I need to buy a bed.

[crispini]

I'm getting too old to sleep on a futon mattress on the floor. I think I just want to buy a mattress and boxspring and one of those standard bed frames and wait to buy actual headboard and footboard kinds of things later if and when I ever buy actual bedroom furniture. Besides I have problems making high dollar purchases (I'm stingy and I tend to dither around over features, because I want to buy high-quality enough to last but not so much that it's extravagant) and if I have to buy both furniture AND a mattress now, it would never get done. (It took me a month to buy a fridge.)

So anyone got any good mattress brand recommendations? What about those Sleep Number thingys, are they worth it? I don't mind spending a little extra if I know it will mean good quality.

[ET Awful]

1. I've been contemplating replacing my mattress, but keeping my

old boxspring.

My current mattress has served me well for 6 years or so, but it's not as comfortable as it once was.

I'm thinking a good pillow-top mattress, but haven't decided yet.

[crispini]

4. See, my mom told me she got a pillow top

and the pillow top went flat almost immediately. So I'm thinking no on that.

[colinmom71]

48. That has been an issue with pillowtops for a while...

Especially since many of the larger, mainstream mattress manufacturers began making the "no-flip" type mattresses.

In order to create a "non-flip" mattress with good support, they have to use stronger (often heavier and stiffer too) innerspring units. And in order to cushion that now stronger spring unit, a lot more padding has to be used to help with avoiding pressure points and for general comfort while sleeping. To cut down on costs, most manufacturers have used cheaper polyurethane based foams rather than the pricier amd more traditional products like horsehair, cotton, wool, and/or latex. So yeah, you may be getting a pillowtop for under or around $1000, but the materials are cheaper and far more prone to compressing and failing as a comfort layer...

Oh, and even buying a more expensive mattress like Stearns&Foster's pillowtop models isn't a guarantee that you'll avoid foam failure. They've had to redesign their mattresses for this year because even their top of the line Silver Dreams was experiencing significant numbers of failure within the first year of use. The newer models look interesting but are a good deal more expensive than last year's models.

Likely, this is why your mom's pillowtop went flat rather quickly. Most mattress warranties specify what is covered as a failure of their mattress. I'd recommend she take a look at her warranty and see if she has recourse to have that mattress replaced. If it's not replaceable but the mattress is still supportive for her, a 3-4 inch mattress topper made of high grade PU "memory foam" or Talalay Latex can help provide a nice cushion and aleviate pressure points (if she's having problems that is)... Plus, that option is a lot less expensive than having to buy a whole new bed set!

Personally, I'm rather wary of pillowtops too. While I'm looking forward to see if Sealy and S&F's improvements for this year are successful, when we're ready to buy we'll probably go with a flippable medium-firm mattress set from a local manufacturer and get a separate latex topper for a "pillowtop", or just buy an all latex mattress...

[colinmom71]

47. Be very careful about trying a new mattress...

With an older box spring. Most mattress manufacturers will void your warranty if you use a new mattress with an old box spring or foundation (BTW, most mattress sets have foundations these days rather than true box springs). A lot of the newer "non-flip" mattresses are heavier than older mattresses, so your older box spring may not offer enough support for a new mattress. Thus, most warranties specify that not using the foundation matched with the mattress renders the warranty void (though most mattresses can be used on platform beds without a foundation with no problems).

Mattresses can get pretty expensive these days, and there have been a lot of problems in the last few years with some of the foams used to make up the comfort layers over the innerspring unit. Whatever you choose to do in buying a new mattress, make sure you get the warranty information fully explained to you, and get both the warranty and the store's return policy *in writing*! Also, check out your local mattress retailers with your state/local Better Business Bureau. Some mattress retailers have a customer service rating about on par with a used car salesman...

If you're loooking for more info in general on mattresses, there's a forum I like here... http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/ There are several people there who know a lot about the mattress industry and a lot of good information on various types and models of beds. There *is* a distinct bias towards latex mattresses there, but there's a lot of info you may benefit from researching before you decide to buy a new bed set...

