I just had a mattress delivered today.

I went to my local "The Original Mattress Factory", talked with the salesman and he recommended three styles.
I tried all three and picked one. Three days later, in my house.

Maybe it's easier for me since I eliminate all pillow tops.

Have you looked at latex mattresses? You can get different levels of firm and soft layers. They are supposed to last 20 or more years if you buy a true latex mattress - dunlop or talalay. Good luck. Let us know what you decide.
http://www.latexmattress.org/

Thanks for the replys.

LuAnn - eliminating the pillow top might be the solution. That may just be conpounding the confusion.

Ginger - as a matter of fact, the 2 mattresses we liked the best were latex. I don't know which kind of latex though. The salesman was really recommending the latex.

I guess we just need to go back and look again.

I am too facing the same problem & will get back to you if I found some solution to it..

Oh great. I was hoping to find some answers here and it seems everyone is as lost as I am! You all have my sympathies! It's not like we can just live without a bed....

Used to be - before bedbugs arrived - I'd just buy or inherit a used bed, so if it was not comfortable it was no great loss to get rid of it.

Now with beds costing $500-1000 on up I am really having a hard time taking the finacial risk. I cant really tell how the bed works for me until I've slept on it a few days or a week.

Since my back injury last year, I've been sleeping on the box spring or sometimes the floor... but thats causing other problems in my other joints. Have experimented with adding foam pads and stuff to the box spring but there again - what works for a day or two often just doesn't after a week. And buying foam pads to experiment with really ain't cheap either!!

Questions - is there such a thing as a place you can return a bed if it doesn't work out? Is there such a thing as a knowledgeable furniture sales person who would could look at my back condition, size/weight, sleeping style and give me an honest recommendation - or are they just going to sell me something, anything...

WhiteRiverSooner, first be sure you have a California King. It is just an oddball size, 72 x 84. Eastern King gives most folks under 6'4" greater sleeping surface being 76 x 80. Cal King helps out the basketball player types who may have toes hanging off the bed.

Then make sure actually get a new mattress. Law tag speech here. Don't buy one w/o it. There are a ton of rebagged used name brand mattresses circulating sharing their bedbugs with each other.

I agree you can always add a topper to a firm mattress.

The following is true for you and kashka_kat.

Be realistic in what you need. All but the firmest traditional innerspring mattresses have a rough time with Big Folks. And yes it is possible to get to firm of a mattress which will kink up your shoulders all night long whenever you are on your side in particular.

The foam mattresses are a feel I love but like politicians folks either love or hate them.

Pocketed coils offer the best of both worlds. Try a good tight firm pocketed coil bed. We have a wrapped coil unit on display which really shows how they can conform to even that arm wrapped under your pillow. Get a posturized one and you can probably get a fairly soft coil to work under a larger body.

I'll stop running my mouth now.

Toronado - thanks for your info. We finally made our decision yesterday. We ordered the simmons beautyrest black carmen. It seemed to have all the best of the recommendations. It has the individual pocketed coils plus latex foam.

I hope we love it.

kaska kat - all the stores we went to had a satisfaction guarrantee return policy, but won't do that for a california king, as it is a special order.

Unfortunately, I do require the cal. king, as that is what my bed is. I love the bedroom set, so I just have to bite the bullet.

I will let you know if we did the right thing in a few weeks. We won't get it until right before Christmas.

We were in a similar position a few months ago. Someone on the decorating board suggested this website

He gives excellent advice and they answered my questions! I felt like I could made an educated decision based on his recommendations. He also has GREAT prices!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mattress Blog

The ones that will allow you to try a mattress and return it if it's not right, is TempurPedic. Yes, they cost a couple of arms. (Get one with the movable head or foot, and they cost a couple of arms and a couple of legs too.) You've got a 14 week trial with TempurPedic. For some of their comfort levels, you need to give it 8 weeks to "settle in", but then have 6 more weeks to decide.

We just went through this decision about mattresses, and TempurPedic won the debate. Sleep Number didn't even come in a close second. (Beauty Rest came in 2nd place.)

Donna

kaska kat...I also have back problems, in my case I need lumbar support from a mattress since my auto accident hurt my lower back. Probably other back problems need different mattresses.

I find Spring Air to have the best lumbar support. I get a plush then add my own memory foam so it feels like a pillow top over a fairly firm mattress base. Every time I stray from Spring Air, I get in trouble.

I've had firm mattresses that make me so sore all over in the morning, plush is better. I've bought very expensive Aireloom mattresses that got sinkholes in them the first week and they were supposed to be firm.

Spring Air went bankrupt in 2009 but have rebounded although the product is hard to find. But I am searching since it is the ONLY mattress that works for my back problem.

Gook luck...