Shortly after getting married, my wife and I purchased a Sterns and Foster inner-spring mattress on clearance at a local Mattress Retailer. Little did we know the personal hell we were about to get ourselves into - buying a mattress far too firm for either of our liking.

After putting a super-thick memory foam topper on the mattress, we lived with it for about two years before deciding to demote it to a 'guest bed' and buy something nice for ourselves.

Flirting with the idea of a memory foam mattress, we went to another local mattress retailer and sampled the variety of Tempurpedic models. They were simply unlike anything we'd ever laid on - with soft contouring foam - yet stiff and firm support. We were both impressed with the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme (an 11'' model), but there was no way in hell they were going to convince us to drop $3,300 for the King Sized mattress.

Having gone into that sampling of Tempurpedics, I had already done some exhaustive research on the off-brand (or smaller) memory foam companies, and whether their products really stacked up. The cheapest mattresses seen on Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and sold at Costco are predominantly made by the same three companies - all importing their mattresses from China. There were many favorable reviews - but generally speaking - those people were not very particular about their mattresses, nor were they objective in judging the quality of the product they received. I noticed a trend in the positive reviews which showed a tendency to speak subjectively about the mattress, and how it "made them feel," which gave me little to no inclination about the quality of the materials or whether the mattress would last under regular use (many people bought it as a guest bed, which would only get used irregularly).

The critical reviews of these cheap mattresses (in the $200-400 range for King size) often made mention of manufacturing defects, permanent collapsing of the material around where they slept, incredibly gross smells that lingered for weeks or more, inconsistent thickness in different areas of the mattress, and how the mattress materials do not seem to really stack up to the claims in the product details (like using cheaper density foam than what they advertise).

Because of these things, I knew that I wanted to get a mattress manufactured in the United States - and preferably, one which directly compared to the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme we laid on at the store. After MUCH research, we ended up with two brands for consideration: Amerisleep Mattresses and Dreamfoam Bedding Mattresses. They both had models which they themselves compared to the Cloud Supreme - so I started digging.

Between the two - Amerisleep was typically 30% more expensive for an equivalent mattress, but their claims of using "plant based" memory foam was alluring, as we didn't want to be sleeping on a chemical-ridden foam mattress. Amerisleep was the front runner in my mind for quite a while until I discovered the following:

1. The plant based foam is actually mixed into a traditional foam, and only in the top most layer(s) - basically, it's not entirely plant based, and they won't say what percentage of the mattress even is.
2. Their better business bureau score was deeply troubling - many people reported not receiving their mattresses in a timely manner, and having an outright poor customer experience. Their parent company had similar complaints.
3. Their reviews on their Amazon products looked astroturfed - ie. fake - with 10-20 reviews posted in a single day, none of them verified buyers. Why would people, who didn't even buy the mattress on amazon, flock to the page and flood it with reviews within a couple of days? The majority of these reviewers had only one review to their name - the Amerisleep mattress.
4. The price difference was substantial - and would have run us an additional $400 for a 12'' King Model.
5. One blogger named "Lamb...something" was reviewing the mattress on a regular basis, talking about how amazing it is. She left reviews on the Amazon listing - and when I checked it out - she has a coupon code to her name, like an affiliate. It seemed like a huge conflict of interests that a reviewer would be getting kickbacks from the company she's reviewing.

By comparison, more I read about Dreamfoam bedding, the more I realized they're a down-to-earth company, making a quality product, and standing behind their mattresses and work. I was amazed at the price, and surprised at such astounding customer reviews - and immediately assumed something was fishy (like Amerisleep) to have such glowing reviews. What I found was the exact opposite - nearly every review was a verified buyer, and they were naturally spaced out over months of sales on Amazon. I knew Dreamfoam bedding was the real deal - and we placed our order.

The item arrived in two business days, Prime shipped. This blew my mind - as the package was like 115lbs. Upon arrival, I noticed that the cardboard box it came in was thrashed to hell - and nearly falling apart. My concern quickly subsided when I saw the thick thick thick plastic it comes shipped in. My wife and I dragged this plastic roll up the stairs, like a dead body in a rug, and lifted it into our bedframe. We began cutting plastic and the thing began to come to life - and breeeeeeathe until it grew to fill the frame.

