King Koil Mattress -- How to Compare Mattresses Without Details

The King Koil mattress has always had a good reputation based on a well-made, well-marketed mattress. You would think that their website would offer enough information to allow prospective customers to make an informed buying choice.

But a check of their new website shows it severely lacking in details. It is possible that the site will expand its coverage of the King Koil mattress line, but right now the only way you will get detailed information is through retail sites, review sites and the opinions of your friends who might have experience with the product -- better than nothing, but not really ideal.

The company was started in 1898. Apparently the 1890s was a good year for mattress company beginnings, as several began their manufacturing operations in that century and decade.

However, like so many other mattress companies -- really just about all of them -- drastic changes can happen during those 200-odd years. The most recent transformation for the company was in 2005, when it changed its name to Comfort Solutions and began marketing three additional distinct product lines: Laura Ashley, NR Natural Response, and Perfect Contour.

The King Koil mattress is, as the name indicates, their innerspring collection. The other lines feature a wide range of innovative mattress material, none of which is really adequately described. Again, hopefully the website is a work in progress and more will be added in the near future.

There are a number of different models in this line, but none of them are listed on the website. You have to turn to retailers for specific model names and features. Mattress retailers are generally an unreliable source of information about individual mattress, as retailers often put their own names on similar mattresses, and salespeople can be, at times, rather evasive.

In order to make good mattress brands comparisons, it's essential to have details of inner construction, such as coil count, coil type, padding materials, varying support features, and any other bedding technology or exclusive innovations.

If we don't know what's inside the mattress, we can only rely on our bodily response during that all-important 15-20 minute test lying down on the mattress. While some idea of comfort and support can be obtained through that test, no picture of durability can really emerge. What will the mattress feel like in 2, 3 or 5 years? How long will it last? These are questions you can only estimate answers for by knowing the construction of the mattress.

So we will revisit the King Koil mattress collection as soon as those details can be obtained from a reliable source.