Hi lostpunkdc,

My goodness have you ever "bought" a lot of stories While I recognize that each person has different opinions about many things including mattresses ... a great deal of what you posted is just factually wrong regardless of opinion.

It would just take too long to deal with every point you made or even worse about the process that led to your beliefs but there are quite a few that stand out which I will respond to. Unfortunately you appear to know little about mattress materials and construction or the mattress industry and how it works.

This would make you a dream customer of anyone who produced low density polyfoam mattresses which feel great for a while, are overpriced, and break down far too quickly. The only way to know about the quality and durability of a mattress is to know what's in it. This is why this information is often so difficult to find because most larger manufacturers don't want you to make comparisons on this basis. They would much rather you believe their pseudo scientific stories that are so widely advertised so that you don't make real comparisons to other mattresses that use higher quality materials, have the same benefits, and will last much longer.

All sales people tend to be helpful and courteous with a new potential customer. The real question is how knowledgeable they are about materials and mattress construction and where their information came from.

These tests are becoming more accurate than they have been in the past (many of the old versions that were used are now "dumped") but they still don't identify all the issues connected with real life sleeping. They also say nothing about the durability of the materials in a mattress. Attaching one number to the overall construction of a mattress doesn't really help identify the type of comfort zone and support layers that are needed and there are other "flaws" in this type of system as well. They can be helpful but much more information is really needed to make your best choice.

I'm glad you're happy with your mattress but the truth is you overpaid. You have purchased a commodity with a "pseudo-scientific" story attached for far more than it is worth. In effect ... you bought the story rather than the materials and it's the materials that costs the money. The "science" is available to every manufacturer and is not exclusive to Kingsdown.

The problem with this is that it has to be exchanged for another mattress with equally poor value and there are other costs involved in this. A little research on the web will show you this.

You have "bought" another story that I have talked about extensively on this site. Warranties only cover manufacturing defects which are rare. They don't cover the "normal softening" or breakdown of the materials within the warranty exclusions. You would do well to read your warranty and find out what it covers ... and more importantly what it excludes. Warranties are a sales tool ... not a reason to buy a particular mattress or an indicator of the quality or durability of the materials.

All sales people are well trained in the way that a particular outlet wants them to sell mattresses and in the sales techniques they want them to use. These techniques are "feel good" techniques which hopefully leads a customer to believe what they want you to believe or "urgency" techniques that encourage you to make a decision quickly. Training someone well to drive down the wrong side of the road still leads to disaster. It's what their training is missing which is the biggest issue.

Stearns and Foster is another low value mattress that uses lower quality materials in most of their mattresses. Those that don't are way overpriced. How well a mattress sleeps has nothing to do with the brand but with the construction of a particular mattress. All brands have mattresses that are suitable for some but completely unsuitable in their construction for others (just like Kingsdown). "Sleeping like crap" on a mattress means you bought the wrong type of mattress ... not the "wrong" brand.

That's true ... but a mattress that is made of silver or even straw isn't worth paying the price of gold either. Mattress ingredients are commodities available to all manufacturers.

This is true ... but much of the science is in the materials and part of the price of the materials in the mattress not the mattress itself. There is certainly some very good research into mattress construction ... and reading the patent applications can be very informative and revealing ... but this research is not so unique to each brand. Even the major brands do some great research aside from the research into material science done by the foam manufacturers. The fact though is that the supply chain and the profit margins along the way has more to do with what you paid than the research. There are really no really meaningful "secrets" in the industry in spite of what most larger manufacturers would have you believe. It's not so difficult to take apart a mattress and see how its made and the research into materials are available to all.

I think you may be misunderstanding the difference between an analysis and a review. They are very different. While I certainly don't claim to be unbiased ... at least my biases are based on research and fact rather than unsubstantiated stories supported by heavy advertising. Materials have certain qualities regardless of how they may feel. I am a big advocate of getting factual information before buying a mattress ... or at the very least buying from someone who knows the facts rather than being trained in the stories that a customer is most likely to believe.

If it was worth it to you then I am happy for you. That doesn't change the fact though that paying the price of gold for a mattress that contains silver or straw may not be worth it to others. Especially when so many mattresses that use higher quality and more durable materials and have every single benefit of the MySide mattress are so readily available for a much lower cost. Each person has to decide on what "value" is about for themselves. The goal of this site is to educate so that value choices made can be based on fact rather than "unknowns" or worse yet ... factually incorrect information.

