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So I was dead set on the below blue print for a DIY memory foam mattress but after seeing Talalay Latex thrown around so much I'm wondering if it's any better? Price wise, lasting, cooler, etc I'm around 6'1 and 160 lbs at the moment naturally skinny frame with a bad back which I believe is due to sleeping on the floor/horrible Target pillows for the last 6 years. I like the plushy/sinking in feel that the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme has.
Blue Print: Bottom Layer: 6inches LuxHQ from foambymail http://www.foamdistributing.com/LHQ_2/lux-hq-foam-mattress.html Middle Layer: 4inch/4lb Aerus topper from sleepwarehouse.com http://www.sleepwarehouse.com/aerus4lbmemoryfoammattresstopper.aspx Top Layer: 4inch/5lb Sensus topper from sleepwarehouse.com http://www.sleepwarehouse.com/sensus5lbmemoryfoammattresstopper.aspx My plan is to place them on the floor until I can grab a platform bed frame from craigslist or somewhere for cheap. Now my place gets dusty and has carpet so my thinking is to wrap it in some sort of cover either individually or altogether as to avoid any stains, water damage( I eat and drink in my room and theres a cat living here) etc. The idea is to cover the foam once to protect it then again so that the sheets won't slip off (assuming the base cover is slippery) and then put sheets on that allow a cool and comfortable surface both in the winter and during the summer. What do you guy's think? Cheaper way? easier way? Firmer base foam? (keep in mind my budget is limited and I'd have to buy these pieces one at a time over the course of a couple of months most likely. I'm a college student.) |
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I am a broke college student like yourself and have studied DIY mattresses once before and again recently after being rather disappointed with my Sealy Posturpedic Pillowtop. When I originally bought the mattress I ordered a 3 or 4 inch memory topper from foambymail. The topper was white but I think may be different than their current white memory foam. Either way, the topper was amazing and the bed was great. My dog tore up the memory foam and so now I sleep directly on the mattress which is so firm it hurts my back. So I again started the research recently. I kept hearing about the Tempurpedic Celebrity as the King of the Memory Foam Hill, so I did a little looking and found this picture:
After more seaching I found that Tempurpedic has a few memory foams: Tempur which is a 5.3lbs/ft3 density and an ILD ~14-15. Tempur HD which is a 7lbs/ft3 density and unknown ILD. Tempur ES which is a 4.1lbs/ft3 density and unknown ILD. The bottom, marked "C" is their "Airflow" system. 7 inches of foam, two 3.5" convoluted layers with a listed density of 2.2lbs/ft3, I am unable to find the ILD of it. "A" is called the comfort layer and is 5.3lbs/ft3 density with unknown ILD of 2" memory foam. This is Tempur HD if I am not mistaken. "B" is called the support layer and is also listed at 5.3lbs/ft3 density with ~14-15 ILD. Now that I have identified the components, although I lack ILDs for most layers, I feel fairly comfortable that I can recreate this mattress for less than $550, which includes a velour zippered cover for the mattress. I am unaware if the airflow layers are the same density and ILD, but for my proposed build I made them different. Here is my supposed setup from top to bottom: 2" 5lbs/ft3 memory foam with an ILD lower than 14. Not sourced yet. 3" 5lbs/ft3 memory foam: http://www.foambymail.com/V_5/5lb-memory-foam-topper.html 1.5" HD36-HQ convoluted foam: http://www.foambymail.com/EC_/eggcrate-foam-topper.html 2" HD36-HQ foam: http://www.foambymail.com/HDHQ_2/hd36-hq-foam-mattress.html 1.5" LUX-HQ convoluted foam: http://www.foambymail.com/EC_/eggcrate-foam-topper.html 2" LUX-HQ convoluted foam: http://www.foambymail.com/LHQ_2/lux-hq-foam-mattress.html Wrap it all up in this velour cover: http://www.amazon.com/Mattress-Cover-JACQUARD-ZIPPERED-COVER/dp/B0019IIGXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342236060&sr=8-1&keywords=velour+jacquard+cover+12 That leaves me at about $465 and I think even without the 2" top layer you would have a nice memory foam mattress.
You mentioned that you like the Cloud Supreme, so I did a little research on that and this is what I found:
If you use foambymail stuff, you can't really make a 3" or 4" layer with convoluted foam, but you could do a 3.5" and a 4.5" layer either using Lux-HQ or HD36-HQ or a combination of both for your airflow system. The Tempur Support Layer is perfectly replaced by FBM's pink memory foam. Good luck on your quest, feel free to peruse the FatWallet thread with a ton of information: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/320543/ This message was modified Jul 14, 2012 by DIYJoel
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Joel,
Went to the American Mattress Store today to try out the different Tempur/Sealy foam beds. Didn;t really find one I was totally into. One of the Sealy's came close but it was $1700. It's super annoying having the sales guy stand over your shoulder forever. Makes relaxing realy difficult.The sales guy today was a pain. He was like you should know after 15 minutes if you want it or not. What a dick dude.
I'd be interested in finding out how close that came to the Tempur Model. Your trying to recreate tempur celebrity bed, right?
