The last time I bought a mattress for myself was about 11 years ago. I bought a fairly new full-sized one off a coworker. Four moves and a decade later, we’ve decided it’s time to replace it with an adult (and sometimes an extra toddler)-sized bed. When we started looking, I was shocked at the prices. $3000 for a mattress? What the heck are these things made of? Knowing very little, we went shopping for a mattress and other things on a Saturday morning. The first place, we stopped, Sleepy’s, seemed nice enough. We laid on a few and honed in on the one that we both felt most comfortable in. Meanwhile, Audrey discovered the fun of letting herself fall backwards onto mattresses and did it all over the store. She was giggling and the whole store couldn’t help but look and smile at her. Unfortunately, we soon stopped smiling. When we found something we liked, the seemingly helpful salesman started to get more aggressive. He asked how much we were looking at paying and I made up a number on the spot, something way below the listed price on the bed.
The said he would “talk with his manager” and see if he could get us that price. Then he started asking us if we could commit and have it delivered tomorrow. Anne had walked outside to give Audrey a break by that point, so I said I had to go out and talk with her about it. We talked about it for a bit, then decided we didn’t like the high-pressure sales pitch, so we got ready to leave. I had the car started up when the salesman came out and approached the car window. He then said that he had “talked to his manager” and he could give us the price we wanted AND a free “platinum package”. I said we would talk about it and let him know. We again decided this was sketchy, but to make good on my promise, I went in and gave him my phone number and left. Later that day we went to Jordan’s Furniture, generally known to be a reputable place with reasonable places. The salespeople there were nice and NOT high-pressure. Prices were generally lower, but strangely, we couldn’t find the mattress we found at Sleepy’s.
They had Sertas, but not the one we liked. Being indecisive, we left with a couple new names of ones we liked. Later, we went to Mattress Discounters. The woman there was not pushy and told us about the BBB complaints that Sleepy’s (a 700-store chain) had gotten. We decided to think some more and head home. At home, I did some research online and I found something strange – I couldn’t find much of anything on the mattresses we saw that we liked. I found some mattresses, many of the same brand, but not the same models. I later came to find out that this was completely intentional. The mattress industry is one big scam. There is no way to make an objective decision on a mattress using actual facts. Here’s a few things that the mattress industry does to get you: 1. They mark up their prices 100% to 200%!! No wonder the first guy was able to get his “manager” to give me such a steep discount. They were probably still going to make hundreds of dollars of profits on it.
2. They give the same mattresses different names in different stores or they set up exclusivity agreements by mattress line in certain stores. This makes it impossible to comparison shop because… 3. They make it really had to get actual facts about the mattresses. Stuff like coil counts, materials, overall construction are shrouded in secrecy. But that doesn’t really matter because… 4. There’s no objective measure of mattress quality. Consumer Reports won’t rate them because they can’t get the data and there’s no testing that actually says higher coil counts are better or the number of wires in the coils makes a difference in any way. You’re left to deciding how much you believe the marketing. Is a pillow top made of alpaca hair any better than one made of cotton? Your guess is as good as mine. 5. There’s very little online reviews of mattresses, probably because the model names are so fractured. The ones I did find looked more like content-free sites designed to attract referral credits.
With some more research, I found out that it was somewhat possible to compare mattresses models from different places. It turns out that they really only make one hardness variation in each line. So you can assume that a Plush Firm mattress in the “Classic” line, is the same as another Plush Firm in the Classic line, even if they have different names. was very helpful in figuring this out. We were able to understand which mattresses we saw and how they related to each other. For example, the mattress we liked at Jordan’s was a product line better than the one we saw at Mattress Discounters, even though they came out to the same price! Clearly Jordan’s had the better deal, but US-Mattress had an even better deal. So I did something I never thought I could do, buy a mattress over the internet. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one we saw in the store and the free delivery and frame were a good deal. I’m sure that even if I’m getting it at half the price I saw it listed at elsewhere, they’re still making a decent profit on it.
Anne and I agree that buying a mattress is worse than buying a car. While both have sketchy salespeople, when you buy a car, you can compare them on MPG, size, features, etc. Multiple dealers have the same models so you can compare prices and make an informed decision based on their invoice prices. There’s none of that when buying a mattress. Our mattress should arrive in a few weeks. Hopefully we’ll just find it comfortable enough to have to avoid going through buying a mattress again for at least another 11 years. UPDATE: The mattress arrived quickly and in good condition. We’ve been sleeping on it for several nights and while it feels comfy, I’ve had some upper back soreness which seems to be related to the new mattress. Hopefully it will go away. Otherwise, we’ll have to find another one and do a $100 exchange I guess.Closed Cell Foam, EVA Foam, Polyethylene Foam Closed cell foamClosed cell foam is available in several colors, and comes by the yard, in sheets, or custom cut to your dimensions.