This isn't truthful at all ... it's just plain wrong. I suspect that someone told you (or the others you know who own one) were told or believe that a mattress was a latex mattress when in fact it only contained very low amounts of latex and there were other foams on top of the mattress. This is the "norm" when most people buy latex from chain stores or major brands (with few exceptions).

Latex in general is the most breathable of the three types of foam (polyfoam, memory foam and latex). While some people will sleep hot on any type of foam and would do best on mattresses that have no foam at all ... for the vast majority latex is the coolest of all sleeping surfaces. A little bit of reading on the internet or on this site will confirm this. Unfortunately ... what most people believe is a latex mattress isn't at all when they are buying from the manufacturers or the outlets that are so called "well trained" but know little about the materials in or the construction of their mattresses.

So thanks for your opinions ,.. it's unfortunate though that they are at best only partly accurate. I sure would like to sell mattresses and be your salesperson though ... I could make a fortune if my customers all believed what you do.

Phoenix

Hello Phoenix,

GREAT SITE!

I just stumbled upon this site and am so glad.

About 3 years ago I purchased a Temperpedic Allura bed from Sleepys for $4500.

Well 3 years later I sink into the bed. Needless to say I am not pleased. So i went to Sleepys yesterday and I too got on that silly computer and it also spit out that I am a Myside series 6.

They told me at Sleepys to contact Temperpedic so i did. Temperpedic wants me to take a photo of the sag. Well as you know memory foam always bounces back so lucky for Temperpedic there is nothing that a picture will really show, so I guess I am SOL.

So in an effort to reduce the amount of research and time it takes to find another mattress, what do you recommend as the closest match to the Series 6 without the inflated price and with good materials?

I live in Springfield, MA.

Thanks for your time.

Hi yianni54,

It is almost impossible to exactly "match" one mattress to another when different materials and layers are used. Part of the reason for this is that each different mattress will interact differently with each person so if a different layering system or different materials are used then the feeling will be different.

Having said that ... if you match a mattress to your own needs and preferences (as opposed to another mattress) or what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Preferences) then you will likely end up with a mattress that is superior (for you) to the My Side without having to duplicate the materials and specs (which you are trying to avoid anyway).

I think the "best" first step is to find a factory direct outlet or a sleep shop where you can test mattresses which use higher quality materials without having to worry about purchasing "unknown" foam. Some of the better ways to avoid most of the traps and pitfalls of mattress shopping are here.

Some of the better outlets that are near you are in post #4 here.

Unfortunately ... most warranties are only there to help with manufacturing defects not with the softening of foam itself. Since the softening of foam is not considered a defect (unless it actually goes beyond the stage of softening and enters the final stage of breakdown where it starts to completely lose it's integrity and resilience and develops deeper impressions without any weight on the mattress) ... warranties have little value in terms of how long a mattress will really last in terms of being suitable for an individual to sleep on comfortably. Knowing the characteristics of different materials and the potential "weakest link" of a mattress can be far more predictive of how long a mattress may last in actual use than any warranty.

Phoenix

I came to this site to see informative reviews on Mattresses I would potentially purchase.
Forgive me if I seem uninformed but the main poster in this thread speaks of the materials
In this my side mattress as if they have intimate knowledge of their makeup. In an
Effort to be more informed please tell us how you know the makeup of these materials
Such as kingsfoam. Kingsfoam sounds like a kingsdown product. If it is not once again
Excuse my lack of knowledge, but did you buy a mattress that has kingsfoam in it and
Take it to a lab to determine its quality of poly foam? You say the only quality poly foam
In the mattress appears to be the qualatex. Qualatex seems to be a know poly foam so
If it isn't labeled with a known name tag should we immediately dismiss it as poor quality?
Phoenix just comes across as someone very dead set against the known store, enough so
To simply label the materials in a mattress they sell and based upon much assumption
Deem them trash. I just bought a series 6 my side today and I wanted to learn more about
People's experiences with the product but this appears to be a bash fest.
Btw kingsdown stands behind their product so if there is breakdown during the
Life of the mattress they will replace free of charge if more than 1.5 inches.

