TOPIC:

I have been researching latex mattresses for what seems like forever now trying to narrow down the options enough to come to any sort of decision. And I am desperate for a good night's sleep and some relief from the pain issues that I largely attribute to our approximately 14-year-old pillowtop innerspring mattress. I am wondering if anyone out there has a vZone mattress from FloBeds? The Mattress & Firmness Selector on their website recommends the V-zone model for me because I am a side sleeper. The vZone is said to provide pressure point relief for areas such as shoulders and hips as well as lumbar support. This sounds good to me because I have been struggling with lower back issues for quite some time now, and more recently have been experiencing significant issues with pain in my shoulders when trying to sleep which leads to much tossing and turning as well as pain in the upper back, neck, and shoulders during the day. So I am intrigued by the vZone option and all of its customizability but cringe at its high price tag. I am hoping to hear from others who own or have had any experience with the vZone (or something similar) as to whether they feel it is worth the premium price. Or might we be just as happy with their Deluxe model which has the same number of layers (including the convoluted topper) but instead of the customized vZone core has a solid firmness (of your choosing) third layer instead? Also, for anyone who has (or ever had) a FloBed, what are your thoughts/feelings regarding the convoluted topper? I like the idea of it, but I wonder if it is as nice to actually sleep on as it sounds in theory? Any input, advice, testimonials or otherwise that might help us make this difficult and expensive decision would be enormously appreciated! Thanks in advance!!

Hi restless16,

If you are considering an online mattress then the most important part of the process would be a more detailed conversation with the manufacturer so they can help you make the best possible choice (see post #2 here ). I wouldn't go by an automated firmness selector even if it was accurate for most people.

As you probably know ... Flobeds is a member here which means that I think very highly of them and they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, and service. Their vZone is also unique and you can read a little more about it in post #4 here . A forum search on flobeds vzone will also bring up more comments and feedback (and a forum search on flobeds will bring up even more comments about them as well). A suitably zoned mattress can be particularly useful for those that have more challenging circumstances or are more difficult to "fit" to a mattress.

You can see some comments about the Flobeds convoluted top layer in post #2 here (in reply to point #4) and in post #12 here . They also provide an option for a non convoluted layer although most people would choose the convoluted version.

I would also be very cautious about using anyone else's experience as a good indicator of how well any mattress will work for you in terms of PPP because each of us can be very different. A configuration that works well for someone in terms of PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else so when you can't test a mattress in person then I would always make sure you have a more detailed conversation on the phone with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests in mind (which they are ... and do) and who will know more about "matching" their mattress to different people than anyone else and will be able to provide you with all the information that you want to know and that would be specifically relevant to you.

Phoenix

I think their foundations are top knotch and I was intrigued with how they choose to design their beds. I made a few phone calls to them and they were great to deal with and very patient. You can find their videos on youtube which I found to be very helpful. I think there was one on the V-Zone.


My opinion on the topper was that it was their way of making their product slightly different from the competition. It's neither good nor bad, just different.

I just got my Vzone bed from flobeds. Here is my thread on selecting it, receiving it, and our first night on it.

mattress selection thread

I just wanted to add a couple of things about Flobeds, based upon my experience. I tried one of their VZone mattresses a little over a year ago, and ultimately I did send it back. The return had nothing to do with the quality of their product, but as Phoenix mentioned, it's such an individual process, and while you should take into consideration everything people tell you about their experiences, I've found that in the end, you're just going to have to try it yourself to really know if it will work for you.

I ended up with a very strange configuration by the end of my trial period, which included moving the Vzone down a layer, and flipping the convoluted topper upside down. I personally did not like the Vzone layer right at the the top because I was too sensitive to the differences in firmness, and when I moved around at night, I was always aware of whether I'd strayed too far from where a specific body area was supposed to be. That said, once I'd moved the Vzone down one or two layers (I think by the end, I had a bottom extra firm layer, then the medium Vzone, then perhaps the upside down convoluted layer, and then a firm layer on top), it worked out fairly well. So maybe the Vzone was still useful, but worked better for me as a lower layer. Still, I personally prefer to have the same firmness throughout, so I did consider switching to the Deluxe.

With respect to the convoluted layer, I touched on this earlier, but I found it too soft, and ended up moving it and flipping it. Keep in mind that I had gone from an extra-firm innerspring mattress to latex, so I was used to a certain feel to a mattress, and felt as though the Flobeds mattress was too "mushy," for lack of a better term. I'm sure that part of that impression was that I was simply going through an adjustment period, and I might have felt that way about any non-innerspring mattress for a certain period of time until I got used to the feel of latex.

What I discovered after a couple of months of rotating and swapping layers, emailing Dewey for advice, emailing Phoenix, and visiting more mattress stores than I ever thought possible, is that I have a personal preference for dunlop, rather than talalay latex. If you haven't tried both, it's hard to explain the difference, and I don't believe that one is better than the other, just different. To me, even the "soft" dunlop is firmer than talalay, and dunlop mattress came closer to my experience on an innerspring mattress than the all-talalay ones did. I ended up spending far more money than I had planned to on a different latex brand, but I'm very happy with the end result.

In closing, I will say that you can't go wrong with Flobeds. Had they offered a dunlop option, I probably would have stayed with them. They are honest, helpful and patient, and they stand by their product. I had no issues with returning the mattress or with receiving a refund. It truly is a risk-free experience with Flobeds, and you very well could end up loving either the Vzone or the Deluxe. Is it a substantial investment? Yes, but someone once mentioned that people think nothing of buying a $20-30k car that they drive for 30 minutes a day, but will hesitate on spending $2-3k for a mattress that they spend 6-8 hours per day on. I completely agree that once you find the mattress/combination that works for you, it is completely worth the investment.

Best of luck with your mattress search, and I hope a good night's sleep is coming your way soon!

Thanks for your information about your FloBeds Experience. I am considering ordering one, but was just wondering how hard the bed was to re-package and send back? I am concerned that if I don't like it, it will be a nightmare to return.

Thanks!

Hi jsuehl,

As you probably know Flobeds is a member of this site which means I think very highly of them and I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. A forum search on Flobeds (you can just click the link) will bring up more comments and feedback about them as well. You are certainly looking at a high quality/value choice.

was just wondering how hard the bed was to re-package and send back? I am concerned that if I don't like it, it will be a nightmare to return.

While only a very small percentage of people end up returning the mattress because there are so many options available to fine tune the mattress ... if you do end up needing to return it their mattresses have individual layers so they are fairly simple to return. You can see their instructions here for compressing the layers and then all you need to do is put the layer in the boxes, attach the shipping label, and ship it back.

Phoenix

Thanks Phoenix - the link with the compression instructions was helpful. It looks fairly manageable. Hopefully I won't be going through that but you never know!