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I believe Ikea has a couple of mattresses that are flame-retardant free. Perhaps give them a call. We have an Ikea mattress that is nothing special to look at, but is one of the most comfortable and long-lasting that we have owned.
I believe Ikea has a couple of mattresses that are flame-retardant free. Perhaps give them a call. We have an Ikea mattress that is nothing special to look at, but is one of the most comfortable and long-lasting that we have owned.
Hi Zimbo,
Good to see you around again.
Actually, we decided for the IKEA Morgongava. Apparently, no flame retardants, we tried it and it feels very comfortable. This if for our son. We need to change ours too but this is going to be harder. One step at a time.
There are some really good articles that can save a person tons of money because mattress stores are often a rip off.
I already got my PhD from them. :-)
The trouble now is that based on this PhD, I have concluded that no options in our area that we can actually try see and touch would work. They either have FR-s, or they use synthetic foams, or they are way too expensive if they are of the quality we are looking for.
So it will have to come from a manufacturer in another corner of the country. Unfortunately, no matter how good and trustworthy they sound, it feels quite uncomfortable to buy a king mattress and foundation blind, from a distance - even if they have a return policy.
The thought of returning such an item (for whatever reason) is hardly appealing.
Of course, if you want to touch and feel and have your mattress easily hauled away - there's always Mattress Firm at every corner; but indeed, what they offer for the money is quite the rip off compared to what you could order online blind from a smaller manufacturer.
We bought ourselves a new sleep number bed last Fall. I was waking up sore and achy every morning, and the mattress just didn't feel good to us any more. We looked at a regular mattress store, and then we went to a sleep number store, and we were sold. I never thought a softer mattress would work so well for us, but it does.
I wouldn't buy one of these if I moved every few years, but if you tend to stay in one place most of the time, there is no reason not to at least go lie down on one of these in the nearest store and try it out.
I have not worried about chemicals in my bedding, and the "stuffing" in this mattress is air anyway. The cover we got is cushioned. You need the cover because air mattresses are cold at night. The padding keeps the bed from feeling cold.
Unless you have allergies to things normally used in everyday items, I don't think you'd have trouble with a sleep number bed.
We will be purchasing a new mattress in the next couple of months or so. My advice, look on-line to price things out and READ REVIEWS! Then when you think you have which one you may want-or a couple that you may want, go to a store that is selling that make/model and lay down on it. It may seem awkward but you should lay down on it for at least 10-15 minutes. That way you will know if it is right for you. If you spend 10 minutes on a mattress, and your back starts to hurt-you can imagine how it will feel after spending 8 hours on it.
And here is something to keep in mind. Mattresses can be VERY expensive-but you will be spending roughly 1/3 of you life on it. So you really don't want a piece of crap that will cause you back problems or even a decent night's sleep. Personally, I think it is worth paying more for a higher end mattress than buying a piece of crap to save a few bucks because in the long run, it will probably cost you more than just money.
We will be purchasing a new mattress in the next couple of months or so. My advice, look on-line to price things out and READ REVIEWS! Then when you think you have which one you may want-or a couple that you may want, go to a store that is selling that make/model and lay down on it. It may seem awkward but you should lay down on it for at least 10-15 minutes. That way you will know if it is right for you. If you spend 10 minutes on a mattress, and your back starts to hurt-you can imagine how it will feel after spending 8 hours on it.
And here is something to keep in mind. Mattresses can be VERY expensive-but you will be spending roughly 1/3 of you life on it. So you really don't want a piece of crap that will cause you back problems or even a decent night's sleep. Personally, I think it is worth paying more for a higher end mattress than buying a piece of crap to save a few bucks because in the long run, it will probably cost you more than just money.
Cat
Catwoman,
I completely agree.
We've already done quite a bit of research but unfortunately, the kind of thing we have in mind (no synthetic foam, natural materials, no FR-s, wool as flame retardant, cotton cover, latex or a combo of latex and coils, etc) are in very short supply, if any, when it comes to trying them out in the area.
We also don't want to go with any of the three big S-es (Serta, Sely, Simmonds, etc) because they tend to offer lower quality at higher prices simply for being "try-able" and accessible in stores for people to sit on.
