I bought a Stearns and Foster pillow top and ended up replacing it within a couple of years due to sagging. When researching a replacement I learned that this is a common problem with pillow top mattresses.

We ended up with a Sleep Number bed, so sagginess is no longer an issue. We've had it about five years and have no complaints at all. If we hadn't purchased the Sleep Number, we would've gone with a good quality plain mattress top with a good pad.

Good luck!

Get a high quality innerspring with only standard padding on it, flippable, and add a latex topper. I find that this is the best of both worlds, and mine is going on 6 years and still as firm and comfy as the day I bought it. (Mine's a local one from Gardner Mattresses in Salem MA, if that helps at all.)

Hubby and I were just shopping for a mattress yesterday. I agree with you, on all subjects. Before going to any store, we combed the internet for reviews and then headed out in person. It really boils down to going and trying them out in person, everyone has different likes and dislikes. Like you, we wanted a innerspring mattress. But, beware because some innerspring mattresses have memory foam for their tops.

This is also the first time I am ever buying a non-flippable mattress. The last flippable I got was from a local dealer and only lasted 5 years, I used to love them (you could call me a flipping fanatic).

I am to scared to purchase a pillow top. I just cannot imagine a pillow top not getting an indent after years and years of use. There are just so many options of toppers out there now, memory foam, latex, down, gel, even gel and memory foam combined. I have always purchased a firm, not ultra-firm, and if anyone in the family wanted a little more softness, we did a topper.

Our new mattress is being delivered on the 9th, and all I can do is keep my fingers crossed for the next couple of years.
Wishing you luck on your new adventure.

We did the same as circuspeanut. Still happy with the purchase after 5 years.

I believe we have had everything including a pillow top, and would never purchase anything other than a Tempurpedic mattress again. There are many imitations but don't waste your money. Yes they are pricey but a good night sleep and less body aches and neck aches are so worth it to me.

We have a Simmons pillow top. No sagging and it has been 8 years. Very comfortable, too. However, I wouldn't buy one again because you can't flip it.

I love these forums. Great crowdsourcing and everyone is so helpful. I may aim for a non-pillow top, flippable and add my own topper. I think I will know right away if that isn;t comfy, so I can exchange it if needed.

I'll try a Tempurpedic again, but I am leery of the memory foams. People who love them really love them a lot!

I wanted a flippable mattress, but the salesman told us that new (not sure how "new") federal regulations require that all sleep surfaces be fireproof. Therefore, manufacturers are making pillowtop, non- flippable ones so that only one surface needs fireproofing. It saves them money.
We bought a latex pillowtop. It is still comfortable after two years, the best mattress I've ever slept on, but the pillowyness of it has flattened down where we sleep. Still good, but not the extreme comfort experience it was in the beginning.
Be careful with Tempurpedic. It's a love/hate thing.

We have a latex pillow top and not sure I would buy it again. Not one of the top brands. Yes the pillow top gets flattened. DH wishes we had a mattress we could flip over.

Not sure if this was already mentioned as I didn't get a chance to read all the posts.

Heat.

Being a new mattress I put on a new waterproof cover. We battled heat from the beginning. I posted here and was told to replace the cover with a wool cover. DH just didn't like the sound of wool and I could not afford the price. Well I finally took off the cover, put on an old sheet, then put a another sheet over it. NO extra heat.

Another issue is the thicken of the mattress. Decent sheets that fit are too expensive.

When this mattress needs to be replace (it is only 3 years old) I would like to get a thinner mattress (they do still make them) and without a pillow top.

Cross off list: pillow top mattress.

Add to list: mattress that can be flipped.

Lovin' these responses.

I have a solid latex mattress. I flip it. I love it. The support is amazing.I used to wake up every morning with a back ache and I no longer do.

We have a pillow top, too, and it has two human-shaped indents firmly embedded into the top. I think we've only had it maybe 4 years? And we are not LARGE people. I even have a featherbed topper and that makes no difference. AND, yes, the mattress is so deep (made even more so with the topper, of course) it is hard to find sheets. And yet I have no good excuse to get a new one, because it is still comfortable. But we have a light quilt on the bed and I hate seeing those indents on the top of the bed! It looks like we have a crappy old lumpy mattress.

