Mattress hopping
How to test a night’s rest in 20 minutes or less
The land of mattresses is filled with promises of sweet dreams and deep zzzzzzs. Yet figuring out which ones deliver comfort and support–the mattress-shopper’s mantra–is a highly individual decision: One guy’s cloud can feel like a bad bowl of Jell-O to another.
Other factors can come into play. Innersprings dominate, but the options keep multiplying, says a spokeswoman for the mattress industry’s Better Sleep Council.
Compounding the confusion? Manufacturers are mixing and matching new technologies and components–say, a foam topper with an inner-spring mattress or a foam topper with an air bed, which can also affect the price.
What’s a shopper to do?
“You can’t comparison-shop because models are sold [under] different names at different stores,” Consumer Reports’ Tod Marks said.
But you can do homework. Figure out what your body needs and research mattress materials and designs.
Figure out firmness: Too-firm mattresses can be uncomfortable to soft tissues, especially those muscles and tendons that overlie bony land-marks on the body, said Dr. Sheila Dugan, a physiatrist and professor at Rush University Medical School. Firm and conforming mattresses tend to work, she said, “because the firm allows areas of the body to stay in one plane, and the conforming part helps the local blood flow and the soft tissues not to be compressed.”
Consider comfort and support: “Support is a function of the springs. Comfort is a function of padding,” Marks said. “Because comfort is so subjective, objective testing is virtually impossible.” So, lie on the mattress for 15 minutes in your favorite sleep position. “Your body is pretty good at going where it wants to go and doing it safely,” Dugan said. So bear with the test–even in the middle of a store–and trust how your body feels afterward.
If you have a partner: Is the bed big enough for both of you? Will you awaken if your partner moves? Try mattresses together.
Silence is golden. Do moving parts or remotes operate quietly?
Sum it up as SLEEP. As the Better Sleep Council says: Select a mattress. Lie down in your sleep position. Evaluate comfort and support. Educate yourself about each selection. Partners should shop together.
– – –
Two Q staffers–Judy Hevrdejs and Ross Werland–headed to local retailers to give five mattress types a try. There are, of course, many makers of each type of mattress. This is just a sampling. All prices are estimates for queen-size beds.
Innerspring
Bed checked: Simmons’ BackCare
Promise: The classic bed with areas of firmness and softness keyed to the body.
Pros: It’s got the feeling we’ve come to expect. Firm and comfortable enough but pretty conventional. There’s a nice cushiony pillow top, but the firmness comes through.
Cons: Another person’s movements seem magnified.
P.S.: A new washable topper (HealthSmart) is available, with a child’s version due in May.
Cost: Simmons’ BackCare range from $499 to $1,899 (mattress and box spring).
Visco-Elastic/Memory Foam
Bed checked: Tempur-Pedic Classic
Promise: Based on stuff developed for NASA to ease the G-forces on pilots. Designed to conform to your body and all its parts.
Pros: Once you get used to the sinking sensation, it feels so good. There’s no pressure on tender body parts. A major bonus: You don’t feel your bedmate’s moves.
Cons: The very dense mattress takes several seconds to adjust to your body. If you change positions and have to resettle, it can feel like a restless Gumby.
P.S.: You can get the Tempur-Pedic material in, among other things, pillows and a mattress overlay, a 3-inch thick slab that can be used for camping, in RVs or atop another mattress.
Cost: A Tempur-Pedic Classic Swedish Sleep System starts at about $1,899 (for a mattress and a flat wood foundation, which takes the place of a box spring).
Latex Foam
Bed checked: Sealy’s Reflexion
Promise: Body-conforming material plus durability.
Pros: Forget yesterday’s cheap foam. This is soft and firm. Remember Mom and Dad’s good cop/bad cop? The initial feel is easygoing and comfy, but there’s a firmness there. Said one Q staffer: “You could waste whole weekends on this.”
Cons: If you have latex allergies or other objections to it, this is not for you.
P.S.: Marriott International Hotels use latex-foam mattresses, though not this brand, partly for their durability.
Air
Bed checked: Select Comfort’s Sleep Number 3000
Promise: Air chambers and a remote control let you adjust the bed’s firmness.
Pros: Very comfy and easily adjustable. More substantial and much better than any inflatable mattress campers use.
Cons: The controls on the less pricey versions purred a little too loudly, which could be a bummer if your bedmate is into gadgets.
P.S.: Pillow tops and memory tops and much quieter remotes available.
Cost: The 3000 starts at about $899.
Handmade
Bed checked: Hastens Excelsior
Promise: These bedmakers-to-royalty use natural materials such as cotton, wool, flax and horsehair.
Pros: Lovely-looking with a cozy, airy feel. The salesman said the mattress “breathes,” and you can almost feel that. Provides firmness and gentleness at the same time.
Cons: You can feel the movement of the other person (but there’s no noise). This would be one Q staffer’s favorite, except that he would lie awake at night trying to figure out how to pay it off.
P.S.: No latex or polyurethane foam in these.
Cost: The Excelsior starts at $9,515 (mattress, box spring and pillowtop); a basic model starts at $2,000.
