I bought a new mattress a couple of years ago, and you probably already know this but...I wore comfortable clothes, was prepared to flop and relax on all the mattresses, and I took my own pillow that I would normally be using. Not sure it helped, but I ended up with one, but how do you really know?

Have you considered the sleep number one? The constant bombardment of commercials turn me off and never would have given it a second thought, but this new sleep IQ thing sounds interesting. I wonder if your other responders will have shopped for and/or experienced it.

Go to the most reputable store in your area...you can check Yelp for reviews....other than that, it's a total crap shoot as you can't compare from store to store since the same mattress will be called something different at each store. Agree it is a frustrating and maddening process....good luck!

Take drugs. and make some contraption out of aluminum foil to wear on your head that makes beeping sounds and tell the salesperson it's a BS detector.

And stay away from the usual commercial brands and outlets.

If I were mattress shopping now, I'd go off the beaten path and hit places like Gardner Mattress, that kind of place.

We really took our time this time. It felt strange, but lay there for at least 15 min and roll around as mentioned above. :) Also, if you know what kind of sleeper you are you can read a lot on line i think from reviews to narrow it down.

We had a tempurpedic for about 10 years - the old kind and liked it very much. We were planning to get one again but they changed them. I had done a lot of research ahead of time and we ended up getting my first back up choice after testing it out in the store. that was about 3-4 years ago and we are both still very happy.

If I had it to do over though I would probably look at the organic kind from a store like White lotus.

I would (and did) go to several different stores to get a feel for what suits you. Do you want memory foam, an air mattress, or spring and coil?

DH and I considered a sleep number because his parents love theirs and I liked the idea of each person being able to control their own setting.

I was enthralled with the memory foam from Tempur-Pedic so I knew that was a contender. I tried some other memory foam mattresses and a local store and they felt like laying on wet sand, they were hard as a rock.

I bought a Kings Down (spring coil) for the master bedroom at our other home and it felt absolutely heavenly when I tried it in the store but when it was delivered I hated it. I always felt like I was going to roll off of it and it didn't feel anything like the one I tried at the store so I wasn't going that route again.

When we bought our new mattress we bought a Tempur-Pedic Cloud Luxe and we bought love it. It is soft but also very supportive.

Read reviews for the various types of mattresses then decide the type of mattress you want by trying out the different options. Once that is narrowed down take a whole day and go shopping for a mattress at sleep stores to compare quality and price. Like Tib mentioned, some family run businesses are a good place to start if you are looking for a standard spring coil type.

also check out this site: sleeplikethedead.com

Do you want memory foam, an air mattress, or spring and coil?

There are a lot of choices in addition to these three (I'm finding out because we're also shopping). Add all manner of organic mattresses, natural latex, synthetic latex, soy, buckwheat, etc. Add to that whatever is covering the mattress - cotton, wool, a blend of something. Add to that the thickness of the mattress - support layer, middle layer, comfort layer.

After excluding a bunch of mattresses I saw and tried yesterday that were in the $7500-$12,000 range (not happening), our favorite so far is the Magniflex Toscana.

Laughing at Tibbrix comment. Yes, you need a tinfoil helmet to ward off the pushy sales people. My first tip is to wear comfy clothes and do your best to forget what your butt looks like to everyone else in the store. You will never see these people again and their butts aren't so cute either. Stay away from chain stores.

It helps to have a friend go along so you have someone to chat with while you lie there. That way you don't overthink the comfort level, you just experience it. Go back a second time before deciding.

Don't go walking all over the mall before trying mattresses. They all feel good when you're tired already. Don't go when you are already cranky. Do go when your hips are sore so you can see which firmness makes them feel best.

All that said, I still haven't bought one. My favorite was at Verlo.

Here is a link that might be useful: mattress underground

dedtired, that website is amazing - thank you!

If I was mattress shopping, this is the one that would interest me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ivory tufted mattress

And this is why buying a mattress is such a pleasure - NOT! The Ivory tufted mattress description says something about cotton and wool "without the heat retention foams or latex". Well, natural latex is supposed to be naturally NOT heat-retentive. So what are they saying? Better than synthetic latex? Better than memory foam? Better than nothing, but we'll write it in a way that will make you thing its better than everything else on the planet? I'm ready to give up!

We bought the Tempurpedic Contour Select and I can't recommend it enough!

I love wool and cotton for sleeping precisely because they are natural temperature regulators.

Tibbrix, it makes sense in concept, but we tried a lot of mattresses last weekend, and didn't find a single one with a wool top that was particularly comfortable.

Do you want memory foam, an air mattress, or spring and coil?

No offense, but how the hell would I know?

I want a mattress that feels good all night long, from when I first crawl into bed till when I hop out in the morning feeling rested and refreshed.

I have needed a new mattress for more years than I'm willing to admit. But I keep putting it off for all the reasons given above. I once slept on a Tempur-pedic (admittedly 8 or so years ago) and it was gross.

I prefer to know enough about a product when I go shopping so I can call BS (or at least think it) when a sales person is pressuring me.

Here's something else. Do I need to consider my bed as well? My current bed could go at any time. Right now I have a single mattress without a box spring. Does the bed frame determine what set-up you need?

Is Macy's totally a bad place to look?

I like a soft-ish top. I like to fall asleep on my back. Most nights it takes me like 30 seconds. Grateful.

My advice would be that once you find one that feels comfortable, has the features that you like and seems like it has a good warrantee, stop. If you try to compare too many you won't remember one from the other.

Yes, Macy's is good around here and so is Sears. Our JC Penney sucks. Avoid chains like Sleepy's. Lots of people like Raymour and Flanigan but I have seen their high pressure sales tactics and avoid them. I like Verlo because it is an independently owned franchise and makes the mattress on site. Their warranties are great.

Pal's advice is good.

linelle, why do you need a new mattress if you fall asleep in 30 seconds? Seriously - are you waking up achy? Not sleeping well in the middle of the night? It just seems that your current mattress must be pretty comfortable!

sj, hahaha. I know. But...there's a little depression where I sleep. The other side is fine, but I don't want to sleep on that side. Every 6 months or so I rotate the mattress 180 degrees, a minor miracle. The same depression is forming on that side too. I have a feeling that not waking up achy isn't gonna last forever. I know what brand and model it was, but, of course, it's no longer available.

I'll do some test naps at Macy's. It's a place I'm comfortable. A while back I poked my nose into the local SleepTrain store. There were a bunch of guys in dark suits milling around. If we're gonna talk about sleeping and stuff, I want someone who looks a little more comfortable.