There is a pretty wide gap, though, from top to bottom.

I did look up the details on the Stearns and Foster which received the poorest rating of the lot. Pillow top starts to go south sooner than it should. Heavy. Expensive. A few other complaints probably exacerbated by the extra $$ outlay.

I loved the thing but flipping it over every couple years was a two person job with a king. It was really thick with the pillow top on both sides. Any frisky business resulted in the correct fitted sheet pulling.

As to my foam mattresses suck comment, it's clear others see it differently. I should have qualified my view. To me, it just seemed too intimate, for lack of a better word. I also cannot wear anything but cotton clothing and I can't stand nitrile gloves when working on cars. Feels creepy. Must just be me.

I didn't see any discussion relating to your normal sleep position compared to a soft vs. hard mattress. I think this is the primary attribute with brand being a bit down the list or not on the list.
I've read that if you sleep on your side you should be looking toward a soft mattress.
I try to sleep on my side - if I don't I have breathing difficulties. I notice if we stay in a hotel with a soft mattress, maybe softer than what we have, I sleep good. Just saying.

The current mattress / retail sales industry reminds me of car sales in the 60's before window stickers were mandated

Any chance you have a Original Mattress factory near you ? Here in GA. their retail showrooms are in the front and the manufacturing line is in the back . You can see how they make the mattress and they can make adjustments to fit your comfort level . Might be an option for you . We are on our 2nd one built by them and have been happy with both . They also still make two sided mattresses so you can flip them over and rotate to keep lumps and valley's from forming .

This was a great read
https://www.fastcompany.com/3065928/sleepopolis-casper-bloggers-lawsuits-underside-of-the-mattress-wars

https://assets.fastcompany.com/image...-Nightmare.jpg

Casper!

Oh man, when the gf got her new condo we went shopping at many different places. Lay down in this bed, lay down in that... Let's just say it was a very tiring experience. When she decided on a foam Tempurpedic, we tried all the different models. She settled on a King Tempurpedic that was $5k. Did the 120 day trial and wanted the cool version and that was another $1k. The bed is comfy, but I like coil springs better. With coils the bed has some bounce so doing the deed is a little more easy. With the foam bed, it absorbs all motion so I'm working harder. lol

if you want wave action get a waterbed
or maybe a trampoline

I went to a foam manufacturer and got a fairly stiff hi density chunk
the size of a queen it was 20 years ago but the foam was about 80 bucks
and way heaver then most mattress

I never like the steel spring mattress way too noisy

I went to https://hovement.com/best-inflatable-mattress/ and got a fairly stiff hi-density mattress.
It's 10 years down the line but the size of the mattress has not dwindled. It's actually of higher quality and heavier than most mattresses in some shops I know.I never like the steel spring mattress way too noisy. Sure, somehow there is some kind of science involved in the purchase process but it's quite simple, the secret lies in doing good research and abandoning the notion that cheaper mattressses are always of low quality. Why I'm I say this, well, the mattresses I recommended are quite affordable. In real sense, their price is a mockery of their high quality.

You may need to thank me later.

i bought a topline Temperpedic. firm. love it.

for the guest room we ordered the bed in a box from Costco. $300ish. it is almost as comfy as our real bed. our guest LOVE it.. we had to buy a bed bottoms so we hit a Living Spaces and got the bottom on the cheap. it is just an fabric covered. board.

I bought a $75 foundation yesterday for a spare bedroom, and it cost nearly $94 out the door.
Not a mattress, just a basic wood foundation. Kalifornia charges a "disposal fee" even if you are not disposing of one.

