I’ve been away for a few days so have been sleeping in a different bed and my chronic mild-to-moderate lower back pain seems to have improved a lot. Thinking back, I believe the last time I bought a mattress for my bed was in 1994, because that’s how long I’ve had my current bed and it came with it! Obviously this should have occurred to me before (but didn’t) but I think a new mattress must be called for. No budget constraints really, and I like it on the firm side, so does anyone have a recommendation? What are these new-fangled memory foam ones like?

JLP own brand are excellent.

What are these new-fangled memory foam ones like?

No end of threads on here about them

Just search for sex trampoline..

Our trampoline in a Simba..

Personally I don’t like the memory foam ones: after a very short time of use they forget to spring back and you end up with a depression where you have been lying.

We replaced our mattress recently – the previous one was 18 years old! Go to a proper furniture store (not the big chains) and try a few out. You need to get the correct firmness of mattress for your weight – your spine is meant to be straight when you lie on your side but I find that to be too soft for my liking.

Any recommendations would just be specific to the person recommending it really, you need to try them yourself (plenty of places doing delivered ones with 100 day money back guarantees). Tempted to try an Eve or Emma one myself but no real complaints about my current 15 year old one.

Basic memory foam ones don’t breathe very well and can end up uncomfortably warm to sleep on but I think the more modern/premium ones address this with various layers of different materials.

Personally I don’t like the memory foam ones: after a very short time of use they forget to spring back and you end up with a depression where you have been lying.

10 year guarantee with Simba..

2. This guarantee may be invoked where your Simba mattress exhibits one or more of the following material defects due to faulty workmanship or materials:
2.1 the surface of the mattress has a visible indentation of greater than 25 millimetres compared to the surrounding mattress area;
2.2 any physical flaws in the mattress that cause the foam to split or crack;
2.3 any material manufacturing defect in the zip;
2.4 any manufacturing defect to the cover which causes it to rip, tear, split or the zip to malfunction despite proper handling; and/or
2.5 any other material defects in the materials or workmanship which are not attributable to the mattress being treated with a lack of reasonable care.

another Simba user.
I sleep like Ive been shot.
Can be a bit warm.

I have a Simba too. John Lewis stock them if you want to try one first.

I did try some of the super expensive Tempur mattresses at the same time which were amazing if you can afford it.

I did try some of the super expensive Tempur mattresses at the same time which were amazing if you can afford it.

yes, the one I liked was only £2,500. We compromised on the Simba….

Ditto Stoner

Hypnos Premier Inn bed here, had it 11 months now. Cost just under a grand for king-size with drawers. Very comfy, mrsmidlife isn’t moaning about her back any more. I’m told there are places to go try them overnight for £40-70 depending on location and demand.

Latex

We’ve been on ours for nearly 2 years now and it has a lot of the benefits of memory foam without the disadvantages (ie it’s not hot – i stopped being able to sleep on memory foam).

Natural product, meant to last longer than other types of mattress. Disadvantages normally listed as just weight and cost but the direct-to-consumer place we bought from is no more expensive than Simba and the like.

Their top end king size Dunlop latex king size is just over 1k but 15% off black friday discount
https://www.latexsense.co.uk/superdeluxe-latex-mattress/p10

I had chronic back and sciatic pain prior to an operation in 2015. Just before that we bought a Hypnos mattress. No problems during the recovery or since. It was around £500 which many people balked at, but you spend around a third of your life on it.

Change 1994 to 1999, and I could have written the exact OP myself!

We chose a zip-link mattress from the John Lewis Natural Collection, with a separate Memory Foam topper. And yes, it’s sorted out my regular morning back-ache 🙂

I prefer a separate topper, which can be replaced in a few years, rather than a “layered” mattress.

Hypnos here too. best I’ve used, although it’s not a long list granted.

I’ve got a pocket sprung/latex combo.

It’s lovely.

https://www.silentnight.co.uk/diamond/tabora/

We bought a Hypnos at first but it was rock hard, waaaaay harder than the one in the shop and wouldn’t accept that there was an issue with it. We had to sleep on the sofas for a week, but the shop sorted us out and swapped for the Silent night one.

Temper are supposed to be the best for folk with back issues.

