Never Will I Go Back to Springs, February 25, 2011

The background: My wife and I bought our first king size bed in April 2005. Three years later the thing was already sagging down the middle. Lived with it for a year and then finally made a warranty claim. The company stripped the bed down to the springs and rebuilt a new mattress. Lasted 8 months before terrible again.

So I read Consu. Reports and lo and behold, besides the fact that it states that mattresses are the number one inquired about review next to cars, they don’t actually rate any mattresses. I guess it is b/c the companies give each store their own model so it is impossible to compare. C.R. did, however, give satisfaction survey numbers on the different manufacturers. It was amazing. All but one were 50% or lower (the question, I believe, was would you buy another mattress of this brand). Most were much lower than 50% (Serta was 35%). I mean WOW. It is disheartening to think that the vast majority of people are unhappy with their beds. And yes, this includes those Sleep Number, outrageously priced people (I can buy an inflatable queen mattress at Wal-Mart for $15. Why does putting a case around it make it worth $3,000?)

Well, the ONE COMPANY that had higher than 50% was Tempur Pedic (around 60%, not great, but better than the rest). Problem is, even though I could afford it, there is no way I am paying $3,300 for a 12″ king size mattress. My first thought is, “China makes everything for 1/100th of the cost”, so I started Googling memory foam mattresses. Well to my pleasant surprise the good ole USA came through with Sleep Innovations.

I read all, and I mean all the reviews. I initially thought the Amazon Vine reviews (which are a lot) were bogus, purposely placed customer reviews. I have since learned that just means the company gave a bunch of free beds to get Amazon Vine reviews. But even discounting the Vines’ reviews, you could see that nearly all people were happy with it. I was still concerned though because I read horror stories from customer reviews on another off-brand memory mattress at Amazon. Stuff like the corners not ever flattening out and the company saying it could only be returned in the original box (which is absolutely impossible – the thing is vacuum sealed in there).

So I called the company. I am expecting terrible service and it was the complete opposite. Got someone right away, very nice, non-outsourced woman who said that the company had been in business for 12 years; yes I could return the mattress within the 20 year warranty and I would not have to use the same box (which when I asked that question, she stated flatly, “that would be impossible”).

The product: I took the dive and bought it. The real test is how it will feel in 5 years, but I can’t fast forward five years to tell you what’s what. And to that end, I figured I could get six of these for the price of a Tempur Pedic.) But I can say that two weeks into it and I love this bed. A couple bullet points:

1. No problem with the hotness issue you read about, but it is not summer. I figure worst case scenario, I will add an egg crate on top to have some separation from my body and the foam mattress if I have a heat issue. I should note that we had an 80 degree day recently and I had no heat issues that night.

UPDATE: Have had 99 degree weather days and no problems (of course we use the A/C (keep it on 78), but I thought I should add that).

2. Foam smell went away. Again, if it hadn’t, I would have bought an egg crate so my nose wasn’t right on it.

3. It is a firm mattress. You would never believe it if you sat on the side but when your whole body is stretched out, it is firm. It is a good firm though. I always thought I was a soft mattress guy, but after sleeping 4 years on a pillow top and a bad back to show it, I am making the switch. I figured if I needed it softer, I could buy an egg crate (see a pattern here?).

4. DO NOT TAKE OFF THE WHITE COTTON COVER. This is apparently the equivalent of the do not remove for penalty of jail tag. If you read the brochure that comes with the mattress it tells you that the warranty is void if you do that. So put some other cover over that if you must.

5. My wife has a memory foam pillow and it contours big time to your head and if you move your head, it is like you are squishing down Mount Everest again. This mattress is not like that. Very mild contouring which I think is a real plus.

6. As other reviews say, it is heavy as Hades. I got it upstairs with me pushing it up with my back and my wife getting it over each stair hump. I would NOT recommend this if you have a bad back, etc. Get a couple guys to do it.

Anyway it is late, I am tired, and I have a fantastic bed to go sleep in.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, we have had numerous 100+ degree weather days here in Georgia. Fortunately,…

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Great Mattress, September 28, 2010

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Seven Kitties “7kitties” (Blue Point, NY USA) – See all my reviews

 

 

After I’d ordered this mattress, it hit me: I live alone, and my bedroom is up a flight of stairs. How the heck am I gonna….?

The box is heavy–over 70 pounds. But the mattress is folded in half, rolled, and compressed, so the box isn’t that unmanageable to haul up. Then you pry the mattress out of the box and let it flop open and un-compress. The instructions say to leave it open for 48 hours. This seems…unrealistic to me. I did it in the morning, and let it do its thing all day and slept on it that night. I’ll admit, there was a sort of chemical foam smell when you first open it, and a few hours later, but it’s gone entirely by the second night.

Sleep quality is nice. Mine is quite firm and supportive. Compared to the standard mattress (which it’s replacing) it’s a bit taller (so if you have mobility issues, you might have to adjust getting into and out of bed). I can see what they mean about limited motion transfer–before, when my beast of a cat would jump on the bed, oftentimes it would wake me up. Now, I don’t even feel him! Nice!

I know one reviewer complained about this mattress being sweltering? I am not trying to refute that, but that has not been my experience. I’m…of a certain age, where waking up with sweating is not that uncommon, and that has yet to happen to me. Which means it may yet happen as a hormonal thing, but I don’t think I can quite blame the mattress for it. (Sorry about the T.M.I., there!)

If you have two people to move this mattress, the troubles I’ve had will be a snap for you and you’ll be plenty comfy. I have a bad back and I’m already noticing a lot of improvement in my usual morning stiffness. Give it a try: I really love mine!

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I have waited a month to do this review to be as accurate as possible on this purchase. We researched this purchase extensively before deciding to purchase prior to the holidays. We previously had a Simmons Euro top ultra plush king that only lasted 5 years before it started to become uncomfortable and bother my back. We went to numerous stores to lay on Tempur pedic mattresses and other brands. We could not justify spending $3000 on a mattress that we might not like. It seemed like people either loved or hated these memory foam products.

We were a bit apprehensive about purchasing online but the reviews of this product were mostly positive. At a third of the price i figured we couldn’t go wrong. We did look at other companies but there were some concerns about the foam being used and where the products were being made. sleep innovations website was good and revlieved any fears on the foam etc.

We had free shipping but it did take close to 4 weeks to get the product which was a little surprising. It comes in a VERY small box that required two people to lift but it could easily be pushed. We opened it up on the foundation as diagramed in the instructions. It was quite cold but it still flattened out within about 2 hours. I have a sensitive nose and my wife even moreso and we noticed essentially NO smell which we were prepared for based on other reviews. We waited 2 days to sleep on it.

Here is where we found the difference between the Tempur Pedic product and the SI mattress. I found the mattress to be quite hard and honestly rather uncomfortable for the first 2 weeks. The “sink” in feeling of the TP beds just wasnt there. My wife was starting to get frusterated with it so we purchased a Down “topper” cover to go over it and PERFECT…. It is now much more comfortable and we are both sleeping better.

We are not big people but it seemed like we bottomed out the memory foam and were sleeping more on the hard foam product. In any event, now I feel like we have a good bed that is comfortable and will hopefully last at still a third of the price of a Tempur pedic…..But had to add the Topper to get the desired comfort we wanted…

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