We looked at some small manufacturers nation wide and it appearsyou can get a much nicer product at the same cost as a synthetic foam "S" if you skip the "touch and feel" part and you order online.
We did try a variety of mattresses in stores just to see how different types feel like (memory foam vs coil vs latex, etc) and I can't say there were any that felt awful to me, strictly in terms of feel. We weeded out memory foam right away because it sleeps hot/stifling, it smells, the chemicals in it, plus the slightly weird (to me) feel when you lie on it. We're left with inner spring, latex or both.
The trouble is that many of these "cushy-plushy", pillow-top or whatever, you see in places like Mattress Firm, Sears, etc start sagging pretty soon and they simply don't hold up well.
You hear people complaining that they started sagging after just a few months; considering our mattress has served us well for well over 20 years, we expect the new one to last AT LEAST half of that. Granted, our old innerspring mattress didn't have all this "cush" so popular today.
We are now looking at a small manufacturer in Chicago (Quality Sleep Shop Mattress Company - Home) and they sound like they might have what we are looking for. I spoke with the owner, they also have very nice reviews on yelp, etc - but obviously we cannot try that mattress from the South.
We haven't pulled the trigger yet but we don't have alternatives in the area either. In fact, it is amazing what poor choices our area has. Unless, of course, you go to "1 percenter" land in the metro area and there is a niche "natural" type store who will sell you a nice latex mattress for around 4000+-6000 for a king. Not gonna happen.
We've already done quite a bit of research but unfortunately, the kind of thing we have in mind (no synthetic foam, natural materials, no FR-s, wool as flame retardant, cotton cover, latex or a combo of latex and coils, etc) are in very short supply, if any, when it comes to trying them out in the area.
We also don't want to go with any of the three big S-es (Serta, Sely, Simmonds, etc) because they tend to offer lower quality at higher prices simply for being "try-able" and accessible in stores for people to sit on.
We looked at some small manufacturers nation wide and it appearsyou can get a much nicer product at the same cost as a synthetic foam "S" if you skip the "touch and feel" part and you order online.
We did try a variety of mattresses in stores just to see how different types feel like (memory foam vs coil vs latex, etc) and I can't say there were any that felt awful to me, strictly in terms of feel. We weeded out memory foam right away because it sleeps hot/stifling, it smells, the chemicals in it, plus the slightly weird (to me) feel when you lie on it. We're left with inner spring, latex or both.
The trouble is that many of these "cushy-plushy", pillow-top or whatever, you see in places like Mattress Firm, Sears, etc start sagging pretty soon and they simply don't hold up well.
You hear people complaining that they started sagging after just a few months; considering our mattress has served us well for well over 20 years, we expect the new one to last AT LEAST half of that. Granted, our old innerspring mattress didn't have all this "cush" so popular today.
We are now looking at a small manufacturer in Chicago (Quality Sleep Shop Mattress Company - Home) and they sound like they might have what we are looking for. I spoke with the owner, they also have very nice reviews on yelp, etc - but obviously we cannot try that mattress from the South.
We haven't pulled the trigger yet but we don't have alternatives in the area either. In fact, it is amazing what poor choices our area has. Unless, of course, you go to "1 percenter" land in the metro area and there is a niche "natural" type store who will sell you a nice latex mattress for around 4000+-6000 for a king. Not gonna happen.
I totally understand about not finding something in your area. I live in a small town. The closest city is only about 20 miles away but it is a small city with not a lot of choice in terms of quality stores. Yeah, we have the usual, Sears, JCPennys, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc. etc. but finding specialty shops isn't always easy.
I totally understand about not finding something in your area. I live in a small town. The closest city is only about 20 miles away but it is a small city with not a lot of choice in terms of quality stores. Yeah, we have the usual, Sears, JCPennys, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc. etc. but finding specialty shops isn't always easy.
Cat
We learned we are not going to find what we want at the Big Boxes mentioned above.
We will need to buy blind and go by research/trust/reviews/guts - with a good specialty store that doesn't sink "brazillions" in advertising and overhead.
This is why I can't quite pull the trigger - but I understood that forgoing the "touch and feel" experience - after thorough research - can pay off.
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