Princess Z has been mithering me for years 'n years about her back, for which we have tried several mattresses, and then she has started to add about getting a larger bed.
SO, I did some furniture rearrangement and measuring and agreed we could upgrade to a king size bed. Off we toddle to JLP and get a new bed frame, and try some new mattressesssss with the aid of their bed expert. The princess had the final say.
Now before I decide how profligate I have been, I need a straw poll of what types you have have and how much you have/would spend on a mattress.
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A Mistress is halfway between a Mister and a Mattress.
I have an inherited electric bed . I guess the mattress would be a fair wedge of dosh. I sleep fine on the existing one. It can lift my feet or head up or, if I lie on my front, it can give me a knee-trembler. What more could a guy want ?
We did call in at Dreams to look at one for SWM's bed but the cheapest was over £600 and we were both put off by the smarmy, long permed blond haired and blinged up salesman, as much as the price.
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Been umming about mattress replacement too. You can get very lost in pocket springs, open springs, how many, what materials, what stitching, gel, toppers, memory foam.... It seems like an absolutely endless list of badly described doodah.
It's also pretty much impossible to actually compare one with another on paper, especially as one company will say "firm" but another will say "medium", on apparently identical products. And then, like the carpet industry, they add in the old "this is sold by Bensons but is made by Seely at Dreams under another name where they change the top cover but it's £150 more for the same thing" and so on.
Got very bogged down in it and gave up.
However, as to price, I got the sense that a single mattress of worth is probably not going to be much under £500 and a larger size not much under £1000, but wouldn't be surprised at double that.
You can of course spend £60 on something from Amazon in a sale.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 16 Jan 18 at 14:29
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We've has a king size for years, probably due a new mattress, I would have had no idea on the cost though wife went shopping with mother in law the other day and she (MIL) bought a new double bed*, £400 for the bed and nearly £600 for the matress IIRC.
EDIT: *So a king size would be more I guess.
Last edited by: Hard Cheese on Tue 16 Jan 18 at 14:33
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Both Mrs FP and I have long-standing issues with our backs and a few years ago we chose our present bed with some care. We have been very pleased indeed with it.
We ended up with a standard double with ottoman base for storage, but with a very thick and expensive mattress with a lot of springs. The total cost was well in excess of £1500. We tried the various alternatives available in Dreams, basing our test on the "hand under the lumbar curve" procedure.
I can't remember where I got this from, but you lie flat on your back (best if you're wearing a top that's no thicker than a shirt) and push your hand between your back (in the lumbar region) and the top of the mattress. If it goes in easily, the mattress is probably not going to provide enough support. If it goes in with difficulty, the mattress is too soft. Note that support for the back comes from two things: the firmness of the springs and also the depth and quality of the padding above the springs forming the top layer of the mattress. All things being equal, a mattress with more springs will support better. What we chose would probably be described as "firm".
I've always steered clear of so-called orthopaedic mattresses, which seem to be just very firm (not necessarily supportive) and with a label that's an excuse to charge high prices. And I cannot get on with foam mattresses.
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Thanks, I've never known how to approach mattress choosing, and that really helps. I shall now wander around the house trying various beds to see if it works.
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I've suffered with a 'bad back' on various occasions for many decades due to bending over car engines for 14 years. My last very bad attack was 8 years ago when I couldn't get out of bed for over a week.
I bought a spine stretcher orf Amazon + a Visco Therapy HL2000 firm mammary foam mattress for £125 (£159 now)
I still use the same mattress and have bin thinking about replacing it for some years now but, it's sooo comfort-able and good for my back that I'm a tad Iffy about getting rid TBH.
If and when I do decided to out the critter, I'll probably look at a pocket-sprung jobbie with a mammary-foam top
(not topper) which I've seen on QVC/Ideal Weld etc.
