How much should a queen mattress and box spring cost and what do I look for by way of value?

[Mayayana]

| > needs, I'd say don't waste your | >money on a mattress. Find someone who's throwing one | >out. | | ...and bring cooties into your home. Bed bugs, etc. It may also be a | violation of local health codes, unless the mattress is sanitized | before hand.

It actually is a violation where I live. There's been a resurgence of bedbugs. I wasn't thinking of just getting a mattress anywhere. I was thinking more that he might have a friend with an extra. So many people seem to have mattresses around that they just haven't got around to throwing out.

On the other hand, he's so adamant that he doesn't care about comfort, I'm thinking of offering him a good deal on a sheet of plywood -- $100 off what he would have paid for the Sealy Posturepedic

-- for a limited time only. :)

[Ed Pawlowski]

You say a subjective comment is worthless and you make a dumb statement about a memory foam mattress. We love ours.

We had a king for a few years but after my wife's surgery, we gave it away and now have two twins side by side. They are adjustable independently so I can put the head up for watching RV or what I am doing right now. I'm typing on a netbook sitting on my belly, watching TV and am very comfortable. My wife is napping.

Ours in NOT a Temperpedic, but a clone at about half the price. Foam is a good insulator so you may find it a bit warmer, but in the summer, the AC is on and very comfortable. In winter we keep the bedroom at 62 and with a fleece blanket we sleep very well. We also have the Gel type that is supposed to be a little cooler.

My suggestion is to try a mattress before you buy. Anyone that says a particular type is no good is not well informed and most important, they are not YOU so they have no idea what you like. No more than they can choose your favorite flavor of ice cream for you.

[Vic Smith]

Price and quality are pretty easy. If the mattress is well made, you shouldn't feel the springs, and the material covering it should look good. You pay what you pay. I bought my full-size 23 years ago, and it's just starting to sag at the edge where I sit to get dressed. Paid about $300 cash with box spring, rails and headboard. No idea of brand, though it has a label. and AFAIC it's not worth looking at brands. Location is up to you. Got mine at a no-name place on Milwaukee Ave in Chicago that sold second hand furniture. They had new mattresses in a back room. Find a place with light overhead for the best price. They delivered free. I picked a heavy, hard one and never regretted it.

[Mayayana]

| You say a subjective comment is worthless and you make a dumb statement | about a memory foam mattress. We love ours. |

The OP said a subjective comment is worthless. I said I don't like memory foam. Just my opinion. I find it uncomfortable. We have one here but I prefer the regular foam. (I also don't have AC, so that might make a difference.)

[Howard Schornstein]

I went to the mattress store on the way to costco today and wondered the same thing about cooties in _those_ well worn beds!

[Howard Schornstein]

I snapped a picture of my _old_ bed, which is just fine, and which must be something like 20 years old, and I have absolutely no problem with it.

On thing I learned that nobody told me was that no bed, nowadays, according to the sales person, is double sided. Too bad. That means you get only half the wear (although he insisted it's better to have only one side).

[Howard Schornstein]

I've stayed at probably five hundred hotels in my life, and I've never had a bad bed in any one of them, around the world.

A bed is a bed is a bed is a bed.

Some people love to complain, and, I guess, I feel sorry for those who can't sleep under a rocky outcrop. Like you, I've done my time, and I can sleep in a hole in the ground as long as I can figure out how to drain the water so that I'm not soaking wet the entire time.

A bed is a luxury item.

[Howard Schornstein]

I have to agree with you that the mattress industry is odd.

Today, I went to Mattress Discounters, and told them about the $600 Costco SealyPosturepedic Newfield Cushion Firm Queen Mattress Set:

The Mattress Discounters saleswoman said their $1,100 Sealy Posturepedic "AP 704 Cushion Firm Set" was an equivalent mattress.

I thanked her and walked toward the door (because the costco price was $500 less for the same thing, not to mention almost $50 difference in sales tax alone).

You know what she did?

She practically chased me to the door, and said she'd give it to me for the exact same price as (what she said was) the Costco equivalent.

Basically, she dropped the price almost in half on the spot!

It seems mattress stores are as bad as automobile dealerships and jewelry stores, when it comes to setting asking prices!

[Howard Schornstein]

I didn't snap a picture of it, but nobody told me that there are two kinds of inner springs.

The Mattress Discounter staff had cutaway models which showed the difference eloquently.

The older type, which I liked better, is all interlinked chromed metal, while the newer type (called "APEX" coils in Sealyposturepedic land) were round coils encased in cloth.

Despite the fact the saleswoman extolled the virtues of the newer type, I told her I suspect it's just a way to make things cheaper, since the cloth-connected circular coils would clearly be easier to manufacture than all metal links.