Having broke my back two years ago we’ve struggled to find something suitable. We had to throw out the 2000 pocket sprung and expensive mattress. Ended up with a memory foam mattress with an additional topper. That will do for now but don’t want to spend the best part of £2k to find it doesn’t work. I spent much of the first 18 months sleeping on the sofa.

Have a read here about the Mattress Cartels and the alternatives.

What’s In The Box? Is The Online Mattress Craze All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

Then check out some of the alternatives. We have matresses from

https://www.bett1.de/

and find them fantastic.

Ikea sprung firm works for us

I did try some of the super expensive Tempur mattresses at the same time which were amazing if you can afford it.

We bought one, after sleeping on an air bed whilst camping proved to be more comfortable than our old mattress. We spent the money because it where you spend a significant portion of your life and we wanted a good night sleep & it had a 10 year warranty like the Simba.
The down side is that 6 years later the mattress sags very very quickly once you get in, so all of a sudden the warranty line “the surface of the mattress has a visible indentation of greater than 25 millimetres compared to the surrounding mattress area” is explained, as ours doesn’t have any visible indentations, it sags badly once you get in, which is not covered by the 10 year warranty.
We went looking for a replacement not long back and our tests of the like of the simba is that they aren’t a patch on how comfortable our tempur ‘was’.. so were still at a loss as to what to buy & I have the saggy side (it wasn’t originally mine!) with a cushion shoved underneath to stop it collapsing when I get in….

I’ve got a pocket sprung/latex combo.

It’s lovely.

+1 , found the memory foam ones to be way to hot for me .

WRT all of the new online mattress companies this article is worth a read –
https://www.fastcompany.com/3065928/sleepopolis-casper-bloggers-lawsuits-underside-of-the-mattress-wars

Millionaire mattress reviewers anyone?

I’ve got a pocket sprung/latex combo.

I think that’s what I have – possibly memory foam top though? It has helped with my sore lower back. It keeps me a bit warmer in the winter but not too warm in the summer so works well for me.

We did quite a bit of research a few years ago.

We have Tempura memory foam pillows (excellent) but decided against matress (hot in summer, cold in winter, encourages passivity drinks love making – F dat !)

We pushed the boat out and bought a Vi-Spring as a wedding present to ourselves

Thanks for all the input, some interesting views and I’d missed any previous threads on the subject. I know most of the web-only ones seem to offer a 100 day trial but I’d rather not have to do it more than once so it’s been very helpful to hear about people’s various experiences!

We went to Dreams and they were very helpful in guiding us. They have all the mattresses out so you can test them.

We went for a Flaxby that is firmer on my half than Mrs Danny’s and it’s superb. Bear in mind the pillow can make as much difference as the mattress.

Vi-Spring for me.

Made the decision after having a really good nights sleep in a hotel and buying the same mattress. I’ve slept on the memory foam mattresses a few times and I’ve never found them to be very comfortable although I’m willing to concede this may be due to them just feeling so different.

I’ve never considered the warmth of the mattress so I guess that probably means mine is within a comfortable range.

Vi-Spring for me.

Me too

IKEA, good but loads cheaper than other places.

We have been on a Tempur mattress for the last 10 years ..( bought when money was flowing freely !)
It’s probably a case of familiarity now as to how good it is ..but they are supremely comfortable…
Edit..we have yet to experience the ” saggyness ” reported by zippy above .

Don’t get me wrong the tempur is without doubt the best mattress we’ve ever had (admittedly I’m not a mattress tester) but if you search t’internet the sag is a reported fault with them. Though I think my partners love of reading in bed caused the issue, as my side didn’t have any issues.. till she decided we needed to swivel the mattress.
Again no idea why ppl think there hot.

been away for a few days so have been sleeping in a different bed

Maybe find out what you were sleeping on, and buy that?

We have a Mammoth mattress. It’s ace.

And very orthopaedic apparently.

I’ve just bought an ikea medium firm one (name began with H) and its lovely.

FTR: I dont suffer from back issues so got no experience there.

7 months since my post, we ended up with a Tempur shortly after !  Had it about 7 months now.

It’s been the only mattress I can get comfy on. Managed to get over £500 off it in a sale, and on interest free so that took some of the wallet busting out of the cost.