Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Dec 28, 2008 1:34 PM
Joined: Dec 28, 2008
Points: 13
Just purchased a King Koil - Cool Nights latex mattress and both my husband and I feel like it felt much less firm in the store.

My gut was telling me not to make the purchase, but my husband was waking up in pain every morning.  We were sleeping on a Simmons pillow top Back Supporter.  We decided latex was the way to go.  I thought we should go the DIY route or buy a more expensive "all latex" model....but here we are.  I know the KK has a non latex foam core and lots of latex on top, we bought a higher end model that has more latex in it but still...

Now I'm thinking I need to soften this KK up.  Will a laytex topper help?  Can someone recommed a topper model, latex or otherwise?

I am so disappointed so far with this purchase.

Thanks.

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #4 Dec 31, 2008 10:35 AM
Joined: Dec 28, 2008
Points: 13
Thanks y'all.  I cannot tell y'all how sick I am about buying this mattress.

There is a reatailer online called cloud9 airmattress beds....they have latex too and lots of toppers.  So, it was not you personally that I emailed.  Sorry for the confusion.

My husband is truly disappointed, but I think it's just me in pain.  He for sure not as comfortable and he thought he would be after spending $3000. He was in pain with our old mattress and I was sleeping like a baby.  This mattress has 6 layers and has the most latex of another model we were considering.  It's not latex through out and I think it's the non latex foam core that is causing the problem.

Last night was better with the pilow top added and I'm hoping the 2" latex topper will fully solve the problem.  If not, I may be sleeping up stairs on the old bed or we may have to see if we can get anyting out of the new one and then start from square one and buy another bed.

Another reason to go with all latex and from a source y'all talk about here is to to be able to tweak each side.  I know that now. 

I'm 5'2 110 and Bob is 5'10 190.

I also bought a very comfy latex pillow.  I still have neck and back pain this morning and a little bit of a headache but not as bad as yesterday.  I'll post when I get the topper and I am hoping is solves the problem.

Seems like we basically spent $3000 on a foundating to add all these toppers!  I'll be up to 3 when the latex comes in.   

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #5 Dec 31, 2008 12:01 PM
Location: Yosemite area
Joined: Sep 10, 2008
Points: 249
Sometimes a mattress that is new is a bit firmer than it will be once it is broken in...but it shouldn't be that much of a difference.  Might be glues and such.  Are you SURE the store won't return it?
I have another site for more mattress info if anyone is interested.  The man sells Sealy and S/F mattresses, but is a very knowledgeable person. He knows what is inside the ready-made mattresses and will tell you.  You can spend hours upon hours going through this site.  He does not know about Flobeds, or making your own bed, info you can find here, but as far as questions about what you bought he can answer.   http://blog.pennlive.com/mattress/
I found out what was inside a mattress I slept on in a hotel, the spring type and such, and what foam was inside the bed pretty much.  Interesting.

Kait
Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #6 Jan 1, 2009 12:18 PM
Joined: Dec 28, 2008
Points: 13
Kait - thanks for that site.  I will check it out.

I called the store and asked about an exchange and was told they make no exceptions.  It also says it on my invoice.  I asked for the warranty paperwork and have already filled it out.  Not sure if I will get anywhere with that, but we are going to try.  My contention is there has to be something wrong with the mattress for it to feel this firm.

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #7 Jan 1, 2009 2:25 PM
Joined: May 22, 2008
Points: 171
You know, I went the customizable route (with SleepEZ) and after many months of messing around I am still not happy and feel like you do. I wanted to sleep late today (because of New Year's last nite) but got out of bed at 8am because my body hurt from being in bed. Its sad. I did a couple of exchanges and ended up making things way softer than they suggested at first. Then I added layers - 1" memory foam, 1" convoluted foam, 1" wool topper, cuddlebed, feather bed, etc (not all at the same time obviously). Still can't find any combination thats really comfortable, and I'm still very sore when I wake up in the morning. And don't really know what to do. I'm thinking that maybe foam just isn't for me - I didn't like my Tempurpedic either. But what now? Don't know...

