Does anyone have tips on shopping for a new mattress?

The whole idea gives me a little stress. I just don't think I can get any kind of idea what a mattress is going to feel like long term, when all I can do is lie on one for 15 minutes in a big showroom, fully clothed with no sheets, blanket, mattress cover, etc. So how do I pick?

My wife and I, for the past five years, have been sleeping on a hand me down king mattress that must be about 25 years old now. The center of the bed is about two inches higher than the divets on the left and right. No amount of flipping will do this mattress any good Frankly, I don't remember ever regularly sleeping on a new mattress, so I'm very lost for what to look for.

What I do know is my utmost concern. My wife might have other criteria, but I'm looking for the mattress that keeps me the coolest! I run very hot, and that's my biggest problem when I'm sleeping. I went into a mattress store recently and shared this issue with the saleswoman. She said that there was a brand new line of mattresses coming out with these "eGell" discs in it that keep you cool. This was for a memory foam mattress (I don't know what brand).

Up until talking to her, I hadn't even thought about memory foam. I've never slept on one before. I've never even spent more than a couple minutes sitting on one.

This leads me back to my main concern: how on earth do I decide between mattresses - something I'm going to spend a third of my time lying on - when I have so little time with them? Most places seem to charge you a nice fee if you return it...

I wish there were something like a mattress hotel, where you could spend one night lying on a mattress of your choice...

Do you guys have any tips?

Foam is a good insulator - not likely what you want.

Don't be afraid to spend - inexpensive mattresses break down faster.
Also go firmer than you might think you want. Mattresses never get firmer with age, just the opposite.
You shouldn't feel the bones of the mattress, if you feel them now...

Best mattress I ever slept on (going on 7 years now) is Tempurpedic.

YMMV.

As for staying cool... fewer blankets?

tanstaafl.

That's what I was thinking, and it makes perfect sense to me, but it seems they have technology in some of these mattresses that address this to a point where it's superior to what you can get with a traditional mattress. Including this gel stuff that's supposed to be coming out soon.

I also spent about 15 minutes sitting on one (not the new ones with the gel) in the store in one place, trying to mimic what I felt when reading in bed. It didn't get warm at all, but again, that's when I was fully clothed, had no sheets or anything on top of me, and in a giant, cool, storeroom.


I don't think that'll be a problem. We might be getting help there as an anniversary gift


Don't worry, I'm all for the firmer mattresses. I really do not like the soft ones in the hotels I've been to.


That's another problem, I don't know what I feel. The saleswoman asked me questions about how it felt, and I don't know if I'm crazy or what but it's hard for me to know how to describe this stuff, or tell the difference, especially without spending a night on it. I know by the results, and if I have a good night's sleep on it, I know I like it. But that's hard to do here.


See, that's why this is hard. It's a subjective thing but it seems like something I can't know in advance of buying one, and if I'm wrong then I'm either out a few hundred dollars to return it or I'm stuck with it for a couple decades


HA! Yeah, that's not possible. I already sleep most nights with only a bedsheet. Some nights without even that. Like I said, I run hot

Totally agree, just what I was going to say.

We have just bought a Sealy mattress, but I am not sure how important brand choice is. We got a good deal on ours and picked it as we had a really good nights sleep in a Hotel that uses Sealy. But it really is a minefield of choice! Good luck!

Never, ever, buy Ikea! I've had several and every time wished I hadn't after about 3 years.

Cheers

Cris

Hehe, yeah I've seen that one. The only problem is that I saw it not long after that story was posted in 2007, and it doesn't look like you can even buy those things anywhere Oh well, my wife probably wouldn't let me get one anyway

We even have one of these, but I'm not so sure it does all that much...

I bet that thing weights twice as much now as it did when it was new

They can help, when you find there is something about the mattress's cover construction, that telegraphs thru the sheets.

Pay attention to the depth of the mattress.

There are some that combine the function of both mattress and box spring. These can be 18 or more inches deep, and take specially made sheets that won't be available in local stores.

These also cannot be flipped, only rotated.

Edit: I have one of these, while its been comfortable and has lasted longer than the last two, I'd likely look for a std mat and box set. Mostly because of having to special order the sheets.

Edit2: that depth can also make your blankets and spreads not quite reach the floor any more.

Some tips:

1. Look for a shop with a good return policy. Eg. Costco, and some mattress shops. With those, you CAN take it home, sleep on it, and then return it if not suitable.

2. Most newer mattresses are thick, and one-sided. So they cannot be flipped over to even out wear. That's not necessarily bad, though.

3. USA "King" size mattresses are pretty much square in shape (length == width), and can thus be rotated (weekly) by quarter turns to even out the spring/foam wear. This is a very desirable thing.

Cheers

I've slept on a Lattoflex Winx mattress for the last 5years and absolutely love it. This 'Winx Air' mattress is specifically designed to keep its user from overheating, yet still providing adequate spport. The Winx is not only the mattress but also the support system which is unique in its sort I believe, but it should not be a problem to use only the mattress. The mattress itself is easily DOUBLE height of a 'normal' mattress. The only problem is, I don't know if Lattoflex is available in the US. But in any case, I would also avoid foam type mattresses like Tempur if you run hot because then you certainly won't be comfortable with one of those.

Happy customer: http://flobeds.com/

My wife and I went to Macy's, which has an extensive mattress selection and assorted discounts if you're clever with the coupons.

They have a house brand, which is pretty good, as well as carrying many other brands. You really have to plop yourself down and spend a few minutes relaxing on each mattress to get a feel for it. We ended up with a king-size fairly firm mattress, of the sort that cannot be flipped. Four years on, we still love it.

