And even if you can figure out the differences among the various brands, it’s difficult to comparison shop because many manufacturers sell exclusive lines to retailers. So the mattress you like at Costco may not be carried at Sleepy’s — or if it is, it’s called something else. After she found a mattress she liked in one store, Judelson said: “I’d go into store B and say, ‘Do you have the Serta blah, blah, blah?’ And the salesperson would say: ‘I don’t know. We may. But ours have different names.’ ”

Then there is the incomprehensible tech-speak: advanced pocketed coil technology; PrimaCool gel; viscoelastic memory foam. It’s as if mattress manufacturers are selling not what is basically a large stationary cushion but a spaceship. A shopper visiting the Macy’s in downtown Brooklyn on a recent afternoon could find among the dozens of mattresses for sale the Vitagenic Streamline Cushion Firm by Aireloom, priced at $3,349 for a queen set and boasting “plush talalay latex support.”

Talalay latex? C’mon, mattress people.

Now it sounds as if you’re just making stuff up.

David Perry, an editor at Furniture Today, an industry trade publication, has been writing about the bedding industry for almost 30 years. “It’s tough to get your hands around,” Perry said. “One of the key points is that comfort is subjective. If comfort was objective, this would be simple.”

Because a mattress is something we all must buy at some point, a demystifying seemed in order.

A sea of white

It would help if mattresses were like couches or dining tables and came in easily distinguishable styles, shapes and colors. But as Brett Swygman, a vice president for sales and development at Simmons, admitted, the products his company and its competitors sell have a baffling visual uniformity. People walk into a store, Swygman said, “and see a sea of white rectangles.”

Not only do most mattresses look alike, but their essence — the components that distinguish well-made models from lesser ones — is hidden. Perhaps that’s why bed names can reach a baroque absurdity in their effort to convey opulence, comfort and engineering superiority: Edenton Luxury Firm (Simmons), Warrington Luxury Plush (Stearns & Foster), Vitagenic Gel Ultra Firm (Aireloom), Hybrid Utopian Retreat (Serta).

If you cut through the marketing-speak, though, identities emerge among the major manufacturers. Simmons trademarked the pocketed coil, a barrel-shaped, independently moving encased spring.

Tempur-Pedic is known for memory foam (more later on both of these technologies), and its sibling brands are Stearns & Foster and Sealy, which both make spring and foam mattresses. All are owned by Tempur Sealy International. Serta is the No. 1 mattress brand by wholesale sales. Select Comfort is the main producer of air beds, which it markets under the name Sleep Number. And many of these brands have several lines, to hit a range of price points.

“One advantage of the proliferation of products is that you have many choices,” Perry said.

Of course, that can prove overwhelming. So Perry suggested that mattress shoppers focus less on the marketing and hardware and more on what he calls the “software.”

As he put it: “How does it feel to you?”

Swygman suggested a self-limiting strategy. “I’d make sure the sales associate doesn’t show me more than three beds,” he said. “You’ll be able to find a bed that is the right feel, will help solve sleep problems you’re having and fit into a budget.”

Still, that isn’t always necessary, depending on where you shop. While the selling floors of department stores and bedding chains like Sleepy’s and Sit ‘n Sleep are a fluorescent-lit sea of white, most high-end mattress stores tend to resemble a gentle pond. The more you’re willing or able to spend, it seems, the less you’re overwhelmed with options.

A new manufacturer wants to eliminate the dilemma of choice altogether, by changing the way people shop for mattresses. Earlier this year, Casper, a New York-based startup, introduced a single, one-mattress-fits-all product in standard sizes that can be bought online and ships inside a box.

Philip Krim, the company’s chief executive, said he was inspired by hotel beds. “When you check into a hotel, they don’t ask you, do you need medium, firm, plush-firm or plush-soft?” Krim said. “There’s one mattress.”

He added: “You don’t need 80 different choices. You don’t need to spend $5,000 on a mattress.”

The Casper mattress is made of memory and latex foams and sells for $850 for a queen. To make consumers feel comfortable buying a mattress that they haven’t tested in person, the company offers a 100-day trial period and an easy return policy: If you don’t like the mattress, the company will send a courier to remove it for a full refund. (At the bedding chains, there is usually a sizable return fee, and high-end retailers like Duxiana don’t allow returns.)

“I think sleep has never been more top-of-mind for consumers,” Krim said. “And yet, a mattress is bought in a confusing and antiquated experience. We didn’t see anyone speaking more basically about the product.”

Why NASA?

No part of the mattress shopping experience is more complicated than manufacturers’ explanations of what is inside their mattresses. Even German luxury carmakers don’t fixate this much on engineering.

As Judelson said: “Of everything, that added the most to the stress and confusion. I would say, ‘Can I just have a basic mattress like I had?’ And that was not to be found. They’ve tried to make it high-tech.”

Boiled down and simplified, there are two basic constructions: inner-spring (or encased) coils and non-inner-spring.

An example of the former is the Simmons Beautyrest line, with its pocketed coils. Swygman, of Simmons, likened the coils to keys on a piano, in that they “all move independently,” and explained that they conform to body shape and shifting positions.

Non-inner-spring (or specialty) mattresses include those made by Tempur-Pedic, which uses a proprietary form of memory foam, a heat- and pressure-sensitive foam that conforms to your body’s shape and was developed by NASA as a way to cushion astronauts who experience great G-force during takeoff and landing.

