Another Disenchanted Mattress Buyer Needs Help
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We have had two mattresses in eight years - the first was a Stearns & Foster and the second was made for Storehouse by Carolina Mattress Guild. The first one got a bit lumpy, and the second one has left us with sagging sides, person-sized dents, and a nice hump in the middle of the mattress. Awesome.<BR><BR>We almost made the mistake of buying the same thing again (a pillowtop Simmons beautyrest) but fortunately I read epinions and then stumbled upon this site. Thank you for all of the great info! I've read through a lot of posts about mattress surgery and building your own mattress, and I'm interested in both of those ideas. I have no idea what kind of springs I'll encounter once we get up the courage to operate, so I want to be prepared to quickly move on building our own if the operation isn't successful.<BR><BR>1) What's it like sleeping on an all foam mattress after being used to coils? Any specific noteable difference? I think my husband is leary of ditching the coils. Is there a difference in feel in a latex core vs. a HR foam core?<BR><BR>2) If I'm going to do mattress surgery, should I start with just some firm HR foam and a topper? If so, how thick should the HR foam be to put over the coils? <BR><BR>3 ) We seem to like a firm mattress with a top that's softer. I was thinking of getting either a latex core or maybe a qualux HR foam core (or should I get 3" of each? neither? or 3" of medium latex and 3" of firm? Can I even buy a 3" latex core?). For the top I though maybe 2" of memory foam (Sensus perhaps?). We like the feel of memory foam on beds we've laid on, but we've never slept for a whole night on one, so we're not totally sold on memory foam. It's in our current mattress somewhere, but I bet it's so thin and well hidden that it doesn't help. Would some other foam provide a soft top that's still high quality?<BR><BR>Thank you for any help you can offer. I promise once we actually choose something I'll both take pictures and report back! This message was modified Aug 31, 2009 by wifecat
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Re: Another Disenchanted Mattress Buyer Needs Help
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You might want to check some of my recent posts about my DIY mattress... In answer to your questions: 1) Right now i have a 6" base of HR foam (from FoamByMail), with a little soft eggcrate on top, and it's HARD! I've been waking up sore and uncomfortable (though at first it seems very comfortable and supportive...might just need softer top layers). This week i'm getting some Sensus foam and some latex (1" of each), and a Cuddlebed. We'll see how that goes. I miss my innerpring mattress, as it 'gives' more and flexes to accommodate my body. i don't miss the motion transfer (which is why i'm trying a foam mattress)! I have slept in beds that were made of mostly HR foam, which were a lot softer, but i think the foam was not as high quality. I don't know what a latex core feels like... 2) Not sure...But there are some threads about mattress surgery in this forum. I think Kait and Jimsocal have done it... 3) A lot of people love their soft latex toppers, and a lot love their MF toppers....a matter of preference, i guess. I'm looking forward to trying mine this week! I'm sure you'll get many responses...good luck, and let us know how it goes! |
Re: Another Disenchanted Mattress Buyer Needs Help
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I also just built a new foam mattress, and I am delighted with mine. You can read about it here, http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/another-foam-factory-bed-foamdistributingcom/5571-0-1.html. I now have a king, with a base of 4" HR foam, 2.5" of egg crate foam, 3" of 5.5 lb memory foam, and 2" of 4.5 lb memory foam, all bound by a mattress pad from Overstock. Comments: First, we love it. Just the foam and eggcrate was a _very_ firm bed while waiting for the memory foam (long story) that my wife's back could not stand. The mattress itself is much firmer than the Tempurpedic at the store that this is supposed to be based on (I found a recipe on the internet and tried it. It worked. I got lucky.) Some people who dislike the foam describe sleeping on foam as sleeping on mushy cement. I like the feel, but I'm not sure how to describe it. I don't feel I sink in all that much, but I am sleeping on a fitted sheet on a quilted mattress top on 5" of memory foam. The mattress at the store had a thick comforter over all that, which made it hard to feel the mattress. I would suggest going to the store and laying on a MF mattress, and being rather firm that you don't want to be disturbed for at least a half hour. Polyeurothane vs latex: The latex mattress at Sleepy's was bouncy as all get out, but I don't know specs on it. I was mainly going there to see what to expect from the polyeurothane/memory foam mattress to see if I loved it or hated it. Bare poly gives, latex bounces back when it gives, and memory foam kind of melts away and you sink into it. As a guess, if you toss and turn, then memory foam will either cure you of that or drive you insane because you do tend to sink into a hole and stay there a while. Mattress surgery: Don't know yet. A month ago we cursed the futon as an instrument of torture; we now refer to the old spring mattress in similar terms (a month ago it was "the good bed"); partly this is because we've gotten to like the foam, and the spring mattress is very lively in comparison. Partly it's because the foam on the spring mattress is 8 years old and likely quite dead. No dips or divots, though; we got our money's worth out of it. Hopefully someone with experience with this will respond, I'd love to read it as well. Memory foam: First, hit