Mattress Forum

Your comments about not wanting to "sink in" and sleeping hot pretty much rule out using memory foam as a top layer in a mattress.

The Madison only has 2" latex so it needs a layer underneath that is not quite as firm to act as part of the comfort layer. It's sort of a compromise and given the feedback about the acella-flex not "coming back", I would tend to avoid it. Poly doesn't usually do well when it's compressed for a long period of time and these have almost certainly been shipped compressed from China where Classic brands has a factory.

I took some time last night to "analyze" the construction of the greenhurst and it is surprisingly well constructed to suit your circumstances. I know that this comment may be surprising to many given my thoughts about "S" brands in general but my low opinion of them is generally more about the durability of the materials they use, what they charge for cheap polyfoam, and the general direction they are going. In some cases, their actual design (outside of materials used) is pretty good. In other cases their design is purely to cater to "what consumers think they want" and they are terrible (6 miles of poly over an innerspring) or to cater to a "store feel" without regard to what will happen after, but in this case the design is one of their better ones for someone like you.

They are using 3 "technologies" all of which would help someone with your preferences and needs.

First, they are using a form of "sandwiching" similar to one of the patent links I posted earlier with softer foam in between firmer foam. The softer foam has a higher sag factor which means it gets "firmer" with compression faster than the firmer foam outside. This is for someone that needs to sink in for alignment and support without sinking into the upper material as far (want a more "on top of the mattress" feeling).

Next they are using "posture channels" which are a form of reverse zoning which allows your bony prominences to sink in further and puts the firmer posture channels under your lumbar and upper thigh (the depression below your butt when you lay on your back) for support. This is best for a back sleeper but has some side benefits as well.

Finally they are using X7 zoning which reinforces the same idea as the posture channels but a little higher in the mattress.

The bottom line ... and I hesitate to say this given that you have never laid on the mattress and theory is always trumped by experience ... it that this mattress may be very suitable to you in terms of what you have posted. I would still question the durability of some of the materials used and the price they charge you for these materials ... but in terms of design it may do surprisingly well for you. I would doubt that you would need more than a thin topper if you needed one at all.

I would probably choose this one over the "memory foam version" although the memory foam version would allow you to sink in more (not "into" more on top which is why they put it deep). I don't think that is necessary given the rest of the construction and it likely wouldn't be as suitable for you. It's a tossup what would last longer between the marvelux or the memory foam (the only real difference) as they are not specific about either.

Part of the problem with this kind of "analysis" is also that they are not specific and open enough about the foams they use so you have to "guess" from the descriptions what they could be (and so to some degree guess as to their durability, performance, and response). Personal experience would help confirm these "guesses". This is also why it is impossible to know how long this "good construction" will last as it looks like some of the foam is higher density HR foam which should last quite a while and some of it is lower density which may break down sooner.

In any case, I don't see anything there in latex/poly that I would consider that was in your budget. If I was to get latex/poly, I would probably want a thicker latex layer so I could have a firmer support layer.

More on some of your other comments later.

Thanks again.  Acella Flex is marketed as being more resilient and durable (though compared to what I'm not sure!) but I couldn't find many specific reviews from actual users.  I take it that your comment that you have heard that it 'does not come back' means that over time it compresses (i.e., loses some of its original resiliency) and does not return to its original shape/depth?  Would that also mean that it becomes harder over time because it stays compressed?  Would that mean that it would tend to crater or form dips where the foam has compressed?

Would it be correct to say that the Madison would need to be opened up to put a 2 - 3" layer of 28ILD latex between the top layer (24ILD Ecosleep Talalay Latex) and the 6" of 33ILD Acella Flex? Or would that not really matter b/c the Acella Flex base layer is still going to compress/sag?

Thanks again!

Dino

My guess is that Sealy, and many 'name' brands, want to use proprietary names for their foams (and not provides specs) so that:

1. Customers can't do apples to apples comparisons between brands.
2. Competitors can't run ad campaigns saying Brand X's foam is inferior to ours b/c of A, B, C, etc..

Unfortunately, it does make it harder for us consumers.  One thing that I've liked in my two-day research of Latex/MF is that SOME companies/resellers are pretty transparent about what is in the product they are selling.

Thanks again!

Dino

The acella-flex is an HR foam from Legget and Platt urethane division and is one of many what are called HR (high resiliency) poly foams that are being produced by the dozens of foam manufacturers around the world. In general they are much better than other polyfoams but this too depends on how they are manufactured and the actual chemicals used to make them. They can be made quite dense and yet very soft at the same time and some of them have properties similar to latex.

