Lose the Husband, Keep the Mattress Isotonic Sleep System Mattress
Isotonic beats Tempurpedic in value Isotonic Sleep System Mattress I was thinking about a visco-elastic memory foam mattress ever since I saw the first ad for a new pro...
Isotonic Extraordinaire Sleep System Queen Size ReviewsIsotonic foam mattress and foundation Positive Excellent sales pitchCons: Very uncomfortable. The foam softened rapidl...
The first major purchase that my husband and I agreed upon was a new bed. The research and purchasing became my responsibility by default. Which is just as well because I’m more concerned about getting the best bang for our buck.
My interest was piqued after watching an advertisement for the Tempur-Pedic memory foam mattress. I didn’t know if it was an expensive gimmick but I wasn’t too impressed with the quality of sleep I’d been getting from conventional spring mattresses.
I discovered that the Tempur-Pedic mattress is made from Visco-Elastic foam which was originally developed by NASA for their astronauts. How cool is that? The foam gently conforms to the body based on body temperature and weight. This foam is now in the public domain, but several manufacturers have modified this foam for proprietary purposes.
Brookstone has the Tempur-Pedic on display so you can get an idea of whether it’s something you’d want to sleep on. I checked it out and decided it was worthwhile to pursue further. The Tempur-Pedic will set you back over $1800 for a Queen sized bed, so I was definitely researching cheaper alternatives. Part of the expense is due to its being imported from Sweden, and partly from all those commercials they have to pay for.
After reading the Epinions on abed.com, I was all set to place an order. The abed foam mattresses are a little softer than Tempur-Pedic, but they’re also hundreds of dollars cheaper. A queen sized mattress set is $1088, including the frame. These mattresses come with a 20 yr. warranty and they don’t need to be turned or flipped. Then I discovered the Isotonic Sleep System, manufactured by the Carpenter Company right here in the good old USA.
I wasn’t going to buy the Isotonic just because it was made domestically — I also liked how it was put together. The base is a 5″ core of densified Omalon foam that is designed to never fatigue, flatten or bottom out. The base foam is topped by a 2″ layer of Conform foam. Conform foam is a new memory foam that took Carpenter two years of R&D to produce. They believe that Conform foam has 4 times the compression set of the Tempur-Pedic ® memory foam - which means that Conform will continue to revert to its original shape longer than the Tempur-Pedic ® memory foam. This Conform layer, in turn, is topped by another 1″ layer of visco-elastic “DreamHugger” foam for good surface feel. The mattress is finished off and covered with 100% Natural Cotton Chintz fabric with Ultra-Fresh antimicrobial finish. Like the abed mattress, the Isotonic memory foam is slightly less dense than Tempur-Pedic’s memory foam, so it’s a little softer. The Isotonic comes with a 10 yr. guarantee.
The Tempur-Pedic ® mattress has a plastic moisture barrier built into the cotton cover which zips around the mattress. This plastic barrier doesn’t breathe, which has caused complaints that the Tempur-Pedic becomes hot with use.
Carpenter addressed this drawback by topping their sleep system with a 1″ layer of breathable Rely polyester fabric, which eliminates heat build-up.
The Isotonic Foundation looks like a traditional box spring, but instead of coiled springs, it’s constructed of “S-shaped” steel supports that allow the Foundation to work like a platform - with a bit of flex for added comfort. The Isotonic Foundation was designed to specifically enhance the feel of the Isotonic Mattress.
Unlike the Tempur-Pedic and the abed mattress sets, the Isotonic requires rotation. It is recommended to rotate the mattress once every 2 weeks for the first 3 months of use, once every 2 months thereafter if you notice an uneven surface. A mattress pad should also be used. I purchased a waterproof mattress cover for $24 on sale at Kohl’s, and a feather and down mattress topper from Overstock.com for another $25. (Quite frankly, I forgot we were supposed to rotate the bed that often. We’ve only done it a few times.) I’ve noticed a lot or reviewers here have complained that their mattresses now have body impressions…I think I noticed a slight concavity in the top layer which doesn’t affect my sleep.