This state sux and so do the mo-rans in Sacramento making the rules.
Looking forward to getting the hell out of here and taking my money with me.

oh..to answer the que. if you spend an honest 1/3 of your life on that bed.take it seriously. note your budget..min/max.

you lay on them. meticulously analysis the various pressure points on your body..note any sore spots that could blossom into full blown body aches. roll around..any squishy noises?..close your eyes. focus on each limb..move them one by one. then two limbs together..3..four. roll around so every 360 degrees of your body gets equal time. any odd aches? your body falls asleep? go numb anywhere?. try all 200 mattresses in the shop. go thru the routine with each and every mattress. take copious notes..so bring a big note pad and plenty of pencils. take pictures..leave ranking cards on each bed as your try them. try to narrow it down to 15 you can live with and go from there narrowing the field like it's March Madness ; set up a bracket if if makes it easier to keep straight. once you get it down to the one..
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throw all that krap out and go with the one your wife chooses.

That was a good read. Thanks for posting. Those of us old enough to remember Al Capp's comic strip "lil Abner" may also remember Abner's job. Yep..Mattress tester.

Thanks for Posting it.
Best Crib Mattress Reviews For Your Cutie Pie Of 2017 | Top 10 Analysis

Sales guy was right – material itself and its quality is not BS. I personaly don’t recommend innerspring because they often cause muscle and back pain and they are not so comfortable as latex or foam ones. From my experience, different types and materials of mattresses performs very different especially when we talk about sex. For instance, memory foam ones don't offer enough bounce, they make you feel stuck, they don't respond quickly to movements and another important aspect - they are ****ing hot unlike latex ones but memory foam is perfect in comfortability. These guys and other reviews I found say Leesa to be the best mattresses for side sleeping cause top layer of it is Avena foam, which is cooling and has great bounce.
More about materials of mattresses. Polyfoam is rather cool and has less localized support and sagging than memory foam. Avena foam is a hypoallergenic alternative to latex foam.
If you prefer classic memory foam – always consider if it has an extra cooling layer or gel beads inside.

The best mattress I've ever had was a high quality futon that was probably 12" thick. I think it was just a layered combination of cotton batting and foam sheets covered in canvas. No springs. It was firm but you could sink into it just a little bit. And it was perfect for everything that you would do in a bed.

I don't know much about mattress, and I hate the pillow top we have now. I would pay $5K for that futon in a king size if I could find it.

Paid around $800 for an innerspring that I got rid of after 3 months...woke every morn with a sore back. On our daughter saying she has a tuft and needle, won't ever buy another conventional mattress, I ordered one. After 5 months, it's still my bed.

My thought is it all depends on what works for you. For me, the kid was right...I'll never see the inside of a mattress store again. Never was a pleasant experience anyway.

Tempupedic
 

6 years ago we bought a queen Tempur-Pedic cloud supreme which is in the middle of firm/soft. Prior to this mattress my wife was having issues with sore hips if she slept on her side. That all went away with the Tempurpedic. 3 days ago we went and got the king size and moved the queen into the guest room. They’re not cheap but you spend more time in bed than in your car.

On the other hand, before bying the king and moving the queen into the guest room, we had a queen Seally posturpedic firm with a 2 inch thick real memory foam (not just simple foam) in the guest room. I would sleep on it at times and found it very comfortable. Guests often commented on the comfort of that bed too, so that could be a way to go. The 2” memory foam in queen size runs upwards of $200, at leat here in Canada.

we have a aireloom and love it and in the winter really spruce it up with linen sheets.

maybe try this way like wine, when you find a bottle of wine you like, note the year then drink the stuffings out of it.

59 posts later I figure out this was NOT a trick question.

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11 years on our Sleep Number (Select Comfort) mattress. Love it. No leaks.

I chose... poorly.
The girlfriend and I convinced ourselves we needed a memory foam mattress, but she didn't want something too firm. We ended up lying on a whole bunch of them and settled on a Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme Breeze, which is their 3rd softest out of 8 firmness levels in the Tempur line. I'm convinced it's too soft, because I end up sleeping on my stomach, and I wake up with a sore lower back every morning. Last night I got up and slept in the guest room on a conventional mattress, and this morning I felt great. We've had the Tempurpedic too long to send back, so now I don't know what to do. Move to the guest room? Buy a firmer foam? Go back to a conventional? One reason we wanted the foam is she gets up at 5:00 for work and I don't get up until later and she was waking me up with the old mattress.