TOPIC:

I'm wondering about tag info and what it can tell me.

There are two mattresses, one is a queen, one is a king, we've been told they are the exact same bed. On one tag it says Polyurethane foam pad 75% blended fiber batting 25%, the other bed is 94% and 6%. The tag is the only thing I have to go on at this point.

I am ignorant about mattresses so I apologize if this is a stupid question. My question is wouldn't the materials be the same percentage in both mattresses if they were built the same, or does size difference affect that? I don't understand how the company is claiming they both are the same when they do not feel anything alike.

Hi SleepingOnACloud:

Your question is an interesting one. Without seeing each mattress, label, and speaking with the manufacturer, all I can do is offer some general information about mattress labels.

As for the differences in percentages, that is indeed curious. My initial thought would be that these are not the exact same mattress models, due to the large difference in percentages you listed. There can be slight differences between mattress sizes, as the percentages are listed by percentage of weight, and there can be some small fluctuations for each size of a particular model.

Sometimes a manufacturer will produce a line of models with the same name (let's say the Austin, as an example), but these can be produced in different comforts, such as an Austin Firm, Austin Plush, or Austin Ultra Plush. Each model could use different comfort materials, different amounts of these materials, and different densities, resulting in varying percentages listed on the law label for each softness designation, even though each item was labelled as an "Austin".

Another possibility is that the manufacturer made a change in the construction of the product from one model year to another, or made a running change during a current model year. This is quite common. Different materials or changes in foam densities will of course cause a change in the percentages listed on the mattress law label.

Another thought is that the law label on the mattress could be incorrect. It does happen at times that the factory will accidentally sew the wrong law label to an item. You can often compare the name of the item between the two law labels to see if this is the case.

There is more information about what a mattress law label describes on the International Association of Bedding and Furniture Law Officials website .

Ultimately, the best resource for your question would be the actual licensee that produced these mattresses.

I know this information was general, but hopefully it was helpful.

Good luck!

Here is the issue.

I got a queen mattress last year from a particular company, it was the best mattress I'd ever slept on, we love it so much but it's crowded so we decided to upgrade to a king. I did some research, searched the internet high and low for that mattress and nothing came up. I went to a furniture/mattress store and brought the tag with me, asked them if they could order one in a king, they called the company and after a few minutes of looking they said that they do in fact still manufacture that mattress but that the model number had changed. We double checked to make sure we would be getting the same model and we ordered it.

Mattress came fairly fast. It was made on Feb 2nd and I think delivered a couple days later. I got it home and noticed right away there were differences. They original queen was a sleepinc and this new king is a renue performance. Biggest issue was sitting and laying on it. Much firmer than the queen. It wasn't firm just because it's new and not broken in. When we got our queen it was extremely soft from the get go, you'd sink into it. Not with this new one.I called them a couple days after and the woman on the phone swore it was the same. I call baloney on that. Same means same..if it's firm and the other one is soft than it is not the same.

I'm at a loss about what to do. I'm stuck with a $900 mattress that we no longer sleep on. We tried for a week, we were both crippled by morning, both of us in constant pain, our backs hurt so bad that we couldn't function normally. We put the queen mattress back onto a king frame so it's not ideal.

I posted here because I wanted to know for sure if my "suspicions" about the 2 mattresses being different were a possibility before I contacted them again. Thank you for responding to me. I appreciate it.

Hi SleepingOnACloud:

I got a queen mattress last year from a particular company, it was the best mattress I'd ever slept on, we love it so much but it's crowded so we decided to upgrade to a king.

Even if you found the same model with the exact same name, it is common for there to be small changes in the makeup of the product over the course of a year. Foam suppliers could change, which could result in different comforts. In addition, there could be small changes in the ILD, density, compression modulus or hysteresis of foams being used. Even the FR barrier could change, causing the overall comfort to change. I'm not saying this was the case with your mattress. When I have customers visit me and try to find a similar mattress to what they purchased a few years ago, I'll always caution them that even if the specifications are listed as the same by the manufacturer, there will most likely have been some small changes and the item will be as close as I can get to the old model, but not an exact match.

I went to a furniture/mattress store and brought the tag with me, asked them if they could order one in a king, they called the company and after a few minutes of looking they said that they do in fact still manufacture that mattress but that the model number had changed.

As a very general rule of thumb, if the model number has changed, this is usually a sign that the product is somehow different.

We double checked to make sure we would be getting the same model and we ordered it.

Unless you have something in writing on your invoice stating that this is the exact same item that you previously purchased (which technically we know it isn't because the model number has changed), then you might be fighting a bit of an uphill battle here. I obviously wasn't a part of your purchase process, nor was I part of the phone conversation that the salesperson had with someone else regarding attempting to match this mattress, so in such cases getting as much written down on your invoice prior to purchase is always advisable. Just ask Judge Milian from The People's Court.

They original queen was a sleepinc and this new king is a renue performance.

It seems you have mattresses from two different lines made by Corsicana .

Biggest issue was sitting and laying on it. Much firmer than the queen. It wasn't firm just because it's new and not broken in. When we got our queen it was extremely soft from the get go, you'd sink into it. Not with this new one.I called them a couple days after and the woman on the phone swore it was the same. I call baloney on that.

With a different model number, a different line, different componentry percentages, and a vastly different comfort, it seems like you have two mattresses that are dissimilar.

Same means same.

The only way to be assured of this would be to know every single layer in you old mattress, and to confirm that any replacement mattress ordered used the exact same componentry. And the only way to confirm this would be to speak directly with the licensee making the product, as they would have those details. Often a mattress company will attempt to find you what they consider the closest equivalent to an old model, and that's what they'll recommend. Your definition of "same" and theirs might not be the same thing.

I'm at a loss about what to do

If the company has some sort of exchange policy, you may wish to investigate that. If not, I would contact the licensee making the product and attempt to find the details of each model you have and then armed with that information you could speak with someone in management at the store where you made the purchase and politely plead your case and see if there is anything they might be able to do for you. That would be my best advice - acquire as much objective information as possible..

Not having been a part of the conversation when attempting to match your old mattress, I can't speak to exactly what was conveyed or understood by both sides - I wish I could offer a more definitive solution. Much of what I'm commenting upon here will serve as more of a cautionary tale for those attempting to "exactly" replicate a mattress that they previously purchased. This quite often can be a bit of "chasing your own tail". Additionally, a current mattress would have undergone one year of softening, so it would certainly feel slightly different from the exact same model that you chose a year ago when new (although I know you stated the feel between the two is significantly different). Attempting to find an exact match can often be a frustrating, if impossible, quest.

Good luck!