Tempur mattress - yay or nay?

I recently bought a very good quality foam topper for my bed- and it has really helped with my hip and knees. It could be a much cheaper solution to buy a Tempur or similar topper to try on top of your mattress. We are very lucky here to have a very large bedroom, and we now have a small double bed each - and it makes such a difference in comfort - still together, but with our own space- and each with a good quality topper. It has to be one with air vents which can breathe. Cost about £130 from Bedland in Twickenham.

I have a Tempur mattress which I love (do resemble the beached whale on occasion). I never have back ache now. I bought it after a long illness, as it was recommended to me by the physio who I went to for six months.

It was very expensive - nearly £1,000 but I didn't have to pay VAT because it was for medical purposes.

Tempurs are very difficult to move on your own - they are really heavy. I have to ask one of my children to help me switch it every now and again.

Perhaps a good quality mattress topper would be the best of both worlds. I believe there are mattresses that incorporate a Tempur topping now, and if they'd been around at the time, this is what I would have chosen.

I have slept on one at my DDs and it is really comfortable and supports my considerable weight. At home I have a memory foam topper which eliminated my sore hips. I think as long as there is a cotton cover there is no difference heat-wise - and I am a very hot person, sleeping with a sheet only covering me all year round. I have read on a previous thread on here that electric blankets should not be used with memory foam and possibly not hot water bottles either, but I do not know for sure.
There is a mattress advertised on TV www.octaspring.co.uk/ which looks good but way out of my price range!

Nay I am afraid. Very nearly talked into buying oine by skick salesman UNTIL I mentioned my electric blanket! Can't use one with a Temour mattress, so no sale.
My favourite mattresses (but can't afford one at present) are Vi Spring (?) - have slept on them in various hotels and it was heaven. Hypnos is another make I like. What I do is lift the bottom sheet and check out the mattress make after a night in a hotel!!

I have a memory foam topper bought locally at a shop situated on a farm which also deals in curtain material. As there was a tiny flaw, I got it for £75, made to measure for my 4ft bed. I got it before I had my shoulder op and it proved to be very comfortable. I use it under a fleecy underblanket.

Yes yes yes, buy the best one you can afford. They do get hot, we have bought lightweight duvets and have our window open, but they are so lovely. I never want to get out of bed and my morning neck and back ache have gone.

I bought a memory foam topper when DH had his hip replacement as he had to sleep on his back for six weeks so I thought it would help prevent him from rolling over in his sleep (it did). It took me a while to get used to it as there is no chance of slithering or sliding into a comfortable position. I felt like one of those fuzzy felt characters the kids used to stick on a board. I love it now though. It's toasty warm in the winter and we use a very lightweight duvet in the summer.

Yay! We have had our Tempur for about 10 years. It cost approx £1,000 and is one of the best investments we have made. We also have the pillows. As CharlieAnn says, we have no back or neck pain in the mornings now. They are lovely and warm and we have found there is no need for an electric blanket at all and we tend to sleep with just a sheet in the summer (if I remember correctly!!!!)

I bought a Tempur pillow because I was so pleased with the mattress, but I've only used it a couple of times. It's just not for me - very firm and I guess it's good for neck discomfort, but I prefer a soft pillow.

I have a pocket sprung mattress with a memory foam top layer (doesnt move about like a topper) which is not as heavey nor as expensive as aTempur and its LOVELY for my poor back. They do get quite warm though and you cant use an electric blanket with them. All good bed shops have them. Another benefit is that if one of you rolls over or gets up the other one doesnt feel it or roll into the middle.

Thank you all for your input. My grumpy old man and I went to a couple of bedding shops and tried some mattresses out. Must say I absolutely hated the Tempur one. Felt like a beached whale, but my oh loved it. Oh dear, now what to do? Has any one used the Dreams shop please? They say they have a two week returns policy if you don't like the mattress, but that worries me a bit. What happens to the ones that are returned? Don't want to be sold one of those Cant believe that some people pay four thousand pounds for a mattress. Not sure our budget will be that!!

I've used dreams! Not very impressed. Poor quality! But that's just my experienc

My son bought a fancy bed from the Dreams shop - one with a TV that slides up and down at the foot of it. Magnificent thing, but every time they turned over it squeaked and woke them up. Dreams wouldn't entertain their complaint until they threatened them with solicitor. Eventually, they took it back and gave them a refund and they went to John Lewis instead.

We had a Tempur mattress for a few years, Mrs. P was Ok with it, but she could sleep on anything. I found it quite uncomfortable, I tend to toss & turn in my sleep. I found that because the mattress formed to your body, it prevented me rolling around. We recently went back to a pocket sprung mattress - blissful (if active) sleep again. Mrs. P also prefers it, as the pocket springs mean that when I move, it does not effect her at all.

Reading all these comments - I really think we made the right decision to have 2 separate beds- next to each other. Here in CH (Switzerland) and central Europe, most double beds are made with an outer frame and 2 separate inner frames with their own mattress, and their own duvets. That way we do not disturb each other and each have our mattress of choice. Works really well.

Sounds as if my solution is the better of both worlds - memory foam layer on top of a sprung mattress!

Sharing a bed for 40 years is enough I think, lol. As we now have 2x 4 ft (don't want to confuse you with metric, lol) beds together it's great. An 8 ' bed with 2 separate bases and mattresses if fab!

8' bed !!!! You must need a taxi to get frisky

Agree with Pompa - a good pocket spring mattress can't be beaten. Memory foam, or latex for that matter, will cook you, And all the claims that manufacturers make that their mattresses have 'cooling systems' built in are a lot of tosh.

@artygran, you are right, I'd forgotten how hot our tempur mattress was.

Reviving this thread for a bit of help. Before we left the UK we bought zipped link beds with (very expensive) pocket spring mattresses. The salesman talked OH into having the medium mattress rather than the hard one. It is now much too soft for him and he can't sleep on it without getting stuck and waking up with dreadful aches and pains. We are wondering if some kind of mattress topper would help, though it would mean buying single bedding and duvets as the beds would be different heights. We have Ikea locally, but French mattresses are the wrong size and pretty poor quality from what I have see. (Missed the m off mattresses in the last sentence and ipad suggested actresses!).

If Tempur and memory foam are the same thing I would be careful.

If you need to push down with your hands to get yourself out of bed, the memory foam offers you no resistance. When you try to push with your hands it moulds and sinks down so you can't get the purchase you need to lever yourself up.

A thin topper of it on a firm mattress might work but do be wary. Go and try one out in the bed shops. Its no good having a comfortable mattress you can't get up from!

I have a 5cm memory foam topper on a medium-firm mattress and have never had any trouble getting out of bed, despite a couple of joint replacements along the way. I always thought that Tempur mattresses were an expensive luxury too far and what if you bought one and then found it unsuitable?

If we bought it in the UK, Anno, would the package be of a size that would fit in a medium sized hatchback?