Is Englander Mattress the Best Memory Foam Bed For You?
The Englander Mattress might be the best bed you've never heard of. Englander memory foam mattresses prices are low, but they've got a good reputation. They don't do much advertising, relying on word of mouth to get their sales.
Max Englander founded his company way back in 1894 and was one of the first premium mattress brands. They fell out of favor but came back in 1995 to become the 10th largest manufacturer in the USA. The key to their new success was an advanced formulation of the old fashioned latex mattress. Recently they've been innovators in combining their signature latex with memory foam and inner springs.
Typically, an Englander mattress will cost less than comparable Stearns and Foster and Tempurpedic mattresses. But they are branching out into more luxury models. So compare prices before you buy. And that might be difficult because they don't list prices on their website. You'll have to contact local retailers in your state.
Englander makes a variety of mattresses in factories throughout the US. Some product lines may not be available in all areas. Their most popular lines are:
- Lady Englander
- Nature's Finest Organic
- Nature's Finest Latex
- Synergy Fusion Foam
- 21st Century with Posture Support
- Tension Ease
- ViscoPEDIC
Of these, only the Posture Support, Synergy Fusion and ViscoPEDIC sleep systems contain memory foam.
ViscoPEDIC mattresses
Are 'greener' than their competitors. Englander memory foam mattresses are constructed with a soy based visco elastic foam that's manufactured with a patented VPF (Variable Pressure Foaming) process. Polyurethane is the usual memory foam material.
But only about 21% of the foam can be soy. More than that and your bedroom ends up smelling like movie theater popcorn. The rest is various other chemicals used for foaming. Also, some say that rain forests in Brazil are being cut to make way for soy plantations. As far as the Maniac is concerned it's a toss-up as to whether polyurethane or soy is better for the environment. But if you want to save on oil, soy is the way to go.
Environmental factors aside, Englander claims that their VPF process produces a more consistent, durable, resilient and conforming mattress. Using their Airtech™ design provides increased air circulation to keep you cool and comfortable. It does not contain PBDE, is hypo-allergenic and has a 20 year warrantee.
Customer feedback is mixed, but take into account that some studies have found that people are more likely to complain than praise online.
The Synergy Fusion
Sleep systems are a latex and memory foam hybrid. They are comfortable, but they aren't cheap. The luxury model's suggested list price was $3,999 back in 2005.
They are often described as latex memory foam mattresses. This Englander mattress has a top visco elastic layer divided into 7 zones of varying density to more easily adapt to your body's contours. The memory foam covers a firmer latex core.
Customer reviews have typically been favorable. The memory foam layer is quick to adapt to your contours. And the because of the soy, there is not synthetic odor. However there have been a few mentions of the bed developing slight dips in the mattress sooner than buyers thought they would.
21st Century
With the Posture Support system is essentially an innerspring mattress augmented with memory foam. These beds offer a more traditional feel with some visco elastic comfort. Some of the newer models also throw latex components into the mix. Retailer websites invite you to "experience the comfort of inner-springs, memory foam and latex all in one mattress!"
That might make a good marketing tag line, but looking at this mattress makes me think of Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It's been the Maniac's experience that the more complicated the gizmo the more openings for Murphy. As you can see from the photo at the top of this section, these mattresses are quite convoluted constructions. Is that a memory foam or latex core sitting in the middle of those bed springs in the yellow box?
Customer reviews typically state that this Englander mattress style is comfortable. And there aren't any odor problems. But the Maniac has questions about how well it will wear compared to simpler mattresses.
An Englander mattress has a long pedigree and history of value and innovation. Like all innovators, they've had their problems. But overall, Englander mattress is a quality product.
There is a possibility that you may be frustrated by the company's secrecy. That's understandable.
So here's highly rated memory foam mattresses from manufacturers that aren't quite secretive about their prices as Englander mattress.
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