Current one is getting a bit worn so SWMBO wants a new one.
I think it's a queen size bed, could be king though. Most of the "action" will be sleeping on it!! :-) The current one has a definite slope towards the edges, despite turning regularly. A fairly firm one would be preferred.
As I'm still out of work we don't want to spend an arm and a leg. but I don't know a lot about mattress "technology". There's bound to be some here that do, so I'd be pleased to hear any views.
|
Check out Latex mattresses smokey (not cheap though) if I was a'gonna replace my mammary foam mattress,
I'd go for one of those.
|
|
we went into benson beds to buy our eldest a new foam/pocket sprung mattress. we ended up getting ourselves a new superking bed and mattress and they have numbers up to confirm density from 1-5. our 3 rating was perfect for us and we ended up paying 800 for bed and matress and it was so comfortable with us lying on it for 15mins. they have a sale on but i would say dont try and save too much money as the really inexpensive ones you can feel springs and the metal banding around the edges.
|
We got on of these last year, can`t fault it! and reasonably priced too!
b.tinyurl.com/4x7wve9
(links to Ebay)
|
As a chronic sufferer from back pain, when I last bought a bed I went into the subject pretty thoroughly.
On the whole, experience has taught me that a soggy mattress/bed is very bad for me and even worse is a bed that has a hollow in the middle. (My bête noire - appropriately - was an awful bed in a small hotel somewhere in la France profonde, where I had to put a rolled-up towel on the bed to get any sleep.)
I read somewhere and have adopted since the following way to test the bed: take off the coat and jacket you will inevitably be wearing when you visit the shop. Lie on the bed flat on your back and allow a few moments for your back muscles to relax and settle. Then try to slide your flat hand between the small of your back and the mattress. If there is a clear gap the mattress is too hard and will not support your back properly. If it's really difficult to get your hand in there, the mattress is too soft and again will not support your back properly.
Remember that buying a bed is a personal thing - what suits you may not suit someone else. If you're sharing a bed, you either compromise or buy a two-part mattress.
I have to say that I find foam mattresses barely acceptable and I find them sweaty to sleep on. I would never buy one. I would always go for a sprung mattress, with or without a sprung base, remembering that a mattress on a solid base will feel different from the same mattress on a sprung base.
All else being equal, the more springs the better, as support is more equal over the entire surface. Forget the description "orthopaedic" - it's an excuse to charge more for a mattress that may be too hard for some.
Finally, I would never cut corners when buying a bed or mattress. It's worth paying out for the comfort while asleep and during the following day. We spend somewhere between a quarter and a third of our lives in bed, remember.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Fri 27 Apr 12 at 12:45
|
|
We've had Slumberland beds and mattresses for yonks and we like them. They have a wide range.
|
>>They have a wide range.
Quite right; ours is 60".
|
|
Just to confuse things even further - have you looked at the memory foam options?
|
>> Just to confuse things even further - have you looked at the memory foam options?
>>
And even further, we have an interior sprung mattress with a built in memory foam sleeping surface.
|
>> ....... have you looked at the memory foam options?
I don't understand memory foam. What does it do?
|
|
I softens slightly with body heat and moulds itself to fit your lumps and bumps.:-)
|
|
I have an excellent memory foam office chair. It's the only really comfortable one I've ever owned.
|
You probably need something which is pocket sprung, i.e the springs are contained within individual pockets - the more springs per area , the better the support.
My kingsize has lots of springs and has a memory foam topper stitched in and it doesn't require turning.
Had it over 8 years now and it hasn't sagged or dipped at all. Can't think of the make but the name label has 'Bali' as the name and it has 'By Royal Appointment' from Queen and Prince Charles so its good enough for them...not cheap though.
