Foam bed... is it REALLY that comfortable?

[One Awesome Inch]

When thinking about a bed I was pretty set on getting a high quality twin mattress. Basically something top tier like in the $400+ range.

Only issue is that using foam I could save space... probably a foot of width. I dont think I really need the bed to be 39 inches wide.

However, since the bed is what I'll be using for both sleeping and as my main "seating area" its going to get alot of use. 8 hrs sleeping and at least 6hrs a day as a chair. Therefore its gotta be SUPER comfortable.

If I buy the best quality foam I can get will it match up to a luxury mattress?

 

[Stargazer]

Oh, yes, it really is that comfortable. Bedinabox.com, I have the 9" thick twin, that I cut down myself to 30" x 68" to fit me and my van. I believe they'll custom cut, too.

In my TT, I have a Tempurpedic (kept from the house when I sold it). The one in the van is every bit as comfie as the one in the TT. I will sleep on nothing else! All aches and pains disappeared when I switched from conventional innerspring to memory foam.

Best wishes!

 

[MrNoodly]

I absolutely love my foam mattress. It's a twin XL (6 inches longer than regular twins) that 8 inches of standard foam. I got it from Mattress Firm. I added a 3 inch memory foam topper. Plush, baby. I used to toss and turn on my standard construction queen bed, so I was worried about adapting to a twin. But it's so comfortable that I settle in and barely move during the night. It also serves as my seat. My bony butt is very happy. For all those who need a firm/hard bed for your back, you have my condolences.

 

[user 423]

It's a twin XL (6 inches longer than regular twins) that 8 inches of standard foam. I got it from Mattress Firm.

Is it the H&R memory foam version?

http://www.mattressfirm.com/H_R_8_Memory_Foam-P310.aspx

 

[Donedirtcheap]

If you go to a good foam store you can get anything you want. You can mix 2 different types of foam to come up with the density that you want.

 

[MrNoodly]

No, I got the memory foam separately. It looks like they've shuffled their product lineup a little since July of last year.

 

[Blue]

I say forget all that noise, generally reviews of foam matteresses say people love them AT FIRST, later on people develop back, neck, and shoulder problems from sleeping on them. The best mattress you can get for overall rest tends to be a firm matteress, stops your back and spine from twisting or beding in weird positions when you sleep. Personally I have about 1 inch of non-memory foam I sleep on, then a 4 inch dual foam mattress topper (which when I lay on it sinks down to about one inch and is still firm.) I put a down pillow topper on that (just cause when I first climb into bed its cool and feels... well downy)

at the place I am staying, I can sleep inside on a 8 inch thick memory foam mattress that cost something like 4,000.00, my back neck, and especially shoulders were getting sore, I'd wake up every day streching and finding pain. Since I started sleeping in the van (which generally feels like sleeping on padded concrete) daily for about the last two weeks, my back neck and shoulders feel great, and I seem to have way more energy (funny how getting rid of minor pains and sleeping better will do that for you)

so no... I dont suggest a mattress...

 

[Unchained]

@Blue- that's great for you, but please keep in mind that there is no one size fits all when it comes to sleep.
From experience, I can say that something like your arrangement would have worked fine for me (and did) awhile ago, but time passes and injuries happen. These days, a bed like that would leave me in severe pain (BTDT).

@OP- My trailer has a good, firm 'real' mattress, but I will need to get a MF topper for it before I hit the road. The van will have a custom foam mattress, topped by my 3" MF 'base camp' sleep pad.

 

[MrNoodly]

I say forget all that noise, generally reviews of foam matteresses say people love them AT FIRST, later on people develop back, neck, and shoulder problems from sleeping on them.

Everyone's body is different. There is no one perfect bed type for everyone. I had a super soft all-latex mattress for fifteen years with no back problems. I had to get rid of it when I got married because my then-wife needed a very firm mattress. Or at least she thought she did because the bed Puritans kept insisting everyone did. I couldn't sleep, which is the first purpose of a bed.

When I was single again, the bed Puritans talked me into a firmer bed than I wanted. I spent ten years trying to get comfortable, trying to not wake up stiff. I started sleeping with an arrangement of two, then four then six then eight pillows tucked under and around me. It helped a lot even though, horror of horrors, I was twisted and bent in weird positions. I slept deeper, I woke up refreshed, and my back never complained.

I eventually got a softer conventional mattress (over the protestations of the bed salesman) with a four inch memory foam topper. I was able to get rid of half the pillows. I slept that way for another nine years. It was even better.

Right now, my all-foam mattress is on nice, rigid plywood -- no box springs or "foundation" (which might actually be the culprits in back problems). Not a whimper from my 62-year-old back. My hips, shoulders, butt, knees and other contact points are happy as clams. I don't wake up with an arm or leg tingling from lack of circulation. On the other hand, I use rather firm foam pillows. I think some back problems can be traced back to too soft pillows and unsupported head. At least that's the case for me. I have a hell of a time sleeping in hotel beds with their fluffy pillows that collapse into nothing.

