George & Emily write:
Hi Pete,
When did mattresses get so expensive and so poorly made?!
I just can't believe what I've been through over the past year!
I had a mattress that I bought more than 20 years ago, which was perfectly fine all that time.
There a mattress store, here in LA, that advertises, "If your mattress is 8 years old, it's time to replace it".
And while my old mattress was still ok, I felt like it could be more comfortable, and it was so old.
So, I went to that store and bought a new mattress. WOW! What a Mistake that was!
Here I am, a year later and I've been through 3 mattresses, with the one I have now being the worst of them.
I get nothing but a run-around from the people at the store.
I shouldn't have to go through all this, given how expensive it was.
So, I went online to do some research, which, is where I found your blog.
I spent hours reading your posts. and now, thanks to you, I understand what the problem is.
What I don't understand is what happened and when.
All I want is a basic mattress without memory foam and without the fancy prices.
What would you recommend for an older couple, average size, with the normal aches and pains that come with age?
Thanks for any help you can provide, George and Emily
Hi George and Emily,
What happened, is corporate greed.
All of the name brand mattresses, that you could once trust to make a quality mattress, have been sold to investors.
That all happened about a half decade ago.
They all use memory foam to recoup their investment and enhance profits.
Memory foam was introduced about 20 years ago.
Memory foam is the only temperature sensitive upholstery material. It softens as it warms from your body heat.
As is softens, you sink into it. When you get out of bed, it returns to its original shape.
The selling point is that it conforms to your body and relieves all the pressure points. Sounds good, right?!
The reality is that memory foam is not very resilient to start with.
So, before too long, you're sinking deeper and deeper into it. After a year or so, you're sinking through it.
Being temperature sensitive, it sleeps hot../absorbing your body's heat and reflecting it back to you.
The gel they use to mitigate that heat, reaches its saturation point in about 4 hours.
Halfway through the night, you wake up in a pool of your own sweat.
The heaviest parts of your body sink further than the lighter parts.
As a result, you experience numbness in your hands and feet, as it reduces the blood flow to your extremities.
Once you've sunk into it, the natural alignment of your spine is lost.
If you already have a bad back, it's made worse.
If you don't have a bad back to start, and use a mattress like that long enough, you'll develop one.
After you realize that you have a bad mattress and decide to take advantage of the comfort exchange, you're faced with choosing from a sea of mattresses...all upholstered with memory foam. And the process starts all over again.
If your realization comes too late to exchange it, the memory foam returns once you get out of bed...close enough to its original shape as to meet the 1.5" sustained impression necessary to prevail in a warranty claim.
It's positively diabolical.
Memory foam is specifically designed to sell more mattresses, more frequently, to the same people.
AND, as if all that weren't bad enough, it off gasses the toxic chemicals from which it's made.
61 different chemicals are used, with formaldehyde and benzene being only two of the toxic ones.
Not only is it a lousy product, it's also a health hazard...just to add insult to injury.
There are memory foams that are planet based and don't off gas.
However, all of the other negative side effects still apply.
I remember the first commercials for memory foam, back when you could only buy it on QVC and HSN.
They pressed a hand into the foam, and when the hand was pulled back, a hand print remained in the foam.
I remember thinking to myself, "Who, in their right minds, would buy that?!".
Form an engineering standpoint, the lack of quality was obvious.
All of what transpired since, only highlights the power of advertising.
"Tell a lie long enough and often enough, it's perceived as the truth".
I apologize for the long winded response. But, your simple question begged for a comprehensive answer.
Getting to your needs, I have a mattress that many of my family members sleep on, including my mother-in-law.
It's surprisingly inexpensive, and equally surprisingly well made.
The mattress is the Wolf Tulah Plush Eurotop...Excellent Quality...supportive, comfortable and long lasting.
It has an individually pocketed coil system, which is designed to maintain the natural alignment of the spine.
The upholstery materials are latex and poly foams....NO Memory Foam.
Wolf is the nation's oldest mattress manufacturer, taht has been owned and operated by the same family.
The Wolf Family established this company in 1873. The Wolf Family owns and operates it today.
Here is a link to that mattress:
Shipping is free and there's no sales tax.
Thanks, Pete
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