Mattresses?

[FlaSoxxJim]

I seriously got a 5k mattress for like 1500 bucks. Best deal I have ever received on anything.

 

Hope you gave it the ol' black light test first.

 

 

 

[santo=dorf]

I sleep on a mattress that is directly on a floor. It sucks. I haven't had a good night's rest in a month.

 

 

 

I'm working on it.

[Rex Hudler]

Soxlife, you pushed one of my hot buttons. I bought a mattress this summer and spent several months shopping, testing and researching. Here are a few things I found.

 

1. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MATTRESS SALE. Mattresses are always discounted off of "retail" price and no one ever pays retail. If you don't believe me, go shopping for a mattress and write the specific model down. Then, wait until that store has a sale and check out the price. It's no different. Mattress "sales" are simply marketing what they already do. That said, in some places you can negotiate a deal, but never be fooled by newspaper ads, signs, and "special offers".

 

2. The mattress companies have their own racket going, making it virtually impossible to comparison shop. You can walk into three different stores that sell Simmons, Serta, Sealy, etc. and none of them carry the same models. Each store carries model names that are unique to them in a certain area. You may find an occasional duplication but it is rare.

 

The key is to find out the composition of the mattress. What is it made of? What kind of foams? How thick are the foams? Memory foam or latex? Finding out exactly what each mattress has in it, will help you compare. For example, Simmons has a high end bed called the Medalist Blvd (plush or pillowtop). In another store it may be called the Lindbergh View (same mattress). Others may have a different name.

 

3. How you sleep will help determine what you need. Are you a front, back or side sleeper? What do you weigh? Back problems? Those kinds of things will help figure out how to narrow down what will work for you.

 

4. Don't go cheap unless you want to buy again in a few years. As others have mentioned, you spend a lot of your life on a mattress, most of it sleeping. A quality mattress can give you a better night's sleep and keep you from having back, shoulder and neck pains.

 

5. Each place will tell you why theirs is better and why their competitions is not. Simmons dealers will tell you how their individually pocketed coils are great because they provide great motion separation, meaning two people can sleep comfortably without disturbing the other (hence their bowling ball example). Stores that don't carry Simmons will talk about high rate of returns and a lack of durability because the individually pocketed coils are not intertwined.

 

I eventually chose a Serta Perfect Day Super Pillow Top. Below is a link. The link lists the model as an Uplifting, while mine was called the Enlivenment. Note the pricing for the bed at this link. It shows the King as regularly $5100. Nobody pays the regular price anywhere (see #1). I got mine locally for $2200 including tax, delivery and a frame. If you don't like the prices you are getting locally, don't be afraid to check out online options. Be sure to see their return policies and understand them before you do. But if you test a bed and are pretty comfortable that it is the right one for you, then save a few bucks. You just don't have the convenience of the local store if you decide quickly you bought the wrong model.

 

Serta Perfect Day Uplifting Super Pillow Top

 

I chose the Serta because it has a stronger innerspring system than Simmons and I am not a small guy. I wanted something that was going to last me for a long time, so I paid more for durability. They also say that memory foam mattresses tend to sleep hot. Serta has technology that reduces this and it has not been a problem for me at all.

 

Here is a good resources to learn more. It is an ongoing Q&A from Charlotte, NC that is very informative. They are a Simmons dealer and their info tends to slant toward Simmons, but they are pretty objective. They give you good information and offer pretty good prices. I liked Simmons mattresses a lot and almost went with the Medalist Blvd. I would have gone with the Quinlan SPT or the Florin SPT if I did not need the strongest spring system. I did not find Sealy's very comfortable, but that is just me.

 

Check out the links and take your time. Go shopping with your wife or girlfriend (preferrably not both) and lay in each bed for more than just a few minutes. Two minutes on the bed in a store will not give you a good enough read on its comfort. Hope my painful, drawn out experience can help you in some way or another. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

 

Ask the Expert - Charlotte

[sox4lifeinPA]

Soxlife, you pushed one of my hot buttons. I bought a mattress this summer and spent several months shopping, testing and researching. Here are a few things I found.