Hi Rickyb,

I can understand your frustration and even anger. If I had just bought a Myside mattress and then came to this site and discovered this kind of information about what I had bought I would probably feel similar ... although I would probably read a little more and find out why I am saying what I say on this site and the research and sources that the information here is based on.

I'm not sure if I would call what I know "intimate" but I certainly am familiar with the general types of foam and other materials that are used in mattresses in North America. All of the mattress manufacturers (including Kingsdown) buy their foam from the same sources and then put their own proprietary names on it. There are only 3 main types of foam used in a mattress (polyfoam, memory foam, and latex), and each has it's own properties and range of qualities. There is a great deal of information available about the different foams that are used in mattresses and you don't need your own lab when the testing has already been done. If you go to the mattresses section of the site you will find a lot more information (if you want to read a little) about mattress materials and construction and how to fit a mattress to different weights, body shapes, sleeping positions, and preferences.

As I say on the front page of the site ... I certainly have my opinions but they are based in fact and hundreds of hours of ongoing research into different types of foam and materials and hundreds of hours more of talking to mattress manufacturers who are very familiar with the materials that are used in the mattresses they and other manufacturers make. There's no secret to knowing the general types of foam that different manufacturers use and how you can expect them to perform.

Your comments are very similar to some thoughts expressed in post #14 in this thread both in tone and content and I think my reply in post #16 may be worth reading as my comments to you would be similar.

If you are happy buying a mattress that uses lower quality or unknown polyfoam and you feel no need to know any more about what is in your mattress or even anything about higher quality mattresses that use better materials and cost less ... then that is of course up to you. I know though that there are many others who do want to know how to make more meaningful comparisons in terms of quality and value. This site is more about consumer education and helping people to make meaningful comparisons and beter choices rather than just another review site which are common all over the internet but don't say much at all about the quality of a specific mattress or it's suitability for anyone but the reviewer.

There are more and more people however that really do want to know and there are very few places where they can find out accurate and factual information. The only way to really know the quality of anything including mattresses is to know what goes into it and how it is made. Hopefully the days of "blind" mattress purchases are coming to a close and more and more people will discover the quality and value that is available through local manufacturing or smaller brands that sell factory direct or through better sleep shops that are more focused on materials than the name on a tag on a mattress.

Again I appreciate your opinions ... but unfortunately they have little fact or substance behind them. If anything they only highlight the need to help more people find better quality and value by focusing more on what is in their mattress.

Phoenix

I think I must be looking for more specific information than you can provide on the materials. Once again other than the qualtex product I dont see any specifics about the other polyfoams other than your opinion about them. I would assume being unaffiliated you could disclose your source information on the kingsdown rebranded polyfoam. Once again I am trying be informed properly with accurate information on the materials, and you seem to profess possessing this knowledge. I am not saying you don't, just please show me.

Your presentation of the materials that compose the my side series 6 is a copy and paste from the sleepy's site right own to the bullets.

This thread is entitled my side series 6 but not much other than the first post has said much about the actual makeup of this mattress.

It appears I need to believe the mattresses is a paper dragon because you say so, and you have only backed that up with a because I said so.

Hi RickyB,

That's exactly where it came from which is why it's a copy. There's no secret where it came from and in the Series 4 thread where I also did an "analysis and review" I also used the specs provided by Sleepy's (except I mentioned it in that one). I have also used many other websites to find the known specs on many major brand mattresses although the specs are almost always incomplete in terms of the quality of the foams they use.

A good place to start doing some reading would be the PFA (polyurethane manufacturers association) which has a great deal of information about polyurethane foam and it's characteristics.

Second would be the websites of the foam manufacturers themselves some of which provide some information and some much more. The CertiPur site has a list of most of the foam manufacturers in North America and their sites are easy to find.

Third would be foam outlets (there are hundreds of them) who list the specs of the various foams they offer. Once you've done a lot of research into the different specs ... they will make sense to you and you can also see why there are such a wide variety of prices.

