Our bunkhouse “mattresses” are just that: “mattresses” that need quotes around them. Heck in real speaking, they would almost need air quotes. My 60 pound 9 year old wasn’t 100% comfortable and putting my adult-size in-laws on them just seemed downright mean. I honestly don’t know how my in-laws suffered through nights on them. As we prepared for our trip to Disney last year, I knew that I couldn’t subject them to 9 nights on those “mattresses” and we would have to do something.
I had heard about Foam Factory (aka Form by Mail) on a couple of RVing forums when people talked about getting better cushions for their dinettes or getting replacements for bunkhouse mattresses. They have a plethora of options on their site with varying levels of firmness, thicknesses and types of foam; honestly, to the point that it made my head swim. On top of changing out the mattresses, I knew that I also wanted to change the dinette cushions eventually. I finally sent an email to the folks at Foam Factory that detailed that I was after:
- if it was a mattress vs. dinette cushion
- it’s dimensions
- it’s primary user
- it’s frequency of use
Within a day or so, I received a call from one of their employees and he confirmed each of the mattresses that I wanted – who was using them, their size, mattress preference, all that jazz. He gave me verbal recommendations for which products would work best in each location and said that he would have a quote to me by the next morning. I’m fairly positive that it came later that same day.
Taking the information that I had given him, I also went on a look for some local shops that sold foam. Let me tell you- Joanne Crafts stores do not have anything near what they were selling and what they did have was significantly more expensive. I tried price comparing online, but everyone uses different terms and I was never sure if I was comparing apples to apples. But, I did get a feel that Foam Factory’s prices were decent.
Ordering
I’ve ordered from Foam Factory twice now. Each time I ordered custom cut foam and each time the pricing was good, the delivery time good and customer service excellent. Because it was custom cut, it did take a couple of days for them to get it ready to be shipped (they say 7-10 days). (Which worked, because each time I’m certain that I called them after the fact to change sizes after re-measuring or something. They took the changes in stride and delivered exactly what I asked for.)
My first order was for 2 mattresses for my in-laws. They had concerns that 4″ foam still wasn’t going to be sufficient but it’s been plenty comfy. I got each of them 4″ Lux-R Foam mattresses. Since we had the original “mattresses”, we use them like a mattress topper over the foam so they actually have quite comfy beds back there! In fact, my daughter was jealous…
My second order was this past spring for a mattress for my daughter and for replacement cushions for my dinette. I got my daughter a 2″ Lux-R Foam mattress. Since I often work from the camper, I sit at the dinette for long periods of time. I wanted better tushy support and replaced the cushions there, too. The downside- I cheaped out and only replaced the seat bottoms and NOT the seat backs leaving the table as a bed fairly uncomfortable when my cousins used it on our trip from heck.
Covers, Dacron Wraps, Oh My!
For the mattresses, I just couldn’t justify the cost of any of the extras. After a season of regular use, each mattress still looks to be in great shape. I wouldn’t mind covers to dress them up somewhat, but truthfully once the bed is made up, there’s no point.
I did get the Fiberfill Wrap (Dacron) wrap on the dinette cushions. In hindsight, I should have paid more attention to their “How To Measure Guide” as I’m fairly certain my cushions are too big for the covers. It looks like a stuffed sausage and my seams are starting to pay the price. (sad face)
Final Word – BUY THEM!
If you have bunks or crappy dinette cushions, buy them. Buy them now. Your kids and guests alike will thank you.
And buy from Foam Factory, they’re customer service was awesome. For my first order, their guy talking to me really helped make my decision for what to buy (as I described above). For my second order, I waited a little too long to order. They “hurried” my order through so it would make it for a trip (not “rush” because I didn’t want to pay the “rush” fee).
