Mattress Forum

http://www.classicmattress.com/latex_foam_topper.html

I bought two of these to do a cheap "risk free" in-home sleep trial on latex.  Other buyers have written in the product comments that the topper is 20 ILD dunlop.  I'm skeptical...  I've read that Classic Brands is the same company as Dormia if that helps at all.  I'm looking for a determination of talalay/dunlop as well as an ILD rating.  I'd like to use my experience with these toppers to design an all latex DIY mattress so any help on the likely ILD of the toppers will be greatly appreciated.

I do NOT recommend this topper!  I ordered two of them.  After removing the boxes, I found that the plastic bags covering both toppers had very large sections ripped open. The tears were large, big enough to fit a hand and more.   One of the toppers has a large brown stain dead center on the top of the bamboo cover.   The other topper is 6" too short. The bamboo cover is the correct length but the foam is short.  It looks like they stuck a Twin foam in a Twin XL cover.   My receipt and boxes state that both toppers are Twin XL. Obviously, both of these are going back for a refund.

Both toppers expanded fully within an hour of unpacking and coming up to room temperature.   It's been two days and they haven't gained any additional size.  Surprisingly, they were not compressed very much in the packaging.  They were rolled up from bottom to top.  The plastic tubes they were packed in were at most 1-2" smaller in diameter than the rolled up toppers.

I tossed one topper on top of the other and put them on a carpeted floor.  I laid on them for about 1/2 hour.  Surprisingly, I didn't bottom out even when laying on my side.  I weigh 320lbs with an atheletic build.  There was far too much pressure on my shoulder to be comfortable but the area wasn't bottomed out.  Lying on my back, I was very close to being comfortable. The most sunken in area was 2" or more above the carpet level.

Everything I've read about latex makes me think that thse toppers cannot be 20 ILD.  I know dunlop is "more robust" and less squishy but it doesn't add up.   With only 4" of 20 ILD I should be sinking all the way to the carpet...right?

After the floor trial I moved one topper to my bed.  It's a Sleep Number like bed from Comfortaire.  Each night immediatley before sleep I pump the bed to maximum pressure.  This makes the air bed extremely firm.  (I'm trying to emulate a very firm latex base layer with the fully inflated air bed.)   I've slept two nights on this configuration as a test to see if the Walmart latex topper is suitable as a comfort layer.  The first night was bad.  I tossed and turned a lot.  The second night was better.  I would estimate 20% as much tossing and turning as the first night.  I can imagine that after a week I might aclimate enough that tossing is minimal.   However, this topper doesn't give the feeling I'm looking for.  I would like to emulate the feel of a properly inflated air bed.  (Why not buy another air bed?  See the thread linked to below for my reasons.)

Even though this topper isn't my ideal comfort layer, I can tell that latex is capable of giving me exactly the feeling I'm after.  I just have to get the ILD's and laters right.  These Walmart toppers seem to be roughly the right firmness for my base layer.   I can imagine that 6" of these toppers plus softer comfort layer would be just right.  I have no intention of using three of these toppers as a base layer.  That's why I'm trying to figure out their ILD.  I'd buy a similarly firm base from one of the usual suspects (mattresses247, overnightmattresses, FBM, SLAB, etc...)  As a topper, I'm thinking the philmoresupply toppers might work if they're less firm than my Walmart toppers.

If the Walmart toppers are dunlop I'll need advice on translating that to a talalay ILD.  My current feeling is that I'll go for a Latex International talalay but I'm not 100% certain.

Some of you may recognize me from this thread: http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/am-i-crazy-try-this/27399-0-1.html    If you're curious why I'm messing around with latex see my latest post in that thread.