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Well I am just tossing around ideas and doing research since I cannot yet afford to really do anything. I have done a bit of research and just wanted to share what I had since you are going the DIY route. I too tried Tempurpedic beds when I was shopping and didn't like memory foam beds at all, so I went with a conventional mattress. After sleeping on that memory topper and loving it I am going to try the DIY route. I find it odd that the salesperson was hovering over you, because in Florida when I went shopping the salespeople were all very nice and let me lay on whatever I wanted as long as I wanted. If they are hovering I would suggest finding a new place. Maybe there aren't many near you, but in Florida there were at least 3 bed stores within one block, so the customer ultimately held the power. I was just trying to figure out how to replicate the Celebrity because I heard that it was top notch, but I now see that Tempurpedic has really varied their offerings. The information I got was mainly from the FatWallet thread, so it is quite dated. But I feel that I have gotten some great information in my research, just really wish I could find the ILDs/IDFs of the new Tempur materials. I am pretty dead set on the setup I listed above, and I really think that my top 2" layer would be perfect with that Aerus you have listed. In reviewing your setup you really have a lot of memory foam, which I would be afraid would be a bit too much give. What about starting with five or six inches of memory foam? If that isn't enough, you can always buy more. But if you get those two eight inch toppers and decide it is too much then you are stuck unless you want to go with just one of the four inch toppers. |
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My setup does have a lot of memory foam. probably to much. I'm wondering though are you a side sleeper? because I am and this upcoming month I'll be either buying a bed or constructing one so I'm trying to make up my mind. Actually I'm quite tempted to try your setup especially cause of the price. Still a little hestitant to spend money on something I can't really return but going without a bed is killing my back. Found out today i havea twisted pelvis that is causing me to not get great sleep. Sucks. Did a little looking into water beds and futons. Wouldn't mind getting a water bed but my current residence probably coudln't handle the weight. Gonna go to the futon store and try some out Monday. The store I'm going to carries the Otis line of futons and from what I understand they are the gold standard in futon beds these day's.
That sales guy is nice if your in and out in ten minutes but I was laying on each mattress for like 15 minutes to test out the feel of each one. Didn't see the harm in trying them out. |
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Andy, I actually am a side sleeper. And since I last wrote I have been waking up with aches all over my body. I am hoping it is due to my mattress and not something else and since that mattress has always hurt my back without a topper I am suspecting this is the case. So I definitely am right there with you. And I too am going to have to get a new mattress, but I am too thrifty to buy one, so I only have the choice to make one. Since you are hesitant it would be worth taking the time to read through the DIY foam bed discussion over at fatwallet that I linked previously. The good thing is that you cannot return it if you don't like it, if you don't get the layers glued together you can always add or remove layers, switch the positions of layers or even use any of the layers on a new setup until you find exactly what works for you. That is what I like about the setup, all is not lost if it doesn't work for you and I am sure a like new memory foam or latex topper would be an easy sell either on CL or eBay. Looking at the Otis website, they have some pictures with cutaways of their mattresses and it looks like their memory foam mattresses are convoluted foams with memory foam on top wrapped with poly fill and put in a cover. This would be fairly easy to replicate is you find an Otis mattress that works for you. The Quasar uses 2" of 5# memory foam and the Pulsar uses 3" of 3# memory foam. Since convoluted foam is quite cheap, as is polyfill, this setup wouldn't be too expensive to duplicate. If there is somewhere local that has the Otis mattresses to lay on, this could really help you if you go the DIY route. If you want to try each mattress out, bring your pillow in there and let the sales people know that you are going to take your time and not to mind you. Good luck. |
| I like your plan Joel. I would like to do something similar. I already have a 3.5" 4lb topper, do you think I could either put it on top or under the 3" 5lb layer? My husband has lower back problems and prefers a more supportive bed. Any info you could help me with would be great! Thanks. |
| You can honestly put it on top or underneath, depending on what works for you. To be honest, the density in pounds doesn't tell the whole story, a 4 pound foam and a 5 pound foam may have the same ILD/IDF which means they would feel the same, but generally the 5 pound foam is better quality and will last longer. Best way to find out what does or doesn't work for you is to give it a go. If your husband prefers a more supportive bed, he may not like laying on 6+ inches of memory foam. He would probably prefer a firm base with 3 inches of memory foam. |
| How do you think the Isoform http://www.isoform.com/3inchisoformmemoryfoammattresspad-p-43.html topper compares with the foam by mail one that you have linked? They are similar in price. I can't find the ILD for the isoform. I want whatever is closest to the Tempurpedic ones. |
| I don't have any first hand experience, but they are both five pound foams and about the same price, so they may very well be very close. You say you want as close to Tempurpedic as possible, but now Tempurpedic is using at least 3 different kinds of memory foam, Tempur, Tempur ES and Tempur HD. I haven't found anything on the ILD/IDF of the last two, but the Sensus and FBM foam matches the regular Tempur memory foam pretty closely. |
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Hi Joel - Thanks for the great post! I'm about to use your suggestions to build a foam mattress. Just wanted to check if you had any updates or managed to source the top 2" layer? Kartik |
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ksundar wrote: Hi Joel -
Thanks for the great post! I'm about to use your suggestions to build a foam mattress. Just wanted to check if you had any updates or managed to source the top 2" layer? Kartik
Kartik,
Depending on the ILD your looking for...The Aerus mentioned in my first post is 12ILd and the Sensus is 13ILD. There a little more expensive but worth it. There are other foams on sleepwarehouse that are lower ILD too.
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| thanks |