You can get a much thicker foam mattress from IKEA than 3/4". That's like a standard sheet of construction plywood.) I personally selected the thickest foam mattress that still came on a roll, so it would fit in my car, and it's perfectly comfortable.Is it the mattress or the boxspring? If it's the boxspring, it's perfectly reasonable to put a rigid surface on top of it. Good mattresses work just fine on top of a rigid surface. In fact, I don't think I ever saw such a thing as a boxspring before I moved to the US, and I don't think people in The Netherlands, who usually put their mattresses on top of wooden slats or metal "spiraalbodems," have any higher of a rate of back problems than Americans.Are you sure it's the bed that's hurting you? Or are you just having some muscle cramps? The nasty thing about your back is that a lot of the time, your natural reaction to pain causes more cramp, and this is all exacerbated by stress. As mentioned before, remedies include a combination of ibuprofen, warm baths, taking it easy on whatever is causing stress, and mild exercise with lots of stretching.
When in doubt, see a physical therapist. Be careful with anyone that wants to fix it by "manipulating the spine." There are some legit medical professionals who do that sort of thing, but also lots of quacks.Do not listen to any mattress salespeople. There may be honest ones, but generally, they're only a notch above car salespeople.The Base Foam Layer The base foam is a critical part of your memory foam mattress. No matter how luxurious the memory foam top layer, cutting corners on the base layer will produce an unsupportive and uncomfortable bed. There are a huge variety of foam base layers you could use. Most manufacturers use polyurethane foam in the base layer, so this discussion is limited to that product. I would be interested to hear from people who have used other foams, especially latex. Be careful of exceptionally good deals – the foam could be low density, or a cheaper layered construction. We’re looking for one giant chunk of foam. If there is a foam supplier in your area, this is usually your best option.
This was discussed extensively in differences between memory foam, so I’ll keep it short here. Typically, high end memory foam beds will use 2.2 lb/cf polyurethane open-cell foam as the base layer. Luckily enough, this is one of the most common foams used for basic foam mattresses! So, all we need to do is buy a foam mattress which meets or exceeds these specifications. Look for a minimum of 2.2 lb/cf, and a firmness rating of at least “medium”. This is the major load bearing part of the bed. The memory foam distributes the pressure evenly, but the base layer distributes the load to the bedframe. Without a quality base layer, the mattress will sink and sag – no good! I used a Sultan Fangebo foam mattress from IKEA. This mattress is a solid chunk of 3.5 lb/cf foam, and is found to be medium to firm by most reviewers. There’s just one problem – IKEA appears to have discontinued this model. The newer ones use cheaper foam in layers, which isn’t really what we’re looking for at all.
The good thing is that what we’re looking for is dead simple – a roughly 6″ thick layer of 2.2 lb/ft3 polyurethane foam cut to standard mattress sizes. Check out foam distributors online if you can’t find one in your area.I’ve been in the sleep business since 1970 and a retailer of mattresses and bedding since 1972. Since the Private Equity Firms (the wonderful folks that helped bring about the recent financial troubles in the U.S.) bought up all the major mattress companies (Simmons, Sealy, Stearns & Foster [owned by Sealy], Spring Air, and Serta) the industry has taken a “consumer be damned” attitude. The introduction of “can’t flip” mattresses or “no need to flip” mattresses in 2000 is an insult to consumers who can now expect three to five years out of their new mattress. That’s one third of what can be expected from two-sided mattresses. Curious About 2-Sided Mattresses?They’re all we sell. Explore the possibilities & start sleeping better right away.
CLICK HERE FOR FLIPPABLE MATTRESSES Like many industries, the mattress industry has gone through a period of cheapening products in order to save on manufacturing costs. Problem is, they market the cheapened product as a benefit to consumers — which couldn’t be further from the truth. Think about home appliances, another industry where the majority of companies are now owned by private equity firms. Depending on your age, it used to be that you would buy an appliance — a fridge, a washer/dryer, an oven — expecting it to last 20 years. If something broke, a repairman would come to your home and fix it. Now, if you get five to seven years from an appliance you’re lucky. And you can forget about repairs; parts either aren’t or won’t be available. The profits manufacturers make on selling half a mattress are too great to go back to two-sided mattresses. Companies can save 25-30% by not including the second side cushioning layer, which is the most expensive part of most mattresses.
Companies don’t pass these savings on to the consumer. As you may have noticed if you’ve done some research, some “can’t flip” mattresses sell for several thousands of dollars! They’ve just used the savings to increase their profits and then resell the company to another investment firm. Simmons, for instance, has now been sold many times over. The added benefit (to them) of selling “can’t flip” mattresses is that the consumer is back in the marketplace for a new mattress every three to five years. Their only other option is to put up with a saggy, uncomfortable bed, and the achy back and body that can result from it. Recently, on a day when we delivered 10 new mattresses, we took away three “can’t flip” mattresses. All three were from one of the best known “S” brands, all just three years old and all completely worn out. Not even homeless shelters or charities will take mattresses so saggy, so they ended up in a landfill. These were not inexpensive mattresses — they retail locally for over $2000 each!
You’d think that such dramatic wear and tear after just three years would be covered under warranty, but no. These companies consistently deny all but the most extreme breakdowns. They have PLANNED for the failure or obsolescence of their mattresses after 3-5 years. It’s how they do things now. Most manufacturers DO still make two-sided mattresses, they just don’t sell them to the consumer. They make them only for the hotel/motel industry. Owners in this industry avoid one-sided mattresses because they know that they won’t last more than a few years. Doesn’t that show the manufacturers’ true stripes? In order to be sold on our floor, mattresses need to have TWO sleeping surfaces. That, or they need to have zipper access to the inside so that components can be flipped or refreshed. It is not right to sell mattresses that wear out so quickly. A consumer should be able to expect their new mattress to last and be comfortable for at least 8 to 12 years. If they purchase a 100% botanical latex mattress model, it should last even longer.