There are also some very informative sites that provide some quality information written by people who have many years in the industry and have a great deal of inside knowledge such as mattressconsultant.com/holder-foam.htm

After a while ... the many different descriptions of the layers in a mattress become clear and it is fairly easy to infer the types of materials that are used within a certain range. Manufacturers will also make sure people know that certain types of higher quality foams are in their mattress (such as qualatex) by including it or certain terms in their descriptions. If you have done the research and you know which types of foam are used in which parts of a mattress ... it's fairly easy to know by inference the range of densities that are being used from a more general description that includes terms like "super soft" or "hyper soft" or "HD". For example if a foam is called super soft and it doesn't say it's an HR foam or at least an HD foam ... it's a very safe assumption that the foam is 1.5 lbs density or less and more often around 1.2. Even if it was 1.8 lbs which is higher quality than you will usually see in mainstream mattress comfort layers ... it's still "cheap" foam when compared to higher quality foams like HR polyfoam or latex. It's only when foams are in the range of 2.4 lbs density and have other specs that qualify it to be called HR that you are getting comparable quality to latex and if manufacturers are using these foams they will make sure people know about it.

In the case of the Kingsdown ... the prices are in the range of mattresses that only use the highest quality foams and while they don't give the specific density ... it's not difficult to infer that it's relatively cheap and lower density foam. It also helps to have talked with many people who are well aware of how the industry works and the influences that have made the industry what it is today and why they use the materials they do in their mattresses.

Perhaps most important of all ... why would or should anyone buy any mystery foam at all when there are manufacturers who fully disclose the density and quality of their polyfoam and other materials and yet sell mattresses that use these highest quality materials at far less than anything comparable made by major brands including Kingsdown. If you did research into the industry itself ... outside of even the materials that are being used ... you would quickly come to know that the larger manufacturers have little interest in disclosing the specifics of their materials and tend to do whatever they can to make mattress comparisons impossible and replace facts about the quality of their materials with stories that are heavily advertised but have little substance. Even consumer reports tried to do a meaningful report on mattresses and gave up in frustration because there were no reference points that the major manufacturers disclosed about their mattresses which made qualitative comparisons possible.

But perhaps you need to do the same research and come to the same conclusions that I and many others that are inside the industry itself have come to long ago.

I could go on at far greater length (and I have in many posts in the forum and pages on the site itself) and there is so much more to this as well. Of course if it really does interest you then there are thousands of hours of reading available to you as well (start at page one of the forum and read any posts which catch your eye) not to mention people who have been in the industry for decades who will be happy to share their knowledge with you if you take the time to track them down and talk with them. I can assure you though that in the end, if your research has no vested interest or bias, you will come to the same conclusions. You will also have no trouble identifying the lower quality nature of the materials in most polyfoam mattresses and come to recognize which ones have better value ... even if you can't nail it down to the final level of specificity.

I hope this "satisfies" you but if not there's a lot of information available where all the dots can be connected. If the more technical information from the few links and suggestions I listed don't seem important to you ... then there are always the hundreds of review sites that say the same things over and over again and list mattresses as being either "good" or "bad" with almost no facts to support their opinions outside of their own personal experiences and in most cases ... subjective evaluations.

Phoenix

Please help!! We ordered the MySide Mattress from Sleepy's and were going to cancel, and they took off $700 if we don't cancel (ha ha) but I am reading some of your points here and if you could provide me with any advice or places we could try different better quality mattresses in Northern NJ I would appreciate it!

Hi maryleigh,

If you let me know the city you live in or the zip code I'd be happy to take a look

In the meantime, there may be a few near you listed in post #4 here (centered in Trenton) and in post #7 here which may help.

Phoenix

That sound you may hear is the screeching of my brakes, lol. I just came home from shopping for a mattress for my adult daughter who recently had shoulder surgery. I came very close to buying a Series 4 MySide plush mattress, planned to return tomorrow to do so, but luckily I spotted your column!
My daughter just spent 2 weeks at a Hyatt in Fla. and, for the first time since the surgery, was actually able to sleep on a bed there, so we went out in search of that mattress, which is called a Sealy Grand. She needs a plush pillowtop mattress for comfort apparently, and at Sleepys the only one that came close was the MySide 4. At home she has a Temperpedic, but it is not comfortable for her shoulder issue. Can you suggest a local mattress manufacturer near me in NY zipcode 11561? Thanks so much for your welcome advice!