my link for a description of how to get what you paid for in memory foam; much of it will be lighter than spec. From what I've read, the lighter stuff you sink into deeper, and it doesn't last as long. I have zero experience to back that up, but I've read it a couple places. Second, consider just putting a layer of MF over your current mattress for a week's test. It will conform to your current problems, so you will still have the dips and divots, but you'll get a feel for what MF on springs feels like, and then when you go for mattress surgery you will know if you want any memory foam in the mix or not. Again, it's well worth a trip to the store, and if your salesperson is like ours was you won't even feel bad about going there with no plan to actually buy. But it will let you compare, for a given quality level, the various options. We decided pretty quickly that we did not want latex, you may fall in love with it. If you think you actually like a mattress, ask to be left alone to lay on it for at least a half hour. Overnight would be better but good luck with that... |
Re: Another Disenchanted Mattress Buyer Needs Help
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I think the difference in feel is that the all-foam sinks in differently depending on which type of foam you use(latex is boingy, p/u is just foam, MF is sinky). To me, they don't push back like springs do. The problems in your mattresses wasn't the springs. It sounds like the foam in both cases. So, try foams if you want, but you don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater....you can get a simple mattress made the old fashioned way, with really good springs and minimal cushioning on top...then add toppers as you like. That way you don't suffer through the lumpies again. I went throught a latex mattress(too boingy, too hot for me, plus eventually left a butt-dent), an air mattress(I bought Select Comfort when the first came out)...air does not push back either..and air is hard when compressed...the whole comfort level of that bed was determined by the foam I used on top, Two Restonic mattresses, a S& F ...all three of these had body impressions inside of three months. Then one my husband picked, a small brand but the foam failed in that too...so I did mattress surgery and found pocket coils, glued to layers of cheap p/u...about seven inches of that crap. I didn't even come close to sleeping near the springs!!! The kids have that one, they're still messing with it. I don't like pocket coils, they are thin and uncomfortable to me. Anyway, finally had one made for me, offset coils, two layers of insulator(rather than having the springs glued to foam!!), and cotton batting, with a little P/U foam on top. Nice bed. Took awhlie to break in, added a poly fill topper, and I'm good. My back pain is gone, finally. Good springs to me are critical to good sleep. Hope you find your answer!!!! Kait |
Re: Another Disenchanted Mattress Buyer Needs Help
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I'm definitely going to tackle the mattress surgery first. If we like the way it feels after we replace the crappy foam, we may use it that way or just buy a firm no frills coil mattress and use our own toppers. Or, maybe we'll chuck the whole thing and build our own foam mattress! Clearly I'm not of a firm (haha!) opinion yet, but hopefully tomorrow we're going to go lay on some more mattresses.<BR><BR>The reality is that I LOVE the feel of the squishy pillowtops at the store, specifically one that was a memory foam/latex blend with coils. I'd like to recreate it at home in a way that will last (or that I can easily replace that squishy layer). Which brings me to more questions. Does the cuddle bed make it feel like the pillowtop at the store? If I put the cuddlebed over the mf or low ILD latex, will it reduce the boinginess or sponginess of those products? <BR><BR>And now for my plan - at the moment I'm thinking that I'll order 3" of HD36 HQ to put on top of our springs (if we end up ditching the mattress, I may add 3" of lux or perhaps some firm latex). I'm thinking of topping that with either 2" of Sensus 5lb mf (anyone know how that compares to the 5.5 or 4.5 mf from FBM?) or an inch or two of low ILD latex (20 perhaps?). So...is that too much foam for my mattress surgery? Is that a mattress in and of itself?<BR><BR>Also, I was thinking of getting the cuddlebed if it actually mimics the pillowtop feel, but I really need some sort of cover that is waterproof because I have a 5 month old. She doesn't regularly sleep in our bed, but accidents happen everywhere so I want to be prepared! I suffer from a lot of allergies, so I'd like something that is allergen resistant. Any recommendations?<BR> <BR>Any help/opinions are much appreciated! This message was modified Sep 1, 2009 by wifecat
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Re: Another Disenchanted Mattress Buyer Needs Help
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Your mention of the 'squishy' pillowtop over coils reminded me of a Verlo mattress i tried out that i loved..and i'm trying to replicate it! In response to some of your questions: --I just received my cuddlebed, and am going to put it over the latex layer (ILD 20) that i'm waiting for, and over the 1" of memory foam (sensus) that is airing out right now. This all goes on top of my HD36 3" and LUX 3". The Cuddlebed feels very nice, and probably gives a bit of cush, but isn't supposed to be a *significant* layer. --I hear that FBM's memory foam is very inconsistent in terms of density; Sensus is 5 lb, and supposedly very consistent, so that's probably the best bet. It feels very soft, softer than i expected, but is supposed to be good quality (got mine at Overstock--great deal). I'll report back when I've got this configured..probably later this week! |