Learn English – Suffixes -hood -dom -ness… Is there any rule

Here's part of an explanation found here:

TO ... is used in cases where a "transfer" happens. E.g.

• I will give this book to you. (from me to you)
• I will go to work. (from home to work)
• I will talk to her. (information goes from me to her)

FOR is used in the following situations:

for the benefit of

e.g. I will do that for you.

purpose

e.g. This brush is for painting.

Not exactly a rule, but in general to applies if the word coming afterwards is specific. For is used if the situation is more abstract.

For this reason, both of your examples for alms make sense depending on the context.

We give alms to the poor.  (Which poor? The beggars downtown. We give alms to those beggars.)  
We give alms for the poor. (Which poor? I'm not sure. Our charity determines who receives the alms.)

A quick search for -ness words on onelook.com (a portal to numerous online dictionaries) generates a list of 100 examples just between abrasiveness and bitterness. I would guess there are several thousand.

However, these are not all the adjectives in English (well, I hope not). Some adjectives have their own noun forms that do not use -ness, for example, the noun form of indifferent is indifference, not indifferentness.

You also have to distinguish between different types of adjectives. Some are participles, verb forms that can be used like adjectives, as in your example sleeping. These are much less likely to be amenable to a -ness construction. In fact, the noun form for many participle adjectives is the gerund that has the same form as the participle, for example running. Similarly, as you suggest, the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives do not lend themselves to -ness formations.

Also some words used as adjectives are themselves nouns, such as car in car factory, or as you offer, polyester, a noun that can be used adjectivally.

In sum, you can form nouns by adding -ness to many, but not all adjectives.