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How does a homebound person shop for a new mattress?

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
I wasn't homebound, but not far from it. I did a lot of online research and read pinions on mattresses that I didn't even know existed.

I knew I wanted something that was durable, comfortable and economical. I quickly found out that some of the most comfortable mattresses (i.e. - Pillowtops or Eurotops) from various manufacturers will not maintain that comfort for as long as I anticipated. Most mattresses are one-sided now and all that cushioning on top tends to flatten out over time.

I found a local mattress company that is very reputable. I found out that a lot of the claims about "coils" were just marketing hype, so I ended up buying a two-sided heavy coiled mattress without a lot of bells and whistles, but sturdy.

I also looked at "Sleep Number" beds as well "Memory Foam" beds, but a that time memory foam would could easily turn into a "hot" nights sleep. I believe it's much better now, but even memory foam doesn't hold up well unless you get "dense" memory foam.

I ultimatlely ended up with my sturdy two-sided mattress and added 2" of "medium" dunlop latex. I quckly found out that at 200 lbs and only having 2" of latex wasn't enough. So, I added another 2" (total of 4" of med. density latex which goes by an ILD number that I can't remember).

I have my very sturdy and well constructed mattress, 4" of latex with a full enclosure hypo-allerginic mattress cover (this does have built in pillow top to an extent). I have about $1400 in a new box spring and mattress that to me feels just as good as any Sealy, BeautyRest, Legget & Platt or Sterns Foster mattress and I'm convinced it will last longer since it is a double-sided mattress.

I really like the way the latex feels and I also bought a "latex" pillow that I really like that doesn't make my head sweat.

If I had it to do over again I would do the same thing except either go with 6" latex topper or look at the newer "cooler" memory foam toppers available.
 
Messages
1,082
Location
UK
Changing matresses is a nightmare when housebound.
Luckily i had an occupational therapist at the time and he ordered me a hospital mattress thats supposed to prevent bed sores. However its really thin compared to a normal one so i put my old 2 inch memory foam on top of it.

Getting shot of the old matress was the real pain in the backside for me when too ill to talk on phone to arrange stuff.

Because i don't have anyone to help, me and mam had to wrap it in plastic, and call the council to come pick it up.

I then paid someone my mam knows to carry it down three flights of stairs for me and leave it outside for collection overnight, praying it didnt rain as they dont take wet mattresses.

I would have just had to randomly order one online otherwise and use my memory foam to soften whatever i got.
 

WillowJ

คภภเє ɠรค๓թєl
Messages
4,940
Location
WA, USA
I ultimatlely ended up with my sturdy two-sided mattress
I'm relieved they still make these.

I have the "no flip" single sided kind as that was all I could find last time, and I suspected it wouldn't work out and it didn't work out as long as my previous one had. My dad also said it was a marketing trick to make people replace more quickly.

Thanks both for the tips.
 

WillowJ

คภภเє ɠรค๓թєl
Messages
4,940
Location
WA, USA
he ordered me a hospital mattress
I did wonder how those would work out. Thanks for the report. :)

Sounds like you had a lot of trouble with your old mattress. I think here a local company would usually take the old one away, but not sure that hospital supply places do such things. I do have someone who can manage the old one, thankfully.

I would have just had to randomly order one online otherwise and use my memory foam to soften whatever i got.

That's a lot like what I had in mind, but it didn't seem very hopeful that I would get something I liked.
 

belize44

Senior Member
Messages
1,662
I have to agree that the new pillow top mattresses are a rip off. We bought a queen sized one three years ago,and since we can't flip it over, I can feel the springs pressing into my side at night. I have had to put a folded blanket underneath the sheet and still I can feel the springs. The next time I am going to insist upon a two sided mattress and add a nice topper for comfort!
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
Mattresses are so hard to buy. Back in 2008 I wanted to buy new mattress and I bought one from Simmons. It came and it had all these chemicals on it and when I laid down on it, I had muscle twitching and a horrible headache from the smell. The offgassing was horrible and the mattress didn't feel anything like it in the store. They would not take it back and it was $800.

I know I'm not answering your question, Willow. :(

The mattress that I have now I went to "allergy free living" and bought one right off the floor because I liked the way it felt when I laid down on it. It had been in the store for two months and was very clean and it was made of organic wool. I bought this after the $800 one. I lost so much $$.

But, I often wonder how people buy mattresses over the phone or online because you just never know what you're going to get. Make sure they will take it back if you don't like the way it feels.
 

Sean

Senior Member
Messages
7,378
Avoid pillow tops. Get a plain double sided mattress and buy a separate topper for it. That way the topper can be replaced if needed (either because it doesn't suit you, or they wear out faster than the main mattress), and you can still flip the mattress.

Air the mattress well before using it.

Buying a good mattress is a nightmare, even for the healthy. The mattress industry has us over a barrel. You can't test a mattress properly in the store. Regardless of what they say, stores do not like taking them back, and will charge you heavily for it. There is no real agreed upon technical standards to allow a proper comparison. They are expensive. And you have to have one.

Captive market. :grumpy:
 
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Messages
13,774
I ended up slightly messing up my mattress purchase, despite having prioritised a month of my time on getting it right. Ended up with a one that was a weird size (small) and a bit too soft for me. TBH, this hasn't really mattered at all. It's nice to get these things right, but there are also bigger things to worry about.

