Mattress Base

A few months ago, hubby and I finally gave in to my teenage son’s wishes for a new set of mattresses. The mattress and boxspring were delivered exactly 3 months and one day ago today and I am pleased to say that we love the Serta Perfect Sleeper Fallbrooke Pillowtop mattress and it is well worth the money we spent for it!

Choosing the right mattress for my son was nearly an impossible task. Here I thought that girls’ decision making skills were trying! Humpff! My sixteen year old son surely proved me wrong. He must have laid on twenty mattresses of various sizes and degrees of firmness before we finally helped him to make a decision.

We’ve had three mattresses in our master bedroom within the last 18 months and only our last, a Shifman, has given us long-lasting comfort!

Our first, a Serta, lost most its coil support within 10 months. We tried a TempurPedic (see my review: http://www.epinions.com/review/The_CelebrityBed_by_Tempur_Pedic/content_403300454020) only to suffer worse lower back pain and more frustration. Needless to say, we’ve done a LOT of research on mattresses since, and it took lots of digging to come up with this brand.

Shifman has been making hand-tufted, strong gauge, top quality mattresses for over 100 years in Newark, NJ. They are sold nationally through Bloomingdales (and bloomingdales.com) but can also be found at high-end furniture stores. As mattress companies often rename their products to suit different stores (thereby insuring you can’t compare prices, a whole other issue!), you won’t find the Van Gogh at Bloomingdales. We bought ours in northern NJ, where we live, at a local furniture store.

The VG is part of Shifman’s “Masters Collection”, with double off-set innersprings, quilted 100% cotton, heavy gauge side supports and natural latex…which all adds up to major comfort. Because we’re fit but tall, support was the number one issue for us. Shifman’s coil layout and an 11 3/4 steel gauge number (the lower the number, the better the support) were impressive. Shifman also provided the store with a side-cut, minature view of exactly what goes into each mattress. All of Shifman’s mattresses are hand-tufted (i.e. nothing falls apart) and the premium sets are 100% cotton, important for those who are allergic to oil-based polyeurathene beds. This model has a built in low-profile pillow top on both sides, for flipping purposes, but there are also removable ones in other models.a

Now for the not so great: Shifman advises that for the first 6 months, you flip the mattress once a month, then twice a year after that, so that small depressions can be minimalized. This is no easy feat because our VG mattress is very HEAVY. But a nice thing Shifman has included inside (and unseen) are hinges that allow the bed to bend at a 45 degree angle from top to bottom. This is the only way it will come up the staircase of an old house, trust me!

I will also say that this quality doesn’t come cheap. We bought the box-spring (with actual springs, uncommon these days) and mattress for about $5000. Still, seven months after we purchased this bed we are extremely happy about it. We wanted top quality without having to pay those outrageous European prices (i.e. Duxiana, Hastens) and we have found it, made in the USA! There are a wide range of prices (about $1500-8000) that suit most budgets and you’ll likely find more than one retailer in your area.

I purchased this mattress hoping it would live up to the promise of providing a good night’s sleep. No more tossing and turning, improved circulation, and a sense of feeling rested. I am a new mother, and for months had not been getting any sleep because my baby was a very restless sleeper and didn’t start sleeping through the night until he was about 7 months old. I bought the mattress in December 2006, so I’ve had it approximately 3 months. Now my baby sleeps through the night, and it is me who keeps waking up because I am in pain. For example, I woke up at 5am this morning, and decided to write this review because I couldn’t take another minute in my bed.

Reviews

Very comfortable

Positive Great support, very comfortable, perfect firmness
Cons: A little shorter than a king size mattress

The memory foam mattress topper is great for people with lower back pains. I suffer from a herniated disc in my lower back and had trouble sleeping on a regular mattress because of the pain it caused. The memory foam pretty much solved that problem. I occasionally feel some pain, but it is MUCH better. You get great support in all positions, especially when sleeping on your back, which I do, which killed me in the past. Bought a king size for about $80 at WalMart. Does not fit king size mattress 100% ( it’s about 5-6 inches too short). I am 6′2″ but the few inches the topper is too short does not bother me at all as my heels reach exactly down to the end of the topper when laying on the back.

My wife and I were so excited about the SAM Mattress before it arrived. We waited three weeks for it to get here. We opened the boxes and had a hard time figuring out how to put it together. No instructions were included. What surprised me was how cheap looking the materials seemed. Cheap plastic for the air cylinder, cheap tubes, cheap foam. I decided not to judge it by its appearance. After all, it was a $1600 mattress. It couldn’t be that bad. So I thought.

Since there are many debates on this bed, I feel that I need to share my experience.

The Bed (SAM):

SAM stands for Self Adjusting Mattress. It is an air mattress and the concept is to inflate and deflate automatically via the patented air valves. We did an extensive research and found out that some hospitals and rehabilitation centers actually use SAMs. So we ordered one.

Two layers of DuraSoft foam. Comfort Fill7 fiber. Layer of DuraSoft forma that adjusts to body heat. Durable tray design with two-stage foam rails. Circle tack and jump quilt pattern.

Reviews

Wonderful

Positive The soft side means that normal (deep) sheets fit the bed.
Cons: none

I HIGHLY recommend this product. It is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. It has a duvet cover. There are two inner mattresses which are totally motionless. It conforms nicely to your body. The two separate inner mattress means each of us can control our own heat. It is a waterbed so is heavy, (> 1400 lbs) and some apartments don’t want people who have waterbeds. The soft side means that normal (deep) sheets fit the bed.

My husband and I were thoroughly disgusted with the performance of our not-that-old traditional mattress, and I just couldn’t bring myself to pay up to $1800 for a new top of the line queen mattress set.

I did a lot of research into different types and brands of mattresses. We seriously considered the Nautilus Sleep System, but I was somehow put off by having my bed plugged into an electrical outlet and all those moving parts. Plus I can’t help but think there’s always the chance of a puncture when you’re dealing with air.

My wife and I splurged for this mattress in 2000. In need of a mattress after our first 10 years together, we felt we deserved something to pamper ourselves with during our sleep. So, we spent beyond budget for the Simmons BackCare mattress and felt good about it as it was the most comfortable mattress for both of us (she 5′ 105 lbs, he 6′ 220 lbs). For the first two years, we were thrilled. Slept like babies.

My wife and I are budget minded so we chose the Restonic Comfort Care Mattress (queen size firm)and felt like we bought a quality mattress at a good price. I was hoping for 10 years but after 8 I can’t ignore the stiff back and numb arm in the middle of the night. During the first five or six years the mattress provided good support and sleep was comfortable. I’m 5′11” and 200 lbs and heavier than my wife, which is probably not too far from the average American man (in response to the self admitted sales person’s post). The Restonic is the only “real mattress” I have owned as an adult so it is hard to compare with the other national brands. It just seems like a $600 mattress should last longer than mine has. All other aspects of the Restonic have been fine. The seams, handles and quilting has held up very well. We rotated and flipped the mattress about twice a year. I have been reading Epinions looking for a new mattress. So I thought this might be helpful to others. I can’t decide if the salesmen sit around the computer on slow days and write more positive reviews for their brand or negative ones on the competition. I’m thinking I like used car salesmen better.