er, BED recommendations??

Galiphrey

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
308
Location
Georgia
Hmm, well, my wife is displeased with the valleys and mountainous regions formed into our mattress, and she wants a new one without those features.

Anybody know anything about beds?? I tried to do some research on the "internet," and my only conclusion so far is that it seems like any bed will eventually develop dents and peaks, but maybe that the firmer springs will take longer to do that. <I don't know> I did find all manner of reports that the foam mattresses will definitely soften irregularly after 1, 2, or 3 years, and do it in a way that is conveniently outside of the warrantee criteria.

Bleh, I'm getting tired of reading about beds now. It's making me sleepy. Anyone have some advice? It doesn't bother me, personally, because I'm not quite as "petite" as my wife, so the mattress-impressions are really intimidated and overwhelmed when I get into bed. And besides, I'm asleep during this time, so I don't really notice a problem.

I can't figure out how to make this decision, but I don't want to do it over and over every 5 years. Alright, quick--somebody tell me which bed to buy. :laughing:
 

DonShock

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
1,641
Location
Belton Texas
My family has been very happy with the Select Comfort brand beds. They use a heavy duty air mattress core with some foam around the edges and a standard mattress cover. Although they are fairly expensive, it's about the same as the high quality standard mattresses. The feature that made us try them at first was the variable firmness. But they seem to be holding up very well after 4-5 years but I can't vouch for longer term quality. So far we have only had one problem, a blower which would not inflate on one side. This problem developed after about a year of use and the company immediately sent out a whole new blower at no cost.
 

LedSled

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
125
Location
Central Missouri, USA
You've got a *lot* of choices, but one that caught my attention a couple of years ago was the Tempur-pedic foam mattress. Very comfortable: this is the stuff that was developed for astronauts' couches. It's rather expensive, but I did find some similar foam systems that allow you to tailor each side independently for firmness. They cost far less, also.

I wouldn't shop on-line unless you know exactly what you want. There isn't any substitute for lying down on a sample inside a store. A store can also help if you need to dispose of the old mattress.
 

James S

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Messages
5,078
Location
on an island surrounded by reality
The only way to pick a mattress of a different type than you're already familiar with is to go somewhere and lay down on them to see how they feel.

As far as I'm concerned firmer is better. We recently got a new bed and I like the regular old firm regular topped mattresses. We ended up with a "pillow top" that took me quite a while to get used to. The "pillow" material did make the first inch or so quite soft and nice while still giving the firm support underneath, but like the foam it also offered a lot of thermal insulation. for the first week I sweated all night. I've adjusted to it since then but yuck. My mother in law is very fond of those "egg crate" foam things you can get to put on beds but I hate them for the same reason, they reflect all your warmth back at you and it's like sleeping on top of an electric blanket. My mom LOVES her space foam topped mattress, but I feel like it would also reflect all the heat back at me.

So go lay on them and see what you think!
 

CLHC

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 25, 2004
Messages
6,001
Location
PNW|WA|USA
How about the air beds? Nah just kidding—

Lots of choices out there especially the ones mentioned above. James S stated it very well above, by checking it out first hand. What some may really like and recommend, may not be the one that another likes. Possibly the Select Comfort type bed could be the way to go.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!
 

BB

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 17, 2003
Messages
2,129
Location
SF Bay Area
One possible warning on the Select Comfort bed... Many folks have reported mold problems because of moisture collecting on the air mattress portion of the bed.

Consumer Affairs

I don't have one, so I don't know it first hand--but it is more than a couple of people reporting the problem.

I used to have a water bed, and if it was not heated (such as during the energy crunches of the 1970's), it would get sopping wet.

I would suggest that if you keep your rooms cool and have damp weather, you may have more of a problem.

Good Luck,
-Bill
 

Lightraven

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
1,170
I was curious about Tempur Pedic. I have a couple Tempur Pedic pillows and they are nice. I read online that Tempur Pedic mattresses can be rather hard in a cold room until body heat softens them. I can confirm this with the lumbar cushion I keep in my car. During winter nights, it turns to a rock until I sit against it for a few minutes.