Agree with all the others about getting a plain double sided one.
 

Purple

Bundle of purpliness
Messages
489
Get someone to drive you to Ikea with your own wheelchair or have someone bring a store wheelchair to the car for you. Go flop on the thicker mattresses 'til one feels good :) Then get a thick mattress topper for even better accommodation of pain issue.

This would be my approach too but without trying the mattresses out as I cannot go out. I ended up getting a mid-range mattress from a mid-range brand (not too expensive but good enough quality so that is doesn't start falling apart in a year or two), knowing that the mattress would likely not be perfect. Expecting the mattress to be quite firm, I also bought a 2 inch memory foam topper (in a zipped washable cover) to go on top of the mattress. This actually worked out surprisingly well. It is easier to make a firm mattress softer with a topper than make a soft mattress supportive.
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
This would be my approach too but without trying the mattresses out as I cannot go out. I ended up getting a mid-range mattress from a mid-range brand (not too expensive but good enough quality so that is doesn't start falling apart in a year or two), knowing that the mattress would likely not be perfect. Expecting the mattress to be quite firm, I also bought a 2 inch memory foam topper (in a zipped washable cover) to go on top of the mattress. This actually worked out surprisingly well. It is easier to make a firm mattress softer with a topper than make a soft mattress supportive.


This was my exact approach because it gives a durable foundation and I added initially a 2" latex topper, but this wasn't enough for myself, so I added another 2" and it works well. I'm thinking of passing along one of my 2" latex layers to my son. I want to replace it with a firmer 2" layer of latex. I will then have great mattress construction, 2" firm latex, 2" medium latex all fully enclosed in a hypoallergenic/pillowtop(?) matress cover.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again either. I rotate it every 3 months and flip it every 6 months. I also have my new box springs in a fully enclosed cover as well because box springs without n enclosure is a dust mite magnet.

Just as a precaution, and if it's possible, I always open up my latex toppers and let them "air out" for a couple of days even though with latex it had very little odor, but I have friends that have bought memory foam and the odor was very strong when initially opened, but dissipated quickly.
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
Get someone to drive you to Ikea with your own wheelchair or have someone bring a store wheelchair to the car for you. Go flop on the thicker mattresses 'til one feels good :)
@WillowJ, I agree with Valentijn. If it is at all feasible, trying out mattresses is the best way to go. But I understand that it might not be possible. :(

The problem is that mattress comfort is so very individual. For example, I hate memory foam. Even aside from feeling too overheated, I move around when I sleep. I don't like the way it takes time to mold to your shape. But I know that it is one of the most popular type of mattresses and probably most love it.

Another example is those "sleep number" air beds. I would be afraid to have a bed like that for fear that something would break. I don't want a bed that requires electricity (to raise/lower air pressure), might spring a leak, might have noise issues, etc. If something broke then I would not want to spend the time and energy to chase down someone to fix it.

But that's just my two cents. Every person is going to have a different set of trade-offs. I don't have a lot of pain, for example, and that may change the type of mattress that works well for someone.

So, it's worth going to at least one store, if you can. Otherwise there are online places that will deliver (and perhaps even take away the old mattress) but you'd want to make sure they accept exchanges and returns (and ask about restocking fees).

Since Valentijn mentioned Ikea, I'll add that's where we bought our last mattress a couple years ago. We went to maybe 4 different stores and tried out many of the mattresses on display. We settled on the Ikea mattress for two reasons. First, it cost a lot less. Second, they don't require a new box spring. I think all the other stores (one dept. store and 2 mattress stores) would not guarantee a new mattress unless we bought a new box spring with their mattress. That adds a lot to the cost, esp. for king size (our bed).

One unexpected surprise is that when the new Ikea mattress was delivered it had a little bit of chemical smell but it was not nearly as bad as our previous new mattress when it was first delivered. I don't have a very sensitive sense of a smell but our old mattress (Simmons? Serta?) was really horrible even for me. My husband does have a sensitive smell and he was bothered by the smell or our previous mattress for weeks.

But the new Ikea mattress did not bother either of us. The one we chose was a spring mattress but I can't remember which one (either Hogla or Holmsta?).

One last suggestion is to read Consumer Reports and other reviews. It was amazing for me to discover that price and comfort was not correlated! (at least not in the Consumer Reports polls that I read) Another link is http://www.sleeplikethedead.com/bed-mattress-review-home.html.

So sorry that you have to go through this process. Wishing you the best!
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
I forgot to add a couple things.

I agree with folks who are saying the pillow-top mattresses lose their comfort fairly quickly. The one we used to have got flattened out after about a year (or maybe less) with hollows/depressions and did not bounce back.

I don't mind having a one-sided, non-flip mattress. Who has the energy to flip them?
 

WillowJ

คภภเє ɠรค๓թєl
Messages
4,940
Location
WA, USA
I forgot to add a couple things.

I agree with folks who are saying the pillow-top mattresses lose their comfort fairly quickly. The one we used to have got flattened out after about a year (or maybe less) with hollows/depressions and did not bounce back.

I don't mind having a one-sided, non-flip mattress. Who has the energy to flip them?

Thanks for this. I don't have the energy to flip them any more, but I did get permanent depressions in mine. However I had gotten a pillowtop. I won't make that mistake again. :)