We last bought a mattress when I was pregnant with LL#1, so about 18 years ago. It was expensive at the time (we got it at a bedding outlet and it was about $900 but list price was $3K) I still love our mattress, but Mr. Lisa has been having some back pain when waking up that he doesn't have when he sleeps in hotels on business trips, so I guess it is time to suck it up and buy a new one.

First of all, mattresses have gotten stupid expensive since we last shopped. We saw a mattress that was, no joke, over $12,000 yesterday. That is more than we paid for the last car we bought. Um....no thanks.

Second of all, there is a dizzying array of options that weren't available last time we shopped. Memory foam. Latex foam. Hybrids. Not to mention the dozens of "bed in a box" internet mattresses whose online reviews are a 50/50 split between this mattress fixed the back pain I've had for 20 years/this mattress is the worst piece of carp ever. They all seem to have these no questions asked we'll-come-and-pick-it-up-and-give-you-your-money-back return policies that seem too good to be true.

I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Anyone mattress shopped lately and want to chime in with some guidance??? I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

I absolutely hate mattress shopping. ($12k is ridiculous.) But we were really happy with the queen mattress and box springs that we got at Costco.

I don't remember spending more than a grand on my last mattress, a Sealy. Probably less.

I'm like Mr Lisa, was getting back pain at home but not at hotels. The key for making the back pain go away was getting something on the firmer side.

Now they try to sell you basically an extra mattress that goes on top of the normal one. It's ridiculous. Not to mention your sheets won't fit. In fact they're making some mattresses so thick now you need special sheets for them even without the extra top cushion.

They also make it sound imperative to replace your box spring. Ignore all that stuff, but a moderately priced mattress on the firm side.

The Consumer Reports guide is a great overview and I'm guessing you've already looked at it but pass it along just in case:

https://www.consumerreports.or...ying-guide/index.htm

Haven't bought a mattress for a while, at least in part because I'm daunted by the choices and prices. There seem to be lots of options and features but suspect they are just marketing gimmicks to raise the price.

I haven't considered foam mattresses because I've tried foam pillows in the past and I didn't like them at all as I find them hot. Foam is supposed to distribute pressure, but I find my ears hurt. The auricle has little padding beyond skin and the foam pillow material seems to put pressure on the cartilage. I can't wear those cushy foam insoles in shoes, either. They make my feet hurt. Go figure.

When I go out to buy a new mattress, I think I'm going to stick with a basic old-fashioned kind of coil mattress. That design has worked well for me for years, so I figure I can't go wrong. edit: Will probably go to Costco like jodi did.

Sorry I can't help more.

We also recently bought mattresses, around a grand for our room and the guest room. I second all comments above. Get a firm mattress, firmer is always better for the back. Avoid memory foam, even if they tell you it's specially engineered to be cooler. That is bunk, all foam mattresses will be hot. And for some people, they're oddly hard to get up out of.

The only benefit of foam over coil in my experience is that coil mattresses can be quite bouncy, and sometimes one person getting out of bed wakes the other because of the over the top bounce of the coils. (My mother's new guest bed is like that). Our foam bed doesn't bounce like that, so we find it easier to get up without disturbing each other. But we both think it's too hot.

Good luck, mattress shopping is a real PITA, you have my sympathies!

This has spurred me to start shopping.
My mattress "ain't what it used to be".
Have been dreading the shopping.

Costco offers mattress only sales. Do people keep the box springs and use them again? My third floor bedroom makes getting large things up a problem.

Considering a Sealy rated firm with the next to firmest mark.
Should probably drive to Arvada and try it.
Manana

We bought a memory foam-and-spring mattress from the as-is corner at Ikea. It had a small rip in the cover on the bottom surface. It's fine, but with a memory foam topper on top of it, it's too soft for me.

My father had a mattress that was like a slab of marble with a doily on it. Decades later it seemed to still work fine as a mattress. Unfortunately, my ex gave it away to one of her coworkers who frequently showed up late to work because she was not sleeping well on a couch.

I don't think box springs wear out. Do they? They might get dirty or dusty, but are there actually parts that break down?

I made the mistake of googling mattresses out of curiosity about current prices. Now FB thinks I want to buy a mattress.

Off to google fine watches, just to get the damn mattress ads out of my feed...

I haven’t bought a mattress in a long time. I have a Simmons Beautyrest. I like it a lot and would buy one again. Beautyrests have individual pocketed coiled springs that are not connected to each other so there’s no sagging.


Read what Consumers Reports says about mattresses. Visit stores and check all the mattresses out before buying.

quote:

My father had a mattress that was like a slab of marble with a doily on it

These are the best. My grandfather's mattress was like that.

When we lived in Japan we sleep on a thin (maybe 4-inch) futon on top of tatami flooring -- tatami mats are straw mats used for flooring in traditional Japanese homes, so they're sort of cushiony without being soft. Anyway, that was the *best* arrangement for back health. Also practice impossible to reproduce that set-up in the US (at least, for our budget).

quote:

I made the mistake of googling mattresses out of curiosity about current prices. Now FB thinks I want to buy a mattress.

Off to google fine watches, just to get the damn mattress ads out of my feed...

Jon

True confessions: Mr. Sphinx and I purchased our mattress before we moved to DC. So that mattress is around 25 years old.

It has been through three kids with leaky diapers and three puppies that became dogs. It is a moral disgrace. But it was superfirm when we bought it, so our backs still feel fine. And we get a kick out of looking at all the stains when we flip it!

It will need replacing soon. I recently visited MS and slept on her queen mattress, which is some memory foam-ish thing resting on a platform. I liked the feel, but it was hard to get any momentum to get up and out. I especially liked that you can't feel the other person tossing and turning.

I think maybe I will try one of them from Costco -- our store carries them now for around $600. And I assume we can return it if it is too hot for Mr. Sphinx.

quote:

Originally posted by Qaanaaq-Liaaq:
I haven’t bought a mattress in a long time. I have a Simmons Beautyrest. I like it a lot and would buy one again. Beautyrests have individual pocketed coiled springs that are not connected to each other so there’s no sagging.

That's what we have. Old school but functional, and it has to be some 20 years old by now. I flip it every few years and it's still firm enough.

The question though - are the newer ones made like the old ones?