We tested the mattress out within 10 minutes of unpacking it, and it felt great. We gave it another 6-7 hours before we went to bed, and slept on it our first night. Very little, to no discernible smell coming from the mattress. Very pleased about that. The bamboo cover over the mattress feels and looks premium - very nice.

Day 1 Sleep: Felt great - unlike anything I've ever felt.
Day 2 Sleep: Not as good as Day 1 - a little sore.
Day 3 Sleep: More tossing and turning - getting more sore.
Day 4-8 Sleep: Sore, tossing, not happy. Feels too firm.

It was at this point that I considered the possibility that memory foam simply wasn't for us. We had come from a firm mattress, but this was a firmness I had never experienced. I remembered reading that the mattress begins to break in and become softer as you use it - so we persevered. Furthermore - I knew I needed to adjust to this mattress, and also learn how best to sleep on it.

Day 10 Sleep: Less sore, less tossing, better sleep.
Day 11 Sleep: Slept most of the night - less tossing - less sore.
Day 12 and on: Sleeping like a baby on a bed of clouds and angel feathers

Not only did the mattress feel softer over time, but I think my body needed to adjust as well. This mattress is soft, and yet firm, in a way that is unlike any kind of traditional mattress. The initial 10 seconds of laying on it, you sink in and go "oooooh! this is nice!" - but after hours of laying on it, you realize that it's a very firm sleeping surface. Ultimately, the firmness is necessary to help support your bodies curves and keep you from being overly sore in the morning. It is not like sleeping on a marshmallow, so don't be disillusioned when it feels really firm the first few days. Over time, I got use to the mattress, and the mattress got use to me - and I'm getting the best sleep of my life. I think that my body was used to sleeping in ways which, while comfortable on our previous inner-spring mattress, were wholly uncomfortable on a memory foam mattress. Retraining yourself to sleep in new positions is not an easy (or fast) process - so give it time.

Given that I didn't sleep on the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme (just laid on it for a while), I cannot outright say that this is about the same thing. But what I can say is that it feels - with the limited time I tested the Tempurpedic out - very very very similar to my body. They have very similar firmness, and I imagine that this about as close as it gets. If you test out the Tempurpedic at a store, and love it as much as we did - this is a no-brainer in my mind.

I'd place this as one of the best investments I've ever made - a huge value compared to other purchases in the past. Coworkers (with tempurpedics) were scoffing and saying there's no way an "amazon mattress" could compare to their multi-thousand-dollar mattresses. After all - it comes rolled up in a tube! How could it possibly compare to our tempurpedics which are never compressed!

Welp - it does come rolled up, and it does compare in quality and feel. There was practically no off-gassing to speak of, compared to the common complain of Tempurpedics stinking up the house for a few weeks. All in a mattress that costs a fraction of the price. Don't be fooled by the cult of Tempurpedic - Dreamfoam Bedding is the real deal.

Sincerely,

A man who now sleeps like a baby.

[UPDATE - November 20th, 2014 - 5 Months Later]

This will be a very short and easy update to write - largely due to the fact that the mattress has met every expectation that I had (and exceeded others).

Like I mentioned in the review - it takes time to adjust to a new mattress. My wife and I continued to get used to it - and now agree that this really is the ideal mattress for us. We get GREAT sleep on it, and there's no doubt that Dreamfoam sources high quality memory foam. I'm confident that this mattress will last a great long while before showing any signs of wear.

There's zero indentation in the foam, we don't find ourselves sleeping hot on it - we have found that we sleep longer through the night, not waking up as often.

Fun fact - I used to wake up at least 6-7 times a night on our old mattress - with the Dreamfoam mattress, I'm down to maybe 1-2 times a night.

HUGE MEGA DISCLAIMER - No mattress, no matter how amazing - is a magical healing sponge. It will not cure your back pain. It will not cure your insomnia. A new mattress can help with these things, and with proper treatment - aid in preventing things like back pain from getting worse.

There are still nights where my wife I wake up sore. There are still nights where I get crappy sleep. These are infrequent and rare - and are neither the fault of the mattress.

Bad. Sleep. Happens.

Keep your expectations reasonable - this is memory foam, not miracle foam.

On the whole - we sleep like angels, and love the way the mattress feels. We're getting the best sleep of our life. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy this bed in a heart beat. It looks (and feels) like a $3000 mattress - even months after sleeping on it.