 

1. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MATTRESS SALE. Mattresses are always discounted off of "retail" price and no one ever pays retail. If you don't believe me, go shopping for a mattress and write the specific model down. Then, wait until that store has a sale and check out the price. It's no different. Mattress "sales" are simply marketing what they already do. That said, in some places you can negotiate a deal, but never be fooled by newspaper ads, signs, and "special offers".

 

2. The mattress companies have their own racket going, making it virtually impossible to comparison shop. You can walk into three different stores that sell Simmons, Serta, Sealy, etc. and none of them carry the same models. Each store carries model names that are unique to them in a certain area. You may find an occasional duplication but it is rare.

 

The key is to find out the composition of the mattress. What is it made of? What kind of foams? How thick are the foams? Memory foam or latex? Finding out exactly what each mattress has in it, will help you compare. For example, Simmons has a high end bed called the Medalist Blvd (plush or pillowtop). In another store it may be called the Lindbergh View (same mattress). Others may have a different name.

 

3. How you sleep will help determine what you need. Are you a front, back or side sleeper? What do you weigh? Back problems? Those kinds of things will help figure out how to narrow down what will work for you.

 

4. Don't go cheap unless you want to buy again in a few years. As others have mentioned, you spend a lot of your life on a mattress, most of it sleeping. A quality mattress can give you a better night's sleep and keep you from having back, shoulder and neck pains.

 

5. Each place will tell you why theirs is better and why their competitions is not. Simmons dealers will tell you how their individually pocketed coils are great because they provide great motion separation, meaning two people can sleep comfortably without disturbing the other (hence their bowling ball example). Stores that don't carry Simmons will talk about high rate of returns and a lack of durability because the individually pocketed coils are not intertwined.

 

I eventually chose a Serta Perfect Day Super Pillow Top. Below is a link. The link lists the model as an Uplifting, while mine was called the Enlivenment. Note the pricing for the bed at this link. It shows the King as regularly $5100. Nobody pays the regular price anywhere (see #1). I got mine locally for $2200 including tax, delivery and a frame. If you don't like the prices you are getting locally, don't be afraid to check out online options. Be sure to see their return policies and understand them before you do. But if you test a bed and are pretty comfortable that it is the right one for you, then save a few bucks. You just don't have the convenience of the local store if you decide quickly you bought the wrong model.

 

Serta Perfect Day Uplifting Super Pillow Top

 

I chose the Serta because it has a stronger innerspring system than Simmons and I am not a small guy. I wanted something that was going to last me for a long time, so I paid more for durability. They also say that memory foam mattresses tend to sleep hot. Serta has technology that reduces this and it has not been a problem for me at all.

 

Here is a good resources to learn more. It is an ongoing Q&A from Charlotte, NC that is very informative. They are a Simmons dealer and their info tends to slant toward Simmons, but they are pretty objective. They give you good information and offer pretty good prices. I liked Simmons mattresses a lot and almost went with the Medalist Blvd. I would have gone with the Quinlan SPT or the Florin SPT if I did not need the strongest spring system. I did not find Sealy's very comfortable, but that is just me.

 

Check out the links and take your time. Go shopping with your wife or girlfriend (preferrably not both) and lay in each bed for more than just a few minutes. Two minutes on the bed in a store will not give you a good enough read on its comfort. Hope my painful, drawn out experience can help you in some way or another. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

 

Ask the Expert - Charlotte

 

Rex, I had no idea when I asked this question that I had access to any of your hot buttons, let alone the mattress one.

 

Thanks a lot for your information. This is amazing. Miss PA and I will be sleeping like a King and Queen...on a King sized bed.

 

and FWIW, it's PA not Soxlife, but it's cool.

[Rex Hudler]

Rex, I had no idea when I asked this question that I had access to any of your hot buttons, let alone the mattress one.

 

Thanks a lot for your information. This is amazing. Miss PA and I will be sleeping like a King and Queen...on a King sized bed.