Hi colleen832,

That must have been the noise I heard earlier today

You may have seen this already but in case you haven't there's more information and thoughts about the Series 4 here.

There's also more about the Hyatt Grand Bed here.

There is quite a long list of better options in the NYC area in post #2 here and some more detailed descriptions of many of them in post #7 here.

While I would certainly take a look at some of the other websites for mattresses that may be attractive to you because there are some good choices there as well (there are a lot of manufacturers on the list with a wide range of prices and different materials and styles), ... for general overall value (depending on your budget), I would tend to focus on the outlets that are closer to you in last group of 5 in the second more descriptive list I linked.

Phoenix

Greetings! I just found your site. I have been reading about mattresses all day on line. My wife and I went out to look for something and went by a Sleepy's. Of course we stopped in. We put 10% down to "hold" Fourth of july pricing on a My Side Series 5. We were looking for a gel mattress and liked the feel. We went to a Mattress Warehouse and did not find anything that was comparable. We were quoted $2500 and now it seems that we can do better. So, the question is, where can I do better? We live in the Annapolis/Baltimore/DC triangle and there isn't much around as far as mattresses are concerned. We have slept on a water bed for the past 30 years and this is all new to us. My wife and I are big people that can't stand being hot while we sleep. Suggestions? We don't mind driving to check things out......

H Four2Pool,

There are some guidelines here that may help you avoid some of the lower value choices and outlets in your area (such as the major brands and chain stores). Their sales are just marketing gimmicks and there are great value mattresses with better value than their best sale prices "negotiated" even lower available every day of the year at better outlets and factory direct manufacturers.

Some of the better choices in your area are listed in post #2 here.

Latex is the coolest sleeping foam although there are many factors that affect sleeping temperature (some of them are discussed in post #2 here) so the foam itself is only part of the puzzle. Some of the gel memory foam options may also be worth considering.

A forum search on "waterbed" (you can just click this) will bring up some threads that include people who were also transitioning from waterbeds and have information that you may find useful.

Phoenix

Phoenix,

Thanks for a great website. I would recommend this to anyone shopping for a mattress. It is really nigh unto impossible to compare mattresses in an educated fashion while shopping in a store.

My wife and I bought a really nice platform king bed, and after trying a bunch of mattresses in the store, decided that we both preferred the TempurPedic Cloud Supreme. However, we decided to try out some other mattresses before quickly just buying it.

We then went to Sleepy's the following day and got put on their Bed Match test, and got recommended a My Side Series 6 Green/Red. We laid on it as well as numerous other ones in the store, and were between that and the Tempur Cloud Supreme. Since the MySide felt great in the store, and we have owned a Kingsdown Rhapsody for the last 8 years (still really like it), we ended up taking the MySide due to the slightly cheaper price tag and gift card promotion.

The night it was delivered, I came across your website and got a sick feeling that I had been swindled into a piece of junk. We slept on the mattress and both of us had a poor nights sleep. I could fit my entire hand in the small of my back, whereas in the store I swear my lumbar region was well-supported. I was rated as a side sleeper by the Bed Match test, but when I lay on my side, my lumbar and thoracic spine would basically make a U-shape and was so uncomfortable that I inevitably rolled onto my back. My wife also kept constantly waking up with various aches and pains and general discomfort.

We decided to exchange the mattress back for the TempurPedic Cloud Supreme that we originally liked. I understand the value is not really there, but we were in need of a mattress fairly quickly and were willing to spend the money. The Tempurs also happened to be on sale by the manufacturer, so it ended up being minimal financial damage for us. It arrives tomorrow and I'm looking forward to getting a good night's sleep again.

If we end up needing another mattress in the future, I would never go to a chain store again. Thanks for your important customer advisory!

Phoenix,
thank you for a great site. I do find it informative and helpful; however, question still stands. My wife and I are looking for a firm mattress. We've tried number of them in independent stores and chains alike - thus far myside series 6 was the only one we both liked. Price quoted after all discounts and sale gimmicks was ~$1200 . I do see a lot of good points in as far as quality of materials and such are concerned and hence have second thoughts. We reside in Brooklyn, NY. Would you have any suggestions/pointers? We are looking for a firm well build mattress from quality materials in the $1500 price range?
Thank you in advance,
D