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Over the years I’ve spent far more on sleeping bags and inflatable mats than mattresses...the current count ( just checked) is 3 top quality down bags and 5 sleep mats for all eventualities. Plus several other sleeping bags which I use when the house is full of guests.
My most recent bag, an ultra light PHD design cost me over £250, worth every penny when you’re carrying it for a few hundred miles and sleeping at altitude. Even my latest mat, an Exped Synmat UL7M cost me the best part of £90. But it is the best mat ever!
I often use my cheapo sleeping bags at home in winter...saves changing the bed, wash a cheap cotton liner once a week and I’ve no idea what mattresses I have on my beds but I imagine you could pay several hundred pounds for a fancy one. Makes sense to get a good one if it helps with a peaceful nights zzzzzz.
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Coincidentally bought a king size be and mattress in JLP before Christmas. Got a JL "Montreal" oak bed £549 and a John Lewis "natural collection" mattress for £900.
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Ok, I'll fess up now, the bed was 400 quid, the Mattress - A 12000 pocket spring, natural fibres, yorkshire wool king size was 1550 quid. Its about three times more than I have ever spent on a bed before. They has some mattressess there for £15,000 pounds!!!!!!!
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That's the budget model. This is the top of the range
tinyurl.com/y7orav3y
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>> the Mattress ...... was 1550 quid.
....has it got an integral safe to store your money between banks.......
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And of course, having switched to a king sized bed, you need several sets of sheets, duvet covers and at least a couple of duvets, oh and the bedroom could probably do with redecorating since it's all rearranged and......
Last edited by: commerdriver on Tue 16 Jan 18 at 16:50
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>> And of course, having switched to a king sized bed, you need several sets of
>> sheets, duvet covers and at least a couple of duvets,
Yeeeessss, on their way from Next apparently - 200 quid -Kerching.
oh and the bedroom could
>> probably do with redecorating since it's all rearranged and......
Sharps and hammonds catalogues arrived on the doorstep this morning.
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>>
>> Sharps and hammonds catalogues arrived on the doorstep this morning.
>>
We looked at Sharps, when we were planning the replacement of the very tatty existing doors of the built in wardrobe, obviously done on the VERY cheap by the previous owners.
To say that we were shattered, appalled and amazed at their prices would be an understatement!
Their price marketing strategy is similar to double glazing installers!
We looked around t'Internet and eventually found a reasonably local firm, Gliderobes of Alfreton (who will supply nationally), who planned, measured and fitted a complete interior and doors for around £1450. We had to pay the fitter separately as he was a sub-contractor, but he did a great job and we are well pleased overall with the VFM and service given.
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Nah. See above. A couple of ultra lightweight down sleeping bags does away with all that frippery.
Works for me ( sometimes)
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My wife complains about our mattress. However, it is, in fairness, only one of a list of quite a few other things she's regularly moved to mention she's unhappy about, so I'm not quite sure how serious the problem really is on her scale of general dissatisfaction. I hardly notice the thing as most of the time I'm in any form of close proximity to it I'm asleep.
I'm fairly sure though, that if we were to get a new one, there would be something not quite right about it...
:-(
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>> most of the time I'm in any form of close proximity to it I'm asleep.
Perhaps therein lies the problem. She's bored.
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"A 12000 pocket spring, natural fibres, yorkshire wool king size was 1550 quid. Its about three times more than I have ever spent on a bed before."
Worth every single penny if you regularly get a good night's sleep on it.
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>> "A 12000 pocket spring, natural fibres, yorkshire wool king size was 1550 quid. Its about
>> three times more than I have ever spent on a bed before."
>>
>> Worth every single penny if you regularly get a good night's sleep on it.
>>
I can get a good night's sleep on the sofa, no need for a 1500 quid mattress ...
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Exactly, you go to bed and lie there for at least 3 minutes thinking how comfortable the mattress is and then you go to sleep.
Wake up 9 hours later and spend 3 minutes thinking how comfortable the mattress was and get up.
6 minutes per night for how much???
