Funny - we have an enormous pillowtop and I absolutely adore it. Ours is a King Koil brand, and we've had it for close to 5 years without any sagging problems at all.

Carrie

Our king size pillowtop zips off, and can be drycleaned. We flip/rotate the foam that is under the pillowtop, which we can replace for different firmnesses, therefore one side of the bed can/is firmer than the other, then we put the pillowtop back on and zip it back up.

I don't have more to say than what's already been said, except I have to vent with these. We bought a $2600 pillow top king. We dumped it a year later. My arm was falling asleep because I ended up in an indentation deep enough that it would cut off my circulation. I'm 5'10 and 140 lbs, so I'm not overweight. They came out and found that it was 1/8 NOT INDENTED ENOUGH to replace. Oh please! We lost $2600. So we bought a plain old Simmons Beautyrest for about 1/2 that and the same thing happened. It's the pillow tops. I hate them. We bought a tempurpedic and finally feel good. I would definitely never buy a pillowtop. Buy standard and add a topper of choice and you can replace those as needed. We had a regular bed for over 10 years and it never, ever had a hump in the middle or major indentations.

We just put a memory foam topper (1-1/2") right on top of our pillowtop about 2-1/2 years ago. We didn't have indentations, but it just wasn't soft anymore. No problems, and the bed feels great. It really helps since we bought the mattress a little bit too firm.

Bought a pillow top for my son who is off at college. I didn't realize until it was delivered, that it only had one side! I thought it was odd, until I started reading this thread. It was not a cheap mattress, but I was thinking it was, because of the funny backing. Now I feel better after reading here. :)

We have a Tempurpedic and it is starting to break down on my side of the bed after 5 years. I weigh more than DH and sleep on my side, whereas DH sleeps on his back, so I put more dead weight on my side. When the weather is warm, the mattress "melts" and gets uncomfortable for me. In the winter, it is perfect.

To make matters worse, the first time I tried to take the washable cover off, the zipper broke. I wrote TP to ask about a replacement and they sent me a link to BUY another. I thought they would replace it free. I am not about to buy another (it was expensive), so now we have no cover on our mattress. I just replaced it with a mattress pad instead.

We have a S&F, it's about 11 years old, it's a pillowtop, and you can flip it...It sounds like their quality went downhill....we have some depressions, but not bad ones....I guess I won't replace it anytime soon....We only paid $350.00 for it, my DH's cousin works at the factory and he got it for us....I guess it's the one thing in my life that was a bargain!!

I think it's called "job security"! If they know the mattress will fail in 5 years or so, you'll have to buy another or sleep on the floor!! :) I really believe they make them with NO intention for it to last 20 years like the good ol' days!
That's why I bought a locally made mattress for my girls, no advertising so the price was CHEAP, they are very comfortable and if they last until they graduate, YIPEE for me!!!

We were mattress obsessed a few weeks ago when DH couldn't sleep on our new mattress with a plush top, a warranty replacement for our Simmons pillowtop with deep body impressions. The new mattress was definitely firmer than the old, but we didn't want another pillowtop. So we bought a 2" latex topper and now we are happy. It's like having a pillowtop that you can rotate and flip as needed. The foam topper is on the firm side but still has a nice give to it, and it looks like it will last a long long time. Mattresses are definitely designed to be replaced after 5-10 years max. I think the toppers are the best solution.

I have a double pillow top mattress. I have had it for 4.5 years and I have only slept on it for 1.7 years. I have only slept in this bed as a single guy, so I slept in he middle of the matress as expected. Now I am married and living with my significant other. We try to sleep on the sides but we just roll into the grand canyon of an ident in the middle. Which is always funny in the morning. I paid about $1400 for the matress, and it has plenty of life. I just really hate the indents. BTW I have indents in the middle on both sides. I love the feel of pillow top or double pillow top matresses. But since this is a common problem I won't buy them again.

