The Lemon Fool

.....is worth almost anything these days (in my opinion)


About 7 years ago we went to a major retail bed outlet and spent somewhere around £900 on a new deluxe mattress.

It felt great for the first 3 years then ok for the next 3, but in the past 12 months it become a real uncomfy bastard of a thing - only highlighted by having the odd stay in chain type hotels that have really comfortable beds. The pressure on my hips, shoulder, even my ankles woke me up frequently. It would appear that the cushioning top layer has pretty much flattened completely and we were effectively sleeping on the much firmer next layer (and yes, we did turn it regularly)

Anyway, last week, in a fit of rage I/we decided that the mattress had to go and conveniently I noted that Lidl were punting Emma memory foam mattresses for £279 - quite a bit cheaper than I could find elsewhere. The online reviews seem to be good and I was getting desperate for a pain free nights kip.

Well, what a difference I have to say. I've had 4 nights of uninterrupted sleep and that in itself is worth every penny.

*I realise that many in the industry suggest that 7 - 10 years is the expected lifespan for a mattress. For the money I paid, I really was expecting at least the full 10, rather than 3 good and 3 ok years. I can have 3 Emma's ( ) on my bed for the price of one 'Super Deluxe Individual Pocket Spring with Luxury Layer yadda yadda mattress.

I noted Lidl also had bigger sizes on offer too.

FWIW, Emma's own website quotes £248.80 and free delivery.

I daresay if one were to look hard enough, their rivals might be offering better prices than a few years back, too.

UncleEbenezer wrote:FWIW, Emma's own website quotes £248.80 and free delivery.

I daresay if one were to look hard enough, their rivals might be offering better prices than a few years back, too.

Yeah ....but singles are too cosy for both of us (I was caught out with too)

Tedx wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:FWIW, Emma's own website quotes £248.80 and free delivery.

I daresay if one were to look hard enough, their rivals might be offering better prices than a few years back, too.

Yeah ....but singles are too cosy for both of us (I was caught out with too)

Heh. It's a fair cop, guv, I didn't check the detail.

Best time of my life: the student years. Including sharing small single beds with knackered mattresses: pure bliss in the right company!

UncleEbenezer wrote:

Tedx wrote:
Yeah ....but singles are too cosy for both of us (I was caught out with too)

Heh. It's a fair cop, guv, I didn't check the detail.

Best time of my life: the student years. Including sharing small single beds with knackered mattresses: pure bliss in the right company!

I don't know why, but I initially read that as "knackered mistresses"

--kiloran

kiloran wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:Heh. It's a fair cop, guv, I didn't check the detail.

Best time of my life: the student years. Including sharing small single beds with knackered mattresses: pure bliss in the right company!

I don't know why, but I initially read that as "knackered mistresses"

--kiloran

Heh! Was that your student life? Not sure what might qualify a girlfriend as a mistress, but I never in my life thought of any of mine that way. They're more a matter of song (like Morley's "April is in my mistress' face" which we sang this evening).

I'm old enough to appreciate that knackered mattresses (as with so many things concerned with bodily comfort) matter more as you go through life, hence the OP's aversion to them.

They say you spend a third of your life in bed. I've always sort out a comfy mattress and willing to spend a little extra to get one.

Some mattresses might not last the ten years but if cheaper to begin with you can afford to change a bit more often. The only trouble is finding one you like. The boss wanted a firm mattress as ours was getting towards end of life. Lay on one in the shop for a while and decided to buy. Unfortunately I then realised it was not doing me any good. A second one was bought. This time split 50/50 hard and medium sides. Does cause fun turning.

Now whilst I can slum it a bit say camping/bikepacking, I know it's only temporary and being more active might offset the reduced comfort.

A few years ago, we bought a new super-king size bed and very good quality mattress, for which we paid slightly over £1000. The bed frame cost £250, and the mattress about £800. Over the past year or so, the mattress has become increasingly lumpy, and we decided to bite the bullet, and buy a new mattress. This caused me to look at exactly when we bought the bed, and it turns out it was more than 12 years ago, so even if the mattress should have been replaced a year ago, we have had a great mattress, with good quality sleep as a result for 11 years. If you do the sums, that works out at 20p per night.

We splashed out on a top of the range Ikea mattress as a replacement, and so far, we are very happy. If it lasts long enough to cost 20p per night, I may geta new one for my 80th bitrhday.

The whole potential for getting it wrong is the biggest faff with changing ones mattress and a good returns policy never completely eliminates that. Having stayed in Premier Inn quite a few times and never had an uncomfortable nights sleep in one of their beds I might go for their Hypnos mattress when I change shortly. They sell their entire range of beds and bedding on their website. The king size is about £700.00. I'm not sure how this compares with similar spec competition or whether it's cheaper to get the same product direct from the wholesaler but at least I'll know what I'm getting beforehand.
The thing that worries me about the Emma mattresses is that a local charity shop sometimes aquires a big stack of them which I guess are returns which are gifted to charity. If they have high levels of returns that has to be priced in.

Yes, I like Premier Inn mattresses too.

We did have a memory foam mattress in the past and we really liked it (can't remember the make, but wasn't expensive).

....but when it came to replacing it, we were drawn in by the 'Super deluxe ortho superior pocket sprung luxurious etc etc' blurb. And it cost nine hundred quid. A bargain for all that sleep technology eh? And it was really comfy in the shop and initially. Maybe they have a built in expiry date or something.

....and we have a memory foam mattress in the van and we really like that too. So it was waking up one morning last week in a grumpy mood I thought I'll research mattresses today. Lidl popped up with the Emma @ £279. I've heard of them I thought to myself, that's a bargain price and I spent the next hour reading online reviews.

Sod it. That'll do. An hour later it was quietly decompressing on our bed.

Night 5 and it's brilliant.

Tedx wrote:Sod it. That'll do. An hour later it was quietly decompressing on our bed.

Mattress in a box certainly beats indoor fireworks for family viewing (perhaps not fireworks indoors though)

The first few times I experienced a memory foam mattress at hotels and mates guest bedrooms I thought them odd, too much bed grabbing me, the temperature seemed strange too. Having tried a few I bought a topper for my worn out mattress as it was cheaper than a new mattress. Took a while to get used to it.

Hate memory foam.
Fifteen years ago - with 2 single beds - we splashed out on Dunlopillo Royal Sovereign latex mattresses.
The divan base has simple flexi cross-slats. No springs.
Still going strong with no appreciable sagging anywhere.

stewamax wrote:Hate memory foam.
Fifteen years ago - with 2 single beds - we splashed out on Dunlopillo Royal Sovereign latex mattresses.
The divan base has simple flexi cross-slats. No springs.
Still going strong with no appreciable sagging anywhere.

At north of £2k for a king size mattress my expectations from it might exceed what's possible