Do some work, get really tired, you'll sleep on a clothesline and it's far cheaper.
Pat
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Funny thing sleep. I've never been able to, or indeed wanted to sleep more than 6 hours a night, but I do sleep soundly for that amount of time. But, only provided I can have a window open and my feet sticking out from under the duvet. Can't be doing with hot feet, and I get really claustrophobic in hotel rooms where you can't open the windows. Never really notice what the mattress feels like, just get in and fall asleep usually.
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Totally with you on all counts Humph, though the mattress has to be clean and fresh.
The difference between six hours and eight hours sleep is a whole month extra every year to do things ...
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Like what is worth getting our of bed for at 6 a.m on a winters morning?
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All manner of things, an early walk with the dog, or to beat the traffic if you need to be somewhere, to catch up with a book or a newspaper, a swim, all sorts really.
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>> All manner of things, an early walk with the dog,
Got up at 6:00am to go out a few times last year, the dog refuses to leave her nest at such an ungodly hour
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“the dog refuses to leave her nest at such an ungodly hourâ€
A creature of some discernment then. 7.30 is quite early enough to
stir if you no longer have to sell your time to someone else. A leisurely breakfast and read the papers and ready to face the world by ten.
“What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.“
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Because life is for living not sleeping.
Sleeping is something to do when you have nothing better to do.
Pat
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I've always taken the view that I'll spend long enough lying on my back in the dark insensitive to my surroundings in due course. In the meanwhile, I'll take advantage of my ability to breathe, move and experience things.
;-)
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Tue 16 Jan 18 at 17:51
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There's a man after my own heart! I can't bear hot feet and tucked in duvet. Always sleep with the window open and feet sticking out of the bed all year round.
Once went into a hotel beside the old A1 in Yorkshire where the windows didn't open at all and we got up and gave up at 2am and came home!
Pat
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I can easily fester most of the day away in bed. Up at 7:30, bowl of porridge or blueberry pancake topped with rasps and/or strawbs, retire back to bed and listen to R4, burrow my head for a few hours in a cracking good read, get up at 2pm, walk to gym, workout & sauna, meet friends in local pub at 5pm, then curry at 8pm. Home in time for a good film until midnight.
Pretty much a perfect way for me to spend a dark, wet and cold winters day.
Sadly I no longer have a dog to walk, and spending so much time overseas I don’t envisage another in the immediate future. But one day....
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Ours was about that price - but came direct from the maker(*), so would have been twice that in JL probably.... I'm not that bothered, but SWMBO has a bad back and is very sensitive to the mattress. Trouble is, every where else you stay will be dead uncomfortable by comparison!
* www.designersleepsystems.co.uk/bespoke-mattresses/ highly recommended!
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We've had a king size bed, for many years. Nothing smaller will do!
Our current one, with the mattress, was ordered on-line while we were in Spain and delivered to our temporary address in the UK in time for us to kip on it straightaway.
That means we've had it since Feb 2011
We chose a pocket spring mattress with a layer of memory foam. IIRC it cost about 500 to 600 quid, so not in the top price bracket by any means. The bed frame is a solid light oak and was about 300 to 400 quid.
The mattress is still in OK condition, but given the recommended life of a mattress is 7 years, we might well replace it once I've finished paying for our carpeting, in about a years time.
The next mattress will NOT have memory foam, but will be a traditional pocket spring version with the maximum number of springs we can afford.
Having memory foam means, of course, that a mattress cannot be turned over regularly to even out wear. We have found this to be a disadvantage, as flipping side to side just moves the depressed part to your partner's side of the bed.
As we have become older, we have found that a firmer mattress suits our aches and pains better.
To conclude: a mattress is a very personal choice, but in general I would say, buy the absolute best that you can afford - the more springs the better and go for a traditional type, rather than a gimmicky, marketing led, memory foam variant.