Same problem here so we bought a 4 inch,5 pound viscous foam topper, plopped it on, bought deep sided sheets and it's pure heaven and total comfort. Viscous foam is the same as Temperpedic without the brand tag. I have purchased six of these toppers on Ebay at 1/8 the cost of the name brand yet exactly the same. Google viscous foam and learn what depth and density would be best for you.

Not sure the problem. Our pillow top is on both sides. Using a sharpie marker we numbered head/foot both sides 1/2/3/4 we turn up and or over to the next number every few months.

In the 70's I slept on a S&F mattress and thought it was the best mattress ever...I slept so soundly on it. Once the kids came along we just couldnt afford one...they always seemed to be double or more the price of a decent Sealy or Simmons. Well, I finally got my Stearns and Foster not quite 2 years ago. It is not a pillow top, but I can't figure out if my aches and pains every day are from the bed or just getting older.

I learned long ago "no pillow top". We actually had our last mattress made the old fashion way with springs and various depths of cotton batting with cotton cover. Friends have a Temperpedic - we helped them move about 2 years after purchase and it was indented too.

Ok, all those who purchased the topper for your mattress.....was it already indented when you got the topper?? Did it help level out the indents?

Our S&F is only 2 1/2 yrs old, and the indents are awful. So wondering if a topper would help the problem. Being able to flip the topper seems to me like it would help. Our mattress is 17" deep, so adding another 4" with a topper would make it 21" deep. I already have trouble climbing into bed now.

I called S&F about a claim, and they said we needed the original receipt, and need to file a warranty claim with the store where we bought it. Well, we can't file a claim without the original receipt. The store is unwilling to look it up for us even though it's not been that long since we bought it, so it seems we out of luck. Paid lots of $$ for the darn thing, and I just hate it. DH wants to get a Tempur Pedic, but I'm reading they do the same thing.

Would appreciate your opinions on the topper. Thanks!

I have replaced 2 mattresses by using the warranty policies. Call the place you bought it. They have a record of the purchase. They will handle the warranty issue.

They come out and depending on the rep, they will measure, our guy measured down into one of the "button looking spots". He took a string with a "weight" (12" paperclip thing) on one end and stretched it across the mattress, then measured from the string to the bottom of the "button".

Full refund towards new mattress was given.

The first time, they didn't even come out.

We have a king sized bed, so it's almost square, we rotate it 1/4 of a turn.

I should add, we did not even have pillow tops. Remember your bed is functional, to help you get rest, not to be some sort of luxurious feeling. Buy the firmest you can get, and add a latex (not memory foam) topper to it after you purchase it. That will give you the softness you need. All the fluff and luxury comes from the bedding. Not the mattress.

Sorry, not trying to rant, but as someone who has successfully exercised the warranty twice, you need to get them out! You paid a lot of money and bought into the promises made by the mattress company.

Good Luck!

And if anybody wants legit mattress info, check out this guys blog. Not just trying to sell mattresses, he is the best in a confusing world of mattresses:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mattress Blog

Joyce, ours was indented quite a bit and you never felt it with the four inch viscous foam and that was four years ago. It still feels wonderful.

Bee: thanks for the "shove" to go back to the retailer. I just keep hitting my head against the wall with them. They seem unwilling to help. Lesson learned....KEEP YOUR RECEIPT!

yayagal: thanks for the info on the viscous foam topper. I'm definitely going to try that in the interim.

yayagal: found this one...is it similar to the one you purchased?

Here is a link that might be useful: mattress topper

Anyone notice that this thread is six years old? LOL I am glad it got bumped up because I am still mattress shopping. Definitely will not be getting a pillow top.

dedtired... another one here that will be calling Raymour and Flanigan to complain about mattress indentions. I have my own bed, and figuring this will be the last mattress I own, I was willing to pay the extra bucks. Although happy with my old pillowtop (completely flippable) for the last 20 years I decided to go with a conventional mattress. Two months after I bought it when I went to rotate it I realized there was NO BOX SPRING... it was just a "BOX". Figured it was a mistake but there on the receipt was "mattress and box" not box spring. Called the store and got a buyer beware lecture. Since I really didn't like the non-pillowtop I was able to get them to exchange it for a pillowtop, which of course was only pillowtopped on one side. Smart move on the manufacturers part, your new mattress lasts only 1/2 as long.

