# What type of mattress do you own

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 5, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244 "2011-09-05T06:23:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/1 "2011-09-05T06:23:04Z")

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We just replaced our ten year old mattress, and so I did a lot of research on options. I’m curious about what people really have, so here is a poll.

Innerspring is the standard type.  
Memory foam is like the Tempurpedic bed, and conforms to you.  
Air is used by Sleep Number and such, and is adjustable.

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### Author: ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/2 "2011-09-05T06:44:20Z")

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Other. Soft-side water bed.

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### Author: ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/3 "2011-09-05T07:04:45Z")

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I have a Sleep Number. I absolutely without a doubt HATE the thing. You have to understand. I love marshmallow cloudy beds. This one has basically two settings (even though you have several numbers) hard and bottom of the bed. There is no way it can conform to your body unless there is something else to support you, get into the areas you need. I have had more problems sleeping on it than any other bed. I tried to return it but they wouldn’t (even after calling several times). Horrible. They did send me an eggcrate to sleep on with it. Yay. :rolleyes:

There was one bed I almost got but it was wayyyyyy too expensive. It was a memory foam/innerspring mattress. I thought I would sleep for the rest of my life in that bed. Unfortunately, I could not afford it.

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### Author: ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/4 "2011-09-05T11:40:05Z")

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I love my memory foam mattress, it is the most comfortable mattress that I’ve ever slept on.

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### Author: ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/5 "2011-09-05T11:41:05Z")

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Sleep Number. Best chunk o’ change we ever spent.

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### Author: ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/6 "2011-09-05T12:06:36Z")

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> [@saje](#):
>
> Sleep Number. Best chunk o’ change we ever spent.

Same here. We had a very hard king bed and it made me miserable. I like to sleep on my side, and my shoulder would just get crushed. With the sleep number, I can have my side soft and my Wife can have her side hard. Works great for us.

_ **VitrolicBump** _ That’s odd. Only two settings? Yes you said that there are several numbers, but ours is I think 1-100. It’s not so much a setting as you just adjust the air pressure. Perhaps something is wrong with yours.

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### Author: ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/7 "2011-09-05T14:04:54Z")

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My parents hate their Sleep Number bed, too. I think it’s just not the right fit for some people.

We have a crappy inner spring, the cheapest bed in the store. We bought it because we needed something quickly (just moved home from overseas) and didn’t have a huge budget at the time. It kills my back. We’re getting ready to go bed shopping again for something nicer, more comfortable, and bigger (!), which is why I clicked on this thread. My dream bed is the Serta mattress that they have at Hampton Inn hotels. You can order them through their website, but we’ll try to find something similar locally.

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### Author: ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/8 "2011-09-05T17:14:29Z")

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> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Other. Soft-side water bed.

Same here…

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### Author: ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/9 "2011-09-05T17:50:34Z")

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> [@enipla](#):
>
> Same here. We had a very hard king bed and it made me miserable. I like to sleep on my side, and my shoulder would just get crushed. With the sleep number, I can have my side soft and my Wife can have her side hard. Works great for us.
> 
> _ **VitrolicBump** _ That’s odd. Only two settings? Yes you said that there are several numbers, but ours is I think 1-100. It’s not so much a setting as you just adjust the air pressure. Perhaps something is wrong with yours.

Unfortunately there really is no difference in the numbers for me. If I put it past 20, it kills because it’s so firm. At 20 or below, all I feel is the bedframe. It isn’t the mattress for me.

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### Author: ![JoThrive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@JoThrive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoThrive)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/10 "2011-09-05T18:12:00Z")

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Innersprings. We just got a new one about a year ago. We’re old-fashioned guys . . . . 🙂

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### Author: ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/11 "2011-09-06T00:31:09Z")

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I’m not sure what my mattress is. Something designed by early communists intent on not only breaking their people’s backs via toiling labor, but by also breaking their backs during their rest periods via mattresses made of plywood. Or something. I can literally knock on the top of the mattress and hear a hollow thud. It’s an empty, solid box covered with mattress-looking fabric. I’ve always complained that I could never find a mattress that’s firm enough for me, but this one crosses the line. Its only benefit as a mattress is that I don’t have to get pinched by the slats comprising the bed frame’s platform.

(And no, it’s not a box spring.)

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### Author: ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/12 "2011-09-06T00:33:14Z")

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We’ve a spring mattress, which wasn’t bad at all, but it got a lot better once we sprung for one of those memory-foam mattress toppers.

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### Author: ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/13 "2011-09-06T01:24:51Z")

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Cheapo Ikea innerspring. I think it was the second cheapest- $150 for a full.

I like hard mattresses. I’m happy.

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### Author: ![DeepLiquid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deepliquid/32/14893_2.png) [@DeepLiquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepLiquid)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/14 "2011-09-06T01:49:03Z")

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After memory foam and a variety of innerspring back breakers… back to latex, ahhhhhhh!

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### Author: ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/15 "2011-09-06T01:58:04Z")

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> [@MacCat](#):
>
> Same here…

Me three.

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### Author: ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/16 "2011-09-06T02:03:14Z")

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Memory foam, but not of the sink-your-body-into-it-and-ache variety. It’s the perfect amount of ‘firm’.

It’s amaaazzzzing.

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### Author: ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/17 "2011-09-06T05:41:49Z")

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I’m not sure what I have. It came out of a hotel that was upgrading their mattresses. It’s not inner spring because it’s stuffed like a futon, but it’s a regular mattress looking thing. It’s king sized and really firm and heavy, I love it. I call it my Klingon Death Bed. 😃

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### Author: ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/18 "2011-09-06T05:46:33Z")

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> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Other. Soft-side water bed.

Me too.

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### Author: ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/19 "2011-09-06T06:27:56Z")

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We have memory foam and we like it. It replaced a very expensive inner spring mattress (not RIDICULOUSLY expensive like Hästens, but pretty expensive), and the much cheaper foam is a lot more comfortable for both of us.

I’ve slept on Sleep Number beds in a hotel a couple of times, and I didn’t like it at all. It felt like an air mattress to me. We tried them in the store, and the only one that approached feeling good was the one with so much padding on top you couldn’t feel the air anymore, which it seems would defeat the purpose.

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### Author: ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2011, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-mattress-do-you-own/595244/20 "2011-09-06T07:11:33Z")

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I have a Sleep Number bed and dislike it but my wife loves it. For me, it exacerbates my back problems regardless of the setting. Currently my side is set to 100 for the most support because I prefer that but I’m considering tinkering with the pump or possibly replacing it with a 5000 lb capacity air compressor so I can literally blow it up. I’d turn to my wife and say, “Gosh! What was that noise?” and then buy something else. Maybe a hammock.

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