptions there I want to dispel if can, or at least plant the seed of doubt. My opinions based on selling all types of bedding over the years.

    * Memory Foam is great if your idea of a good nights sleep is being stuck in a pocket of your own sweat because the product is conforming to your body. Its not "contouring for comfort", its holding you in place with no airflow. 'Nuff said.

    * "Creating a Trough" is called "Body impressions" in a bed and is the key sign the bed has broken down. Its never a warranty item, regardless how many years the warranty may state. When body impressions no longer come out after rotating the bed and flipping the matt, its time for a new bed. The internals of the bed have collapsed due to use. For most beds that happens at the 6 to 8 year mark, but most people tolerate it for another 3 to 4 years before they buy a new bed.

    * Latex beds are much better than Memory Foam...MUCH. I'd not expect any of them - even the best in the industry - to go 30 years however.

    * Warranties in bed-world are there if something breaks DUE TO MANUFACTURER'S DEFECTS, not if it wears out or you get body impressions. It is no guarantee of how long a bed will last. Most bedding warranties are not worth the paper they are written on, so read the fine print before you put much faith in them.

    Good luck and don't fall victim to the salesmans pitch....

    Duane Collie

  • mogator88
    16 years ago

    About mattress warranties... like most warranties, they cover things that break under normal usage. I know someone who had a "successful" warranty replacement. A spring broke and was poking through the side of the bed. That's an example of something covered under warranty.

    A "trough" in the bed is usually NOT a warranty issue, its generally wear and usage. However the spring beds we sell have been using better materials in the last few years to combat this. This could be a long topic in itself.

    The length of a warranty is NOT an indication of how long a bed will last. So if a bed has a 20 year warranty, don't expect it to last anywhere near 20 years. Similarly, if a bed has a 3 year warranty, you often CAN expect it will last longer than that. The warranty is simply how long a factory will do something for you if a spring pokes through.

    FWIW, I sleep on a Tempur-Pedic and I love it. We have zoned heat and don't need to use as much heat in our bedroom. Summertime is fine for us too.

  • marys1000
    16 years ago

    Just to add my bit of experience - with a memory foam pillow I bought at JCP.
    I keep my heat set at around 68 and my bed is near a window and perhaps a bit cooler than that.
    I had the memory foam on one side of the bed and a feather on the other. When I moved from the feather to the foam - it felt really noticeably cool. Its also a little stiffer when cool. It warms up from your body heat pretty quickly but its a bit of a shock. Of course the pillow is more exposed than the mattress but still.

  • Tmnca
    13 years ago

    We have a memory foam mattress and while I LOVE it (my back and shoulder pain has gone away) my husband found it too hot. I bought a thin wool mattress protector - not a fleece type but more like a wool flat blanket. It absorbs moisture and breathes, and is thin enough so it does not interfere with the heat-response properties of the mattress.

    As a fellow insomniac, I understand the fears of something interrupting sleep, but I sleep far better on this mattress than ever on anything else.

    Also I love that it is not bouncy, when DH turns over in bed I do not get woken up by his movement.

  • flowerpetals582
    11 years ago

    I need some advice. My boyfriend and I just got a new matress about a week ago. It is a serta iseries firm mattress with a gel memory foam pillow top. My boyfriend loves the bed, says he has slept so much better. I on the other hand have slept horribly since we got it, even worse than I did on our old one. I wake up with a headache some days and every day so far I have gotten up feeling pain in my neck, middle and lower back, and also my hips. I am mostly a side sleeper and I am unsure what to do. The odds of us returning the mattress are slim since my bf is happy with it, but I can't sleep like this every night. I was thinking may be a topper for my side would help. I liked the feel of the latex mattresses when we were looking, so I am thinking a latex topper,but I don't know what will help me sleep better and wake up feeling rested and not sore. Any help or thoughts would be great.