Anyway, she told me that the NUMBER of coils matter, when you can get them from about 500 to about 800. The bed she pointed me to had something like 700 coils (IIRC) but I need to check.

So, apparently, for "sagging" reasons (which is a quality issue), the discrete number of coils (and the type) make a difference when buying a mattress.

[Howard Schornstein]

It's not that I don't "care" about comfort.

It's just that YOUR idea of comfort will be totally different than Oren's idea of comfort which will be totally different than Mayayana's idea of comfort which will be totally different than ChairMan's idea of comfort which will be totally different than Ed Pawlowski's idea of comfort, etc.

Scientifically, unless we run a statistically valid sampling of comfort, it would be a total WASTE OF TIME to ask about comfort in this ng.

This ng is valuable. But not for subjective things. It's much better for OBJECTIVE things. Like QUALITY. Or PRICE. Or what to look out for.

I wish, for example, people had told me about the number of coils, and the types of coils, and their experience with the two different type.

I wish also that someone had informed me that no bed nowadays is reversible. Or that the box spring comes in two sizes which are four inches different in height. Or that the pillow-top beds require different sheets than standard. Or that Mattress Discounters will halve the listed price on their beds.

That is the kind of PRACTICAL information I was looking for!

[Howard Schornstein]

The problem with "trying" a mattress is that you need to sleep on the thing overnight to really "try" it.

Sure, everyone "says" to lie on it for 15 minutes in the store, but, that's like taking a new car on a 5 mile test drive. It's essentially nearly worthless.

Especially since I've slept on at least 500 hotel beds in my life, and I've never had a problem with a single one of them.

Here is a picture of the three different kinds of "toppings": firm, plush, and pillow

I kind of agreed with the saleswoman, who said that you can always make a mattress topping softer, but you can't make it firmer, so, you should err on the side of firmness, she said.

Anyway, the pillow made the thing too big for a typical sheet, and I didn't feel any difference between the three anyway, when I lay on them, and, besides, the Costco equivalent was firm, so, I saw no advantage whatsoever of the plush and pillow over firm.

[Howard Schornstein]

The saleswoman did say that the newer style (cheaper, if you ask me) coil springs sag more at the edges, because they're not supported, compared to the older style interlocking wires.

Nobody told me though, that there are TWO different box spring standard sizes!

Since there isn't a functional difference, nor a price nor quality difference between them (other than 4 inches), I flipped a coin and went with the smaller size.

[Howard Schornstein]

Here's the difference in box spring height.

[Howard Schornstein]

I have a perennial subscription to CR, so, I should check it.

I hadn't even thought of doing that, mostly because, lately, I've been disillusioned by Consumers Union.

1. They often test models that I can't find in the store
2. They often test for ridiculous things (like motorcycle engine noise)
3. They often don't test what I need to buy (like pasta makers)

It's amazing what they "care" about sometimes, almost as if every single person who reads their magazine is a prius-loving sun worshipper and not a well balanced practical person.

However, I can't say how well or poorly they tested beds, so, I'll look right now, and let you know, since I have the automatically renewing subscription anyway.

[Howard Schornstein]

It seems that these are the comparisons for a Queen sized set.

Sealy Posturepedic Gel Series AP 704-coil Cushion Firm Mattress Set:

Mattress Factory $900

Sleeptrain $800

FindnSave $700

Costco $600

[Dennis O'Neill]

Howard Schornstein wrote, on Sat, 27 Dec 2014 18:15:59 -0600:

1. Mattress makers intentionally hinder comparison shopping by selling the exact same product with unique names for each individual store.
2. Higher coil counts are not a good indicator of quality. Check the wire gauge. More coils may simply use thinner gauge metal wire.
3. Pillowtop foam materials are cheap and a huge source of profit. Mattress thickness is thus also not a good indicator of quality.
4. There is no evidence that box springs are necessary or even helpful, other than to raise the height.
5. Firmer is not always better for your back. You just don?t want it too soft or too firm for you.

[Danny D.]

Don Phillipson wrote, on Sun, 28 Dec 2014 13:35:42 -0500:

They updated their mattress buying guide in December 2014.

Overview:

Ratings:

Recommendations:

Buying Guide:

On price, they summarize by saying "But even if you desperately want the whole thing over, say thanks anyway and head for the door. You won?t make it."

[gregz]

The works, plus extra for wheeled stand.

Cotton, other natural fibers. Greg

[gregz]

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Greg

[gregz]

For what it's worth, here is the company making my other mattress. The local discount store, closed, DFW. This other mattress did not stink like the sealy.

Greg