Love, loved, loved it, until the indentations started. Don't feel I should have to pay any more to buy a mattress topper, which will probably start "failing" in a year or two and then I am back with the indentations. I am going to complain since I see it has happened to many others.

Why do I always get the feeling that I am getting "taken" every time I buy anything lately.

Regarding the paperwork/receipts: when we had a mattress delivered many years ago, one of the delivery guys suggested keeping all the paperwork between the mattress and box spring, so it will never get lost. Works like a charm even though I have never needed to make any claim. I do know where all the paperwork for every mattress set is!

Ded, too funny-I never noticed the dates when I started reading!

Joyce the one on Overstock should serve you very well. Follow the directions for laying it flat when you open it up and then you're good to go. You won't regret the purchase. Actually I paid twice as much, you got a good deal.

you can't flip them. and that's exactly why the pillow top mattress was developed. the manufacturer doesn't want you to be able to prolong the life of the mattress; they want you to buy a new one.
i've played along with this sorry game for the last time. i found a custom mattress shop near me and i'm ordering a mattress with NO synthetic fibres. just wool, cotton and horse hair. i plan to use a foam topper under the sheets -a pillow top of my own making. and when it breaks down, i'll get a new topper. BUT, the mattress will still be in perfect condition. and when i die my kids can move my mattress to their house.

Yes, I noticed the thread's age when it first got bumped. But I guess mattresses still cause such problems it does not hurt to get it going again.

I went the custom factory route, too. The one near us makes double-sided /flipable pillowtops. And I needed to get the thick, higher quality foam to please my joints. It is pricey to get those better quality frames (no saggy sides after 12 years on our previous mattress from them!) and real, well-built box springs that last through several mattress' lives. But when the inferior products don't last, the beds quickly get uncomfortable and it does not save money to have to replace everything more often.

One money-saving idea is to ask about scuffed or mismatched sets. I got a $300 twin box spring for $50 because it was supposed to have had a scuff mark on it (I have never even found the supposed scuff). Plus we got a free waterproof pad ($80 value) just because I asked if they would throw it in.

Another upside to my company's custom route is that if you desire a mattress that is no longer in their listed lineup, they can still make one for you. So if your old design was comfortable, it isn't necessary to go with something different the next purchase.

The one downside of the double pillowtop, quality-framed mattress, is that they are heavier, making them more difficult to flip! I have done it many times by myself, but it easier with someone else to help.

Could people who have gone the custom route please share their sources? Thanks.

I will search now on google, but recommendations are almost always better!

I have to say I love pillow-tops. I had one (I think a Sealy) that by the end of 15 years did have a dent. Last year I purchased a Simmons with a firmer top (one side only) and have regretted it. It's comfortable enough, but nothing "snuggles" like a soft pillow top. This one already has a slight dent! Fortunately, I live alone so am the only one in a queen-size bed and can shift sides to minimize the problem. I tried a couple of different "toppers" on this one to make it softer, but they didn't work - kept sliding around and felt weird. Do the foam ones work better? I'd be willing to try....

As for the custom mattress a town not far from us had a bedding store that offered this service. They are no longer in business.

Our mattress is a double pillow top (both sides have the pillow top). Are these not available anymore? The last mattress we bought for the guest room is a pillowtop and NOT flipable. What a mistake THAT was :( Can you buy any double sided mattresses anymore?

It is always weird when these threads pop back up out of nowhere. But this is serving to remind me that our mattress is now 12 years old! Might be almost time for a new one!

We ended up using a featherbed topper for a while, which really didn't hide the indentations after the initial "fluffing" each week. Finally the feathers starting poking me so I got rid of it. At the moment, our comforter is so thick you can't see our lumpy mattress!

we flipped ours after 2 years and it is like heaven to sleep on it now. WE figured if we didn't like it we could always flip it back. What do you have to lose.