Sincerely,

A man who still sleeps like a baby

[UPDATE: 3/2/2016]
Some have asked in the comments - we bought the King. I am a side/stomach sleeper. I compared just about every memory foam brand available at the time in this price range. If it was made in china I crossed it off my list.

This mattress is amazing - no dents - no complaints. Super comfortable for us - no matter how we sleep, it a great middle-of-the-road firmness for allowing us to sleep however we want.

[UPDATE: 2/21/2017]
Nothing really mind-blowing to report. Still get people commenting on this review, glad you all liked it.

The mattress has had z-e-r-o issues since the day we bought it. I sleep like a friggin baby, and it's genuinely the most comfortable mattress I've ever slept on. There are no dents or impressions left where we sleep - that I can notice anyway. Maybe with the sheets off you could perhaps see a small indentation - but there's no noticeable difference to either my wife or I.

I'd buy this bed again in a heartbeat.

PS. I forgot to mention that my wife and weigh about 140lbs each - so if you're bigger, you may have a radically different experience.

[UPDATE: 5/24/2017]

Since so many folks found my review helpful - I thought it'd be prudent to update you on a new bed frame we got. Up until this week we had been sleeping on an Ikea Fjell bed with the curved wooden slats. It was pretty comfortable - and we had no complaints.

We recently upgraded to a new bedframe which required we buy a box-spring/foundation - and opted for a metal build-it-yourself one made by Zinus (on amazon).

Our bed is even MORE comfortable now. We're passing out and sleeping longer than we even were before! That dang Ikea frame/slats were awful! Pair this mattress with a decent frame and foundation! You won't regret it.

[UPDATE: 6/24/2018]

I'll update my review - was actually just pulling up this product page to send to an in-law who wanted a new mattress.

My wife comments that (subjectively) she thinks it's more firm than when we bought it. It'd be understandable to have it "flatten/firm-up" in the four years we've owned it - but if it has, it couldn't be much.

**This mattress is now $100 cheaper than when we bought it four years ago** - which is insane. It's held up really really well, no sunken areas or anything that I can find. Even if and when we want to upgrade. we'll be buying another dreamfoam.

We have a cheaper dreamfoam in our guest room and my wife loves how soft it is, so I think she's just getting mattress envy.

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After a lifetime of searching for the perfect mattress, I have finally found one that is supportive, sleeps cool, and wears well. The best bonus is that all the materials and construction are done here in the US, so you know that you're sleeping on a safe mattress. I will never buy another mattress for my family that isn't from Dreamfoam.

The mattress arrives well wrapped in a shipping box. You cut through the layers of 5 mil plastic sheeting and unroll the mattress, which begins to expand immediately. I opened mine on the patio early in the morning, so that any off-gassing happened outside. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON THE MATTRESS for the recommended time. I waited three days before I allowed anyone on it, and the mattress expanded perfectly. I used a mattress encasement for allergies, so there was no detectable odor from the mattress. I have purchased three total units, one that is now two years old and still very much like new. The family members using these are very happy. I've slept on one occasionally, and even with my iffy back, I have had nothing but excellent night's sleep on it. I'm a side sleeper, and Ive never experienced hip or shoulder pain while using this mattress. When the time comes, I'll be replacing my expensive name brand memory foam mattress with a Dreamfoam Ultimate Dreams set.

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This is THE most comfortable bed I have ever owned. I bought this in January 2016 and am reviewing now in February 2017. At first, this bed feels like you're sleeping on a rock. It does take a couple nights for it to soften. After that I don't even know where to begin. It is wonderfully supportive in all the right areas. Let's start with some backstory: I have a condition called fibromyalgia. My particular disease is caused by over excitable nerves which causes immense amounts of pain, generally in specific muscle groups of my body. It gets exacerbated by lack of sleep, not being supported during sleep and having celiac disease. Before I found this mattress, I was going to my chiropractor and massage therapist nearly every week, sometimes twice a week, just to get some relief. This bed has allowed me to live a happier life with much less pain and fewer trips to chiropractic and massage care. I highly recommend this bed to anyone wishing for better nights sleep without paying the mattress store price. Even after a year, this bed is flat on top. Absolutely no sign of wear. Since I've gotten this bed, I've also gotten married and after getting used to the foam verses spring, my husband says it is the most comfortable mattress he's ever slept on. A big plus is that during sleep we're not forced together in the middle due to the notorious spring mattress valley. Definitely worth the money!