I don't remember the brand we have but it's one of the typical "good" brands. Sealy? Serta? one of the S brands!

We had a sterns and foster and it started sagging quickly. It's not a pillow top. I would never buy sterns and foster again. My current matteess is a sealy-not a pillow top and I love it. It's been 3 years. I don't think we need to flip ours.

IMHO, avoid discount stores like mattress giant, mattress firm and buy at a department store. I have bought my current mattress and guest mattress at Macy's and they are both fantastic. The guest bed is 10 years old and people comment on the comfort and it wasn't that expensive. I'm convinced the discount stores dont get the same mattresses as the department stores.

Same story here with Stearns and Foster sagging! Man, could we have all saved a pile of money if we had only known this a few years back! It felt ok with just me sleeping in it. In fact it was very nice, but with both of us, which was almost all the time (DH was traveling a good bit at the time), it was a taco bed. I even had the mfg rep come out and they replaced the box spring, but that didn't help, and we were never offered a refund or any compensation. We bought another Simmons Beautyrest, which we had previously. Love it, and it is a pillow top. It is our first pillow top, and I really didn't intend to get the pillow top at all because of the negative comments i had heard about them. But even after 5 years, it is still good. No major indents, and we keep it turned frequently.

I have a friend in the furniture business and when I was looking for a new mattress he said the best mattresses for the money to look for are the three S's; Sealy, Serta and Simmons. I'm in Canada. don't know if it's the same in the US. At any rate i picked a Sealy with the pillow top for mine and love it.

My mattress is a firm one with a pillow top. On my husband's side there is an indent from his weight, but it doesnt affect how comfortable this mattress is. We have had it about six years now and i have never woken up with a stiff back.

Stearns and Foster used to be a premium brand, but it went downhill years ago. We have stuck with Simmons for our last few purchases and have been very happy with the quality.

I have one complaint about pillow top matresses, they cause me to sleep sooo good it's hard to wake up in the mornings. :)

We have a pillowtop that we purchased in Feb 2011 it has canoe sags already. Hubby loves this bed. I like our old bed it is a firm spring mattress (flipable) purchased from Sears in 2004 still firm no sag but we did put a topper on like circuspeanut. Not sure about the fact they don't make flipable mattresses any more unless that is a US thing our sears still has them. (Serta brand)

We have a Kingsdown and love it so far, but we have only had it about a 20 months. They stopped making the kind we have I think. It was the side by side or something like that. Each side has a different firmness.

I think if I were to buy again I would look at more natural mattresses. The thought of the chemicals and flame retardant make me wary. A wool mattress from what I remember would not need that.

Here is a link that might be useful: US made natural mattresses

We have bought all our mattresses at Macy's ( or Richs) and did return one within the thirty day period as it wasn't firm enough. When I do buy another, I will go back to Macys.

Like just about anything else, there is a website, complete with forums about mattresses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mattress website

We don't have a pillow top but my inlaws did for a while. They are just too soft for me and I feel like you are sinking. I like a firm mattress. Firm yet cushy.

I also prefer a mattress that can be flipped. My sister and her husband have two of the sleep number mattresses and we will probably look at those when we next need a mattress.
We did have a mattress made for our camper - by a local company and I really like it. May go that route. I'm another who does not enjoy mattress shopping!

tina

We bought an S & F two years ago. It's all latex, and no sagging, but I still wake up with muscle stiffness in my lower back and hip areas every day. I could have saved myself a fortune by just keeping what I had - old firm mattress, flippable, with a 4" latex topper.
I did read on one of the mattress expert websites that of the three S's - Serta is the worst.

I had the worst experience with a pillow top mattress at Raymour & Flanigan. I am overweight - but have slept on a twin flippable pillowtop for 15ish years. It was getting too stiff so I started my mattress search. R & F's commercials promised the world so off I go and spend $1300 for a Beauty Rest Black twin mattress set. The salesman told me not to sit on the same spot on the bed when I was putting my socks on??? Hint of what was to come.

Everyday the mattress slid off center from the box. Called to complain and their corporate office told me that all twin mattress' slide. WT_. Went to the store and a saleswoman said given my weight I should buy a bigger bed (I so wanted to slap her - ha). Mind you, I have slept on a TWIN pillow top for over 15 yrs. Called corporate again (local manager was unconcerned) and they told me to go in and pick out another bed. which I did. No choice at that point. At the delivery, I realized I didn't have a box SPRING, I had a box, with no springs. If I knew that, I would have bought a platform bed at IKEA.

