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Hello! My name is Ben, and I hail from the great state of Maine. Yesterday, I finally decided to replace my old mattress and make my fist purchase of a new bed (not that I'm 30, lol). Keep in mind, I'm a big guy, coming in at 6' and 280lbs. Anyways, I went up to Bob's Discount, based on a friends review, and purchased a $1000 firm gel foam bobopedic. I knew their furniture was garbage, but was under the impression the mattresses were decent. The salesman was showing me a few options, and at one point told me he 'didn't know why anyone would want a firm mattress', which seemed rather odd coming from a mattress salesman. The bed seemed comfortble for the brief period of time I spent on it. Since I have a really hard time making a desiccation, and often end up researching for months before I pull the trigger, I just decided I would buy it and not waste only more of my valuable time. Well, I got home and found your website. After reading through your tutorial, and reading about what a bad experience Phoenix had attempting to find out the density of foam Bob's uses, I got nervous and started looking for a better option. This led me to Dreamfoam. Everyone seemed to be in love with their products, they were highly recommended on this site, but the only choices I saw were in plush and ultra plush. Then I found the Dreamfoam Aria, a firm option from their gel foam line. 3" of 4 lbs. gel foam on top of 1" of 4 lbs memory foam, on an 8" base they describe as HD PolyFoam. A thick base, with quality materials in both layers as far as I could tell. So I decided I would order that and cancel my order from Bob's. After reading even more, I came to find a post about how dream foam started using 1.5 lbs. poly foam, and that Phoenix said 1.5 lbs is fine for people under 200 lbs. Now I have 2 mattresses on order from 2 different vendors, and I'm unsure if either is a good choice! Is the dream foam going to hold up for me? Do you have a recommendation for something else that I should look at?

Hi kpunx,

After reading even more, I came to find a post about how dream foam started using 1.5 lbs. poly foam, and that Phoenix said 1.5 lbs is fine for people under 200 lbs. Now I have 2 mattresses on order from 2 different vendors, and I'm unsure if either is a good choice! Is the dream foam going to hold up for me?

The Dreamfoam Aria has always used 1.5 lb polyfoam as a base layer and hasn't changed since it first came out in February of this year. Their other memory foam mattress have also used the same base layer since they came out as well.

Post #4 here includes the foam quality/density guidelines I would suggest and there is also more information in post #3 here and the posts it links to about choosing a mattress for those that are in higher weight ranges.

As you can see ... I would choose a mattress that used higher density foams because even though the Aria would make a good choice for most people that are in the lower 200 lb range or lighter that preferred a firmer memory foam mattress, it would be a much more risky choice and would have a shorter useable life for those that are in your weight range.

Do you have a recommendation for something else that I should look at?

Nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved to make specific suggestions for someone else or for anyone to be able to predict which mattress would be the best match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or "theory at a distance" (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here ). The most effective way to choose a mattress is always your own personal testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) or a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced online retailer or manufacturer that can help "talk you through" the options they have available that would have the best chance of success based on the information you provide them and the "averages" of other customers that are similar to you.

There is also more about the most important parts of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses and post #2 here has more information about the different ways to choose a mattress (online or local) and how to minimize or reduce the risks with each of them

If you are looking at an online purchase then there are two links in the tutorial post (in the optional online step) to lists of the better online options I'm aware of and if you are committed to memory foam then one of them includes the better online memory foam choices I'm aware of as well. It may also be worth considering other types of materials or mattresses unless you know for certain that you prefer memory foam over any other type of material or mattress.

If you let me know your city or zip code I'd also be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I'm aware of in your area as well.

Phoenix

kpunx which mattress did you end up liking? I saw the dreamfoam aria and it's considered now as well. We are close to the same specs.