I’m still on my quest to find a mattress. So far, it seems pretty clear that I need a much softer mattress than average. This makes sense to me because I don’t weigh very much, so when lying on my side I need my shoulder and hip to sink further into the mattress if my spine is to be straight. The only ones I’ve really liked so far have been ones marketed as “plush”. Everything else has been too firm (including my current mattress) where I can feel my back getting sore as it works to hold itself up.
My problem/question is: all the “plush” mattresses I’ve tried have been soft due to crappy grade polyfoam. One salesman actually told me the manufacturer recommends rotating the mattress every week so that it wears evenly!
Is it actually possible to create “plush” mattresses that are also long lasting, or is durability just a tradeoff for softness?
Yes … there are certainly plush mattresses that are durable as long as the materials and components in the mattress meet the durability guidelines here.
The problem I have is that I have only been able to find very few mattresses plush enough to be comfortable, and none of them met the durability guidelines.
I’ve found local manufacturers that didn’t have any of their plusher models onhand to try out. They’ve also been quite happy to make custom mattresses to spec, but I wouldn’t know what to request…
I suppose the thing to do at the moment would be to ask them for specs on how they’d make a really plush mattress, then review the specs, and then (if they pass) just order the thing? I’m a bit nervous about buying something without having actually lain on it and tried it out, but I’m not sure what other options I have at this point.
If you are ordering a mattress that you haven’t tried in person then I would make sure you are comfortable with the options you have available after a purchase to exchange or return the mattress and any costs involved just in case the mattress you choose doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.
If you can’t find a suitable choice locally then the other options you would have would be to add a softer topper to a mattress that is too firm or to purchase a mattress from an online manufacturer or retailer that ships to your area and has a good return/exchange policy.