I’ve been on a pretty much life-long quest for the perfect sleep surface. Too soft and my back is unhappy with me, too firm and it’s almost impossible to find a comfortable position. The mattress we have now is okay, but not ideal, and we’re in a position now that we can spend a little money to get something really comfortable.
We are looking at the Tempurpedic (which commercials never fail to amuse me…it’s a swedish sleep system developed by NASA!), and the ‘sleep number’ beds. Do any of you Dopers out there have any experience with either, or any other beds that you really really liked?
I bought one of the Tempurpedic mattresses, best $8,000,000.00 I ever spent. Seriously though, it’s a great sleep surface. The only uncomfortable position I could find is sleeping on my back, which I very rarely do. If you’re a right or left sider, or a tummy sleeper, I believe you’ll like it. The idea of a foam mattress discouraged me at first, I thought it would be too squishy and damp-feeling. Far from it! The pillows they sell are worth the money, as well. I had developed an unnerving throb in my neck when I used my previous pillows[down-filled], but it disappeared when I began using a single one from Tempurpedic. I’d suggest finding one of their retail stores and giving it a test drive.
We have a sleep number bed. It didn’t help my back any, but it’s comfortable. On the other hand, NoCoolSpouseName will never sleep on anything else ever again! It’s a winner (in our house)!
i have a bed my parents gave me. i think they bought the mattress set circa 1985, then passed it on to me when they got one. its 2004 and it still works fine, but you have to put a 4x8 of 1/2" plywood between the top & bottom mattress to make it firm.
I have a Craftmatic model 2 adjustable bed and it is GREAT!, built in massager, heater, fully adjustable, 2 sided mattress (soft/firm), the downside is that you have to put up with the annoying salesman and his bullsh*t, the bed started out at over $5,000.00 but the salesman kept “finding little ways” and “checking with the sales manager” on the phone to lower the price, we finally settled on $2,727.00 (queen size), that was 9 years ago and I am thinking now about replacing the mattress before the 15 year warranty runs out.
We just bought two twin size and one queen size “Supple-Pedic”. That is another brand name for your “Tempurpedic”. They are both “firm” and “comfortable”.
Well, my bed is a California King size waterbed with a “waveless” mattress. Since I’m sure you won’t be happy with that, I’ll tell you about our guest bed. It used to be our bed, and we were deliriously comfortable in it. My wife and I have the same “too soft/too hard” back-and-forth that you do, and we were both satisfied with our Simmons Beautyrest (bought in 1998). It’s the one where they drop a bowling ball, and it doesn’t disturb the pins…
My wife and I have slept on a queen-sized natural latex mattress for the past 18 years. The box spring under that is conventional. The mattress is about six inches thick (maybe 8). Unlike synthetic foam, natural latex breathes. You don’t perspire on it during the summer or under ample coverings–we use a down comforter for three seasons. The mattress cover was customizable, so we had the factory sew an organic cotton cover on one side. The rest of the fabric is a sturdy cotton hotel-style stripe.
A latex mattress is probably 25% more expensive than say a typical box spring but to us the comfort is worth it. It’s firm but not metalic and squeaky. Soft but not sinking like a waterbed. Typically one of these mattresses lasts about 20 years and ours is right on cue. Over time latex tends to dry out and compress. We figure to replace it almost exactly in the next two years.
We just went through new bed and mattress shopping. We opted to buy a regular no-frills Sealy king-sized mattress from Sams club (about $800? don’t remember) and we topped it with a “generic Tempurpedic” 4pound pad from ebay, with 2 tempur-pillows all delivered for about $275.
If you’re thinking of doing this, search ebay for “viscoelastic” – we’re very happy with ours and the ones they sell retail are insanely overpriced. I saw a $200 item in Linens-and-Things: It was a king size “tempur pad”, but it was about an inch thick and didn’t like it would offer much at all in the way of support.
Ours is 5 or 6" thick and quite dense. It’s V E R Y comfortable.
I have the BachelorMatic 5000 with full-motion Pitch & Roll™ shock absorbers. It’s modular attatchment rail allows for a wide range of accessories. The Hi-Fi 8-track system is built right into the cabinet… very swank.
We have a pillow top, very firm, no flip, anti-sag Serta, King size.
I have had back issues from hockey injuries and my wife has a herniated disk/sciatica. We have never spent so much time in bed as we do now.
If you’re sharing the bed and you can get a king, go for it!. High end mattresses have extra middle support to prevent sagging King size means you have more space dedicated to you and less distortion, and you can feel the extra support in the middle when you get close to eachother, if you opt for a good mattress with the extra support.
A good mattress has extra support on the edges as well, so you don’t ruin them by sitting on the edge of the bed.
I pushed for a firm pillow top after alot of research and then some testing. We tested alot of beds. The pillow top allowed contouring, and the firmness provided healthy levels of support.
I have a Queen sized bed. I don’t know what kind it is. My bed slopes down in the middle though. So, if I don’t sleep in the middle I am sleeping at a slight angle. It’s kind of annoying.
I cracked the bed frame when I body slammed by brother a few days after I got the bed. I tell people its dented for a different reason.
I fix the bed frame about a month ago. But sleeping on it with a damaged frame for half a year did irreversible damage to the mattress.
Hey, thanks for all the replys, guys. For those of you who do have Tempurpedics, I have a question. Do any of you have pets, or hairy humans, who sleep in the bed? One of my concerns was that hair would work it’s way into the foam, making it icky after not too long (and contributing to breakdown). Have you found this to be a problem?
They sell a special anti-dust mite cover for the mattress, I presume this would also take care of any stray hairs[he said alliteratively] The sellers stressed the fact that any damage to the mattress done with liquids would kill the warranty, another selling point for the cover[it is waterproof]. Tempurpedics ALSO do not have to be flipped or turned, as opposed to conventional mattresses.
