Beds - mattresses, more specifically

We bought two memory foam toppers from Overstock a few months apart. Both had the same weight rating (4 lbs, IIRC). They were very different in feel. One was great-- kinda firm with just enough give, and the other was too squishy to tolerate.

You might send yours back and see if you can luck out with another one. Also, check the weight, the higher the weight the firmer it is supposed to be, but apparently there are no guaranties they will be consistent.

foxtrapper wrote: OK, maybe they aren't latex, but they are foam. Look at the reviews for the spa sensation foam mattresses at walmart. Also, go to sleeplikethedead.com and research there. Great site for mattress info.

Went there - wife bought foam - hate it - hate it - hate it

We've got one of the memory foam/regular foam toppers on our bed. During the winter it was fine. Now with hot weather coming it sucks. It's like sleeping on a bed of coals. The wife and I were discussing what to do this weekend. The regular mattress is too hard for her. I've already told her to come up with something different or the topper was getting cut in half. Waking up at 2am in a pool of sweat just isn't cutting it.

I bought a closeout from a furniture store. It was $400 for a queen size box spring and mattress. I sleep wonderfully, but note that I sleep well just about anywhere.

Discussions about beds are very much like Honda/VW fanboi discussions. There are several deeply held convictions, and arguing is just a waste of breath. For me and the wife, its not firmness, its temperature.

It only becomes a problem when you and the significant other start sleeping in separate beds.

They make Latex toppers. I have a 2" 19 ILD on my guest bed and people fight over it when I have company.

I'm on the verge of pushing the ottoman into the sectional and having my own full+ bed to my self. But the wife doesn't like to sleep alone.

Not to steal Tuna's thread, but, are the latex toppers as hot as the memory foam ones?

Streetwiseguy wrote: Discussions about beds are very much like Honda/VW fanboi discussions. There are several deeply held convictions, and arguing is just a waste of breath. For me and the wife, its not firmness, its temperature. It only becomes a problem when you and the significant other start sleeping in separate beds.

My grandparents have done this their whole married life, and are married 64 years. There have been studies done (I don't know by who, could be junk) that show married couples who sleep in separate beds actually last longer.

I want to start this with the fact that I've used mostly hand-me-down or used mattresses my whole life until the last 5 years, but...

Our first "good" mattress was from my wife's boss. They had bought a new queen Serta double pillow-top for their guest room. They then moved to a smaller house a couple years later and gave us the mattress which had been used twice. It was fantastic... for a year. Then it got divots in it from my fat ass. We ditched that one and bought a Simmons beauty rest for the cost of about two paychecks. Same thing. It became our guest room mattress. We spend a week at a B&B every year in Stratford Ont for the Shakespeare festival which has all TempurPedic brand mattresses. They sleep like a dream if it weren't for the fact that I swim in puddles of my own sweat all night.

We finally bought a Serta foam mattress. Both Seally and Serta have some incredible new mattress foam that has that gel in it that soaks away heat. The cover material is also made from stuff kinda like UnderArmor that allows moisture and air to transfer preventing that clammy, sweaty thing from happening. They are also amazingly light unlike TempurPedic foam which is stupid heavy.

We invested good money in a Sealy Embody (their foam line) Introspection (a fancy name for medium-firm). I cannot tell you how incredible it is. Mattresses are one of those things that so many people try to cheap out on, but in retrospect it was the best money we've spent. I know I sound like a commercial, but most of you know me as the militant grassroots guy who wants a Ferrari for $50... I'm telling you, just spend the money on a commercial retail product. The quality of sleep you get is so ridiculously important to your quality of life. I used to see a chiropractor 1-3 times a week. I honestly have not been to one for two years since we bought this mattress.... and my insurance covers chiropractic 100%.

Save pennies, sell a Miata, whatever. This militant GRMer is telling you that the happiness you get from good sleep is WAY more important than the sadness you would have from selling your car to attain it.

(this post brought to you by Sealy - where you can see the difference with your eyes closed.)

In my opinion there is no substitute for a high quality bed. Of course I have been dealing with back issues from a young age. Its a sleep number for me! Sure I could have bought a couple miatas with that amount of money but a good nights sleep is priceless!

I dunno guys, I have been sleeping on the floor, and it's been pretty nice.