This type of thing
www.divancentre.co.uk/Victoria-6ft-Zip-and-Link-1500-Pocket-Sprung-Mattress-only_AR5KE.aspx
|
Almost the same sort of construction as the ones in the link I posted, - only £200 quid dearer! ;-)
Mattress Features
1. Has 13 .5 gauge bonelle spring unit
2. 3 oz cotton felt
3. 5cm polyester
4. Cool Belgium damask cover
5. Vertical stitched borders
6. The combination of springs and fillings produce the support ...........not just memory foam.
7. -5cm 65kg/m3 Density Memory Foam
|
>> I softens slightly with body heat and moulds itself to fit your lumps and bumps.:-)
>>
What about if you turn over and then back again. Does it remember the original shape? You're unlikely to go back to your original position.
|
|
It only takes a few seconds to respond to movement and as it is a firm foam rubber like material it is just very comfortable.
|
That's the one I have, plus a Memory Foam topper from B and M (cost £35 for king size).
I paid £139 including delivery for the double bed sized SilentNight mattress from a local independent discount bed centre, some £50 cheaper than anywhere on-line. Adding £5 to the delivery charge ensured the old mattress was taken away, although I suspect that the delivery men would have done this anyway...:-))
|
>> I don't understand memory foam. What does it do?
tinyurl.com/ct7vu6j
|
Perhaps you should snip a bit off your mattress, DD, and send it to your BB company.
:-)
|
|
Scowly face didn't come from me. I hope not, anyway.
|
>> Perhaps you should snip a bit off your mattress, DD, and send it to your BB company.
lol - Had to think about that one for a minute.
|
>> >> I don't understand memory foam. What does it do?
>>
>> tinyurl.com/ct7vu6j
>>
Thanks, VxFan. I haven't quite got through all of the 4,250,000 search results yet, but I'm getting there!
|
|
We have the memory foam matress very comfortable.I have back problems.We've had the matress for four years paid about £300.
|
>> We have the memory foam matress ......
What make?
|
|
Its got a hippo on it silent night the boss tells me.>;)
|
You are Reginald Perrin and I claim my £5.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2mLAajm7ZY
Thanks so far, keep it coming :-)
|
|
Thanks smokie.Reginald great man.Having a tot of Genever and lemonade live is good.>;)
|
Definitely consider memory foam ones. They are not expensive and very comfortable.
I won't go back to pure spring mattress ever.
|
>> Definitely consider memory foam ones. They are not expensive and very comfortable.
>>
>> I won't go back to pure spring mattress ever.
>>
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=391
|
This household has been converted to Ikea mattresses.
We like them and have bought 3 so far. Plenty of choice and sizes. Typically £120 to £200.
|
>> This household has been converted to Ikea mattresses.
>>
When I looked at IKEA mattresses for daughters IKEA bed IIRC they are strange sizes.
|
|
Most likely continental sizes.
|
"Most likely continental sizes"
Usually yes, you need an IKEA bed too.
But, you can order the old style shorter matressess - most IKEA ones are 2m long.
|
Some information on sizes here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattress (Down the bed a bit)
|
|
Yep, the single bed mattresses here in Germany are 2m long and 90cm wide. A double bed here is basically 2 single mattresses, so 2m x 1.8m. Large double is 2.2m x 2m. I generally find the beds in the UK uncomfortably small as a result.
|
>> Its got a hippo on it
Any elephants in the fridge?
|
What to look for in a mattress.
Money left behind by the previous owner ?
Bed bugs.
|
My experience is that with mattresses, more than virtually anything else, you get what you pay for. A cheap mattress will be knackered after a year or two and so will your back.
Either pocket sprung , or memory foam you really need to at least a grand for a double to get something that will give your back proper support and last 7 or 8 years. You do after all spend a third of your live lying on the thing.
Personally am not a fan of memory foam, They are comfortable but I do find them overly warm, the foam being a very good insulator and I tend to wake up in a sweat.
|
>>Personally am not a fan of memory foam, They are comfortable but I do find them overly warm, the foam being a very good insulator and I tend to wake up in a sweat.
>>
We tried a memory foam topper first and then bought a "Dunlopillo" type mattress with memory foam topping.
