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I have a latex mattress with a 6" Blended talalay core 32 ILD. On top of the latex core, I have tried a) 2" and b) 2" + 2" of all-natural latex ILD toppers (for clarity, two different configurations: 6" 32 ILD+ 2" 21 ILD.... or 6" 32 ILD + 2" 21 ILD + 2" 21 ILD). The cover is a stretch knit. No mattress protector yet. From a hip / spinal support point of view, I find the 6" + 2" configuration too hard. With the 6" + 2" + 2" configuration, I find that hip / spinal support starts to suffer. Based on how these two configurations have felt, I suppose a 6" 32ILD + 3" 21 ILD configuration would probably be optimal in terms of hip / spinal support for me. But I have problems with how the mattress feels for my shoulders / arms. In both configurations, the mattress feels hard on my shoulders / arms. As a result, I toss and turn. I miss the pillowtop feeling of my former innerspring matters (although the support was poor for me). Does anybody have recommendations for creating more of a "pillowtop" feeling for the latex mattress and improve pressure relief for shoulders / arms? I have read that some of you have tried zoning and have experimented with memory foam and latex 14 ILD, over the other latex layers. Have you found those strategies to be effective? Just FYI, I am an average body side sleeper. So shoulder / arm comfort is important in the mattress. Thanks very much.
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Sandman: Thanks for the advice! The mattress is king size. I may try the changes on one side first. I am side sleeper, 175 lbs. My wife is happy with her side of the bed, although her arms fall asleep during the night every once in a while. So the change to memory foam towards the top of the comfort layers may be good for her side of the bed too. Catherine: Thanks for letting me know about the problems with the 14 ILD latex. I hope you can find the balance between springs / latex that works for you. I will share my own finding as I implement Sandman's recommendations and experiment with different layers.
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I tested a few toppers yesterday in NYC's The Clean Bedroom. I did not like the soft talalay as a topper and from reading Catherine's post here and on another forum, I have crossed it off my topper list. I read your posts Catherine on the other forum. I felt your anguish as well. I have ordered a fiber bed topper seen here: https://www.overstock.com/Bedding-Bath/Candice-Olson-Luxury-300-Thread-Count-Down-Alternative-Fiber-Bed/7213229/product.html?fp=f&CID=212975&token=212975-2129752013110613837448180554569683038578232544-1-b93faa It should arrive Friday and I'll let you all know how it is. I wanted to try this because of the good reviews and I am exploring other options, meaning latex might not work well as a top layer for lighter weights. If I like it, I still have the option of adding maybe an inch or two of soft dunlop, 14 -19 or so under this fiber bed. Puralux in the less dense form, which I believe is around 20% natural dunlop 80% syn. is sold here on ebay. He also sells covers for it : http://www.ebay.com/itm/LATEX-MATTRESS-TOPPER-Cushion-2-Thick-QUEEN-SIZE/200622007364?rt=nc Many people have told me that the more natural a piece of latex is, the harder it will feel, (more push back as I call it). This is what I am trying to avoid. I think at the top, I want cushioning but I do not want to feel the hardness where my body ends in the sinking process. Not sure if I am explaining this correctly. There is also some nice looking soft dunlop that is mostly synthetic, maybe 10% - 20% natural, made by mountain top. I believe this is a newer product. Spindle Mattresses carries a 3" zoned topper seen here: http://www.spindlemattress.com/products/3-latex-foam I talked to a Mountaintop salesman and he said that the company can cut this in a 1" or 2" which is more what I am interested in, but he was unsure how I could purchase it. I like the zoning idea at the top. In theory, this seems like a nice soft topper with a little support... can't try it out anywhere though. Here is the Mountin top site: http://www.mountaintopfoam.com/our-products/ I'll be back with thoughts about the fiber bed. Tessie
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P.S.: I do want to stay away from memory foam as well... too sensitive to chemicals/odors and I think it has the similar hard feel of talalay when you reach the bottom of the body sinking process, (for lack of a better word). Tessie |
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Memory foam is somewhat controversial. Some like, some don't. I had one 4lb piece that I sank through too easily, but another 4 lb from Costco that I liked. 5 lb sensus was pretty good, and the denser piece I have now I like even more. I have gravitated to using just 1". More will hurt support, unless it is on a very firm mattress. A wool filled mattress pad can help with heat issues. I am somewhat heat sensitive, but fine with current configuration. Occasionally in summer I might put 1" latex on top, but never as comfortable that way. I have the softer shoulder zone on just one side of my queen. I notice less shoulder jam on that side vs the other, even with 3" of foam above it. In your case, it might help if you cut out and put a softer piece in the shoulder area of the 2" 32 latex. You would have to make sure it is in the right location and no guarantee it would work. You would probably be able to put back the cut out piece, if you don't like the zone. Flobeds vzone chart . This message was modified Nov 6, 2013 by sandman
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| Just as FYI, I did read somewhere else, that if you are going to do this type of mattress surgery, that cutting the foam with an inexpensive electric meat carver is among the easiest ways of getting a clean cut. |
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sandman wrote: A wool filled mattress pad can help with heat issues. I am somewhat heat sensitive, but fine with current configuration. Occasionally in summer I might put 1" latex on top, but never as comfortable that way. I have the softer shoulder zone on just one side of my queen. I notice less shoulder jam on that side vs the other, even with 3" of foam above it. Hi Sandman -- glad to see you are still here. I am trying the shoulder-cutout thing (cut out a piece of the 2" firm-ish Dunlop topper that I got from Overstock a few years ago). It might be helping some, but not quite enough at present (one problem might be the supersoft foam that I have in the cutout area; could be too soft). Right now I have my 2" 22ILD Talalay topper (from Arizona Mattress Co.) on top of that, instead of the 1" 24ILD + 1" N3 toppers I used on top before. (Pretty sure I've tried every possible combo of toppers, plus a bunch of zoning experiments.) I do love my Dormeir wool mattress pad. It's very stretchy, and I'm sure it helps with heat issues. For that one memory foam topper that I tried, though, dissipating the heat probably would have required a couple inches of wool instead of the thin layer that's in the pad. Despite my earlier postings saying how much I despise memory foam, obviously I got desperate enough to try it -- and I am currently using a memory foam pillow. Go figure....
