Check your area for mattress makers! Buy directly from the manufacturer and skip the middle men. This is how I have been buying for years and I have extremely good quality products for about half the price of the same product in the big store. Buying in the big store you are paying for their name. My new mattress was delivered to me Friday and I am loving it.

raven....please share what YOU purchased....?

With many kinds of products, manufacturers that sell both through retailers AND directly to customers have to be careful to not offer prices lower than what stores can offer. It's often a provision in distribution agreements that they won't do so because if a store finds itself being underpriced by the manufacturer itself (who can of course afford to do so), then why bother carrying that line? That's why, as a random made-up example, you should normally be able to buy a particular Dell PC for a lower price from a store than from Dell itself. It's why wine purchased at the winery where produced is often more expensive than from a store. Other than in cases like a winery's pricing for its "wine club", which is the path wineries use to discount direct sales in a way that avoids aggravating the customers that matter most, its distributors and stores.

Pricing in the mattress world may be different but if so it's an exception.

I purchased a custom made mattress made by a local Houston mattress maker.

Mine has a plush euro pillow top, with individual wrapped and tied springs, zoned coils for firm core support, and a heavy foam edge bolster all around. So you can sit on the edge and it does not collapse or crush. No type of memory foam. All hypo allergenic. With a layer of latex.

This is an ad from one of the local mattress makers which explains the process and the saving.

https://www.texasmattressmakers.com/

I have purchased mattresses from a local mattress manufacturer - they do NOT sell to retail stores - they just make them to my specs for their own retail store. I have a 35 year old Charleston Rice bed that I love. The new super-deep mattresses and box springs (which are really just a platform - no springs in them anymore), would cover the headboard and I'd need a stepladder to get in and out of bed - it's already about 32" off the floor. So, I have my mattress custom made and often can keep the existing box springs.

I have a BIG problem with these new mattresses which the salesperson gushes over, saying, "You don't ever have to flip the mattress with this one!". Well, that is true as one CANNOT flip the mattress - all that fluffy padding is only on one side! This means the mattress will wear out FAR more quickly than one that is regularly turned side-to-side, and top-to-bottom on a rotation schedule.

I have promised myself that my next mattress that I buy is going to be a cheap firm mattress with no bells and whistles and I'm going to buy a nice latex topper to put on it for softness. I bought an expensive (for me) Seally mattress this last time and within a year, I already had indentations where we sleep which it promised it would not have! You cannot do anything but turn it, you can't flip it. It also creaks like an s o b !!!! UGH!

Unfortunately, $900 will not buy you a mattress that will provide you the support nor the longevity you're hoping for. Six months later you'll be adding something to it searching for comfort. A year from now, you'll be posting a negative about your mattress.

If you have a Berkely Ergonomics dealer near you, make an appointment. There's never any fluffy sales pitch and you'll get a perfect fit for you; optimal support and pressure relief.

I'm buying the best I can find in my budget. Not much else I can do unless I rob a bank ;-)

I bought a used (slightly) sleep number HEAD/FOOT adjustable bed for $700. It will always be the firmness I need and the incline adjustability is dreamy. If the foam under the mattress cover gets compressed, it is easily swapped out.

Try a cheap in a box mattress and if you don't like it return it and try another brand. There's plenty of those suppliers out there, 20+. You can sleep for several years and never own a mattress of your own.

I bought a select comfort (now sleep number) bed before they had them in retail stores. Still love it, and it won't ever get too soft or lumpy.

Are there any mattresses that are made of the same materials they used before foams (memory and other,) came into use? I'm thinking of the kind of mattress one would buy in the 60's and 70's, though I know memory foam wasn't used until sometime in the 2000s.

I have mine made with absolutely no memory or gel or any of that new junk in them. Purely non allergenic. I do add a layer of latex but that's nothing like memory foam. Yes you can have them put what ever you want in it. Just check out the local mattress makers you will be surprised by the price and the quality.

Are there any mattresses that are made of the same materials they used before foams (memory and other,) came into use?

I hope not! Those mattresses were toxic.

Just curious Brushworks, since you believe I won't find the support I need with an on sale mattress of $900. What should I be looking at?

