It is time for a new mattress.
I put a call out to the Facebook crowd for opinions on memory foam and brands. And a flurry of commenting ensued. I'm grateful for everyone's feedback. Many agreed that paying more for the TempurPedic was the way to go. But some of those models cost as much as a Volkswagen. And also feature financing offers similar to a car purchase.
My friend Bryan was in the same market and suggested we trek down the highway to Sears and try them out. Bryan has slept on Tempurpedics while house-sitting and has tried different models. Bryan had in hand scores of research regarding memory foam, brands, support, reaction times, heat retention, durability, outgassing/smell, materials, layers, thickness, warranty, pricing, associated benefits, and financing.
I had asked around on Facebook.
I totally rode on his research coattails. Or bedsheets. Whatever.
I adore Bryan and we generally get along like a house on fire so a Sunday morning morning adventure with him sounded great. We were also looking forward to trying out our version of "real world positions" on the mattresses test for both sleep comfort and shall we say "active use" at the suburban C-class mall. ("Okay, how does it feel if you take this stance and I try to pound you?") By the end of our investigation, which resulted in Bryan making a purchase, we were pretty sure the well-dressed and rather handsome salesperson was family. Bryan did note that we should have guessed he was gay as he was by far the best-dressed employee we saw throughout the Sears. Pros of the TempurPedic: quality, durability, warranty, technology reviews.
Cons of the Tempurpedic: runs really hot, no bounce makes it difficult to get up at some times-and impedes some "active use," reaction times, most expensive, initial smell.
The lack of give and initial chemical smell are pretty standard for all memory foam mattresses, so I'm just sayin'.
I tried the Sertas next, which were really comfortable and ran about half the price. I found, personally, I liked the Serta models better, and they advertise that they run much cooler which is good for me. I was also aware that there was some psychology at play in my deciding I preferred the Sertas as I have a friend of a friend at Serta corporate who may be able to get me one at half price. I also decided to be amused at the silly model names Serta gives it's memory foam line of mattresses. I guess they are playing on the memory/mind thing because the names are all levels of intelligence: Prodigy, Savant, Genius etc.
But I genuinely preferred the feel of their mid-level Savant the best. Right soft/firm balance, nice reaction time, feels cooler.
I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of deal might come through from the friend of a friend. Harkness and Scott in Nashville have reported that they are extremely happy with their new memory foam mattress, which they got at Costco for under a thousand dollars. The Tempurpedic line runs about $3,500 to $4,500 (and the Tempurpedic "GrandBed California King High Profile Mattress Set" is over a whopping $10,000). The Serta model I'd like runs about $2,000. Even so, Costco is looking like something to investigate.
I'm also considering a trip to Berkeley to try Essentia--the only 100% natural memory foam mattress which boasts superior comfort, coolness, and zero harsh chemicals which can make for toxic odors and possibly cancer.
But each morning that I awake in pain, I resolve to make this decision sooner rather than later. And next time I try out mattresses, I'm bringing a pillow to get a better sense of how my neck/spine will align.
Once upon a mattress. Sometimes twice.
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