So, again, every back is different and needs its own type of mattress. For me its foam, baby, foam.

 

[akrvbob]

The best foam pads I have had have both been from an Upholstery shop. I asked for a 4 inch pad of Upholstery grade foam cut to the size of my bed. It cost $80 and I slept perfectly on it for the next 4 years!! It was just as perfect on the last day.

Then I switched rigs and needed a bigger pad. I went to another upholstery shop and got the exact same thing cut to fit that bed. I've been just as happy with it.
Bob

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

It is 10x better than a real mattress but there are some quirks. In cold temps it becomes a concrete slab until your body heats it back up (unevenly too, as you melt into it a conforming way) Also if its a couch too, don't spill anything liquid, it is a pain to get the liquid out as its a giant sponge.

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I have noticed my back pain is gone but i get hip pain. This might be from the cheap mattress i got tho, i think my hips are sinking down too far. I would probably get something a bit more dense next time

 

[WheelEstate USA]

we tried foam, but in summer I'd wake up soaked with sweat and Margie cooked with her hot flashes. Since we're in warmer weather most of the time we have a real mattress.

 

[GotSmart]

I agree with the above post. I was covered in sweat with the memory foam topper. I sleep best in a recliner. Everyone is different!

 

[MrNoodly]

...i think my hips are sinking down too far.

The hip you sleep on, or the opposite one? Because if it's the one you sleep on, maybe it's that there's too much pressure on it because there's not enough padding. Maybe you're hitting bottom.

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In cold temps it becomes a concrete slab until your body heats it back up (unevenly too, as you melt into it a conforming way)

The idea behind memory foam is that it can wrap around you, giving support from the side as well as underneath. It does that by keeping the part not touching you stiffer than the foam that's softened by your body heat.

 

[Blue]

Yeah but I sink down into it, it lifts my head and shoulders up while squeezing them together, sleep on my stomach and it pulls back on my shoulders and up on my chin... Full sized foam mattresses have been torture devices for me, but 4 inches of varied stiffness foam topper, that seems to work ok.

 

[Lucky mike]

I have a foam mattress it came in the rig....I ended up putting a topper on it to adjust the firmness .......I would suggest when looking for one to really look carefully at the density and comfort of it before buying it...........Im ready for an air bed or a hammock!!!!!!

 

[Jim_Rockford]

My house mattress for the past few years have been a sleep number bed and its by far the best bed I have ever had. Shame I can't install it in my van.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Maybe a fairly firm foam mattress with a 1.25 - 2 inch memory slab on top?

 

[Zil]

poke around in this site. http://www.thefoamfactory.com/
There is a part that explains all the different foams and densities. also they are good to do business with.

 

[SoulRaven]

I say forget all that noise, generally reviews of foam matteresses say people love them AT FIRST, later on people develop back, neck, and shoulder problems from sleeping on them. The best mattress you can get for overall rest tends to be a firm matteress, stops your back and spine from twisting or beding in weird positions when you sleep. Personally I have about 1 inch of non-memory foam I sleep on, then a 4 inch dual foam mattress topper (which when I lay on it sinks down to about one inch and is still firm.) I put a down pillow topper on that (just cause when I first climb into bed its cool and feels... well downy)

at the place I am staying, I can sleep inside on a 8 inch thick memory foam mattress that cost something like 4,000.00, my back neck, and especially shoulders were getting sore, I'd wake up every day streching and finding pain. Since I started sleeping in the van (which generally feels like sleeping on padded concrete) daily for about the last two weeks, my back neck and shoulders feel great, and I seem to have way more energy (funny how getting rid of minor pains and sleeping better will do that for you)

so no... I dont suggest a mattress...

Greetings!

When I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7 years old, at the advice of a quack doctor, my Dad placed plywood between the mattresses and the springs of every bed in the house. He also removed my second pillow for the same reason.

Suddenly I developed chronic back and neck pain that I had to suffer through until I moved away from home on my 13th birthday. Now I could choose my own doctor, so I went to my grandfather's doctor... He put me on this air bed device, and started to slowly let air out of it, and told me to tell him when my back pain went away. I did... Next he handed me a one inch thick foam sheets to place under my head, and told me to tell him when my neck pain went away. At 6" it did.

He told me I needed a soft foam mattress that I would sink into 3" when laying down, but wouldn't bottom out, and 2 pillows to keep my head elevated 6". I followed his advice, and to this day, at age 67, I sleep like a baby.

So I am going to respectfully, but totally, disagree with the idea that foam can cause problems down the road. I think that the more likely scenario is that these people just didn't have the proper bed to start with. Plus, people's needs may change with age and/or situations too.

I have a friend that uses an air bed in her van, so she can adjust it to just perfect for her, Me, I'll swear by my foam, but after all is said and done, everyone should get whatever makes them <b><font color=green>A HAPPY CAMPER <i>!!!</i></font></b>

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man