Tempur Pedic material--polyurethane--seems to hold up well. Tempur Pedic brand is costly, but there are other brands now that do the same thing for less. Maybe not as high quality, I don't know.

I have read that Tempur Pedic beds are rather warm. They also react slowly to movement--you feel "stuck" in a hole. They are pretty comfortable, though.

I have read that beds made of latex (not Tempur Pedic) are really hot, and don't last even a few months.

I slept on Select Comfort a few weeks ago. Seemed OK to me. I'm more choosy about pillows.
 

Donovan

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Messages
420
Location
North Metro Atlanta, Georgia
We have had a select comfort for about 4 1/2 years and we still love it. Ours was also a factory refurb and was about half the cost of a new one. So far we have had zero problems, hopefully it will hold up for many years to come...

If I wasn't choosing a select comfort then my second choice would be a Tempurpedic or similar memory foam alternative.

As far as soft vs hard mattress, I used to like firmer mattresses but I have found that I actually sleep better on a softer one....
 
Last edited:

AlexGT

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 15, 2001
Messages
3,651
Location
Houston, Texas
I read bad stories about tempurpedic, I think the best way is to go out to a big mattress store and try them out, once you find a good one shop around for the best price. Decide with comfort in mind not price, remember you will be using it about 1/3 of your life, make it worth it.

AlexGT
 

Threepio

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 13, 2002
Messages
107
Location
Peoples Republic of SoCal.
We have a ten year old Bassett mattress, it's holding up well but has lost some firmness. My wife bought me a Temper-pedic pillow a few years ago, I've never been able to use it, it is very hot, and you do get "stuck in the hole". One of my friends bought a Tempur-pedic mattress, and loves it. Do your research, and Good Luck!
--Bob
 

CLHC

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 25, 2004
Messages
6,001
Location
PNW|WA|USA
How about them Stearns & Fosters? Other than that, I don't know.

Personally I like sleeping on the floor with my sleeping bag, since that's what I've been accustomed to doing for soo many years when my back "gave out", despite that fact that I have a Queen-Sized Simmons.
 

Joel

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Messages
145
Location
Valley Village, CA
Another vote for select comfort. I've had mine for over 10 years now. About four years ago one of the air mattresses had a very slow leak. The company has very good customer service and had a replacement to me in two days. I did have the mold problem but it actually wasn't a big hassle to correct - I still love the bed and would purchase another if this one ever gives out. I also like the tempur pedic but it's too hot during the summer, just holds too much body heat for me.

Joel
 

Chronos

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 27, 2006
Messages
1,757
Location
Tampa, FL
Another vote for Select Comfort. My wife was in a major car accident about 8 years ago and has some arthritis and chronic pain in a few injury sites. She couldn't sleep well on our standard mattress. A friend with back problems suggested the SC mattress. I was SKEPTICAL. We did a lot of research and decided to give it a try. We got the top-of-the-line pillow top and adjustable headrest/footrest. It is heaven. She sleeps better that in years. I love being able to adjust it from soft to hard when I wish. It really works. I didn't like forking over the money, but any amount is worth it to me if she can sleep soundly and feel better each day.
 

Manzerick

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Messages
2,793
Location
Boston, Massachusetts
This is the type of stuff Mark works with...just not brand name. His discriptions are good too...


Lightraven said:
I was curious about Tempur Pedic. I have a couple Tempur Pedic pillows and they are nice. I read online that Tempur Pedic mattresses can be rather hard in a cold room until body heat softens them. I can confirm this with the lumbar cushion I keep in my car. During winter nights, it turns to a rock until I sit against it for a few minutes.

Tempur Pedic material--polyurethane--seems to hold up well. Tempur Pedic brand is costly, but there are other brands now that do the same thing for less. Maybe not as high quality, I don't know.

I have read that Tempur Pedic beds are rather warm. They also react slowly to movement--you feel "stuck" in a hole. They are pretty comfortable, though.

I have read that beds made of latex (not Tempur Pedic) are really hot, and don't last even a few months.

