Luxury Sleep Expert : AMA
I had some fun helping out a few people some months ago and so thought I would try this again. I’ve worked in the mattress industry for over 22 years, primarily as a component supplier to all the major mattress brands. Been in just about every factory in the country and sold just about anything that’s ever been put in a mattress.
I currently own a private luxury sleep boutique where I custom fit guests for luxury sleep systems.
I’d be happy to answer any questions about mattress components, construction, accessories, retail operations or even just sleep (I’m also a certified sleep coach). My expertise is in higher-end brands and components so if you’re looking to ask the “best mattress under $1000” question, I’m not your guy and I don’t care to engage with the “just go to Costco” people.
I’m not here to bash or promote specific brands, but I will give you my honest take on what I see and hear from guests day in and day out as well as from what I know in working behind the scenes in the mattress industry.
All that being said, fire away!
Oh I didn’t comment on further on the Aireloom cause he said they were out of his price range, so I was just trying to give some options.
As far as quality goes, Aireloom is a high-end luxury brand that is famous for quality tailoring and artisan craftsmanship. Of course it is possible that at some point they have an issue that turns a customer or retailer off. But the other thing to consider is that we don’t know what model or collection this came from. Even high end manufacturers offer “entry-level” products to capture certain price points.
In general, I highly recommend Aireloom as a manufacturer.
It’s hard to simply identify a firmness for a person as that can be very subjective and differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. As someone dealing with a chronic condition, what’s most important is you find something that keeps you in a supported comfortable position the entire night and stays that way over time. Look for mattresses with components with high support factor. Latex, coils, microcoils. If it’s hand-tufted, even better.
Avoid all foam or mostly foam constructions. They will not serve your condition well.
Tell me where you live and see if I know a good store with a real expert to send you to.
NaturePedic is a great manufacturer. Real deal. Everything is natural/organic. Hand made in Amish country.
But what’s best about them is that you can totally customize your mattress. Totally different feels for each side of the mattress. And the way they make them, you have easy access to change out the layers down the line should you want to change your comfort profile.
My personal favorite is the Halcyon Arcadia. But that’s a pretty ticket for most. The EOS Pillowtop is exquisite also.
I tell all our customers when they purchase that body impressions are part of breaking in a new mattress and are going to happen. It’s the mattress responding to you and your body. As long as your alignment and support aren’t compromised, don’t be alarmed. The impressions are actually contributing to better pressure relief. And when you rotate that mattress, you’ll create new impressions and the old ones will gradually return to original height as the natural layers like cotton and wool opens back up.
Look for mattresses with zoned pocketed coils, where the middle third of the mattress has additional support. This will allow you to pick something more plush for pressure relief in your shoulders but still keep your hips and lower back in good alignment. Karpen Luxury Lotus Plush by Aireloom is a go to for that particular need in our store.
What is almost as important is matching the right pillow for yourself. A properly fit pillow can alleviate a lot of pressure off your upper back and shoulders.
I tell every single guest that comes into my store that the gold standard of sleep for two adults is a split king or cal king set up. Meaning two independent mattresses on independent adjustable bases set up next to each other. This allows each partner to pick the exact right mattress for them without compromise. And if in a few years, if one partner doesn’t like their side of the bed, but the other does you only have to replace the one side. As far as temperature goes, before investing in climate control beds, I would encourage people to look at mattresses with all natural constructions. Natural products like cotton wool and natural foam rubber latex. do an amazing job of helping us to temperature regulate when sleeping.
I too, have heard a lot of horror stories about people making investments into climate control tech for their mattress.
I’m going to answer this question in as diplomatic a way that I can because I promised that I wouldn’t brand bash. And full disclosure, my store does not carry Tempur-pedic or really any other memory foam forward brands.
Tempur-pedic is America’s most recognizable brand. They are part of an even larger conglomerate called Somni group, which owns other major brands, such as Sealy, Stearns & Foster and America’s largest retailer Mattress Firm. They’ve also recently purchased the world‘s largest component manufacturer Leggett & Platt. They are likely to acquire Purple in the next few months.
From a product standpoint, I liken Tempur-pedic to Starbucks. They do what they do very well and have positioned themselves through mass marketing as a well-luxury product. And people will pay a premium to be able to say they have a Tempur-Pedic.
Having said that it is my humble opinion that when you compare Tempur products to other memory foam forward products, there isnt a big difference in feel, support and comfort.