Long term compression is just about the worst thing you can do to polyfoam and vacuum compression is worse than pressure compression. If a polyfoam, even a HR polyfoam ... is highly compressed for long periods of time it will often break down and lose some of it's qualities or not come back so easily. This depends to some degree on what type of compression is used and how long it was compressed. If it is compressed in China and then shipped on a boat and then sits in a warehouse for a long time ... it is not a good thing :). In normal use this would not happen to a high quality HR foam although it would still not likely last as long as latex. Poly in general will lose it's qualities long before latex and even before you get the "depressions" it is famous for (mostly lower quality poly), it will break down and lose it's properties meaning it will still look flat but have softer and firmer areas. By the time depressions appear, the process of breakdown is well advanced.

If you did choose to put latex inside the ecosleep then you would need to do mattress surgery. If the acella-flex is still in good shape then it would be a decent base but I wouldn't go there with this model because the acella-flex is not quite as firm as I would choose as a base on a thicker mattress (part of the compromise they used). Ecosleep does make mattresses with thicker latex comfort layers, latex over springs, and all latex mattresses but I didn't see any at US-mattress and they are generally more expensive (The cassidy or sundance for example, both with 5" + 2" + 2" latex, would be around $1450). Their better models are more difficult to find but I did like them in general ... even with possible compression issues ... and at one point did a fair bit of research into them when I was looking for a mattress myself.

Phoenix

So I wanted you to consider your next mattress as the base for DIY top layers.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but I wouldn't be betting you are going to get it right in just one more try.

The mattress makers are frauds and liars... and I have discovered that just swapping the order of two layers... or a single layer like 36 ILD on the bottom instead of 20 ILD on the bottom (of 4 layers)... made my mattress "too hard" and the bottom layer of 20 ILD was "just right."  You won't get close to that kind of flexibility on the "guess" program.

Just trying to keep you out of the expensive deep end.

Good luck.

shovel/Paul

Thanks again.  I think I'll stick w/ the Sealy Greenhurst Firm as it should hold up quite well and I'll just consider the extra cost to be an 'insurance policy', lol.

I know that I'll have to wait until I sleep on it for a few weeks before deciding if I need a topper, and what I actually need it for.  However, I'm pretty sure I'll get some type of topper and I'd like to continue my research.  My guess is that I'll need a bit of 'pressure relief' along with a bit of support under my lumbar region.  If I wanted to combine a latex topper (say 1" of Talatech) with a memory foam product (say 1" of Celsion or 1.5" of Aerus, which is quite inexpensive), would I get the benefits of the viscous property of the MF if I put it under the Talatech or would I put it on the top?  As the thickness of the MF would be so thin, I would not 'sink in', but would probably bottom out and hit the Talatech.  If that was the case, would I even get any benefit (as in comfort) from the MF.

Thanks again!

Dino

In this specific case, the mattress he is considering is actually well suited to what he likely needs ... even though it is way expensive for what he is getting. It's only advantage is that it likely wouldn't need much "fiddling" to get it right and that they won't "penalize" him too much for the exchange.

He basically has a choice between this mattress with possibly a thin topper and a very low end "basic spring" with slightly thicker toppers on top. If they let him "get away" with it (not insisting on an equal or better exchange without a huge penalty), then something like this Sealy or this Serta (if it comes in King) or this Simmons would be a decent base to build on without having to start with mattress surgery. The Simmons would present a problem later if mattress surgery was an option as the coils are not foam encased.

I really love what you did with your mattress and construction but suggesting that someone buy a mattress with the intent to do surgery may be a little too much for most.

Phoenix

The only problem with 2" is that your comfort layers are getting too thick and will start to affect the underlying properties of the mattress. With memory foam in this thicker layer you may very well lose some of the support that is already there.

Phoenix

PS: To speak to some of your other comments, I think that some of these foams are more widely used inside mattresses than people suspect. King Koil for example uses NuForm in their mattresses. I would think that the biggest reason they are not as widely available to the "common folk" like us is that the manufacturers and larger retailers would lose some of their "exclusivity" which means they would lose the "selling story" that they depend on to extract money from our wallets. Dont forget that the foam manufacturers are far more dependent on larger mattress manufacturers than they are on the tiny tiny percentage of people who even do the most basic research and an even smaller percentage of this that end up on a forum like this. Even the smaller manufacturers are only a small part of their business. It is the industry itself which is the problem ... from the top to the bottom.