Just purchased a Novaform gel mattress from Costco. Queen was about 350$ At 14", it made the bed too high, so we replaced the old box spring with plywood. A friend has one and loves it, and has great reviews online. We got it for guest room, but just might get a king for our bed. Tried it out last nigh...felt great.
I would gladly pay 4-5k for a mattress if I knew it was perfect, no return hassle and would last ten years. After more than one bad experience, I am thrilled to give this a try.

We have an actual mattress factory in our town --- a real one, not a retail giant called that--- it has been here for about 75 years. (They will custom size a mattress for antique beds and used to offer a horsehair fill.) When we bought all new mattresses from this company the owner came out to our house to inspect and measure the beds to confirm the size, and brought samples of firm, medium and soft. When I asked if they had any pillow top models he told me that was basically a scam. The filler material in the pillow top is not extra, it is stuff that should have been in the mattress. By not covering the back of the mattress you cannot flip it to distribute wear. And since you cannot do that, you shorten the life of the mattress by about half. We bought out mattresses, flip them regularly and there are no indentations whatsoever in any of them.

It's way past time for me to get a new mattress. I'm not sure if there is a difference between plush and pillow top. My current one is a Sealy Posturepedic Devotion Plush, and it doesn't look like it's available anymore. It's one-sided so all I can do is rotate it. It's got depressions, but they took a while.

I really like the soft feel. I slept once on a memory foam mattress and I hated it. I'm willing to get a firmer mattress and add a top cover if I can cheat the wear yet have a plush feel. I don't even know where to start with this. Latex? Sounds gross, but researching mattress covers they are $300+.

The mattress building company we purchased our double-sided pillow top mattress from is Southern California based. Although they ship, (or used to) you really do not want to purchase a mattress without trying it out. I provided a link to show what options could be available from a local mattress manufacturer, that are not generally offered from the regular mattress retailers.

Here is a link that might be useful: A Custom Mattress Manufacturer

We just flipped our pillow top mattress for a few weeks. It wa a little harder than we would like but better than sleeping in the ruts created in the pillow top. After a few weeks we flipped it back. The pillow top flattened out evenly so as of right now we have a comfortable bed again.

We never buy a pillow top again.

Based on Consumer Reports recommendations, we bought the Costco Novaform Serafina. I was skeptical of a memory foam-gel mattress. I had had a memory foam pad once and it slept hot.

I love this mattress! It is not hot and the firmness is good. Costco's super return policy was also a factor in the purchase.

I have to have a soft mattress but I also need support. Many years ago I tested a memory foam and it felt like I was resting on wet sand, it was horrible. Two years ago I saw an ad for Tempurpedic Cloud collection. I went to a local mattress store and it felt wonderful, soft yet firm if that makes sense. I no longer wake up with aches and pains. It was expensive but I haven't had a bad night's sleep since it was delivered. The only thing I would change is that I got the model that has the electric motor to raise your head for reading in bed. It wakes my pupster up so I don't use it.

I bought one a year ago. Good quality, $1800. I regret it and should have bought a normal flippable mattress. Don't let the sales people talk you into a pillow top! They are not good for your back, even if they don't have all the dent issues people describe above. I have aches I didn't even have before.

If i can't sell it for half what i bought it for, I found this website about hacking the pillow top off, which i am going to try: http://www.instructables.com/id/Hacking-a-Pillow-top-Bed/

And if that doesn't work, I'll swallow my pride, get the wallet out and go buy a normal mattress from a LOCAL old-school furniture shop.

I also began hating my pillow top mattress, and I bought a firmatop mattress cover that makes the pillowtop very taught, hence much harder. It's around 200$ and did the trick for me. http://firmatop.com/Firmatop/Welcome.html

Latex is the way we went and it is WONDERFUL!

We just did mattress shopping after our move last Nov and found flippable mattresses to be rare. They are available but many of the larger companies don't make them anymore. We were able to buy from a smaller regional company for one of our purchases and it's flippable but the other mattress we bought is not. Like so many things we are accustomed to, the end product is being made more cheaply to maintain profit margins.