My head is spinning reading reviews. Apparently memory foam is good for side sleepers...but I found memory foam very hard. No give. Maybe I'm just used to a spring mattress and maybe I didn't lay there long enough for the mattress to conform to my body. ??? Then I read where several new buyers have to add a topper in order to make a new mattress comfortable!! UGH!!

I think right now is a good time to shop for mattresses though, lots of sales and clearing out old models.

What makes you say they were toxic, Brush?

My word of warning - if the mattress can't be flipped DO NOT BUY IT! We bought one several years ago and at first, it was heaven. Now there are huge "holes" that we fall into night after night and wake up with aches and pains all over.

I'm wary of memory foam (for the same reason) and because I'm afraid it would be "hot" (despite any cooling gel they claim to have).

I'll be watching this thread to see what the consensus is because we will definitely be in the market soon.

I don't know if any mattresses are still flippable...maybe custom made..?? Wherever I go next I will make a point to ask if they have any that can be flipped. I think even if you had a matress that could be flipped, you'd end up with a hole in the middle.

My current mattress is a queen, I sleep by myself to one side and there is still a bit of a dip in the middle. My mattress is at least 8-9 yrs old. Last year I talked about getting a topper but couldn't decide on one.

I sleep on my left side and I've been waking up super sore...my shoulders and hips. Even though my bed isn't "hard" I feel like my shoulders and hips are being pushed up...if that makes any sense? Hard to described...Or maybe like they are being compressed. Maybe I'm just getting old LOL

upon a quick google, I guess flippable is referred to as a "double sided" mattress.

https://www.us-mattress.com/serta-hotel-regal-suite-firm-queen.html

Several years ago there were ads about a mattress only providing good sleep for between 7 to 10 years. I used to laugh at that but am beginning to believe it. If you weigh under 110 pounds and are strong enough to flip a mattress it might be comfortable longer than that. Since that light dawned I no longer look for ones that are supposed to last, whatever last means, but the ones that are comfortable. Never had a 4-5 thousand dollar mattress and perhaps they would last longer.

Spending $4-5 thousand isn't necessary to put together a 100% natural latex mattress over a European slat system which can be configured to your body size, weight, height, build, etc. $2,750 is average. 10 years is average for a latex topper. The topper can be replaced for about $170 and go for another 10 years.

sjerin, fire retardants make a mattress toxic. It's still used in cheap mattresses because cheap means you can't use wool (a natural fire retardant) in a cheap mattress.

What's the #1 cause of cancer among firemen? Fighting home fires that are burning fire retardants from beds and furniture.

gigi, take a serious look at Berkeley Ergonomics when you start to consider a replacement.

I don't think fire retardants were used back then, at least not in the 60's. I'm talking about the construction. I truly believe beds are made the way they are now because of cost/profit.

Because the name brands use different model names in different stores, it is difficult to comparison shop for like kind.

I think it was on the forum someone mentioned buying a bed at Big Lots who carry one name brand. The poster was very happy with the price and quality.

I believe Big Lots carries Serta...That is the one with the counting sheep right?

This month's issue of Consumer Reports features a review of mattresses. I bought a mattress fro a local franchise called Verlo. When it first arrived it was way too firm, so they took it back and made it softer. I am still not totally pleased with it. It came with a lifetime guarantee that they would take it back and adjust it at any time, which is part of the reason I went with Verlo. Guess what? The franchise closed and they are nowhere to be found. I put a memory foam topper on it but it sleeps so hot I have to take it off during warmer months. I spent a lot on my mattress so I am having trouble rationalizing getting another. It is flippable but so heavy it would take two men to do it.

I slept very comfortably on mybrother's Temperpedic, but I am wary of foam beds. I used to have a latex mattress many years ago and that was heaven. They are expensive but that is what I will get next, I think. I get so much muscle pain at night I would love to find a solution for that.

I wouldn't trade my 35+ year old pure latex foam mattress for anything. It's as good as when new, so comfy, no low spots. If I ever downsize from a king (since I sleep alone now) I'll get another, even though it will outlive me.