Bottom line although the slipping is better, and the bed is comfy it is so lumpy and I see myself replacing it in a few years. The reason the new beds are not fllippable are not fire issues in my opinion, but let's face it, your mattress will not last as long if you can't flip it over and they will have another sale. I am stuck with this ridiculously priced piece of___, well you know.

Saw an ad from a national mattress store that said something like "if the store you are buying your mattress from is also trying to sell you a lamp, run". In my experience so true. Buyer beware.

We also had a sagging pillowtop mattress. After much research and trying out, we went with latex, which we purchased online. So much more comfortable than a regular mattress, and we each got our own firmness. And it's free of chemicals.

We flipped our king size mattress for 15 yrs. Keep in mind, it's not an easy thing to do, especially as you get older. Those things are heavy.

I have a combo pillowtop latex/memory foam topped mattress purchased at Macy's and absolutely love it. It is a S&F Estate series. Previously had down and memory foam toppers and neither performed as well as this combo.

Eight years ago, I bought a Simmons non-flippable, non-pillow top mattress, plus the box spring. I don't use any sort of topper on it. Just the dust mite proof mattress cover.

I've been very happy with it. Even though you can't flip it, and I was worried about that, it is holding up well. I do rotate it from top to bottom every two months.

I did spend a ridiculous amount of time going to mattress stores and department stores, flopping down on all the mattresses. What helped me to sort out what I liked was writing down the store name, the mattress manufacturer and the mattress name, plus the number of coils in the mattress.

The manufacturers change the number of coils from store to store (why? oh, why?), but I was able to see a trend of coil numbers that felt comfortable and those that did not.

I would never buy anything from Raymour & Flanigan. I observed the worst case of sales pressure there that I have ever seen in my life. A couple was shopping for LR furniture. The wife liked something, but the husband said no way to the price. Salesman kept pushing and pushing. Then they brought over a salesman who was African American, same as the couple. It was as if they might respond better to "one of their own". The whole scene was just dreadful, although the husband looked like nobody's fool, and wasn't spending what he couldn't afford. I dislike everything about R&F.

A number of people have said they have had good experiences at Macy's. I would rather avoid the discount places like Mattress Giant. I'll do my search at Macy's, Bloomies and a local franchise called Verlo. Possibly Sears, too.

We purchased a Simmons Beautyrest top of the line pillow top mattress and box spring, king size. Paid over $2000 for it. After only one year it began to show sagging in areas in the pillow top. Called Simmons and they sent out a representative. He placed some cards on the bed to measure the depth of the sagging and stated that they are all within acceptable limits therefore there was nothing they could do. ACCEPTABLE limits, what the heck does that mean? We have continued to sleep on this mattress but my husband can no longer cope with lack of sleep. DO NOT purchase a Beauty Rest, nor would I ever buy a pillow top again. My research has demonstrated that the pillow top begins to break down rather quickly and this causes the lumpy sagging. It is worse for larger people. I will purchase a standard innerspring mattress and put my own topper on it if I feel I need one. Also, I have been told that no mattress is flippable anymore.

Here's an old thread come to life. As follow up, I bought a set from Verlo and am very happy with it. It is flippable but too heavy for me to flip alone. Verlo does not sell pillow tops, although I still see them at other places. I use a memory foam topper in the winter. It is a bit too warm for summer.

i have a Beauty Rest extra firm pillow top. it's 15 years old and and in great condition. i am fairly large, and there are no dents in it.

I have a beauty rest luxury firm king size mattress for eight years now and I also have no problem with dents or sagging Love it, I think the secret is you need to get a firm not plush pillow top, I weigh 200 pounds

All these comments are great and so varied. I think it would be helpful for posters to say where they bought their mattress as I would not be surprised to find that the 'same' mattress bought at different places are NOT the same (Ie a mattress bought at a mom&pop store or a higher end store vs. purchasing at a big box discounter like Costco or Sam's)

I'm on a mission for a new bed. I bought a Simmons BeautyRest about 15 years ago from a local furniture store chain. That was a double sided pillow top firm that had to be flipped. Within 5-6 years I couldn't sleep in it due to the huge dip in the middle. Contacted Simmons, they sent out a person to check it out and he agreed it had failed. Dip was way over an inch deep. He said at that time that 80+% of the mattresses he inspected that fail were pillow top ones and he and his wife wouldn't be purchasing a pillow top.