Of course, since we’re talking about mattresses, it isn’t that simple.

“There’s a popular trend in the industry of hybrid sleep sets,” Perry said. “It’s a combination of inner-spring and specialty foams.”

There is also another type of foam, called latex foam or foam rubber. “A lot of bedding aficionados — bedding executives and bedding store owners — sleep on latex beds,” Perry said. “Memory foam, you sink into. Latex pushes and elevates.”

The real question is whether any one technology contributes more than the others to a good night’s sleep and, if so, to what extent. Are two layers of memory foam better than one? Is the mattress with 1,000 coils that much more comfortable than the one with 900?

Ed Perratore, a journalist at Consumer Reports, which tests and rates mattresses, sees the focus on engineering as a smokescreen. “Things like how many foam layers, how many coils there are, the type of coils — some of this could help you, but it’s meant to keep you off-guard,” Perratore said.

There are several kinds of coils, he pointed out, including Bonnell, continuous wire and individually encased springs. “We found that no one of those when present is definitely better than the others,” Perratore said. “If you don’t know that more coils doesn’t necessarily matter, then you’re playing on the salesman’s terms.”

But most of that technical jargon is lost on consumers anyway, said Krim, the Casper co-founder. “People don’t care that a bed has multizoned lumbar support and cooling-gel factors,” he said. “They care about a good night’s sleep.”

In the luxury bedding world, the focus shifts from construction to materials. Hästens beds, for instance, use horsehair that is sterilized for up to a year before going into the mattress. Shane Bahng, director of global retail development for Hästens, said horsehair “naturally wicks away moisture from your body.” It also makes for a mattress that lasts longer than one made of synthetic materials, he said. “There’s no bringing it back once the synthetic materials break down. A bed made of natural materials can last a lifetime.”

Duxiana has a similar pitch, touting its Dux 101 as “handcrafted from the finest materials” and made with “Swedish steel springs.” Leaving aside the question of whether Swedish steel is somehow better than other variants, Perratore said, the bed doesn’t necessarily provide a better night’s sleep.

When Consumer Reports tested the Dux 101, it performed about the same as a $540 mattress from the Original Mattress Factory. “It was very good for side support,” he said. “Back support, it was good. Wouldn’t you think for it being a $5,000 mattress, it would score fives across our tests?”

One day sale! 365 days a year only!

So how much should you spend on a mattress? It’s hard to know, especially if you shop at a chain like Sleepy’s, where every holiday inspires a blowout and waking up to the Earth still rotating can be reason enough for a sale.

The constant price-slashing has created an impression that mattresses are wildly marked up by retailers. Perry believes it also sends the wrong message to consumers by emphasizing low prices. “We shouldn’t be trying to find the cheapest version of a great night’s sleep,” he said. “It’s kind of an odd thing.”

In its surveys, Consumer Reports has found that most people tend to spend between $800 and $1,200 for a mattress, though a good mattress can be purchased for less. “From the models that we’ve tested, they seem to start getting good in the $600 to $700 range,” Perratore said, adding that even the $540 inner-spring mattress from the Original Mattress Factory made Consumer Reports’ recommended list. And because prices are fluid, especially at the chains, Perratore said, there’s no reason not to haggle with the salesperson, even if you arrive a day late for that big Columbus Day sale.

In the end, Judelson bought a $2,500 Stearns & Foster pillowtop mattress that she found too hot as a sleep surface. She returned it and ended up spending $2,000 for a Simmons Beautyrest Pemberton Plush, a name that made her laugh. She didn’t find the rest of the experience as amusing. One senses that Judelson settled on the Pemberton less for its comfort than to put the whole thing behind her.

“Because of all the confusion — every aspect of it — it wears you down,” she said. “To the point where you say, ‘Please just let this be over.’ ”

You are feeling sleepy …

All those studies about the importance of sleep have made the mattress a high-anxiety purchase, but a bed is just one part of a good night’s rest. Don’t view a mattress as a sleeping pill, and don’t stress too much over its purchase. Below is a quick cheat sheet of things to keep in mind when out shopping.

Don’t bust the budget

Spending more for a mattress doesn’t necessarily guarantee a better night’s sleep. In tests conducted by Consumer Reports, a $5,000 mattress performed about the same as one that cost $540. The difference is often organic versus synthetic materials. But industry experts say a well-constructed mattress can be bought for as little as $600.

Read the fine print

Although some retailers allow returns if you’re not satisfied, there are often conditions and fees attached. And mattresses purchased from many high-end retailers can’t be returned. Ask about the store’s return policy before buying.

Look for savings

One good thing about buying a mattress is that you can almost always find a sale going on. And if you miss a sale, there’s no reason not to try to negotiate a better price, especially at a bedding chain. Consider the sticker price a starting point, and don’t think you need to be satisfied with a token deduction. During a holiday sale, mattress prices can be reduced by as much as 50 percent and more, said Ed Perratore of Consumer Reports.

Comfort is king

Ultimately, the manufacturer, the number of coils or layers of memory foam, and the price of a mattress don’t matter as much as how it feels to you. If you lie on it for 15 minutes in the store and it feels good, it’s a reasonable indication that the mattress will be right for you.