To sleep, perchance to dream...

August 13, 2007 3:16 PM

How do you shop for a new bed and pillows when they don't let you sleep at the store?

My SO and I are in the market for a new mattress. But how do you know whether or not you'll like the extra-firm or the pillow-top or whatever that you "tried out" at the store when you get it home and need to rest? Even if there's a 30 day money back guarantee, we would prefer to live without the hassle. What's the best practice here? Is there anything better than trial and error?

posted by B-squared to shopping (13 comments total)

Don't be a wuss!! Sleep at the store!

Kidding.

I think you have to not be afraid to use the 30 day guarantee if needed. Sometimes it takes days (at least) to figure out if a mattress will work for you. There is some adjustment time, where it may not be comfortable right away, just because it's different than your old one. But after that, it could be great. If there is a way to know, I have never found it, but thankfully I am not very picky about my mattress so I've never had to return a guarantee.
posted by The Deej at 3:38 PM on August 13, 2007

Uh, you know what I mean.
posted by The Deej at 3:38 PM on August 13, 2007

The 30 day guarantee is a lifesaver. We had to use it recently, but it is so much more nervewracking to pick out a second mattress when there is no third chance to get it right.

Also, I would always err on the side of too-firm over too-soft. A firmer bed can be made a bit softer with a pillowtop or memory foam mattress pad, but if you get one that is too plush, there isn't a whole lot you can do.

It's very important to spend a good 10-15 minutes on each bed you are considering, and lie in the position you actually sleep in!
posted by dumbledore69 at 3:42 PM on August 13, 2007

Some hotels feature specific mattress lines, if you are willing to limit your shopping to this small subset + pay for the hotel room, you could test sleep on those.

It's not a perfect solution, however, as your bed frame can affect how your mattress feels (anecdotal example: the mattress/box spring set we recently purchased was fine in the store but oddly "bouncy" in our home. Turned out our wood bed frame gave the whole thing more sproinginess than the more rigid metal frame of the test bed).
posted by jamaro at 3:44 PM on August 13, 2007

I used the 30 day exchange guarantee (at SleepCountry - why buy a matress anywhere else?). It had to be done. My advice would be to pick out something relative to your current mattress - you want firmer, softer, whatever. If it doesn't work out, then you choose relative to the mattress you just had - firmer, softer, etc.

We initially got a "orthopedic" mattress, which seemed fine in the store, but after a full night it was like sleeping on a speed bump. Horrible stuff. The second choice was indeed tense, but much better in the end.

Also, get the mismatched box spring. Typically it saves you a couple hundred bucks.
posted by GuyZero at 3:45 PM on August 13, 2007

Easy! Ask everyone you know for a night in their bed. Find out the make and model of your fave. Hope everyone doesn't think you were looking for kinky couples fun.

Alternatively, Ikea have a questionnaire.
posted by tiny crocodile at 3:45 PM on August 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Slate had an article about avoiding all the gimmicks at mattress stores. The main message?

The mattress biz is 99-percent marketing. So just buy the cheapest thing you can stand and be done with it, because they're pretty much all the same.
posted by junesix at 4:20 PM on August 13, 2007

in my experience (which is strangely extensive due to having moved many times, worked away from home etc) there is a difference (a very big one) between mattresses, but it doesn't correlate very strongly with price.

two things seem to help:
- a cheap mattress from a good make seems to be better than an expensive mattress from a popular make.
- on a good mattress, when you press down on the mattress you should not be able to feel individual springs. not at all. no matter how you push.

our best mattress ever was made to size (who'd have guessed that our uk-made bed frame is not a standard size in chile?) by a very traditional company. looks very boring and old-fashioned (no fancy "extra layers"), was their cheapest option (within the constraints of being made to measure), and is just wonderful...

(oh, and the bed base seems to make no difference at all).
posted by andrew cooke at 4:33 PM on August 13, 2007

When you go out and test mattresses, keep in mind that because everyone's trying out the floor models, the springs/foam/etc may be a bit worn down from wear. Don't be surprised when your brand-new mattress feels a bit more firm than the one in the store. It took me a week or two to break in my new mattress, which felt more like a rock than the one I tried in the store. But now it feels perfect. (And the "breaking in" probably had more to do with me getting used to sleeping on it than anything.)

Oh, and make sure they deliver yours in factory-sealed plastic. That way you're not getting someone else's 30-day return.
posted by phatkitten at 4:37 PM on August 13, 2007

The mattress biz is 99-percent marketing. So just buy the cheapest thing you can stand and be done with it, because they're pretty much all the same.

I strongly disagree. You spend 1/3 of you life on this thing and how pleasant it is can have a significant impact on the quality of the other 2/3.

However, the size of the profit margins in mattresses is astonishing and the sleeze factor makes shopping for a used car seem low-stress by comparison. I have had prices offered to me that were 50% of what was on the ticket. Push for a good deal and be prepared to walk away (the only way to be the winner in a negotiation).

The industry also makes it near impossible to comparison shop by selling identical mattresses with different label names to different retailers, so keep that in mind.
posted by phearlez at 9:54 AM on August 14, 2007

I don't think the article was saying that the mattress industry itself was BS but rather the up-selling at the mattress stores was excessive. You go in wanting a decent mattress and once you have one picked out, they start selling you on all the extra gimmicky crap -- this makes it firm, this makes it soft, this makes it more comfortable, these options, that warranty -- simply because those are their high-margin items. It reminds me of the days of car shopping before the Internet when the salesmen would play pricing mind tricks and tack on weird fees, taxes, options, loans, and warranties.
posted by junesix at 11:41 AM on August 14, 2007

We bought our mattress a little over a year ago. This is the process we went through:

Find a cooperative store that will let you lie on the mattresses for a good long while (15-20 min). Don't be self conscious (we did it with the bed right in the window by the entrance!) After that period of time the bed will have warmed up to you, and you will have gotten over the initial "not my bed" feeling. Just lie there and relax. Then start to pay attention to what you are feeling. Your body should feel evenly supported with no significant pressure spots. So think about does there seem to be too much pressure on the hips? Is my waist supported? Does my back feel out of line at all? etc.

After that time, if you are unhappy with the bed, think about why (too hard, too soft), move to a new bed that makes up for that, and try again.

This will take some time. But as mentioned earlier, you spend a fair chunk of your life in your bed, so you want to get what you like. If the store isn't willing to let you do this, go to another store that will. Once you find a bed that you like, then start tackling the price issue.
posted by GeneticFreek at 12:16 PM on August 14, 2007

I had no idea this was such a shady industry. I should obviously do a bit more research and check out Consumer Reports. Thanks for the tips everyone.
posted by B-squared at 1:23 PM on August 14, 2007