Mattress had a 10 year warranty so Simmons replaced it with a another - no flipping required, pillow only one side - no rotating either. Less than 10 years again - it's got a huge dip. So I'm on a mission. I can't spend in excess of $1000 for a bed every few years - that's nuts.

Starting my search again - the posts here are helpful.

I have a Saatva King plush soft mattress being delivered Tuesday. I can't wait, haven't had a good nights sleep for months. I do think the poster above is right about firms lasting longer. However, my tail bone was broken twice and I just can't do firm. I figure it will probably last at least as long as a Beauty Rest Black but around $600 to a thousand cheaper.

Justerrilynn, we are in the market for a new matress. Could you provide follow up with your new matress once you've tried it out for a few nights. Thanks

Hi, here is my follow up !

LOVE!

First let me explain why I chose the Saatva soft plush. I have Fibromyalgia and a twice broken tail bone and arthritis. Very firm mattresses do not work well for the tail bone. My old no name mattress with two layers of coils plus good padding worked well for me for many years but it was time for a new mattress. Comfort wise while shopping I liked the Beautyrest black Natasha at Sears, King sets fake sale price $ $3419,99. I also liked the comfort of the Vitagenic Aireloom Hotel Collection at Macy's for the fake sale price of $3188,00. While these were very very cozy they lacked a bit of inner support for me.

So, through much research I found out about Saatva's mattresses and the double layer of coils. The luxury firm seems to be their best seller but I again worried about the sticky outy bones so nervously went for the soft plush. This was a good move on my part. I had read enough reviews to learn that their mattresses are a tic more firm compared to other firm mattresses. I would say my new soft plush is closer to a luxury firmish plush top in other brands. Not too soft or too hard and nice supportive side/ends. Their luxury firm would not have been good for me. The other thing I'm hoping will be good for longevity is that they use a thinner interior memory foam layer. Most mattresses that I have read about who use a much thicker interior gel/memory foam tend to sink more over time.

Although it's to early in my ownership to give a proper review that includes longevity, so far I really can't be happier. Unfortunately my old box springs were damaged in the move so I had to replace, otherwise I could have really come out well price wise. I have the 14 1/2" (there are other choices) King soft plush mattress at $899. Plus $100 for shipping and $39 to take the old stuff out. For my needs the construction of Saatva exceeds those on the market at the fake sale price range of (for set) $3,000 to $3,500.

All in and including new box springs I'm at close to 50% cheaper than the others I was looking at and I think my new mattress is better Quality.

Thank you Terrilynn! We have been looking at the Saatva. It gets great reviews. I'm so happy to hear you like it. I think we may go with it. Did you get the box spring from Saatva also?

Hi Tina, yes we got the box springs as well, had to because my old ones were damaged in the move. I would have kept the old ones if there was no damage. The new Saatva box's are about the same.

I'm so happy with my purchase. I can't tell you how worried I was with buying something I had not sampled. I was also worried that my soft plush would be to soft but it is just right for my needs.

I’m with localeater: My husband and I got an all-natural-latex mattress (from European Sleepworks in Berkeley) a good 16 years ago, and only now in the past year has it begun to sag. The best mattress ever. Super supportive but also super resilient (read: responsive). Isolates movement. Breathes. Cradles every nook & cranny it touches, including my lumbar, while letting me lie in a perfectly natural, healthy position (no butt-sagging here!). We’re finally thinking about getting a new mattress, but I may need to default back to a spring-coil model because — and this is the only drawback — the latex is extremely heavy. I’m 68 and would like a product that’s easier to lift while I’m making it up.

Bought a full size S&F firm mattress with a pillow top 3 1/2 years ago - very pricey - almost $3000 - but I love it - can't flip it so I rotate it every 6 months - just 1 sleeping on it - no sagging - the last S&F I had for 15 years - it was still in perfect condition but with time it was just too firm - my aging bones just love the pillow top on top of the firm mattress.