Mattress Pad - Should I get Featherbed, MicroFiber or Memory Foam? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Hahn]

The ole' mattress is in need of a little help so I've decided to get a mattress pad , aka a mattress topper. There seem to be three popular choices:

1. Feather Bed filled with goose/duck down
2. Micro-Fiber, much like Feather Bed but using synthetic material
3. Memory Foam

I've slept on a new mattress with a Feather Bed top and it was damn comfortable. I'm leaning this way but I'm concerned that a Feather Bed will loose it's ability to cushion after becoming compressed over time.

I think a Micro-Fiber pad may be as comfortable as a Feather Bed, without the compression issues, but I have no idea if this is so.

I don't know anyone with a Memory Foam mattress or mattress pad, but this is supposed to be the most comfortable of the bunch.

Any ideas? Have you tried any of the above with success?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[ChristopherG]

I know this isn't necessarily what you are looking for in an answer but I would suggest that you also consider latex foam mattresses. They are hypoallergenic and unbeliveably comfortable. They are not memory foam - I looked into those and rejected them for various reasons which if you continue to research you will find as well.

 

[NickSo]

Brad Pitt recommends Memory Foam

 

[Richard Travale]

Well, if Brad Pitt says so...

A friend of mine recently bought the feather/down topper and he swears by it now. He says it's the most amazing difference.

 

[RobertR]

I did what Brad Pitt was talking about a couple of years ago and it was awful. I hate memory foam. It always gives me a backache.

 

[Scott L]

i just got the house-brand $350 mattress + box spring @ Mattress Discounters + some $20 foam pad at Target and it's really, really comfy. My roommates comment me on it too.

I used to have back problems prior to this setup but not any more, cheap as it may be.

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm very curious about the memory foam as well...I have one of those memory foam pillows and while it's great (because it forms to your body), it sucks because once you turn or move, you have to wait until it reforms. It's annoying...with all the turning I do at night, I can imagine how frustrating a memory foam mattress would be.Ummmmm....are you still in the bed when they comment??

 

[Shane Martin]

We have a memory foam mattress and wouldn't have it any other way. The absolute best mattress we found. We had the exact opposite effect of it than RobertR had.

 

[BrianW]

Feather pads are great until they're not, which us usually pretty soon after you buy them. I use a memory foam mattress pad, and I would never go back to any other.

 

[Jay H]

I have a platform bed from IKEA and I bought a $150 foam mattress (non latex) one from them and it works fine. I am a boring sleeper..I sleep on my back and don't roll that much til it's morning. Didn't want to spend $1500 on a mattress either.

Jay

 

[Luna5]

I've had a memory foam mattress topper on my waterbed for 2 years and like it. The only problem is for us it gets too hot sometimes. I no longer have the heater turned on for the bed and we keep the heat very low ( 64) at night. During the summer we need the airconditioning on in the bedroom most of the time. But it's so comfortable I can't imagine not having one.

 

[Dennis*G]

memory foam must take some getting used to. I had to sleep in a bed for a few nights with memory foam and it was very uncomfortable to me.

I think down would compact within a years time, but for that year you would be in heaven so I guess I would maybe look at the microfiber.

 

[RobertR]

I've had the most success with an adjustable air mattress. The one I bought has essentially the same features as the Select Comfort brand (digital readout, etc.) but it was much cheaper.

 

[Bonnie*F]

Don't have any experience with memory foam but I'm a restless sleeper - I wake several times during the night to rearrange the pillows/blankets/side I'm sleeping on/etc - so I figure anything that takes time to re-conform would be a problem.
Foam mattress - put one on top of my pillowtop mattress. Works great! If it starts giving me trouble, I rotate it around or I get a new one which is considerably less expensive than a new mattress.
Featherbed - have one of those for my campbed. It's like a feather pillow the size of a beanbag chair. The one I currently have is one BIG pillow not one with separate sections to prevent the migration of feathers. So it's good save when you have settled for the night and it compresses all the feathers beneath you and you have the sides hugging you. Great for keeping you warm. Not so great padding-wise. The ones with numerous sewn sections keep the featherbed from doing the "hugging" thing since the feathers - for the most part - stay to their section.
Two things you need to be aware of: 1. Lots of people are allergic to feathers and 2. Unless you get a really high thread count for the container, you are going to have feathers eventually migrating out of the featherbed and onto everything in your bedroom. And the sharp pointy bits poke as they migrate out. (They're birds, they migrate)

 

[Dave Hahn]

Thanks for the replys everyone. I'm still researching this but your comments are a big help.