I agree that they do tend to be warm and that alone may mean it is not for you.
We bought ours on a try it and return it if not happy basis.
Ours is also a pain to turn ( top to bottom only) as it has no handles on the sides but not sure if they are all like this. I suspect they are if a foam base.
|
|
Good point there, Henry. Mattresses without handles are indeed a pain. Turning our large mattress, even with handles, is difficult enough.
|
|
My understanding is that memory foam mattresses do not need to be turned.
|
|
Do they remember to turn themselves?
|
2000 pockets sprung memory foam mattress it's soooooooooooooooooooo comfy in king size with divan 4 drawers.
Batley west yorks up here in the North seems to be the bed capital it's full of suppliers that make them from scratch this is where i got mine and they deliver world wide.
|
>> My understanding is that memory foam mattresses do not need to be turned.
>>
The memory foam is only 2-3" thick but the foam underneath may benefit from turning.
|
Another vote for memory foam here. I bought a new bed in February with the aforesaid mattress from Dreams, and can honestly say I have never slept better.
The only downside is it hard to extract myself from it in the morning to face the day.
Incidentally the Dreams manager could not have been more helpful, and was open to negotiation for a quick sale.
|
I don't know what you call a fortune, but if I was buying another one now (probably coming up, after 8/9 years I think) then I'd buy another mid range pocket sprung Hypnos.
It was the best money we spent the year we bought it. A decent pocket spring mattress will never sag in the middle and if somebody gets on the other side when you are in it you should hardly move.
I think ours would be similar to these - ISTR it has wool and cotton fillings and about 1200 springs, allegedly -
www.mattressman.co.uk/mattresses/hypnos/baronet-regular-king-size-mattress.aspx
www.mattressman.co.uk/mattresses/hypnos/ortho-deluxe-king-size-mattress.aspx
You need to be aware whether you are buying for a sprung divan base or a bedstead.
Also, like all furniture, prices are all over the place for the same thing so shop around. We found the bed we bought at £1350 in a good furniture shop in Aylesbury, supposedly at £700 off. We found the same thing online at £950 delivered, of which the mattress accounted for about £600.
One thing you will find if you are looking to compare prices for a specific bed is that the chains often won't have them - they have their own 'exclusive' versions so you can never really be sure you are comparing like with like.
I'm wary of memory foam after trying a topper we have, made from it. We got far too hot.
|
|
You got far to hot on memory foam? Steady >;)
|
We needed a new mattress a couple of years ago.
We found some good advice on Money Saving Expert from a poster who worked for Bedlum Beds, an internet supplier of mattresses. (He was not allowed to name the company on MSE, and I believe, no longer posts on MSE) His advice was free, and in my opinion, fair, unbiased, honest and good.
Bedlum Beds have set up this site: www.mattressadvice.co.uk/ and the gent I dealt with is behind it. I'd recommend that you go there.
Some advice I got from him was:
1) Don't buy from the big household name manufacturers - their stuff is not good quality, and is over-priced.
2) Hypnos is good - but very pricey.
3) La Romantica is not a well known company, but their stuff is very good, and reasonably priced.
We purchased a La Romantica mattress (though not, in the end, from Bedlum Beds) - and are happy with it.
|
>> Bedlum Beds have set up this site: www.mattressadvice.co.uk/ and the gent I dealt with is
>> behind it. I'd recommend that you go there.
That's a good site Tyro.
I've always been very wary when buying upholstered furniture since I did business with a small manufacturer, probably not untypical, of cheapish suites. The innards were softwood, chipboard, cheap foam and among other things rolled up cardboard. Fastened together with staples etc.
For years we only bought Ercol show-wood sofas and chairs on the grounds that you can at least see what you are getting.
The adage "you get what you pay for" while true in reverse does not necessarily help. The furniture trade is addicted to "sales" which basically means they make the prices up then discount them to what they should be anyway. The margins are still high. Much furniture is unbranded or exclusive to one chain so prices can't be compared for the same thing. Even decent branded stuff with published list prices like Ercol is always 20% off in the sale, and you'd be unwise to buy it at any other time.