Holly-Kay, that electric bed-raiser may also be helpful for people with acid reflux, as it's recommended by doctors that sufferers elevate the head of the bed to prevent reflux problems while you sleep.

We purchased a custom made king size Verlo mattress about 3 years ago. After sleeping on it for about a month, we found it was much too firm for our liking. I called the store, they came to pick it up, they changed the topper portions of both sides to a less firm option (it's a flippable mattress) and they delivered the modified mattress at no cost at all to me. Because it's a 2-sided mattress, it came with a lifetime warranty; the non-flippable mattresses come with "only" a 25-year guarantee. But now there are indentations in the mattress and I haven't yet called the store to see if they warrant a new mattress, or if they're not yet deep enough. My early experience with the brand and the store were very positive; now we'll have to see just how well they stand behind their products. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

We replaced our mattress about a year ago.

We found a local manufacturer (Texas Mattress Makers) in my search for a latex mattress. They had three different latex mattresses, but none of them were like my son's, so we looked around and would up with one that was very much like the one we would have gotten from a major store, made by one of the major mattress names. The overall construction was almost identical, but they used a better coil system that would give better support and longer life. The price was about the same as the major brand -- when it was on sale for half price and had a promotion going on top of that. Made a believer out of me.

Wanted to add that when you go to the source, they really know what is inside a mattress (at this place, the folks selling you a mattress on Saturday may be making that mattress on Monday or Tuesday) and can help you select what you need and they can really customize a mattress. We wound up buying one they stock, but we talked about how they customize the padding inside when needed. They can make a half and half so that the guy gets his firmer mattress and the woman gets something that supports her curves. They have cut out segments of the foam and changed to a firmer or softer when someone has an old injury or a hip or shoulder problem. Antique beds, custom sizes, custom support systems or flippable mattresses -- the local maker is worth looking into.

I have a Beautyrest pillow top that has aged well and does not have the indentations so many people are mentioning. I thought I wasn't supposed to rotate it, but after reading this, my husband and I rotated it today. Maybe it had that confused with flipping?? I can see it will be a challenge when we need to replace this mattress. Thanks for everyone's input.

We rotate. I tried flipping and it was incomfortable even with a topper. It is hard to find a good mattress without a pillow top. I wish they would go back to them. When i first got married, 40 years ago we had a top of the line king koil that lasted forever. It was the best but no longer available!

Even the non pillow top new mattresses are one sided only, the days of the flippers are long gone. unless they've brought them back in the last couple years or since I bought our new one? You can buy no pillow tops but still not a flipper, I buy no pillow top then use my 5" of memory foam on top covered by a thick mattress pad, and still get indentations after a few years and yes we rotate around for all the good that does? and we do flip the big slab of memory foam which helps. All in all our bed is Awesome!!

No they are a thing of the past. We bought a double sided pillow top 24 years ago. We have flipped and turned it each month. No indents no complaints..but it is 24 years old. When we first purchased it queen sheets would not fit. Today they will. No doubt the pillow tops are flatter. Still we had no complaints but IT WAS TIME. We put it in the guest room and went shopping. Of course we just wanted the same thing again. Not possible. We also were not going to spend anywhere near $1,000 on a mattress. We did not buy the topper required for a warranty--who wants to sleep on plastic? ISH. THEY claim 8 years is about the life of a mattress. Well if the new ones are made to fail in 8 years...why spend money like it is an investment. So far so good we are liking what we chose..but in the end I think it is a crap shoot and there is no way to know how long a mattress will last.

I'm now single again, and I can tell you that solo sleepers have it a bit better! If this is your case and you have a full, queen or king mattress, it helps to sleep on a different side of the mattress each night to delay the (almost) inevitable indenting....

I bought a ridiculously expensive pillow-top Stearns and Fosters mattress about 5 years ago and only enjoyed the plushness for about 2 years. I refuse to buy another mattress so soon after spending that much, so I flipped my pillow-top mattress like a good ol' regular mattress (yep, pillow-top at the bottom), then bought a mattress pad from another brand and voila, good as new! Don't tell Mr. Fosters ;)