Has anyone else gone through the nightmare of buying a new mattress?

[wasdarknowblond]

We bought a new and expensive Tempur mattress a few months ago but I have found I literally can't sleep on it. It makes my back bad, is difficult to turn over on and feels like there is long mound going along the middle. It also feels a bit like lying on marshmallows. Sadly, we bought it from a retailer that didn't offer any kind of sleep trial period (didn't realise this) and not from Tempur directly. Thus it has to go and will probably end up on the spare bed. However DH has said I must look for the next mattress as he can 'sleep on anything' and I'm finding it an absolute nightmare. I had more or less settled on trying out an Emma mattress until I read that they sag in the middle after about two years. The same goes for the Simba. I found a plush Relyon coil spring mattress with a naturally filled pillow type topping but the reviews said the same about sagging. Emma and Eze score highly on 'Which' but everything is so contradictory I feel really stuck about what to do. Any advice out there?

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We had an Emma and both ended up with the worst backs. Went to Benson for beds and used their machine that you both lie on and it determines what's best for you dependant on weight, the way you sleep and your preference. We got this a few months ago and its super comfy and I sleep all night now.

Ikea pocket sprung with a memory foam topper. Bliss. Various levels of firmness, thickness, quality etc. Try them all in the shop and you can return them within 90 days if not suitable. 10 year guarantee.

The price though!!!🫣

I'd go to an independent bed shop that's been around for years and talk to them. A Sealy with pocket springs and a geltex top is my favourite combination.

Just go on a shop and lie on loads. I think you are overcomplicated it. I also think that you are being drawn to expensive brands. As you have discovered they are not necessarily more comfy.

Thank you for your reply @greengreyblue

I did A LOT of research on mattresses a couple of years ago & I mean A LOT! FWIW Harrison Spinks make John Lewis mattresses. But please do go to the John Ryan website - it is dripping with information about mattresses - and you can return a mattress if you don’t like it. We eventually bought from there. It’s excellent & so is the customer service

Thank you for posting that link I like their mattresses also I didn't know you could buy them.

You’re welcome @deeahgwitch . I don’t normally rave about any product but have to say our John Ryan mattress is the best £500 we’ve spent. I only heard of them from a thread in here. DH wasn’t keen to spend that much but honestly every night on that mattress over the last 6 years has been worth it. They have a match service where they recommended a type of mattress given DH is 4 stone heavier than me. Also you can return after trying it out. This sold it as we couldn’t go to a showroom.

@DancingFerret and million thank you so much- they look amazing. I don't mind spending more on a mattress as you spend literally half your life there and H has back issues.

They have a really long guarantee too!

There seemed to be an unnecessary lot of hype about mattresses, so I went for the firmest traditional sprung mattress I could find. It requires turning but is light and easy to manoeuvre. It was cheap, which means I can replace it as soon as it starts to become saggy. Some mattresses cost a bomb, weigh a tonne and are, to me, very uncomfortable to lie on - especially the memory foam ones.

I don’t like ours, one of those mattress in a box ones we ordered when my back went and decided we needed to replace our very old one.
It’s really hot, there’s definitely a mound in the middle and my god it weighs a tonne.
It was one of those that came with a 100 night guarantee but it said you had to return it in the original packaging. There was absolutely no way we were going to be able to vacuum the air back out of it and roll it up and get it back inside the box (and they are well aware of this 😂) so we accepted defeat and kept it.
We’ve had it now for about 6 years and we said we will get rid of it next year.
Having sex on it is also really annoying as there’s no bounce because it’s memory foam and you just sink into it 🫣

https://johnryanbydesign.co.uk/
If anyone is interested.

Which specific mattress did you buy please? They are always mentioned on these threads.

It was from their Origins range. Looking at their prices now I would think it was the cheaper end as they start at £670 now and we paid about £500 at least 5 years ago. It’s a king size.

I have serious back issues so finding a comfy mattress isn't easy.

We'd previously bought a Which best buy for about £1500, that was advertised as great for people with bad backs, but it was so uncomfortable I slept in the sofa for years as we couldn't afford to replace it.

We now have a Flaxby Nature's Finest 16,500 sprung mattress from Dreams. I spent months looking, trying out different mattresses for 30+ minutes at a time and researching, as I was scared to buy another uncomfortable one.

It was around £2,600 in 2018, but we got it reduced to £1,200 as 1 bottom corner had a small defect (kink/dip). One hlaf is soft, the other medium and it has a built in topper. It's been a very good mattress for my back, but I think the most comfortable one I've ever had was a latex mattress.

It's so heavy I can't lift it, though, and due to the topper it can only be rotated, not turned over.

It's been very comfortable, but recently my back aches by the morning, if I spent more than 7-8 hours in it. I'm 65kgs, bmi 25.
My dh is finding the same, although he is on the heavy side (100kgs) and had been 20+kgs heavier for most of the last 6 years.

We were advised to change after around 7 years, and it's 6 years old now, so that fits in with what we expected. I think being heavy means it doesn't last as long, too.

Worth every penny (IMO, of course). 😙

My experience with a Relyon Orthpocket 1500 mattress; for what it’s worth. Deformation after well short of a year and becoming rather uncomfortable; Ortho Pocket ha ha!. In July, Dean from Castelan inspected on behalf of Relyon using Relyon’s prescribed “methods”. All reeked of judge and jury so not expected to end well. Suspect the retailer, Downtown Grantham, would like to stay in the shadows.

Yesterday, after a bit of prompting, Downtown have reported that no “manufacturing faults” were identified in the mattress inspection; two fairly large permanent sink holes and a ridge down the middle of the mattress are normal apparently.

Hypnos -

If it's any consolation @Pirie I had the same with a retailer in Ireland and the "independent" mattress inspector provided by the mattress manufacturer.
According to him/them there were no issues with the mattress.

My only retaliation will be to boycott the retailer and the mattress manufacturer from now on - it was a King Koil Back Guard.

Back Guard my ar*e !

We've had a simba for 6 years and had no problems with it, I don't know if they do different price ranges now that aren't so good.

I know someone who used Bensons for beds and found them really helpful.