Hi Phoenix,
We have spoken about NFM and I know you mentioned them having some good options. More specifically, Omaha Bedding co. I spoke with a rep there and was told their foam is Certi-pur certified. We are going in this weekend to try this one out: m.nfm.com/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5uZm0uY29tL0RldG...ZHVjdElEPTMzNjU3Nzc2
Would you be willing to take a look at the website and see if there are any coil/spring mattresses you would suggest? We are looking to spend between 500-1000$, I weigh 115 and am a side sleeper. I prefer something relatively plush. We are going to test foam but also want to try out some spring mattresses.

Thanks again, you are a lifesaver!

Hi MidwestGirl,

The mattress you linked to seems to use good quality materials and has good value. I personally like the feel of a thinner layer of latex over memory foam because it puts a more breathable layer on top of the memory foam and has a feel I like ... but this of course is only preference and not an indication of quality. Of course only your personal testing can tell if it is suitable for you in terms of PPP (pressure relief, posture and alignment, and personal preferences) but it's certainly in the range of a mattress that would work for side sleepers.

The only specs they don't list are the type of latex in the 1 inch layer and the density of the base layer but these shouldn't be difficult to find out and are likely to be fine.

I looked at the reviews out of curiosity and the last one (the one star review) is a typical example of a consumer who for whatever reason picks the wrong mattress for their body type and sleeping style and then blames it on the mattress. The second review praising the mattress (5 star review) is just as bad recommending a particular mattress for "everyone" without regard to the different body types and sleeping styles of people and saying nothing about the mattress itself. At least the first review has good information about the reasons behind the choices made which have some value ... even though they still don't say anything about the quality of the materials themselves. These types of reviews (especially the second and third) say little to nothing about the quality or value of the mattress and are about the suitability of the choice itself.

Like with all mattresses ... the materials determine the quality. Most of the innerspring mattresses don't have the information you would need to make an informed choice or even give an opinion but some of the Omaha Bedding models do include some meaningful foam density information which shows that even in their lower priced mattresses such as the Imperial Royalty Plush that they are using 1.5 and 1.8 lb foams which is suitable for this price range and better than many others (if you can even find out in the first place) so these would have better than average value. This still says nothing about the suitability of any particular choice for your needs and preferences but at least you know that in the lower price ranges you would be looking at that the quality of materials are better than the "norm". They told me that this information may also be available for some of their Southerland mattresses but I didn't see it on their site.

Most of their other mattresses don't list complete information but I do know that to the degree their manufacturers tell them ... NFM are open and helpful and will provide this information to their customers so if you have a particular mattress that you like and they can give you the information about the type and density of the foams that are in it ... then if you post them here I'd be happy to give you some feedback.

Phoenix

Phoenix, thanks again for all of the information. I called about the latex mattress from NFM and thought I would get your opinion on what I was told.

For this mattress: www.nfm.com/DetailsPage.aspx?ProductID=33657776

I was told the type of latex used is natural talalay and the base layer is a 4.5 lb visco memory foam. I got this information via a mattress inquiry through customer service so hopefully they got the correct information from the manufacturer.

In addition to that, we are going to test out this mattress:

www.nfm.com/DetailsPage.aspx?ProductId=35254002

I am hopeful that you think the latex mattress is made of quality materials and we will find it comfortable, if not that, then perhaps the pocket coil mattress will work.

Hi MidwestGirl,

The Warren Visco Latex Hybrid would actually be more of a memory foam mattress than a latex mattress but "hybrid" is more accurate yet.

My comments about the layering are (from the top down) ...

1" quilting foam: This would likely be supersoft polyurethane foam used for quilting layers to modify the resilience or surface feel of the mattress. It is in the range of an inch or so maximum which is "good". The specs of this layer aren't as important because it is thin enough and already soft (usually) so further softening wouldn't make any significant difference overall to the mattress.

1" natural talalay latex (this probably means blended talalay which is good). This layer is used to provide a more resilient surfae feel to the memory foam and would also slow down the response of the memory foam as well. This is a good quality material and this type of layering (fast response materials over slow response materials) is a preference of many people.

3" of 5 lb memory foam. This would likely be a good quality memory foam. The difference between the 4.5 lb you were told and the website's specs of 5 lb is probably an "approximation" difference (the website information was rounded up to the nearest whole number) and not that meaningful.

7" High Density foam core. This would also be polyfoam and is a suitable base layer as long as the density of the polyfoam is about 1.8 lb or higher. I would be surprised if it wasn't but you could ask to make sure.

Ticking (cover). The site doesn't list the fabric used in the tick (cover) and this can be a significant part of the value and performance of a mattress (natural fabrics and natural fiber quilting is more costly than synthetic polyester or foam) if you are making "apples to apples" comparisons with other mattresses.

Overall though ... this seems to use good quality materials and have good value when compared to other local options.


The Regent Plush doesn't have enough information about the layers and components for me to make any meaningful assessment of it's quality/value but in general if a mattress has good value in one model ... then other models made by the same manufacturer would tend to have similar value in other price points as well even if the materials are lower quality because the price is lower.

Bear in mind too that the quality of the materials in a mattress has little to do with how well it may "work" for any individual because both low and high quality materials can be used to provide both certain "feels", support, and pressure relief in a mattress so personal testing is still very important. The higher quality materials will just keep their feel and performance for longer.

Hope this helps.

Phoenix