Underrated mattress feature: motion separation. I think Simmons was the first to do it with their pocketed coils that don't transmit shocks laterally the way conventional mattresses do, but other brands probably offer something similar.

Absolutely essential if either of you is a light sleeper (my wife is) or have any tendency to toss and turn at night (I do.) Also good if your sleep schedules diverge, since one partner can read in bed and not worry as much about waking the other.

I have a Select Comfort. The main reason I went with it over the others is because of the ability to adjust the firmness. Depending on how my back feels, I can either firm or soften the mattress so I am always comfortable. I have had this bed for eight years or so and still love it. I did have one problem and the customer service was excellent.

Select Comfort also has a line of temperature balance sheets and blankets. I don't know how they would work for you, but they do a good job keeping me cool in the summers here.

For anyone in the UK looking for a new bed, I highly recommend Warren Evans.

Simple, no nonsense wooded frames and great quality mattresses (ours is 11 years old and still going strong with daily use and very, very occasional turning).

And they deliver and assemble them nation-wide (takes them a massive 5 minutes to put together the simple frames).

http://www.warrenevans.com/

We've bought 4 of their beds over the years: our bed, a bed for the holiday cottage we used to own (now at a friends house and the 15+ year old mattress has plenty of life in it yet), one for the guest room at my parents house and now one for my mother in law.

Oh and they'll even make a custom sized bed/mattress for you

While pocket coils help, they barely isolate motion at all. The only mattress to truly isloate motion is a viscous (memory) foam product.

I have a latex mattress where each half of the matress is built up individually and even this is not anywhere near as isolated as memory foam. If I swap out the last 2" topper which covers the whole mattress combo with memory foam, then it approaches the isolation I used to have on my previous memory foam mattress.

If looking at memory foam, don't buy into a cheap product because the lower layers of non-memory foam are going to break down quickly, leaving you with a terrible sleeping mattress in no time.

My ultimate right now is latex with a memory foam top. The latex can be combined in layers to suit an individual's needs. I'll never go back to a spring mattress again. I haven't found any name brand that last more than a couple of years at any price (my last one was over $3000). By "last" I mean feel as good two years on as they did the first week, even with regular flipping.

I've heard good things about air-bladder mattresses like the select comfort, but I don't have any experience with those myself. Have only ever spent serious time with traditionally sprung, pocket coils, regular foam, memory foam and latex.

I strongly disagree with "barely isolate motion at all." Just because foam does better doesn't mean the improvement from standard designs to pocket coils isn't significant.

Maybe pocket coil designs have changed since you used them, but our mattress transmits almost no motion from side to side. Or, maybe we do better because we have a platform bed with no need for a box spring -- those tend to just amplify motion.

Me too, our super king pocket coil does a very good job of isolating motion.

I have no doubt there are memory foams that do better, but all the memory foams I've ever slept on made me over heat hugely. I also run hot

Thanks for the input, folks. I'll try to look into shops that might have better return policies and maybe we'll see if we like the memory foam mattresses. I like all the advantages they have, but I do worry about heat and whether I'll find them comfortable.


I know you said "pretty much square," but 76"x80" doesn't seem square enough to turn in quarter rotations. I'd have two inch overhangs on either side, and lose four inches of length or width depending on the week

If I got a mattress from a store that took returns I would probably treat it for bed bugs. You never know you might be getting a return. However that might void your return. I’ll admit I am a bit paranoid about bed bugs but they really creep me out.

Haha, yeah, that crossed my mind too

That's probably why so few places take returns.

But in this case "better" is the difference between some isolation and complete isolation without any noticeable movement at all. The difference between a pocket coil and memory foam in terms of motion isolation is night and day. Like comparing a waterbed to a slab of concrete.

Remember that even with pocket coils, the pillow top, as is most common today, is still shared across the entire bed and contributes to the motion. Yes, they're dramatically better than an older non-pocket mattress, but the difference when comparing to memory foam is infinitely greater.

And a box spring will definitely cause more motion as well. We have our current mattress on two double-sized adjustable slat bases. Tons of configuration possibilities. I'm actually going to swap out one of the layers on my side for additional firmness soon.

As far as returns go, I'm pretty sure it's not legal to sell a used mattress even in the US. You can't do it here in Canada. You can't even bring a used mattress across the border from the US. Pretty sure that when I bought from places with such claims that they said the mattresses are either destroyed or donated.

As usual, it depends on the state.

We've had a latex foam mattress on a sprung slat bed for years now and have found it comfortable winter and summer. ISTR it had ventilation holes in it but I could be wrong

Around here, the stores that accept mattress returns do not re-sell them as "new". Used mattresses are clearly labelled (and priced!) as such.

So it's easy to stick with new/unused if one is paranoid, yet still purchase from a place with good return policies. Costco doesn't resell any returns of anything around here.

Sure you can. It just has to be clearly labelled as such. Our current mattress was a half-price top-of-the-line model that had been returned to the store.

Cheers

Thanks for the tip Mark. I was under the impression that they had to be donated if they were actually used. As opposed to say bought and returned without ever being used (or bought and never picked up, etc..) This was probably based on something told to me at Sleep Country some years ago and bolstered by what I experienced crossing the border US -> Canada with mattresses.

I have been told on two separate occasions by border officials in Canada that we're not allowed to bring used mattresses up from the US. Both times I was bringing up new mattresses, so it was part of their questioning at customs.

When doing research for mattresses back in 2009/10 I stumbled upon a great forum which I can't remember the address for any more. But it had an amazing array of information on all the different types of mattresses and the various things people do to each type to dial in their "perfect" sleeping platform. I'll have to see if I can find that again, it was an invaluable resource.