The Bedlum site looks useful too. I can well believe that small manufacturer can be good value - beds are basically hand made anyway, so the small guys can compete. I bought my daughter's bed when she was 3 from such a maker, and specified a firm mattress on the grounds that kids use them for trampolining even though you tell them not to. That was 28 years ago, and that bed is still here, 12 years after she left home - all the others we had at the time are long gone, and that one is still firm and flat. (daughter can sleep on a concrete floor even now, and everybody else finds the bed too firm!)
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 28 Apr 12 at 16:22
|
>>What to look for in a mattress...
Creepy crawly things? Money?
:-)
|
what to look for in a matress...
horse hair? head?
|
>> what to look for in a matress...
>>
>> horse hair?
My bed had a horsehair mattress ~ no springs, just horsehair ~ in the middle 1940s. At one point it had to be sent away to be reconstructed because the horsehair had compacted and sagged in the middle.
|
We are Ercol fans, but never bought new. Fleabay is the place.
OTH I would never buy a used bed/mattress . YUK!
We bought all of our bedroom furniture new when we came back "furnitureless" from Spain.
We found a supplier - click4beds - and bought solid oak stuff; ordered before we arrived.
1 Sweet Dreams Darcy wooden bed frame in King Size at £ 319.00
2 Sweet Dreams Darcy bedside cabinets at £149 each £ 298.00
1 Harmony Destiny coils spring and memory foam mattress in King Size at £ 429.00
Total. £1046.00
All delivered fully assembled, all solid oak and all made in China!
Later we bought a solid oak bookcase for the bedroom, almost a perfect match for the other stuff and also made in China!
|
|
Roger there is me thinking you are a true Brit and you buy Chinese.>:)
|
Dutchie - as it is (very commonly, in the ungrammatical & coarse sense) said - I was gobsmacked to find they were made in China.
The shipping costs for made up items (except the bed frame itself, which was CKD) must have made up a large proportion of the wholesale price.
Until them I was not aware of "Chinese" oak!
|
|
I had that very thought Roger - bought a CKD bookshelf from a quite decent store - Chinese Oak, i products apart, best quality item I've seen from China - they must have Oak, they've got everything else !
|
|
At those prices I would have been gobsmacked if they hadn't been made in China. Nearly all the cheap, and some not-so-cheap, leather upholstery is coming from there too.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 30 Apr 12 at 09:02
|
I misread the thread title ~ I thought it said "What to look for in a mistress"!
;-)
|
|
To be honest so did I - I was about to move it to Non Motoring...
|
From where?
As the saying goes "If I was you I wouldn't start from here"
|
Vi-spring tops the Which? customer satisfaction rankings.
customer score
Vi-Spring 86%
Tempur 84%
Hypnos 83%
Harrison 82%
John Lewis 81%
Dunlopillo 81%
Sealy 81%
www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-improvements/reviews-ns/mattresses---best-mattress-brands/best-mattress-brands/
We have a Vi-sprung, and damn, it is extremely comfy. Not cheap though: our king was nearly a grand. What price a good night's sleep though?
HTH,
Alex.
|
>>nearly a grand
Yikes!! - I couldn`t sleep if I`d have paid that!! ;-)
|
my new bed arrived today.
£799 for king-size divan and mattress with 2000 pocket springs and memory foam above that and a thick cotton pad on top of that.
i cant wait for a good nights sleep tonight
|
|
Undisturbed sleep is a pleasure - just had a power-nap.
|
Check out Latex mattresses smokey (not cheap though) if I was a'gonna replace my mammary foam mattress, I'd go for one of those.
snip:~ advert removed
Last edited by: Webmaster on Fri 6 Jul 12 at 09:27
|
|
Mammary foam eh.... I've reported this spam.
|
What to look for in a mattress - Dog