Tessie, I'll be curious to hear how you like the fiberbed. This message was modified Nov 6, 2013 by Catherine
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Catherine,
I know that you have tried many configurations and products. Have you ever tried a soft dunlop 14 ILD as a top layer? I believe it is more synthetic than natural. One is Puralux, from Latexco... it supposedly has a nice feel. This is the one I am considering: http://www.overstock.com/Bedding-Bath/Sleep-Invigorate-All-Natural-Latex-2-inch-Mattress-Topper/7482583/product.html
Just wondered if you have experience with this type of soft dunlop? I have seen posts from women who like this over talalay latex.
Tessie
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Tessie wrote: Catherine, I know that you have tried many configurations and products. Have you ever tried a soft dunlop 14 ILD as a top layer? I believe it is more synthetic than natural. One is Puralux, from Latexco... it supposedly has a nice feel. This is the one I am considering: http://www.overstock.com/Bedding-Bath/Sleep-Invigorate-All-Natural-Latex-2-inch-Mattress-Topper/7482583/product.html Just wondered if you have experience with this type of soft dunlop? I have seen posts from women who like this over talalay latex. I have not tried that. The Dunlop topper I have is from Overstock, but it's a medium rather than a soft topper. I believe that it's about 20% natural and 80% synthetic. I wouldn't be opposed to trying a softer Dunlop... if someone else were paying for it. My hips seem happy with the medium Dunlop; it's just my shoulders that are the problem. It's the reverse with Talalay; my hips sink down too far unless I go up to about 32ILD... and then I get pressure points. Maybe I need a slightly bigger cutout and something different in the cutout area. (The cheap electric knife I bought has gotten lots of use in various mattress surgeries and zoning attempts.) -Catherine This message was modified Nov 6, 2013 by Catherine
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Catherine, I know that you have tried many options and the cost, well let's not go there. I appreciate your honesty and I have read your posts to learn from your experiences. I looked for someone of similar size and age. So, I am taking things slowly now, hoping to make wise decisions and not spend a fortune. My mattress is softening slightly and I have a piece of packing eggcrate under my hips to keep them from sinking to far and make it through the night. My rib cage, shoulders, arms, and even my hands take a punishment all night and it takes an hour or two before I feel like myself in the morning. Never had this before, but I believe that I can make my mattress comfortable. Have you ever seen an illustration of a 7 zone latex mattress? Saw this online a month after my mattress purchase and thought that this design might work best for many women: http://www.nontoxic.com/latexmattress/7zone_explained.html I will keep your yoga mat in mind if I need to firm up my hip area as I add a comfort layer or two down the road. It's a good idea. Tessie |
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Sandman: I tried memory foam in the top layer. I used a 2" 4lb Aerus memory foam topper which I had in a guest bedroom. I tried it only on my side of the mattress (to avoid disrupting my wife's side of the mattress). This is the config (from top to bottom): 2" 4lb Aerus memory foam 2" all-natural latex 21 ILD 6" blended Talalay latex 32 ILD Having the memory foam in the top layer improved things a lot for me. I found the top surface to be softer and more accommodating, providing better pressure relief. I will try this for a few more days to insure these findings continue to be true. I think I have two more findings: 1) 4" of soft material is too much for me. With either 2" + 2" latex 21 ILD or with 2" memory foam + 2" latex 21 ILD spinal alignment suffers, and I feel it in the morning. You had indicated that this was likely to happen. I have also found that 2" of soft material is too little and my hips can feel the harder layer underneath. So the solution appears to be a 3" soft layer (with a mix of memory foam and latex) 2) Although memory foam has improved pressure relief materially, my shoulders still feel crunched when side-sleeping. Shoulder(s) just does not go down enough into the mattress (although it is better with memory foam on top). As I go to a total of 3" of soft material (based on the point above), the shoulder problem is likely to get worse. So I think I will have to attempt zoning. This is going to be complex given my configuration. I think I will have to do the zoning at the 32 ILD layer level. But this is a 6" core, so cutting into it is going to be challenging and I risk ruining the core. Maybe the best course of action is to add another 2" layer of 32 ILD latex (same ILD as the core) right on top of the core (and below the soft layer) and make the zoning there. But this option would be expensive. Thanks for attaching the FloBeds vzone layout. I will not attempt to replicate it because it is very complex, but the measurements of the zones will help pinpoint the position of the soft material in the zoning. Based on the vzone layout, it appears that - for an E King mattress - the soft zone for the shoulders should have a width of 10.75" and be placed 10.75" below the top of the mattress (therefore, starting from the top of the mattress, it will be placed between inches 10.75 and 21.50). Please let me know if I am understanding the numbers correctly. (I know this note is getting confusing with me using the word "top" to mean different things in different paragraphs, but I do not know what other word to use). I saw another post that talked about the zoning that Custom Sleep Design used to recommend. It was customized to the height of the sleeper. But in general terms, the softer zone was located in the top 29" - 34" of the mattress (therefore, pretty much overlapping with the first three zones in the vzone layout). I would appreciate your recommendation on where to place the soft zone for the shoulders based on your experience. Please also let me know if I am missing something and there is a simpler way to do the zoning. Thanks very much! |