i'm going queen mattress shopping soon, and i realize i have never really had to do it. i know that the firmness and comfort of the mattress is all subjective but are there any particular brands that are known to just be a great mattress?
Wherever you buy make sure they'll exchange your mattress for a different firmness for at least 30 days. What you like in the store and what your back likes after a few nights of sleep can be very different. Mattress stores are always holding sales. Make sure you try to strike a deal even below sale prices. Don't get suckered into a pressure buy. Memory foam is very comfortable but if you sweat easily you'll end up in pools of sweat or end up tossing and turning to avoid heat buildup.
They're large and cushy. I sometimes sleep on one. I keep it in my bedroom, with smaller cushy items ("pillows") stacked at one end. I love them, these mattresses. When I wake, I get off of it and begin my special day filled with many adventures. I do not return to it until night time, maybe, unless I am stalking the moors in search of food. In which case I eschew the mattress-life, conforming instead to the naked essence and comforts of the brazen skies, just me and my armadillo.
We tried lots of different brands when it came time to replace our old Sealy double bed three years ago. Liked the Simmons king size and decided it was worth the extra cost (both the brand and the size). It's very comfortable and we can't feel each other move around at night. I would highly recommend it. We bought our mattress at MattressFirm, FWIW.
The sleep number bed has a bar which goes down the middle. If you tend to take up more than half of the bed this can be a problem on a queen. May want to consider a king. What we did was to stay in a hotel which uses the for a week.
Give the folks at Sleepworld on Burnet Road a visit. Nice local folks and local factory. You can spend as much or as little as you'd like. Mrs. Homebrew and I sprung for one of their pricier organic models and REALLY like it.
Prices are negotiable. Shop around. The problem is that the mattress makers try their best to discourage comparative shopping. They make the exact same mattress for different retailers but use different names and fabric patterns to make you think they are different. The prices for quality mattresses always seems unreasonably high, but I strongly recommend sucking it up and buying a mattress that you REALLY like. They last a long time and it's hard to put a price on comfort. I just spent a week on the road visiting family with bad bedding. My first night home was divine. Bernard
Mattress sales are nothing but marketing. There is very little that separates the top brands, and almost everyone of them out there will give you 4 - 5 years of great sleeping before needing to be replaced. Whether you pay 500 or $5000, there is little difference in this regard. Yes, I'm sure exceptions can happen, but I prefer to stick to the general rule of thumb. Here's a little secret that they don't want you to know about: ALL of the brands buy their springs almost exclusively from the same manufacturer: Leggit and Platt. In addition, cross shopping is almost impossible because the same mattress by the same manufacturer will have 5 different name brands at 5 different stores. The best advice I found online was to buy the cheapest mattress you can comfortably sleep on, and run with it. Avoid the department stores, the mattress stores will always have a sale going on, and you can even work with them further than that price. We just got a Simmons Classic Queen size in plush (mattress only, platform bed) and it is incredible. It was $540 out the door, I hauled it home my self.