I have an Ikea foam mattress and frame that I bought brand new for just over $600 CAD including our 13% sales tax. I like mine just fine. I think it's more comfortable than my fiancee's conventional bed that cost 5 times as much.

BTW, you get more traction with the foam

We went compared mattresses at Sears which were a ridiculous amount off (something like 50%) with the other discount mattress stores in the area. Sears was cheaper by a large amount.

mtn wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: Discussions about beds are very much like Honda/VW fanboi discussions. There are several deeply held convictions, and arguing is just a waste of breath. For me and the wife, its not firmness, its temperature. It only becomes a problem when you and the significant other start sleeping in separate beds.

My grandparents have done this their whole married life, and are married 64 years. There have been studies done (I don't know by who, could be junk) that show married couples who sleep in separate beds actually last longer.

It is actually the opposite in most current studies.

tuna55 wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: OK, maybe they aren't latex, but they are foam. Look at the reviews for the spa sensation foam mattresses at walmart. Also, go to sleeplikethedead.com and research there. Great site for mattress info.

Went there - wife bought foam - hate it - hate it - hate it

That's because it was memory foam. Get latex it's a totally other beast.

Toyman01 wrote: Not to steal Tuna's thread, but, are the latex toppers as hot as the memory foam ones?

Latex is the coolest sleeping bed next to a water mattress.

carguy123 wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: OK, maybe they aren't latex, but they are foam. Look at the reviews for the spa sensation foam mattresses at walmart. Also, go to sleeplikethedead.com and research there. Great site for mattress info.

Went there - wife bought foam - hate it - hate it - hate it

That's because it was memory foam. Get latex it's a totally other beast.

Can't stomach the buy in for the test. Send me one to try!

I don't have a problem spending extra on a comfortable bed; I spend a good portion of my life in it, so I may as well be comfortable.

tuna55 wrote:

carguy123 wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: OK, maybe they aren't latex, but they are foam. Look at the reviews for the spa sensation foam mattresses at walmart. Also, go to sleeplikethedead.com and research there. Great site for mattress info.

Went there - wife bought foam - hate it - hate it - hate it

That's because it was memory foam. Get latex it's a totally other beast.

Can't stomach the buy in for the test. Send me one to try!

Many places give you a money back guarantee, that's what I did. And then I used my trusty pyrometer to make some real temp comparisons.

I found out the gel memory foam was the hottest and also found out that the State of Cali determined the mix of gel and foam didn't meet fire retardant standards. Plus I just plain didn't like it - it was way too hard and the only way to soften it was to put lots of layers of other materials on top of it which negated any supposed benefits.

I should see if I can find my receipt/warranty stuff... after I got my new job 1.5 years ago, I bought a mattress/box spring set for nearly $2k on sale. But GOD DAMN is it nice.

When I got my first place, I got the world's least comfortable pull out couch bed. It was terrible. For years, I slept on the floor with just a couple of blankets. I think I got conditioned to sleeping on a very hard surface 'cause that's what I still like.

My wife likes a soft bed. So this is a problem. Well, I can't help you on the cheap part, but I will say, our sleep number bed does the job for us. And it's unlikely we'll ever need to replace it. We've had it for nearly 10 years and near as I can tell it's exactly like it was when we got it. So it may be one of those things that pays off over time. But the initial investment was pretty high as I recall. I do like it though. My sleep number is somewhere north of 70. When I did the thing in the store I ended up at 95. The guy told me I needed to mess with it 'cause nobody's sleep number is 95. Meh, I may be using it wrong, but I like it.

carguy123 wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

carguy123 wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: OK, maybe they aren't latex, but they are foam. Look at the reviews for the spa sensation foam mattresses at walmart. Also, go to sleeplikethedead.com and research there. Great site for mattress info.

Went there - wife bought foam - hate it - hate it - hate it

That's because it was memory foam. Get latex it's a totally other beast.

Can't stomach the buy in for the test. Send me one to try!

Many places give you a money back guarantee, that's what I did. And then I used my trusty pyrometer to make some real temp comparisons. I found out the gel memory foam was the hottest and also found out that the State of Cali determined the mix of gel and foam didn't meet fire retardant standards. Plus I just plain didn't like it - it was way too hard and the only way to soften it was to put lots of layers of other materials on top of it which negated any supposed benefits.

I don't really care about the temperature of the memory foam, I just think it's way too squishy for my tastes.

Memory foam squishy? Are you sure you have memory foam?!