Closed cell foam does not absorb water. We have five grades of closed cell foam: Crosslinked Polyethylene, EVA grade, Volara, and FloTex. The fifth, Neoprene, is another type of closed cell foam. It's about the same firmness as EVA foam but much more pliable, durable, and heavy. Visit our neoprene page for more info.(Scroll down for CUSTOM CUT closed cell foam shapes.) Closed Cell Foam Design Consultant Contact our design consultant for your prototype manufacturing. We may be able to help answer your product questions or steer you in the right design direction. Sheets of Closed Cell Foam Important shipping note: 2", 3", and 4" sheets need to be cut to pieces no larger than four square feet (e.g., 24" × 24"), or shipping charges may be much higher than estimated in the shopping cart. If we must ship via truck, entering a commercial address for delivery will save money. Polyethylene Foam, Cross-Linked – 5.8-lb density EVA foam This closed cell foam is very rigid;
it has very little give to it. It has a density of 5.8 lb/ft3. It is used for packaging, knee pads, industrial applications, and more. Its heavy density makes it very resistant to compression. Price ListAll SizesEVA foam is a very firm closed cell foam but with a softer, more rubbery feel than our polyethylene foam. When pressing your fingers into it, it squishes down some but comes right back into place. This type of foam is commonly used for decking on boats, surfboards, kneepads, padding in helmets, insulating hot tubs, shin guards, or exercise mats. EVA foam is inherently very UV resistant so it works well in outdoor applications. It weighs 2 lbs/ft3. FloTex Foam: Yoga Mats, Exercise Mats, Boat Cushions This fantastic closed cell foam has a squish density and medium firm feel. It weighs 3.6 lbs/ft3. It is certified by ULC (Underwriters Laboratory Canada) for flotation and more. Its squishy texture is ideal for boat cushions, life preservers, yoga mats, exercise mats, camping pads, or whatever else you can think of.
We seam up all thicknesses greater than half an inch (1.3 cm). This foam is not UV resistant. Exercise Yoga and Camping Mat Flotex makes an excellent exercise yoga mat. These lightweight mats are also perfect for camping pads.A small piece of one-inch thick Flotex (16" × 24"), big enough for your elbows, and a sheet of 6 mm neoprene make an awesome stretching surface. You can choose your own size by using the rectangle shape and entering the dimensions you want. Closed Cell Foam Sold by the Yard Yardage is cut from a roll that is 60" (152 cm) wide. Volara Closed Cell Foam Volora is commonly used in the lining of bags, as a floating on the water insulation for odd size hot tubs, acoustic insulation, and more. Volara's squishy texture allows rolling for easy shipping. Volara comes in a white or a charcoal color. White is available in all sizes. Currently the Charcoal is available in 1/4-inch thickness, but it can be ordered in other thicknesses by special arrangement.
Both the white and charcoal come on a roll 60 inches (152 cm) wide and are sold by continuous whole yards (91 cm) only. This foam has a density of 2.0 lbs/ft3. Polyethylene Foam, by the yard This closed cell foam is firmer than Volara. Whole yards (91 cm) ONLY are cut from the roll, which has a width of 60 inches (152 cm). Note that the 1/8-inch thickness is not stocked. Custom Cut Closed Cell Foam We cut the following shapes... Please click on the shape below that closest resembles what you would like to order. Next you will be asked to enter in the dimensions, and after that you will be given a price quote on a range of qualities. If you have a shape not shown here, please fax us a diagram for a quote. Due to the nature of this specialized foam, we cannot cut custom sizes in some dimensions. We won't charge your credit card until we make your order. We are unable to cut cylinders and wedges deeper than 4" (we could glue them up). All cuts are made on a bandsaw and are somewhat jagged.
Clearance Closed Cell Foam: See our clearance section for discounted closed cell foam items that we have in stock. In particular, because these items are offered at greatly reduced prices, a 25% restocking fee will apply to any return of a clearance item. Full sheets in new condition may be returned less a 25% restocking fee. Custom cut pieces and cut yardage may not be returned. EVA foam is a type of polyethylene foam. The only polyethylene foam we guarantee to be ultra violet resistant is Eva foam. Only EVA foam will not crumble from sun exposure while some of our other polyethylene foams may. EVA foam is commonly used as a boat deck mat, pad on a surfboard, and in EVA foam packaging. EVA foam is lightweight polyethylene foam. We sell EVA foam sheets and cut to size EVA foam. We cannot cut EVA foam into wedge or cylinder shapes because EVA foam is too stiff for our saws to cut. All custom cut EVA foam is accurate to 1/4". We can supply you with samples of EVA foam before you order.