I'm a little late on the draw, but I actually came to this website seeking opinions about the Original Mattress Factory. I've been looking at Stearns and Foster, but haven't been able to swallow completely that $1800, on sale, is an appropriate price to pay for a mattress set. So, I started looking around and came across the site for the Original Mattress Factory. Their site showed that the orthopedic mattress had nearly the same specifications as the S&F (12 3/4 gauge, 6 turn, offset coil), but was MUCH less expensive. Curious about their customer service, I dropped an email asking some silly question about whether their coils were "double tempered". To my surprise, Gordon, the owner of the Orlando factory, called me the very next day. He was very open to questions and confirmed what I had already suspected: that he and his partner had spent years working for Sealy/S&F before deciding that they could make just as good a mattress at half the cost. They offer 12 year warranties and an unheard of one-year comfort guarantee. You can even go to their factory and watch them make their mattresses. Before I hung up, I confessed to Gordon that my remaining apprehension was less due to the fact that they are located two hours away, than it was that their prices seemed too good to be true. I'm in marketing, and I understand how very much the mattress companies spend, and less marketing does allow for lower prices..but dang! Their mattress is in the $650 range, one third of the S&F while on sale. I'm thinking of driving down next week to see the place for myself, and would love any additional information that you could provide about your new mattress. So far, it seems that all has gone well. No?

I hope I can help since I spent over 1 year researching mattresses. Never buy any pillowtop because basically it's memory foam on top and will break down and form lumps in the top. If you want a good mattress buy one and add on a latex topper for softness. There is company called Shifman, which has been around for ages, and you can still flip it over. Most mattresses don't allow you to turn them over anymore. Sterns and Foster makes decent mattresses. Basically they change names to prevent you from comparison shopping. I bought a organic latex mattress from Savvy Rest. They are located in Va. but have stores where you can try them out. You order according to your configuration. It's not the normal type of mattress but basically you design your layers and you can have a configuration that is good for your needs. The latex layers lie inside a well made zip top cover. Is it ideal? Not really all that I dreamed of. We had our last mattress for 32 years and we were used to a firm mattress. Initially, my back was still sore cause it's a matter of getting your muscles used to something different. Latex (natural) lasts forever and isn't hot to sleep on. The organic part was a plus, but not necessarily a necessity. Some of the Sealy brands are not natural latex and some stores sell latex mattresses that aren't fully latex, but an inch or two on top and they call it latex. I learned alot from this site http://blog.pennlive.com/mattress/2008/09/index.html Some people swear by memory foam. It's really a matter of personal taste but difficult because it's takes awhile before you really know if it's comfortable and by then you can't return it.

We purchased the Simmons Beautyrest Black Helena Pillowtop back in Dec 2006. I truly loved it for the first few months, and then it started with the body indentations. I thought the indents were from the mattress cover, so took that off, no change, turned mattress, nothing. It progressively got worse that we had 2 ditches in this King size. I called Boston Store Furniture Gallery, 20 months into owning it. Major back and neck problems set in. They sent out an inspector and sure enough, 1 ½ inch body indents and the sides of the mattress were busting out. Inspector told me that his report would reflect a defective mattress. I asked his opinion of how many defective mattresses he seeÂs and he said "off the record" to strongly fight for a replacement but to stay clear of this Helena as he has seen many defective mattresses. Simmons sold me on the single coils for less movement on the mattress as I flip a lot. In my opinion, those single coils are receiving a lot of strain. In order to get a replacement under the warranty, it has to be equal or greater than what I had spent. Well, I really donÂt want to get another Helena due to the problems I had on this one. The salesperson hasnÂt heard any of these complaints and actually had 3 other couples trying out the Helena as we spoke. She has sold over 100 of these w/o any other complaints. I have 21 days to decide if I want it replaced, or to try another mattress. She wants me to try it again, but I hesitate. Due to what I spent on the Helena, I would have to go with a Tempurpedic type bed but donÂt think that will work for us. Anyone else having problems with the Helena indentations? Suggestions on a Simmons or Sealy plush mattress?

Linelle, have you considered getting a cushy topper? There are experts who recommend getting a mattress on the firmer side and then getting a topper than can be rotated and replaced as needed with a lot less effort and expense. We went mattress shopping before Christmas and actually purchased a Beautrest Next Generattion Hybrid on a really good sale. We went back and rechecked it -- still liked it, but I was a little nervous after reading that Beautyrest is rated very well in the forst three years but below average after three years. That's the experience we are having with our current Beautyrest -- loved it for a good 3 years but between 3-4 years the impressions were enough to cause back pain and sleeping issues. They are borderline on being enough to get a warranty replacement, but we're not sure we ant to go through that again. The Next Generation hybrids have a layer of mini coils in the top. Seems like that should help with less impression sag. While mulling that over, I really wanted to try an all latex like my son's (no longer sold at the store where we bought his). I found a mattress manufacturer about 45 min away and got DH to go with me. They had 3 latex mattresses and only one hybrid was even a possibility. Tried a memory foam that we both liked better than any Tempurpedic. We would us looking at and deciding on one made very much like the Beautyrest Next Gen but the mail coils are smaller, so there are a lot more of them. There is a firmer support but still the softness for comfort. More coils should hold up longer too. My brother and SIL tried the Beautyrest at Macy's. SIL loved it but DB said it was too soft. They tried the one at Texas Mattress Makers and they both liked it. My brother was laying on it when I stood up from the other side. Several minutes later he got up and didn't even realize I had moved. That should help SIL and me both with our active sleeping spouses. We are supposed to get ours Saturday. Looking forward to that. Hope we love it as much as we expect to. They are customizing the box height and can adjust the top if we need it. If this works out well, I may never buy another major brand mattress. There is something to be said about buying from someone who makes the mattress, really knows and can show you what goes into it and can tell you why a mattress is or is not a good fit for you. I found out BD and SIL have been sleeping on an old mattress covered with a pile of blankets. That says something about how much fun mattress shopping is, doesn't it? I can't wait until they get theirs. That should make a HUGE difference.