<p>I know one should go into the store and take a 15 minute nap but… Can anyone recommend a middle of the road mattress/box spring bed? Meaning decent quality without frills. Each manufacturer has its own descriptors and “levels” I find it mind boggling to compare. I lack the energy and the time at this point to do effective and confusing research. The mattress is for a young professional moving into first apt outside of college living. LIMITED FUNDS. Specifics of brands and styles would be awesome! THANKS!</p>
<p>I don’t have too many tips, but we did buy one this week for our home. I just posted this under the “Good Buy of the Day” thread:</p>
<p>“We just bought a mattress this week. We thought we had the best price (ie: Labor Day Holiday) and had it delivered. DH just called the 800 # of this chain a few times and we received a few different quotes for the same purchase. We went back to the brick and mortar store and we presented the quote that was most favorable. We were credited back $130!”</p>
<p>We’ve just been through this process. You can actually compare mattress prices between stores, if you’re willing to do the research: at this point we feel like we have a Ph.D. in mattressology! You just need to note how each one is constructed and actually, a good salesman will be willing to tell you “oh yes, Sleepy’s calls it X and we call it Y”. </p>
<p>The best mid-priced brands appear to be Sealy and Serta innerspring mattresses, and King Koil also gets good reviews. Do not get a pillowtop, as these squash down and lose their shape over time. Much better to get a tight-top mattress and, if you want more padding, get a latex or other topper which can be turned and changed out if it loses its shape.</p>
<p>But really, the best advice I can give is to try them out. We were surprised at how different the same level of firmness felt in different lines from the same manufacturer.</p>
<p>Also, decide in advance whether you want a low-profile or regular box spring. (The regular is 4-5 inches higher.) With mattresses getting taller on their own, a regular box plus a bedframe makes the bed quite high. However, the low profile bedsprings don’t fit existing bedskirts and the accompanying mattress may be extra tall and not fit your sheets. If you are thinking of buying a platform bed, they don’t generally need a box spring at all.</p>
<p>Don’t feel bad. A few years ago I consulted Consumer Reports on this topic and much to my surprise learned that they found mattress branding so confusing they could not rank and compare them! The problem was that mattress manufacturers would sell models with unique names to different resellers, so Macys might have a Seally posturific while Bloomies might carry the Seally posturetic and there was no way that Consumer Reports could tell if they were the same thing. A recent issue of CP had a mattress ranking based solely on the experience of their members and rated companies based on, “Would you buy from them again.” </p>
<p>I moved my son into his new apartment last week with a queen size air mattress ($39.99) and told him if he wanted a real mattress he could go out and buy one himself.</p>
<p>Oh, and if it comes with a waranty, do not allow the mattress to get stained in anyway, or I believe that it will become void.</p>
<p>Additionally, some companies sell insurance or some sort of a plan in case you do get a stain on the mattress. I believe that you might be required to use their mattress pad if you buy it. Don’t know too much about it.</p>
<p>gee mom, how am I supposed to keep my mattress from getting stained? Sleep on a plastic cover? LOL</p>
<p>“The best mid-priced brands appear to be Sealy and Serta innerspring mattresses, and King Koil also gets good reviews. Do not get a pillowtop, as these squash down and lose their shape over time.”</p>
<p>I agree with pillow top. We were stupid to get it and after a year it did sink. We got a new mattress out of it though. I think we paid about $1,200-$1300. It has a 10 years replacement crap (we didn’t know when we bought it).</p>
<p>njres, LOL!</p>
<p>We bought a mattress and box spring online for S from a local mattress dealer, together with bed frame and mattress protector (yeah, it’s plastic covered with some cotton). I tried to do some research online about various types of mattresses and gave up. I read somewhere that there is only a limited number of mattress manufacturers but they sell the mattresses to different stores under a bewildering number of “brand” names as well as their own.
