Mattress Shopping Tutorials

Status Quo ~ Mattress Buying an Introduction

Buying a new mattress is one of the most important purchases you can make only a few other things will have as big an effect on your overall well-being over the next decade or so. Unfortunately … for most people, a mattress is a completely blind purchase and the vast majority of consumers know little to nothing about what really makes a good quality mattress or what to believe about the many claims and confusing, conflicting, and even misleading information they are exposed to. Most “typical” salespeople also know very little about the quality of the materials in the mattresses they sell and are trained to sell mattresses using marketing techniques and “stories” they have been taught instead of specific and accurate information that gives consumers a way to make more meaningful comparisons and choices.

If you start to ask for meaningful, factual information from most retailers about the quality of the layers in their mattresses (such as foam densities) … especially for major brands (the ones that you will see advertised) … you will usually see eyes start to roll or glaze over as they realize that you probably know more about mattresses than they do. There are very few major purchases that are as blind as a mattress or where the salespeople know so little about what really makes a good quality product. An hour or two spent on this site though reading some of the basics can give you more meaningful information than most of the salespeople in the mainstream industry that sells mattresses.

The crux of Mattress Shopping

A mattress is only as durable as its weakest link and knowing that every layer of your mattress uses good quality materials that are appropriate for your budget and weight/BMI range is one of the most important parts of buying a good quality/value mattress. You can’t “feel” quality or durability because even the lowest quality materials can be very comfortable in the highly managed environment of most mattress showrooms. The quality or durability of a mattress can only be predicted if you know the details about what is in the mattress and have a way to know what these details mean or someone to “translate” them for you. Many foam materials such as memory foam or polyfoam have higher quality/foam density and more durable versions and lower quality/density and much less durable versions even if the actual type of material and how it feels is the same (see the mattress durability guidelines article)

The good news though is that there are some steps you can take to greatly shift the odds in your favor of finding a high-quality mattress that fits your needs and preferences (what I call PPP or Posture and alignment, pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and has much better value than what you will find if you only “follow the advertising” or shop for major brands at mass-market retailers or chain stores. The “secret” is knowing where to look and what to look for.We are each unique in our needs and preferences. As one of our members recently wrote in the forum thread “mattress choice ~ an editorial ” … there really are no shortcuts … only ways that you can eliminate the frustration, confusion, and “information overwhelm” of mattress shopping and perhaps … with the right help … turn it into a pleasure.

So for those who want the best possible quality and value and want to find and work with “mattress experts” that have the experience, knowledge, service, and integrity to give you good information and help you find your “perfect” mattress … the steps in the Complete Tutorial are for you. The time you spend reading them, the confidence they will give you, and the time and money they will end up saving you …. will help you more than anything else you could do when you are first starting out with your mattress research.

There are many “needs” and many “preferences” in a mattress purchase and the Mattress Forum post #4 outlines the ideal “end result” of a mattress purchase that is “perfect” for you.