Mattress Shopping Tip

Last October my wife and bought a new mattress. We had been sleeping on my wife's full-sized mattress that was nearly 20 years old and were desperately needing a bigger, more comfortable mattress.

We ended up purchasing a pillow top king sized Sealy Seaport mattress for $1050.00 (mattress) + $64.99 (frame) + $86.41(tax) = $1201.40 with free delivery. We are very glad we made the purchase as we are sleeping much better these days. However after 6 months of use I think I will use a different strategy the next time we purchase a mattress.

When we started shopping for a mattress we took the advice of the salespersons because it made sense at the time - lay on the mattress and look for the mattress that feels the most comfortable to you. Ofcourse that meant we gravitated to the pillowtop mattresses - the mattresses with extra layers of foam.

However after 6 months of use - our pillowtop mattress is showing signs of sagging where we both sleep. The sagging is just enough to be slightly annoying and not enough for a warranty replacement.

In reality the "pillow" part of a pillowtop mattress is just additional layers of foam sewn into the top of the mattress. Its no different than the mattress pads that you can put on top of your mattress with one exception - its sewn in and can't be replaced after it wears out.

When we look for out next mattress I'm no longer going to be looking for the most comfortable. I believe a regular mattress with a higher-end mattress pad will be just as comfortable and have the added benefit of being able to replace the foam on top of the mattress.

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Comments (3)

maybe try flipping the mattress over to the non-pillow top side then get your own mattress pad?

Posted by Ben | June 4, 2010 5:54 PM

I feel your pain! My husband and I have run into the same problem. About once a month we turn the mattress a quarter of turn, so sometimes about an inch is hanging off on either side, but its seems to help that problem a little bit. We have learned our lesson and will be buying a different type of mattress next time.

Posted by Emily | June 4, 2010 9:13 PM

I hear ya on this. I personally wouldn't suggest trying what @Ben suggested, instead I'd try rotating it some what like @Emily suggested. We turn our mattress 180 degrees about once every 2 months. It might be all in my head but I feel it that the lower part (which it's turned around and becomes the upper part) feels less compressed after a couple of months.

Posted by Linda | June 9, 2010 10:55 AM