Mark Hastings said:I've read this elsewhere and I'm a little wary about sleeping on something with the potential of feeling like a bed of nails

I'm going to look into latex foam pads and I'm still looking at micro-fiber pads as well.

 

[Jay H]

I have a bunch of winter down sleeping bags..well not really a bunch, but two made by Western Mountaineering and I haven't been poked yet!

Jay

 

[Colton]

A good mattress is important, but also don't forget to buy quality bed dressing and sheets. Don't get anything under 600 thread count. You'll sleep like a king!

- Colton

 

[Jed M]

As somebody who has tried memory foam, sleep by numbers (air) and kingsdown I am definitely most happy with my tempurpedic memory foam. Just so people understand where I am coming from with having so many beds I originally bought a kingdown with a feather pillowtop about 7 years ago and about 4 years in it started to sag a bit and lose its comfortable pillowtop. I then moved that into my guest bedroom and bought the sleep by numbers (air) and really didn't like it as much as my original Kingsdown. It never stayed at the right setting and I felt I was readjusting it everynight. It also wasn't very flat as the middle of the bed always seemed to be higher unless you set the sides at full firmness. In fairness, sleeping on it wasn't bad as it was pretty comfortable. I decided to add a memory foam mattress top to it hoping it would even the bed out, which didn't work, but that is how I started liking the idea of memory foam. When I moved into my new house I decided to bite the bullet and get a celebrity tempurpedic bed and I will say I have been extremely happy with the quality. I too am a restless sleeper and have not noticed it taking time to reform, and actually I am a lot less restless now that I have my tempurpedic bed. I also use the tempupedic pillows now and they are really different then other memory foam pillows I used to use with my air bed. They are freaking heavy, which I am not a real big fan of, but they keep their shape. I used to use two or three pillows to keep my head in the position I liked, constantly readjusting them, but with the tempurpedic pillows one is sufficient.

I guess my biggest reccomendation is my house burnt to the ground about 7 weeks ago and we lost everything (one of the reasons I have not been posting much here). The first thing I did after getting released from the hospital (a little smoke inhallation) was buy basic clothing and toiletries and then I headed to Mattress City and rebought my tempurpedic bed and pillows and told them to hold it for me until I found a place to live. Honest story. Cell phone, computer, car, etc. All that stuff was after the mattress.

One other piece of bedding advice I have is that I agree with Colton about sheets, but I would reccommend a thread count between 500-800. Anything less feels thin and anything more is IMO too stiff and heavy. Before my house burned down I bought 1200 thread count sheets thinking they would be the ultimate in luxury and while they were extremely thick, they never were as soft as my old 500 count sheets. I washed them a bunch and it did help but I guess I prefer a nice balance. Right now I am using 600 TC sheets and I think they are just about perfect. I would have gone a touch higher if I could have found some in the color I needed, but I still prefer them to my old 1200 TC sheets.

 

[Max Leung]

Keep in mind that sheets with thread counts over 800 are probably 500 count sheets doubled up! That's what I read somewhere (here probably) anyways.

I really like my memory foam Tempurpedic mattress. The biggest problem is that it is too warm in the summer - ESPECIALLY when sharing with another person. It retains heat better than 2 sets of blankets, I swear!

I also have a Tempurpedic pillow, but I don't like it as much - it is supposed to hold its shape, but after a few months I noticed that it is thinner than when I first bought it. It doesn't do a good job supporting my neck and head either - I find that not using a pillow at all works best compared to all the other pillows I've tried.

With a memory foam mattress you can get away with not using a pillow!

 

[Adam_S]

I have a two inch memory foam topper on my bed (not tempurpedic and I can tell the difference having tried them every time I go near a brookstone). and love it. It still holds it shape fine and reforms instantly.

as for:

Umm, I don't spend 6 hours a day in my car but I spend a lot more money on one, I think 1500 on an investment that will last a decade or so and I'll be using 2000-3000 hours a year isn't too bad an exchange for how incredibly comfortable and high quality the tempurpedic beds are. I'll upgrade within a year or two, when my income and savings stabilize (just graduated college) and I can't wait, looking forward to that more than I am on upgrading my car.

Adam