Hope this helps...

[WolverineDG]

2. I have a Stearns & Foster

worth every penny. :) I've had it almost 10 years & because I flip & turn it, it's still good. :) I got it at a Mattress Store when they had one of those "pay off in 6 mos, no interest" deals. Cost me close to $1000 (eek) but worth it. Came with a frame, too. I still don't have a head/foot board tho.

dg

[crispini]

5. Ooo. Looks plushy.

Did you buy the boxspring at the same time?

[WolverineDG]

40. i bought a queen size

so the mattress & boxspring were sold as a set. :)

dg

[AlCzervik]

44. same here, well worth the investment, mine is a no flip though.

[malta blue]

49. I have S&F also

I slept on one in my parents house - the same mattress for 18 of the first 21 years of my life. Now I have my own that I bought 7 years ago. They are the best mattresses out there, and worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY!

[eyesroll]

3. I have spent one night on a Sleep Number and LOVED it.

It was in a friend's guest room...if I had the dough, I'd consider springing for it.

[crispini]

15. Sounds good.

Yes, they are not cheap, are they?

[eyesroll]

16. Not cheap.

You can price the models online (www.selectcomfort.com). The one I'd want would be about $1,800...so it's not in the cards anytime soon.

[Strong Atheist]

6. How old is too old? I need to know! I am sleeping on a

mattress on the floor, and I am 41 ...

[jobycom]

9. I'm not the OP, but I just gave up my matress on the floor

and I turn 41 in March. I wasn't too old, though, I just didn't like doing it anymore. :-)

[crispini]

11. Well, I'm not that far behind you, agewise....

But I wake up 8 times a night and in the morning I feel like somebody's been beating me and I make noises like my granny as I get out of bed. So it's time. :D

Besides, it's not actually a mattress, it's a TEN YEAR OLD FUTON. It's about five inches thick by now. Did I mention I am incredibly cheap?

[Strong Atheist]

23. I am cheap too, but I sleep on a mattress on the floor because

I like to...

Edited to add: BTW, your sig line; Cathy's cuffs?

[crispini]

27. If it weren't so darn hard, I'd like it more.

Cathy's cuffs? Only in a sort of long involved roundabout sort of way involving DU jokes about S&M gear. :evilgrin:

[Strong Atheist]

30. Ah..... ahh? nt.

[bleedingheart]

21. a friend of mine used to do that...

until one day I joked that he was living like a hamster and why not decorate with cedar chips...he bought a bed a few weeks later...

I felt really bad...I had only been joking with him...but his mother thanked me....hahahaha

[Strong Atheist]

24. Those kinds of hints don't work with me, I am too socially

inept for that much subtlety ...

[jobycom]

7. Wow, you and I have similar habits!

I just bought a bed because I was tired of sleeping on a futon matress on the floor. I actually bought a platform bed, though, so I could put the futon matress on it without a box spring. It works much better than the floor, and I could spend my money on the bed instead of matresses. When I decide to get a matress, I won't need a box spring, because the slat support system on the platform bed does the same job as a box spring, so I could spend more on the furniture.

Next, I'll get a matching chest of drawers, so I won't have to dig my clothes out of the plastic bins on my closet floor! :)

BTW, here's the bed I bought.

[crispini]

12. Nice. Now that's an idea, since the slats

take the place of the box spring. Very handsome piece of furniture! :thumbsup:

[bertha katzenengel]

8. One very good piece of advice: DO NOT GO CHEAP.

A cheap bed can be worse than a futon on the floor, crispini.

Good luck!

[crispini]

13. Thank you! I think I am getting mentally prepared to spend some scratch.

I realized it's time when I spent five nights in a HOTEL and slept far better there than I do at home.

[CabalPowered]

10. Don't bother with any mattress with a memory foam top

Ours now has 3" indentations after about two months. Making matters worse, I have serious backaches nearly every morning. And it's not the typical backache I've ever experienced. The muscles closest to the spine feel like they've been through the ringer. I'd take it back but it was a floor model I bought dirt cheap. No warranty. Seemed like a good deal at the time.

