text: Mattress Question: "Durability of the Ashley Ellis Bay?" - GoodBed.com
  Would like to know if Ellis Bay by Ashley leaves body indentations before the warranty expires? This is a foam mattress, but I do not know the quality of the manufacturer or of the foam base and would like to know how it stands up. It is extremely comfortable and my local retailer gives it a 10 year non-prorated warranty....however, I don't know how reliable this retailer is...so I would like to depend on the quality of the mattress rather than the warranty. Also, I am shopping for a king and their price is $1700...is this a comparable price?
  durability product-quality body-impressions
  asked Jun 02 '13
  Anonymous091
  I agree, memory foam is supposed to mold to your body. As a result it will leave an impression eventually. What I generally look at is the warranty. In this case it is a 7 year warranty. 7 years is a little low for memory foam, so I'm guessing that they think it will not last that long. Digging deeper in to their warranty, it seems they consider a 3/4 inch indentation "normal". Like the previous answer, I am a fan of latex, perhaps you should try that as well.
  If you are looking for a mattress where impressions are minimized, consider air technology, like Comfortaire. For about the same price, you could purchase a mattress with more than twice the over all length of warranty, and these style of beds minimize the effects of impressions. And with the modular construction even if an impression is not "covered" if it bothers you, you can replace just that component, saving money and time of shopping for a new bed.
  Tempurpedic is more expensive but their limited warranty is also much longer. The Ellis Bay bed has 4 pound base support, which is squisier, and will impress sooner.
  Hope this helps, if not, visit our web site and contact us for more information...
  answered Jun 03 '13
  Every mattress takes a body impression...long before the warranty expires....Every Mattress. The best way to to minimize this is to add a latex mattress topper to a reasonably firm mattress. Latex is the most resilient and most durable material available. This has been so since the 1920s. There's nothing new about it and it's performance is well proven.
  Take a look at the manufacturers written warranty card. There SHOULD be a line or two that spells out how much body impression is allowable. Average to fair today is 1.5 to 2 inches. If it does not list a measurement then pass. The industry best are around 3/4 of an inch. I'm not a fan of buying a mattress expecting to add something to it to make it work. If you add a layer of anything over a mattress you're still compressing the mattress..
  Ernest is right, I got dyslexic I guess... sorry for the misinformation, the over all answer still stands, 7 year warranty is not very long for a memory foam bed with Tempurpedic at 25, and others at 10 to 20 years.
  (Jun 03 '13) Tom Heller ♦
  Sorry Guys, I have to chime in here and contradict all of you. The factory warranties, today, are more meaningless than they have ever been. The quality of mattresses has gone down over the past ten years, while the length of the warranties has increased. Memory foam is the reason why. Memory foam is the worst material ever invented for use in or as a mattress. It does everything that they claim, but only for a short time. The negative side effects of memory foam are many and not part of the sales pitch. The truly diabolical part about memory foam is that it will return to its original shape for a very long time. Since it doesn't take a sustained impression deep enough to authorize an exchange, they can offer longer warranties. However, memory foam will lose its support and comfort in a short time relative to the warranty. Memory foam is a waste of money...pure and simple. The warranties that go with them are as worthless and the memory foam itself. It's all a very elaborate scam.
  Peter, You didn't totally contradict, and I agree that mattress quality, especially in spring beds has declined. We see people in the store that have had their bed 3 or 4 years, and are dissappointed.
  As far as memory foam, it is a pretty good comfort material, a lousy support material. Even out of the box, the support offered by memory foam is inferior. That being said it is what is under the memory foam that will lead to the mattress being good or bad. In this case, when I read their description, it looks like they are supporting memory foam with more memory foam, and not that dense either.
  But not all beds have lost quality in the last 10 years. The beds by Comfortaire are made the same as they were made for the last 20 years. Improvements have been made to the covers, and the quality of the comfort materials is high.
  It is in the end all about feel, posture and a good night's sleep. If a customer is comfortable on memory foam (and personally I can't sleep on it) that is fine, as long as it is a pretty dense piece and has good support materials underneath it.
  Even adding latex to the top of a bed is not always good. While latex is a bit more supportive, if the heart of the support system is bad, it will only soften the pain. Too many people think they can get a foam pad and put it over a non supportive, older mattress, and eliminate the purchase of a new bed, that is simply not true. The mattress is a system, and the entire system should be evaluated as to it's quality and longevity.
  And while there is some truth to your warranty claim, one should not discount warranties as the manufacturers indication of value. Manufacturers do not wish to have to perform on a warranty, therefore they set the warranty time and other conditions (indentation) to match what they believe will help them not to have to pay out.
  Tom, I have to disagree with you on the point that the length of the warranty being an indication of quality. That is precisely the thought the manufacturers want the consumers to have. Frankly, buying a mattress because of the longer warranty is a sucker's bet. With the way memory foam recovers, the warranty is not likely to ever come into play. The lack of support and comfort will become obvious long before the warranty would indicate.