We purchased our Isotonic Sleep System from Comfort House http://store.yahoo.com/comfort/sleepsystem.html. An “Extraordinaire” version is also available, it’s the same mattress system with an upgraded cover for $140 more. Because the upgraded cover is tightly woven, the Extraordinaire is slightly firmer. I decided to go with the Basic system and am quite pleased with the quality.
Some of the places that sold the Isotonic sleep system no longer carry it: http://www.indoorsandoutdoors.com/issleepstor.html and http://www.healthyfoundations.com. Apparently as of November 2003 the Carpenter Co. stopped selling their mattress sets to internet based retailers. Overstock.com and Healthy Foundations still offer memory foam mattress toppers which are placed over a regular mattress. They’re an excellent alternative if your mattress set is still in good shape. I highly recommend visiting the Healthy Foundations website to read their Guide to Memory Foam, where you’ll learn about the importance of density and why all memory foam is not the same.
Other memory foam (not necessarily Isotonic) retailers I recommend you visit are 1) http://www.flobeds.com/Swedish.htm — you can customize the firmness of your bed with 13 different firmnesses. They’re more expensive than Isotonic, but less than Tempur-Pedic 2) http://www.absolutecomfortonsale.com/memory-foam-mattress-index.htm and
http://www.comfortdirect.com/memory-foam-beds.php. Comfort Direct requires that you submit some personal information via email to request a price. They also offer latex foam beds, which I did not research.
I really wanted to order from Healthy Foundations because the owner was nice, knowledgeable, committed to customer service, and keeps only fresh inventory. However, I was able to save over $100 by ordering from Comfort House. Both Comfort House and Indoors and Outdoors offer price matches, but I went with Comfort House because of their no-charge return policy. They gave me a hassle-free price match with Indoors and Outdoors, so basically I got two free standard-sized Isotonic pillows. (Although now Indoors and Outdoors states that the Isotonic System is no longer available, I was able to add a Queen Mattress set and two Standard pillows to their shopping cart, which came to $1,087. It looks like Comfort House is charging $1301.95 for a Queen set as of 10/04, so you might want to try a price match with Indoors and Outdoors anyway. If they don’t honor the price match, they give you the option to cancel the order.)
Because Comfort House uses drop shipping for these mattresses, we were told to expect delivery within 2-3 weeks. It actually took longer, but we ordered during the holidays.
At first I thought our new bed was going to be too hard, but it really is more comfortable than our old, worn out mattress. The foam actually feels more like a dense gel. We were both very restless sleepers, and now the tossing and turning have been dramatically reduced. I also no longer get aches in my legs from poor circulation, and my back doesn’t bother me while I’m lying down. Another nice feature is the absence of motion transfer, i.e. when one person moves the other doesn’t feel it. When we first got the bed it was so exciting to own such a revolutionary product, every night I looked forward to hitting the hay. Lying on the bed I felt like I was in suspended animation.
We don’t use the pillows. The first night we slept on them we both had headaches the next morning, so we packed them away. My sister-in-law, on the other hand, loves her memory foam pillow although she admitted it took a few days to get used to.
We’ve had the bed almost two years now…I’m still happy with it, my husband isn’t. He complained about the heat in warmer weather, and I have to admit it there is a bit of a build-up. I still find my Isotonic mattress much more comfortable than a coil spring mattress. From a physics point of view, it makes a lot more sense. See, every object that comes in contact with another object pushes back with the exact same force. It took me an entire semester before I understood this concept. For example, as your body weight is putting pressure on a bed, the bed is pushing back just as hard to hold you up. Otherwise, you’d fall right through your bed, through the floor and so on. Now, I would much rather have dense foam pushing back at me than spring coils, wouldn’t you?
Isotonic Extra Loft Memory Foam Pillow
Isotonic Memory Foam Pillow Standard Size
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