I slept on Select Comfort a few weeks ago. Seemed OK to me. I'm more choosy about pillows.
 

Ras_Thavas

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
455
Location
Virginia
We bought an Anderson Ultimate bed a couple of years ago and have been quite happy. We had a waterbed that needed replacing but we did not want to hassle with the water bed again. The Anderson bed fits in the platform water bed frame we had perfectly. It is quite comfortable. Dual air bladders let us each adjust the firmness independently.
 

Galiphrey

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
308
Location
Georgia
Thanks everybody for the good advice and feedback. Maybe this information can even be helpful to others looking for a new bed.

I was a little suprised to see so many Select Comfort recommendations. I had kinda ruled them out of my search early on, because a while back I read some bad ratings in Consumer Reports (or, if not that one, one of those types of rags), plus, my dad got one and didn't like it at all. Everybody's different! It's amazing the variations. In my case, I figured that if my dad didn't like it, I probably wouldn't either, only because of genetic and physical similarities and what not.

The Tempur Pedic is definitely the most comfortable, and we were just about sold on it, but I chickened out after reading a lot of reports that it has its own version of body-impressioning in a short period of time, which is exactly what we were trying to get away from.

Anyway, after playing Goldilocks this weekend, trying every bed we can find, we finally decided on a Simmons. It's the bowling-ball bed. Their claim-to-fame is coil-count, and I have the idea (whether right or wrong) that if there are more coils, then each one is being stressed less, and will last longer. Maybe that's simplistic or even wrong, but we'll find out anyway. If it lasts 10 years, I'll be happy.

Thanks again for all the recommendations!
 

LightChucker

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 5, 2003
Messages
617
Location
Raytown, Missouri USA
Galiphrey said:
Hmm, well, my wife is displeased with the valleys and mountainous regions formed into our mattress, and she wants a new one without those features.

Anybody know anything about beds?? I tried to do some research on the "internet," and my only conclusion so far is that it seems like any bed will eventually develop dents and peaks, but maybe that the firmer springs will take longer to do that. <I don't know> I did find all manner of reports that the foam mattresses will definitely soften irregularly after 1, 2, or 3 years, and do it in a way that is conveniently outside of the warrantee criteria.

Bleh, I'm getting tired of reading about beds now. It's making me sleepy. Anyone have some advice? It doesn't bother me, personally, because I'm not quite as "petite" as my wife, so the mattress-impressions are really intimidated and overwhelmed when I get into bed. And besides, I'm asleep during this time, so I don't really notice a problem.

I can't figure out how to make this decision, but I don't want to do it over and over every 5 years. Alright, quick--somebody tell me which bed to buy. :laughing:
I'll make this brief:

We owned a "Sleep Number" or "Select Comfort" bed for 8 years until we discovered a huge colony of mold living between the top of the air chanbers and the top layer of foam. The condensation is caused by the warmth of your body condensing moisture from the cold room (like the cold air from an A/C unit or cold winter air).

The manufacturer tried replacing all the affected parts several times, but nothing worked. No complaint against them, though, because they refunded 80% of our money after 8 years of use.

I also tried the Temperpedic bed. That one made me sweat.

In the end, I went to a high quality standard bed. Even that one had it's problems. That is, the top mattress is extremely thick and heavy. That makes it very hard to tuck sheets and blankets under the weight of the mattress. It also is made in such a way that you can only use one side (no top and bottom).

Bottom line:
get a mattress that is of standard weight, and that allows you to wear-out both sides.

Also, forget about those 1-to-2 inch "memory foam" toppers - they make you sweat too.

Good luck,

Chuck
 

eluminator

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 7, 2002
Messages
1,750
Location
New Jersey
My favorite bed is one with no box springs. I guess it's intended to be a child's bed. The mattress lays on particle board. The mattress is a rather cheap no-name brand firm mattress with a polyurethane pad on top. The top isn't like the "pillow top" ones, just a little padding. The tag says made by USP, Denver PA.

Before I started using this bed I used to have some arthritic pain in my hips and knees. Now I'm virtually pain free.
 

Latest posts

Top