And since I always look up these things before I purchase, I learned a lot.
First, Memory foam mattresses -
A 100% memory foam mattress like Temperpedic, SleepNova (or whatever Costco calls their memory foam mattresses now) or even the I-Comfort will always go a bit saggy and soft after a bit of use due to temperature reaction, so if you don't have a good box-spring that can support it, I wouldn't suggest getting a "solid" memory foam mattress. Buy the firmest one you can find, to keep it from going too soft and you end up sinking down to the support. At 210 and 290 lbs with all sorts of aches, pains, and arthritis, we decided to go with the I-comfort Genius (the most firm mattress) with the supporting box-spring, and it's held it's firmness better than my FIL's Temperpedic did three years ago. Within a couple weeks, the bed will start to soften and should be at it's normal support level within a month and a half. What you really have to watch out for is the edge support, which is another reason we bought the I-Comfort - you don't want to "scoop" off the bed when you roll over near the edge, and there's no sinking to the box-spring if you decide to sit on the side of the bed. Look for a minimum of 6 lb density foam in a mattress to be able to return to shape after supporting a human body. And remember, you cannot just "live" on a memory foam mattress, using it as a couch or work-area like you might do to a regular bed; the memory foam mattress should just be for sleeping if you want to be able to sleep on it without hitting the box-spring after five years.
And you should get a box spring; bed "platforms" hurt when your expensive memory foam bed starts to sag. You need something that will be firm yet have a bit of give if you got a mattress that was too soft to begin with.
The I-comfort Gel does "sleep" significantly cooler than other latex foam mattresses, though it will still seem a bit warm in the morning when you wake up. We had this issue with the 3" memory foam topper on our old bed, so I'm pretty sure it's one of those "to be expected" situations when you're dealing with a product that conforms to your body shape; there's little room for the air to pass between skin and bed surface.
There's another mattress - Beautyrest - out there that is advertising to be a mix of coils and very thick memory foam; I haven't had a chance to test that one out, but it looks interesting.
You should always test a similar bed before purchasing, and don't just plop down saying "this feels nice", but actually take a book and lay down on it in a sleeping position for at least ten to fifteen minutes so you have a feel for how it will start to react to your weight and body heat. Bring your partner if you can, so you can see how it will react to the both of you. And ignore the hard-sell; they'll want you in and out of there with a purchase, but with good beds starting at around $1K for a simple queen, it's a serious investment. Test out several, and do it over several days, if you can. You don't want to buy it and then decide you might not have wanted it.
And now for the foam mattress toppers -
If you decide to get a good but cheaper spring bed and add a memory foam mattress topper, first make sure you get a good mattress to begin with, and then a good topper. After the old pillow-top Beautyrest bed hit 15 years about seven years ago, we got a very good 3" memory foam at 4.5 lb density (plus a "cool fabric" 1" quilted casing) at Costco for a reasonable price - but that was seven years ago and I don't have a good handle on what the quality is now. Many toppers have the same "blue" cooling gel as the new mattresses do, and those shouldn't require much in the way of added casing fabric.
I would suggest that if you have joint or bone pain issues, buy at least 2 1/2" of high density latex (I figured one inch for every 15 inches of waist dimension to deal with the difference between waist, hip, and shoulder) and at least another inch of quilting. When we got the new topping, it was like getting a new bed - very, very comfortable, and it wasn't until the old mattress started losing springs and a few of the coils broke that we decided to finally replace the bed.
Make sure you can feel or test the topper, as there is cheap packing latex foam (1 to 2 lb density) out there boxed up as bed-quality memory foam (which should be between 3 and 5 lb density) - check the side of the packaging! And don't get it from Wal-Mart, their manufacturing line may carry the same brand label as you would get at Costco or at another bedding store, but it's a totally different QA process, and was built to cheaper standards.
Good luck.
Haele
(edited to change a few words)
= new reply since forum marked as read
