Getting a good night’s rest doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Consumer Reports’ most recent test of mattresses found models that performed well and cost under $1,000. Consumer Reports tested 12 models from Ikea, Sealy, Serta, Simmons, Stearns & Foster, and Tempur-Pedic, plus Costco’s Novaform brand. Simmons’ performance varied the most. The manufacturer’s Beautyrest Glover Park Firm Pillowtop (sold at Sears), a Best Buy at $780, topped the Ratings of conventional, innerspring mattresses while its ComforPedic Loft Crestwood Luxury Plush, $1,920, earned the lowest scores among foam models and overall. Overall, foam models fared a bit worse than innerspring mattresses in the tests. The recommended Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Simplicity, $1,200, earned the highest scores. But Sleep Innovations Novafoam Memory Foam Collection Serafina (Costco), a Best Buy at $900, virtually tied the Tempur-Pedic for $300 less. When it comes to mattress shopping, roughly 40 percent of surveyed subscribers said they had buyer’s remorse.
Consumer Reports has some helpful tips. Five tips for choosing a new mattress Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here Consumer Reports’ latest tests confirm that more coils, fancier fabrics, and frills found on pricier models don’t guarantee a better mattress. And the best mattress isn’t always necessarily the firmest, even for those who suffer from pain.Don’t rely on softness or firmness claims — nearly half the mattresses tested were softer than promised. Gauge comfort by lying on any mattress in consideration. Spend at least 10 minutes on each side, back, and stomach — depending on typical sleep position. Win the name game. Mattress makers offer some lines nationally. Those available at major retailers like Macy’s, Sears, and Sleepy’s are typically exclusive to those chains. And because retailers often change model names, it’s hard to compare models store to store so use Consumer Reports’ performance ratings as a guide.
Consider the winter months. Using a temperature-controller chamber, the tests found three innerspring and three memory-form mattresses that were better at retaining body heat, which should help keep users warm when the weather turns cold without feeling clammy when it’s hot. Keep an old box spring if possible. Replacing the box spring that goes beneath a mattress can cost anywhere from $150 to more than $300. For those swapping out an innerspring mattress for a new one, keep the box spring if it is not sagging or damaged. If switching to memory foam, a solid platform may be necessary to provide enough support. However, for both foam and innerspring mattresses, some brands require consumers to purchase their box spring purchase to receive the full warranty. Don’t forget to haggle. Most mattresses have huge markups that allow retailers to run frequent “sales” of up to 50 percent off. But don’t wait for a promotion to save — one-third of Consumer Reports’ subscribers who haggled slashed $150 or more off the price.
I was in the need for a new bed and I decided to splurge a little and get a memory foam mattress. I have been researching foam mattress online for quite a while and have heard mostly good things about visco-elastic memory foam mattresses. All was good with these except for the price. Lucky for me my new job gave us Costco memberships…so I checked out there site and saw that they had Novaform Memory Foam mattresses in their online catalog. With a little bit more research I decided to purchase one. I would have gotten it right from the costco store, but they only had queen size beds, and I wanted to stick with a full/double size since all of my bedding was already that size. I waiting until the conversion rate between the US and Canada favored the US dollar and ordered the Novaform mattress online at costco. The price was 669.99 plus taxes Canadian, and it included shipping. Include PST and GST and the price was up around $100 more…still a bargain for a memory foam mattress regardless of brand or store!
Costco had good email communication and shipped the mattress the next day. 2 days later it was scheduled for delivery and I was ready to get the mattress. My excitement quickly turned into rage once I found out the douchebag driver at UPS decided not to drop it off that Friday night when it was scheduled. Of course here in Canada they do not do fuck all on the weekend, so I had to wait until Monday to sleep in this new memory foam bed. Well Monday I go to work and the Novaform was delivered. It comes in a giant box, it was like 3.5 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet and weighed around 80 lbs. If you purchase the queen sized bed at a costco store the price is a bit cheaper (no shipping) and it comes in a sweet box with a metal frame on the bottom with casters so you can roll it around. Well I lug this bitch into my bedroom, open the box…Inside there is this giant mylar/tinfoil looking bag that is vacuum sealed around the foam mattress. I read the instruction and carefully cut this open.
Inside is another bag containing the mattress and is also vacuum sealed. Well the second you cut this bag open it whistles as air is sucked in and the mattress starts to grow. I open it the rest of the way and the stick of toxic fumes hits my sinuses… I read reviews that the smell was intense for a few days and reminded people of gasoline…it smells more like paint thinner…and it is pretty strong. Well I unfold the bed and wait 24-36 hrs for it to completely grow. The smell goes away after a few days and the bed grows to its full 12″ thick size. For those of you that do not know the mattress is 12″ thick, 9″ of regular foam, and 3″ of high density heat sensitive memory foam. It is then covered in a removable cover. Now for the best part…the sleep. The bed is amazing, better than any bed I have ever slept on, it is firm yet soft and gives just enough support but had enough give in it to not make your neck or back hurt when you wake up. I also bought a Novaform memory foam pillow for 22 Canadian and the thing is equally brilliant.