simmons beautyrest fan here
I had an ikea firm mattress and loved it. Then we “upgraded” to a Sealy or a Serta something which started out well, but turned to crap within two years. I rotated and flipped it as instructed, and ended up with 4 me-shaped saggy dents in the mattress. Piece of crap. So we dumped that and went to a king-size memory foam mattress (not a tempurpedic) which is totally awesome and I love it.
However, I think that going to a king size is almost more important than the mattress itself when it comes to a good night’s sleep. If we sleep in a queen I wonder how we used to fit comfortably in it. I remember when we moved from a full to a queen I wondered the same thing. Yes, I am spoiled now.
So go bigger if you have space, and go memory foam if you can afford it. I didn’t like the tempurpedics when I tried them in the store, but love the firm memory foam mattress I have (Room and Board brand). Its different from a tempurpedic (firmer) and a little cheaper, but still pricey in comparison to a traditional mattress.
Arise!
So I’ve been looking at beds, and it looks like among the snobbiest reviewers, latex beds are the recommended choice. They are apparently more normal feeling than memory foam, adjustable in terms of the softness, but more durable and better-feeling than spring mattresses.
Anyone used one?
The huge problem with memory foam is how they handle heat. That’s the first thing I’d be investigating about latex beds if I was looking…
I can sleep most anywhere, and I’ve been known to sleep on vacant cots in the ED when it’s just too darn much to drive home, or to crawl into the back of an unused ambulance and conk out of the gurney.
That said, I’m not the most fond of sleeping on hard floors (have to sleep fully on the back), but I’m even less fond of Tempur-Pedic. One of my coworkers raves about them, and I’ve slept at his house, where he has every sleeping room provided with one. I’m simply not fond of them at all, but I can appreciate the fact that many people are.
Pillow-tops are also pretty nice.
Hästens.
Can’t afford the bastards, but I want one.
I’ve been using the latex mattress from Ikea for about 6 months, and it’s great. No problems with heat.
My best advice is to sneak into a mattress store and try to avoid catching the attention of the salesperson. Then, do the goldilocks thing and just go and lay down on the mattresses and give yourself a good twenty minutes laying in the position that you normally sleep in. If the salesperson discovers you and starts hovering, politely tell him to bugger off, or just get up and leave and go to another mattress store or come back a different day and try again.
Most mattresses are going to feel good for the first few minutes you lay down on them, so you really have to give your body time to settle before you can decide if this is the mattress that’s going to work for you. You really need to try a good 20 minutes on a mattress before you know if it’s right for you or not. You’re not going to know if you just lay there for a minute or two because your joints aren’t necessarily going to register discomfort in that period of time.
That said, I’ve had very good experiences with the King Koil line – they’re a bit of a pain in the ass to find and they can be a little pricey, but I wouldn’t trade my full-size mattress for anything.
I have had an Ikea mattress for about an year now and I love mine. No heat problems either.
Hästens are overrated. DUX beds are better, and much, much longer lasting (though certainly not cheaper).
A California King waterbed with a baffled mattress…since the late 70’s.
Seconded!
I thought we were the last couple on planet Earth that still slept on one though.
-CJ
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They are supposed to not have that issue.
Reviews of Dux beds are very mixed, with lots of negative reviews. Particularly notable is that their cotton mattress-topper is widely panned for compressing/sagging quickly (which is a known property of cotton pads), and their latex pad is apparently thin and low-quality. Reviewers routinely complain about terrible customer service, too. Also, $6K is kind of expensive.
Nope, I have a waterbed as well. I’ve never found anything half as comfortable - I never sleep all that well when traveling as a result.
I’m currently sleeping like a rock on the most uncomfortably stiff ten dollar mat. Any other person could not abide by this but I’m strangely tolerant to abysmal sleeping conditions.
All cotton pads compress, which is why dux beds have replaceable cotton top pads only, the beds themselves have latex tops (at least years back when I last looked at one). As opposed to Hästens that have non-replaceable cotton and horse hair tops.
And no, I don’t have a dux bed. I’m not made of money.
Which is theoretically sound, but reviewers say that the cotton pads cost $1200, so it ends up like buying separates for audio equipment – in theory it’s dumb to throw away a working amp section just because you want an upgraded set of inputs/processing, but in practice a pre/pro costs more than a whole damn receiver anyway. For $1200, you could buy a whole new mattress every time you’d replace the topper in a Dux bed.
Yeah, I know. I spent a lot of time researching a new bed though, and there’s an awful lot of people who will claim otherwise.
My advice, buy any decent economy mattress, and any frame you like (thrift stores) and then spend a hell of a lot on sheets and a 4-5 inch memory foam topper.
Got one of those from my parents as an apartment warming gift (moved in with the GF) and my god, it is like sleeping on the cloud. The mattress is an ancient hand me down, as is the frame, but with the nice sheets and topper… she is a dream.