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Sleeping arrangements are very personal, many people need very different setups to get them off to sleep. For some that may be more important than the choice of a mattress.
Reading the above posts, I've never thought about hot feet or if they were to affect my sleeping at all. I'd have to have the windows shut not really sure why but I dislike having the door to the bedroom open as well. Best thing i found to help sleeping is ear plugs. Best thing ever for me.
You can choose mattresses that come with a guarantee and a money back if you don't like it. Anyone tried anything like that before?
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That's absolutely right sooty, they are very personal.
Being used to sleeping in a lorry cab for so many years at the side of a main road or on an industrial estate with 24/7 traffic passing, I still struggle to sleep when it's quiet and love to hear noise in the background.
I can't imagine the bedroom door or window being closed and have to have a low light as well.
Not everyone's choice but it works for me.
Patl
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Where I was brought up on a main road so we had road noise day and night and I've spent plenty of time near noisy runways. Still love the piece and quiet to nod off and the darker the better as well.
I remember one particular time in the middle east in some basic accommodation, the sunshine was very bright even with curtains. So I covered the window in the room in black gaffer tape. Much better for sleeping!
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I'm finding all the expensive bed stuff quite alarming. Is there something wrong with me ? I could afford a couple of grand or more an a bed/mattress combo but just don't see the need.
I have managed perfectly well on an IKEA £100 metal bedframe and £110 IKEA foam mattress for a decade or more. I've never understood mattress toppers (or whatever they're called) either.
Several family members have similar sleeping arrangements - again with no problems.
Is this all the bedding equivalent of Audi v VW v SEAT v Skoda ?
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How much would you pay for a sofa? More than £100?
And how long would you sit on that sofa compared to lying on your bed?
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Thinking about it, probably the most comfortable "bed" I've been in was a Pusser's issue hammock or "mick", slung in the tiller flat of the training Light Fleet Carrier, HMS Theseus, circa 1955.
Great kip when crossing the Bay of Biscay in a force 9!
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We bought a new mattress recently and doing the rounds of the shops it became apparent they tended to sell the same mattress under a different name. I went online and found the same manufacture and spec of mattress for a fraction of the cost of retail outlets - around one third!
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Hammocks are great if you're a) alone and b) intending to sleep.
I love sleeping in a hammock. Unfortunately, so does the cat.
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>> Hammocks are great if you're a) alone and b) intending to sleep.
>>
>> I love sleeping in a hammock. Unfortunately, so does the cat.
Spent two weeks in one on TS Foudroyant, woken up at sparrows fart by a kick up the hammock from the "bosun" had to pack it up each morning and hitch it up again each night
Hate the things
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I once tried a hammock, couldn't get comfy at all in it. Didn't strike me as something I could go to sleep in. I've seen people use them on flights, they seemed to like them, they were out like lights.
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If people can get a perfectly good nights sleep on a £100 mattress, why not? There's no minimum spend on one.
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Never spent more than £250 on a mattress - usually through Costco - their £250 seems to equate to about £800+ in a bed shop.
Stayed overnight @ a son's house @ Xmas.
New bed, cost a fortune (4 figures for mattress) & it was uncomfortable - too soft.
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A friend of mine fell on hard times a while ago and when my Aunt died I delivered her bed to him...he’d been sleeping on a sofa in an unfurnished property.
Didn’t like the mattress, so has been sleeping on the sprung base for the past 10 months.
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" How much would you pay for a sofa? More than £100?
And how long would you sit on that sofa compared to lying on your bed? "
I'm really not sure what you mean here.
On the theme of sofas, I used my parents' cast offs until about 25 years ago when we eventually bought a new one. We've since had new covers made by Plumbs and we've still got the sofa. I reckon it'll do us another 20 years at least.
Here's another interesting point: LIDL chicken is processed in the same West Bromwich factory as chicken from M&S - you know, not ordinary chicken but M&S chicken.