 

and FWIW, it's PA not Soxlife, but it's cool.

 

 

Sorry about that. From now on I will just call you Mr. PA.

 

In all seriousness mattress shopping can be a major headache. Having knowledge going in will help. Good luck.

Edited December 20, 2006 by Rex Hudler

[Heads22]

BREAKING NEWS:

 

I do not, in fact, have a Serta. It is a Therapedic Posture Control 6000. I actually can't find it on Google, but that's waht the little corner thing says. Either way, it's damn comfortable when covered with a mattress pad.

[Rex Hudler]

One other note on the all-foam mattresses such as the Tempurpedic....

 

1. I didn't like them because while they conform to your body, they do so to a degree it is hard to move around in them. I felt like I had to swim to get out of it and it was very hard to roll over.

 

2. I do hear a lot of reports that they sleep very hot, so if you tend to sweat at all when you sleep, it will be worse with these. The way to help combat this is to buy better sheets 400TC or above and keep the room you sleep in cooler. So basically to stay comfortable, you have to spend even more money.

 

That said, I know people that swear by them.

[YASNY]

One other note on the all-foam mattresses such as the Tempurpedic....

 

1. I didn't like them because while they conform to your body, they do so to a degree it is hard to move around in them. I felt like I had to swim to get out of it and it was very hard to roll over.

 

2. I do hear a lot of reports that they sleep very hot, so if you tend to sweat at all when you sleep, it will be worse with these. The way to help combat this is to buy better sheets 400TC or above and keep the room you sleep in cooler. So basically to stay comfortable, you have to spend even more money.

 

That said, I know people that swear by them.

 

I have a 2 inch temperpedic type pad on top of a spring mattress. I highly recommend it.

[sox4lifeinPA]

Hmm in my case, we are talking tickle fights and phone calls to boys.

 

gay-f**

[Balta1701]

BREAKING NEWS:

 

I do not, in fact, have a Serta. It is a Therapedic Posture Control 6000. I actually can't find it on Google, but that's waht the little corner thing says. Either way, it's damn comfortable when covered with a mattress pad.

There's probably a good reason you can't find it on Google. Most mattress companies these days put out probably something like dozens of different names for the same mattress. That way, when you hear a store running an ad saying "If anyone beats our advertised price your mattress is free" or something like that, they can do that without worrying, because every other major store selling mattresses made by that same company has a different model name for the same mattress.

 

I bought a Simmons, spent some decent money on it a year ago. Thoroughly good so far, quite comfortable, nice upgrade from the ungodly old collapsing one I had beforehand.

[Iwritecode]

I think I'm one of the last people in the world that still has a waterbed. I love it. Keeps me nice and warm in the winter. That is a huge factor considering my bedroom is in the basement.

 

It also has 2 sets of drawers underneath it so it sits about 3 feet off the ground.

[sox4lifeinPA]

I think I'm one of the last people in the world that still has a waterbed. I love it. Keeps me nice and warm in the winter. That is a huge factor considering my bedroom is in the basement.

 

It also has 2 sets of drawers underneath it so it sits about 3 feet off the ground.

 

waterbeds

[Rex Hudler]

I think I'm one of the last people in the world that still has a waterbed. I love it. Keeps me nice and warm in the winter. That is a huge factor considering my bedroom is in the basement.

 

It also has 2 sets of drawers underneath it so it sits about 3 feet off the ground.

 

 

I had a 90 or 95% motionless waterbed and loved it. But I moved three times in two years. That was the end of the waterbed.

 

I have a 2 inch temperpedic type pad on top of a spring mattress. I highly recommend it.

 

Memory foam (visco) is a very high grade foam and will last longer and have less body impressions than standard foams. Mine mattress has it as part of the makeup of the pillowtop. I definitely recommend either visco or latex. But the all foam beds are just different to me.

[shipps]

The American Matress song sticks out in my head so they must be good.AmERRRRICAN Matress!To have a midnight dream call 1-800-something,something,something tooodaayyyy!