[KitchenWitch]

14. We have a "sleep number" knockoff

We LOVE it!

[LostinVA]

17. Go to the new, big IKEA you have there

Lots of good, inexpensive ones. And, no box springs needed (your back will LOVE you).

[bleedingheart]

19. but do you have to buy those special european sheets?

their beds used to be oddball sizes and so you couldn't fit normal sheets on em...

has that changed?

[LostinVA]

35. I don't know -- I use sheets I've bought at Target, etc.

[Shakespeare]

42. Nope. They're all standard size.

I've been sleeping on one for over six years now, and love it.

[crispini]

20. I am afraid of IKEA.

I know, everybody says it's wonderful and all that, but 1) it's lost in the wilds of far, far, red suburbia and I'm afraid if I go there they'll trap me and brainwash me and turn me into a Republican. and 2) I'm afraid if I go there I'll become hypnotized and throw away everything I own and buy all new stuff. :)

No, seriously, good idea, I might do that.

If I can get over this irrational fear. :scared:

[bleedingheart]

22. if you go there...pick up some of that jelly they sell...it is tasty

[radwriter0555]

31. I have an Ikea mattress and I HATE IT. Sorry to diss this off, but I have

a bad back, and it's gotten worse since I bought the good quality Ikea mattress in September. I am going back to a traditional, top quality mattress next month.

I can only say what my experience has been. I'm perhaps a bit more sensitive in the back thing, but it's my experience. I made a BIG mistake trying to go cheap.

[LostinVA]

34. See, to me the IKEA mattress was the most expensive one

I've ever bought. And, I have a screwed up back from a bad car accident. Very interesting.

[Kerrytravelers]

36. I like IKEA fine, but I must say the mattress I bought years ago

was starting to go downhill. And the bedframe, which was only plywood, was bowing out on the sides (and we're rather slim people...) We dumped the bedframe, boght a metal frame and a box spring, but we kept the IKEA matress. This has been much, much better for us.

[Deep13]

45. Ikea bed + regular mattress = ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[bleedingheart]

18. 12 years ago I bought a $1000 mattress...

and it was worth it...don't know what that would be in today's money but an estimate would be around $1400

a few years ago I bought a cheap bed for my son...spent one night on it and I thought I would die.

It is worth spending the money to get a good bed....I have a high end Serta....I think (am not home to check)

[trof]

25. Air bed the only way to go.

And you don't need the overly expensive "Sleep Number".
Google "discount air beds".
We got our king size from a California dealer online for around $600.
Received it 3 days after we ordered. Packed in a relatively small box for it's full inflated size.
You don't need box springs.
The matress is very light. You could actually put it on several milk crates or sturdy cardboard boxes.
The exterior is all deeply quilted, looks and feels just like a standard matress.
Dual controls so miz t. can have her side rock hard and I can have my side sinky soft.

[Bunny]

26. I bought a new mattress/box spring set about six months ago.

After spending 17 years (!) on my previous set, I decided to splurge. I spent about $1,100 on a really deluxe Serta set, and it is very comfortable. It has a really poofy, pillowy traditional innerspring mattress, with about three inches of that memory foam stuff built into the sleeping surface as well. Very comfy, but I'm disappointed in the way it's wearing. I sleep alone, and the side that I sleep on has a noticeable indentation. I don't think it should be that badly indented after only six months.

[radwriter0555]

32. I rotated my last mattress every month. It was a double sided pillow top

so I turned it 4 different ways over 4 months so that I wouldn't wear it down as you're describing.... this was recommended by the fellow who made it for me.

SO that said, rotate your mattresses every month! It will save wear and tear, and it lets it air out a little bit.

I miss that mattress. It cost thousands.