H and I slept on the new mattress for a couple of days while moving S into his new apartment and thought it was very comfortable. I think the mattress and box spring came to about $300. Cheap, but I expect that S will use it only for the length of his grad school career, not 10-20 years.</p>
<p>I keep on seeing mattress promotions at Costco - name brands at great prices!</p>
<p>The manufacturers and retailers intentionally, repeat intentionally change the names slightly of the same mattresses sold by different retailers. That way the retailers never are actually undersold for the exact same mattress, even though it’s really the same mattress.</p>
<p>There are 3 basic mattress types, foam - which you don’t want because you can’t afford the hyper-expensive ones - individual coil and the traditional style with linked coils and springs. My personal choice is the individual coil style - which is like Simmons - because when the person next to you rolls around, you barely feel it. </p>
<p>That said, the other big game is to get you to buy a box spring or the warranty will be void. You don’t need to buy the box spring, just make sure you actually want that mattress because the odds that it’s defective are very, very low. You can put a mattress on a platform or whatever and it will work fine.</p>
<p>Other than the types of mattress, the next big thing is a topper, meaning a pillow top of some kind. Serta, for example, generally puts them on both sides so you can flip the mattress. You don’t need a pillow top. You can buy one “aftermarket,” such as a memory foam topper at Costco or somewhere else. Pillow tops make the bed a little more plush feeling.</p>
<p>All the brands are equally good. Just decide which kind of mattress you want and then pick in your price range and how it feels to you. Don’t be upsold.</p>
<p>Mattress selling is mostly a tremendous mark-up, low volume business and - having dealt with the companies as a landlord - I can tell you they completely understand that you’ll buy a mattress from the last place you visit. That means they try to deal to keep you there.</p>
<p>BTW, do not be persuaded by the fancy appearance of the mattresses. That’s a way they upsell you. Some are really lovely, but I’ve never, ever seen a home where they leave bare mattresses showing.</p>
<p>Here’s something I didn’t know about mattresses until very recently–There’s no more flipping–just trading end for end. Salesman said it often damaged the mattress coils, etc, and resulted in too many claims on the manufacturer’s guarantees! </p>
<p>When discussing the whole ‘soft or firm’ thing, he said that one can always make a mattress softer, but can never make a mattress firmer.</p>
<p>We are happy with our pillowtop mattress & D is happy with hers. H now wants a new one–I think the one we have may be nearly two decades old, so if he wants to do the research, he can get a new one. We got S a new futon mattress by going to the futon store near where we had lunch. It was quite reasonable & makes a nice couch (good since S was only in our state for 10 days this summer & will only be here for a few weeks in December). It’s a couch more than anything.</p>
<p>My folks just bought a “real bed,” but aren’t too happy with it because it’s firmer than they expected but they’re adjusting. Foam pads are way too hot for HI.</p>
<p>Limited Funds!! That probably means you will get a mattress on sale at a discount store. It will probably last a few years. Then replace it with a quality foam mattress — no more sagging, lumps and sore back muscles. I also think the foam will last for many, many years.</p>
<p>I’ll add another thumbs down for a pillowtop. I hate ours, and we paid a fortune for it. As mentioned, it’s lumpy, plus I find it to be very warm because of the way it hugs up around the body—an important consideration for women of, ahem, a certain age.</p>
<p>Ooooo! I LOVE my pillow top- but I admit to getting a wonderful Sterns and Foster at 75% off a few years ago. It still was expensive after the discount, but it has been heavenly!</p>
<p>We have a latex pillowtop. It is very comfortable but after about three years use, I have noticed there are two distict “trenches” where Dh and I lay. DH says the latex makes it hot to sleep on. I have not noticed that but I’m not a hot natured person.
The dealer did tell us that any stains would nullify the warranty. We were suckers and bought the expensive Gore-Tex mattress pad they were selling. Bad move…it was super hot to sleep on. It came off after one night. </p>
<p>One thing I really like about it is that it’s not bouncy. When one of us turns over,moves around, gets out of bed…the other doesn’t even feel it. My back used to hurt but I’ve had no back pain since buying this mattress. So I guess I’m happy with it except for the “trenches”.
It’s a Simmons.</p>