And i will tell you that i see on almost a weekly basis, guests come in who are currently on a Tempur-pedic, complaining of back pain, sleeping hot and frustrated because they made an investment that 2 to 3 years in, they regret.
I know that was kind of a lot, sorry.
1. Yes the Dusk is a good suggestion. I’ve had great success helping combo sleepers with the Twilight as well.
2. That’s a nice feature of the is the ability so swap out the comfort layer if needed.
3. The helix are well made mattresses but because the primary comfort layers are mostly foam, there is a higher likely hood that it will soften up over the years. Rotating the mattress will help but If you want something that is going to keep a consistent feel for many years, look for a product that has some natural components in it and is hand -tufted. And for the absolute best, find one that’s two-sided.
If you maintain your Hypnos by rotating regularly, you shouldn’t have any long term issues. Cotton and wool are resilient and will return if given the opportunity.
As for your teen, i recommend getting them a queen size I’d good quality, so that they could potentially take it with them and use it for the first few years out of the house or you can use a nice guest bed after they leave. Young people seem to do well on firmer mattresses. I’d recommend maybe something like the Helix Elite Twilight.
It is true that many manufacturers source from the same suppliers. But how they use and how much they use the materials can greatly impact cost/price. One manufacturer may have a cosmetic layer (just enough to say it’s there) of organic cotton or latex or some horse hair in a mattress where another may use it as a foundational part of the construction. And coils vary widely in density or gauge of steel, how many times they’re turned and count.
Looking at the example you cited, those are vastly different mattresses. The McCroskey is a two-sided hand crafted mattress. So it has at least double the amount of natural product (probably more) and the tailoring is much more intensive and hand crafted.
The My Green Mattress is the same height 11” and has an 8” coil, so only 3” are natural products. Not saying it’s not a good mattress or one that wouldnt serve you well, just saying they’re not on the same class of mattress.
Would be like comparing a Mercedes to a Toyota. Both good cars. Both could get you from point A to point B. Very different driving experiences.
Hope this helps!
Yes. I have carried two different Active Pressure Relief systems in my store. Most recently SmartLife by King Koil, which was well-received. I am familiar with your product. I think your company would do well to consider partnering with local specialty sleep stores like mine where you can have a well-trained staff explain the tech and the benefits.
People like the concept of the APR but the comfort layer still has to meet their profile. I have found that the systems that use latex in the top comfort layer are preferred to those with memory foam. It’s more dynamic and responsive to the adjustments the mattress is making throughout the night.
You are correct in assuming that foam is chosen primarily because of cost. It is easy and cheap to produce and most of the major mattress manufacturers i.e. national brands that people are familiar with are actually integrated into their own foam manufacturing. So they are going to market and sell what they produce.
For some younger generation foam might feel a little more modern and advanced then natural products, thus making it feel a little more techy. Also foam is easy to add things to like color and other additives, which make it easier to market as different.
What’s interesting is as you see products and collections move into higher-end luxury categories, you see much less if any polyurethane foams and much more natural components.
Yes - I really liked it - but they said it wouldn't be as good with our adjustable base. So we went with naturepedic's luxury line and we really like our choice. :-) We really tried to buy european sleep works though as they are an excellent company.
I’ve had a tuft and needle mattress for about 6 years and liked it. Recently when we moved into our new house, I decided we’d try a Naturepedic mattress (the kind with both coils and latex) and move the Tuft and Needle into the guest room. From what I’ve read, Naturepedic is the only brand (that’s not pure latex and has coils) that is truly non toxic and had the certifications I was looking for like GOTS. Many of the certifications out there, for example CertiPur, are invented by the foam/petroleum industry and there are no actual third party checks on safety.
I didn’t buy Avocado because there have been some concerns that they manufacture in the same facility as (and I think they own) a mainstream polyurethane mattress brand, and there have been reports that the quality of avocado cannot be guaranteed do to mixing of materials, intentional or unintentional idk. Check out the Mamavation blog on mattresses for more info.
Anyways, a few months after sleeping on Naturepedic, we ended up swapping it out with the Tuft and Needle we had put in the guest room. So back on old Tuft and Needle now, despite the less than perfect VOC/Formaldehyde/etc concerns, because Naturepedic just wasn’t comfortable enough. At least now our guests will enjoy purely non toxic sleeping 🥲
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