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My point was that most people are prepared to pay many hundreds or even thousands for a decent sofa. They probably spend less time on that than they do on their bed. It is reasonable to spend at least as much on one as the other.
Even a decent mattress will start to sag and become uncomfortable after around eight years
It is of course possible to get by with anything and different people have different priorities but spending a hundred pound a year on something on which you lie on for around a third of your life does not seem particularly extravagant to me.
Not sure what chicken has to to with mattresses.
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I'm with Dulwich Estate, but there again maybe it all depends on how easily you sleep. I drop off pretty quickly and sleep fairly soundly, pretty much anywhere and on demand!!
We spent what felt like, to me, a higher than necessary amount last time we got a mattress, but SWMBO doesn't sleep as well as I do.
I suppose you can't park your shiny new mattress out on your drive for the neighbours to adore so you have to talk about it with your virtual mates :-)
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>> I suppose you can't park your shiny new mattress out on your drive for the
>> neighbours to adore so you have to talk about it with your virtual mates :-)
Its not about the looks or the bragging rights, its about the performance and dynamics, clearly something you have no appreciation of.
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>> Its not about the looks or the bragging rights, its about the performance and dynamics,
>> clearly something you have no appreciation of.
>>
...that would be 0-zzzz in how many seconds, I guess.
(And I think we should draw a veil over the dynamics ;-) )
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>>>You can choose mattresses that come with a guarantee and a money back if you don't like it. Anyone tried anything like that before?
Yep 18mths ago without hassle.
About 12yrs ago was the first time (at nearly 50) we thought better have a mattress that looks after our backs and by luck found a small family shop in town that gave great advice and sold us a mattress at mid price that suited us better than any other we've slept on over that time.
Then 2yrs ago decided to go up to king size during a room refurb and moved our (still good) mattress to the spare room. Went to every bed shop in town large and small (previous one closed down) but struggled to decide just laying on them in showrooms so went online and ordered one around £600 with a shop retail nearer £1000 from a money back if it doesn't suit in 30 days place. This was after their bed consultant had exchanged several emails asking all about our weights and sleeping positions etc to refine the type we needed.
It was terrible from night one and after 10 days we gave in and asked for return. They collected without grumbles or costs and refund arrived promptly.
Then we looked carefully at the label on the old one we liked so much and after googling a combination of the model/brand found where it was made in the UK, tracked the factory down and emailed them direct... they still did that type and even better supplied at a factory price of £350. It has exactly the same feel as the original except a little more supportive not having 10yrs wear and if it had been £1000 we'd have been happy. Result.
BTW I don't treat Which magazine advice as gospel but their tests on mattresses not too long ago indicates price has little bearing on whether a particular mattress will suit.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Thu 18 Jan 18 at 01:00
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>>tracked the factory down and emailed them direct... they still did that type and even better supplied at a factory price of £350
What was/is the model/brand then guvnor?
>>price has little bearing on whether a particular mattress will suit.
Yep, I'm not sir prized at that at all at all.
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>>>What was/is the model/brand then guvnor?
Don't remember what the label said but it wasn't a brand as such... I think a factory mostly making for others prepared to sell as a one-off with a nondescript label. They were the very devil to suss out and it took loads of googling to track them down.
The free trial folks and the one we didn't like was this... johnryanbydesign.co.uk/product/origins-pocket-1500/?attribute_pa_size=double I see the trial was actually up to 60 days, no chance we could stand it that long.
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Cheers Fender, I'll stick with my 8 year-old £125 jobbie for now :)
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Yep I would.
I've just looked back and can see that the one we have now was actually only £239-99 for a factory door price, not £350 as I'd first remembered. It does show that if you are lucky the right one can be the right price too.
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This is the mattress I bought 8 years ago for £125 and which has been very good for my back preview.tinyurl.com/ydzb8kp8
I've just carried out an Ideal World / QVC test on it, and it still has a good memory, whereas a sprung mattress (of similar value) would surely have started to sag by now.
