DIY latex mattress results
| Thanks to everyone who's posted about their latex topper and mattress experiences, as well as opinions on different vendors. I have now completed my own DIY latex mattress setup and thought I'd post my experiences. About 6 years ago, I bought a twin extra-long 3" 100% natural Talalay topper from Foamsweetfoam.com. (At the time, they were selling toppers--now, they don't.) I bought mine for about $150, because it had some damage to it. The damage wasn't anything I couldn't live with--a few tears, some dirt, etc. I brushed it off, put it under a fitted sheet, and placed it on top of a way-too-hard (but very good) new Simmons Beautyrest mattress. When I bought the topper, I was told it was "medium" in firmness and what most people bought. I've used this setup for the past 6 years or so but found myself growing increasingly uncomfortable (probably age--late 50s, normal weight). The topper itself still functions fine--although it has yellowed a lot and is shedding little bits of dried rubber (like sand), there are no indentations or anything else that would affect one's sleep. Anyway, so I decided I might need a less thick, softer latex topper. My plan was to replace the old 3" one with that. After much research and hunting around, I bought the 2" Talalay Latex Mattress Pad Topper-100% Latex from PlushBeds on Amazon.com in twin extra-long for $249, shipping included. It was listed as having a 22-24 ILD ("Medium Soft"), and it was indeed softer than my old 3" Foamsweetfoam.com topper. It arrived promptly and well packaged and included a very nice zipped cover, which I hadn't ordered but was free of charge. The foam was identical to what I'd purchased years before insofar as the hole patterns were concerned--evenly spaced, the same on top and bottom. It had a slightly sweet smell when it arrived, but that eventually dissipated. I slept on the new topper and liked it. Shortly thereafter, though, I ended up putting both toppers on the floor for a night, with the new one on top, and found that that was even better! So after that night, I put both pads back on the Simmons Beautyrest bed, and that worked really well. I then decided to buy an inexpensive twin extra-long frame, which I found on Amazon for $129 plus shipping. The twin extra long frame doesn't have the center slat down the middle that Nomad reviewers often mention as being slightly higher than the other slats, making the frame potentially uncomfortable if you don't put a piece of plywood over the whole thing. The frame was relatively easy to set up, and I covered the slats with a bunch of extra comforters, folded up, then with the old latex topper, followed by the new one. This worked quite well, but I was definitely "bottoming out" when I sat on the "mattress," and even though I felt comfortable as a side sleeper, I thought buying one more 3" layer might help. Although I wanted to get the same 100% natural Talalay latex I'd bought for the previous two toppers, it was hard to justify the extra expense for the bottom layer. I thought about going with Foam By Mail but really didn't like how crummy their toppers and packaging looked in the photos on this site. So, again after much research, I decided to go with the 3" twin extra-long firm Talalay latex firm topper from mattresses247 on eBay for $198, including shipping. I knew this would be a synthetic blend but, again, figured it wouldn't matter much for the bottom layer. My only hesitation was about whether to get the firm or extra-firm. I chose the firm because I figured the extra-firm might be as hard as the bed frame itself--and I could always buy that afterwards if the firm was too soft and then switch around the two layers. Anyway, it arrived a couple of days ago, very well packaged, all wrapped in a large piece of plastic inside a very sturdy big box. Although this pad was the same color as my new 2" topper from PlushBeds, it did not have the same hole pattern as the other two toppers. Rather, the holes looked a bit more randomly placed, especially on one side. Still, though, there were plenty of them, and since this topper was going to be on the bottom, I didn't think this was a problem. The topper was fine--it had less of an initial smell than the 2" one, so I didn't even need to air it out for a while. It was definitely firmer than my old 3" "medium" topper, but I wouldn't call it super firm--just with noticeably more resistance to it when I squeezed it. I assembled the new "mattress" and discovered that my old topper from Foamsweetfoam.com was about 2" shorter than the new toppers. I'd wondered about the length when I'd bought the 2" topper, because I'd noticed it was slightly longer than the old one. But when I got the second new topper, which was identical in length to the first new topper, I realized the old Foamsweetfoam.com one wasn't the proper length for a twin extra long. It was okay, though--my feet don't go down that far anyway. I covered everything up with a fitted bottom sheet, placing all 3 toppers on a couple of folded-up comforters (which covered the bed-frame slats). Last night was my first using this setup, and it was great! I definitely noticed a difference sitting on the "mattress"--I could no longer feel the frame--and sleeping was better too. So, so far I'm very pleased with all this, and my 100% Talalay latex twin extra-long "mattress" came to $597 (not including the frame). (I'll update this if anything changes--you never know. Before we bought the Simmons Beautyrest 6 years ago, we'd tried a Memory Foam mattress we'd purchased on eBay. It felt great at first, but after 8 months on it, I was having a lot of trouble with joints--I think I just sank into it too much. So that's when we replaced it with the Simmons. I'm hoping that doesn't happen with this latex setup--we'll see!) |