*sob*

[WolverineDG]

41. it's rotate, flip

one month, you rotate, the next month, you flip. :)

dg

[radwriter0555]

53. Exactly! Sometimes those words don't FLOW from the fingahs, ya know?

That's right. Rotate, flip, rotate, flip. I also keept the box spring covered with its own sheet for protection and because it just isn't so pretty.

[I Have A Dream]

28. I have a Sleep Number bed. (Select Comfort).

It's a good bed, but they advertise on some shows that I find offensive. If this matters to you, you might want to take it into account. (I bought my bed before I found out about it.)

One example: They advertise on the Glenn Beck radio show. In case you don't know him, he's the right-wing crazy man who, on the radio, discussed killing Michael Moore. (He's also now on CNN Headline News. :grr:) I complained to Select Comfort when the Michael Moore episode happened, and they just blew me off.

[crispini]

37. Ah, they also advertise on Prairie Home Companion.

So that's sort of a counterbalance?

[I Have A Dream]

39. Yeah, I was aware of that. However, I feel that they should...

draw the line at advertising somewhere where they discuss killing someone for amusement.

[kay1864]

29. Check this thread also

I rendered my opinion on Sleep Number beds (in a nutshell: buy Comfortaire instead)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4592832

[crispini]

38. Good post

Thanks!

[Gormy Cuss]

33. A vote against pillow-tops.

The mattress feels lumpy sooner that the standard kind and many fitted sheets just won't stay in place on pillow tops. If you like the firmness of a futon I'd guess that the pillow-tops would feel too soft for you. Be prepared to lie down on the mattresses in the store for a solid five minutes to test it. Turn over, roll around, curl up, make a complete spectacle of yourself. After a few tests you'll get an idea of what features appeal to you.

As far as brands go, Stearns & Foster, Sealy, KingKoil, and the others all make good quality sets. Avoid the bottom tier -- those are two year mattresses designed for dorms and short term use. Concentrate on the midrange prices if you want the best product for your money. Read ads for a couple of months and you'll have a good idea of the price range.

Hint: the mattress stores often throw in a basic frame when you buy a mattress set. Watch for it in their ads.

[Deep13]

43. Mattress-original mattress factory; bed-Ikea

My wife and I bought a platform bed from Ikea. We went to the Pittsburg store to get it (from Cleveland). It is very simple, no posts and is made of actual wood. It requires no box spring and the top is, therefore, close to the floor. It was a few hundred bucks.

[Neshanic]

46. Agree...IKEA bed, very solid and economical. Need TINY fingers

for some acrobatic nut to bolt holes. Otherwise great.

[ET Awful]

52. Actually I might be going down to Ikea to pick up one of their

beds and accompanying nightstands in the next day or two :P

Only $300 for two nightstands and the bed. Plus I can go back and get a matching dresser and such later.

[Debbi801]

50. We've had a sleep number for 3 years now...

And it is as great now as it was when we bought it. I found that it took me a few days to find my perfect sleep number before I really got comfy. My husband found his number immediately.

I think they offer like a 30 day guarantee. I highly recommend them.

[cassandra uprising]

51. mmmmmm pillow top

I've been sleeping on the same pillow top mattress for three years and it makes the sleeping oh so wonderful.

[GOPisEvil]

54. Who has the stuffed sheep as mascots? I have one of those mattresses.

I paid for a firm, non-pillow-top Queen size a couple of years ago. I really like it a lot. I think it's a Serta. I paid about $700 at Star Furniture.

[sbj405]

55. My recommendation

Buy your mattress somewhere with a guarantee. We got a Sealy from Costco. After about a week, we realized it was actually worse than the old bed we were replacing. Thankfully, we were able to return and ended up getting a Stearns & Foster. Most of the mattress places will have a 60 day sleep guarantee. I really recommend doing that, because it's hard to tell based on 2 minutes in the store. Also, every store will have it's own line. If you search online you should be able to determine the equivalent models, so you can price compare.

[Scooter24]

56. I recently bought a Serta Perfect Night

It cost $2700, but was well worth it. It's absolute heaven. Spend the extra money and get the best mattress you can afford.