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We too had a mattress from them, and knew it was wrong after the first night - it was just way too hard! Returned without quibble.
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I have a Harrison Platinum 3000 which cost me about £700 (King) and - main attractive feature - comes rolled up in a box so could be delivered to the office so I didn't have to take a day off work. It sits on top of a most attractive Edwardian brass bed base.
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Really don't know but to manufacture a mattress in the UK and delivery it free for £160 seems incredibly cheap. Are you buying one? A review would be interesting.
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The above ebay seller listed as Bedtime Warrington appears in London Gazette as filing for insolvency in 2015 so I would be wary.
One question I would ask is this ..how are you going to be able to check whether the mattress you buy really has 3000 pocket springs without ripping it apart? That is why I would not buy a mattress from ebay.
ISTR a recent Fake Britain programme on the subject of 3000 pocket sprung mattresses being checked by Trading Standards being cheap and nasty rip offs. One company even went so far as to copy the Dreams livery on their delivery vans to mislead customers.
Caveat emptor....
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>> Princess Z has been mithering me for years 'n years about her back
I thought she had been moaning about the pain in her neck ;)
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www.yell.com/biz/bedtime-warrington-ltd-warrington-7086230/
In view of the first review here I doubt that it is a pocket spring mattress.
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>>how are you going to be able to check whether the mattress you buy really has 3000 pocket springs without ripping it apart?
Scan it with my Minelab Sovereign metal detector :)
>>In view of the first review here I doubt that it is a pocket spring mattress.
Say n'more squire!
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>>Really don't know but to manufacture a mattress in the UK and delivery it free for £160 seems incredibly cheap. Are you buying one?
Nay lad, as I said up thread, I'm still happy with the £125 jobbie I bought 8 years ago but, it's badly stained - more from sweat than anything else.
I sweat in bed see, which is why I have the window open at night, even in this 'king weather.
I reckon I'd be better orf going back to sheets & blankets rather than using these 'ere €uropean duvet things!
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Coincidentally just ordered a new mattress - we have gone for a 1200 closed cup very firm mattress that is reversible.
Our current mattress is only one sided and feel that this has perhaps shortened its life.
Price around £350 and I am already wondering, although we both like a mattress that isnt saggy or bumpy, will we actually like a firm mattress?
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>>> we both like a mattress that isnt saggy or bumpy, will we actually like a firm mattress?
If it's very firm perhaps not.
One of the important aspects in choosing is the difference between partners requirements. We are lucky with the one we have it seems to be an average of the fairly close needs we both have. When in hotel beds we do find it's often only one of us that will say too soft or too hard. We are not too picky but one year did have a holiday cottage with a bed so bad by midweek it threatened our outdoor activities due to back ache.
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>>We are not too picky but one year did have a holiday cottage with a bed so bad by midweek it threatened our outdoor activities due to back ache.
Often it's the base that has gone, not the mattress, so you can put it on the floor. Sometimes the mattress is no good. Most dreadful night of my life was spent in a holiday cottage in Suffolk. We left at 5am to go home.
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"Often it's the base that has gone, not the mattress..."
Maybe. However, some beds have a sprung base (either an upholstered divan or slats), and some a completely flat and rigid one. When buying a mattress only, ensure you are trying it in the shop with the same type of base you already have at home. It makes a considerable difference.
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As Gloria Hunniford's mother quite rightly said "spend as much as you can afford on shoes & beds, if you're not in one you're in the other" We swapped from double to kingsize years ago & should have done it sooner. Size does matter in the bedroom ! My manufacturer of choice is Sleepeeze. A pocket sprung mattress (the more springs the better) & base about £1000
Last edited by: maltrap on Thu 18 Jan 18 at 15:50
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Another tip we have just discovered - buy a quilt that is one size larger than the bed, so that it hangs down properly over the edges. No draughts.
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Mattressessssss - Ted