Steve

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #8 Jan 1, 2009 7:47 PM
Joined: Dec 28, 2008
Points: 13
I wanted to sleep in this morning too, but just can't do it in this bed.  It totally sucks to spend so much money and have this kind of result.  Sorry you are going through it too.  This new bed has completely ruined my sleep.

At least I still have the old bed that I was sleeping so good on.  We got it set up, upstairs and I just made it up.  I can at least sleep up there - but I hate to do that and leave Bob downstairs.  He is more uncomfortable in the old bed versus the new.

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #9 Jan 1, 2009 10:33 PM
Location: Yosemite area
Joined: Sep 10, 2008
Points: 249
Here's one thing you can try.  First, educate yourself about what works for you and what doesn't, also for your husband.  I like the mattress site I posted earlier, because you can find out what is inside of your favorite bed, so you can find out  why you have pain with some and not with others. You have to be proactive now days because there are too many crappy choices!!!! 
Then, once you are pretty sure what you like and what you need, look around for a mattress maker.  They are out there.  Then you beg them to redo your mattress for you, to make it your specs.  I have done that in the past, took our last mattress apart and redid it.  Problem was that the spring unit was not one I could use(I don't like pocket coils) so just changing out the foam would not fix my issue. 
I have heard another thing.  Sue them.  Now, I am not litigious, but the bed you have is NOT the same as the one you tried in the store.   I head from a bed salesman that when people sue about a bad bed they win.  Might just be in CA, but  probably not.  Chances are the judge has gone through some of this too and it could work in your favor!  Just a thought. 
Does King Koil make their own mattresses?  If so, perhaps they can redo yours? 
Just rambling thoughts.
Kait
Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #10 Jan 2, 2009 12:05 AM
Location: Oregon
Joined: Oct 25, 2008
Points: 130
Michelle,

I think when you receive the 2" latex topper from FBM it will soften your bed up to where you can sleep in it OK. At the very least it should be at least as soft as the sample bed you tried in the store. I don't think I'd recommend keeping all of those other toppers on at the same time but you might experiment and see what will work for you. I did see some King Koils in the NW where I live and they really looked pretty good compared to the S brand's latex. What I mean be that is that it seemed to me at the time that the King Koil latex mattresses did not seem to have a lot of PU fluff on top of the latex, which is good. If your mattress is too firm - it can be softened to an extent..

Some other things to think about are:  Do you and your husband sleep on your side, stomach or back? A side sleeper will need a softer mattress than a stomach sleeper. Do you prefer a firm, medium or soft bed?  A local wise mattress maker told me that the man usually compromises to a softer mattress for his wife; as women have hips and men don't. Not that some women will not want a firm bed...

Good luck and be very firm with the mattress store. Make it known that you are not happy and are hurting. Ask them what exactly you should do? Ask them what they would do if they were you? Go to the owner or manager of the store, if its a chain go up the channel.

Bill

This message was modified Jan 2, 2009 by BillB
Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #11 Jan 2, 2009 6:24 AM
Joined: Sep 7, 2007
Points: 476
Steve wrote: You know, I went the customizable route (with SleepEZ) and after many months of messing around I am still not happy and feel like you do. I wanted to sleep late today (because of New Year's last nite) but got out of bed at 8am because my body hurt from being in bed. Its sad. I did a couple of exchanges and ended up making things way softer than they suggested at first. Then I added layers - 1" memory foam, 1" convoluted foam, 1" wool topper, cuddlebed, feather bed, etc (not all at the same time obviously). Still can't find any combination thats really comfortable, and I'm still very sore when I wake up in the morning. And don't really know what to do. I'm thinking that maybe foam just isn't for me - I didn't like my Tempurpedic either. But what now? Don't know...

I briefly had a SleepEZ mattress too-- nicely constructed, beautiful LI latex--but no matter how I configured it I was so uncomfortable I just couldn't sleep on it. Either the mattress felt so hard my body ached just from lying on it or it was so soft I had no back support and my back hurt in other ways.  I would lie awake for hours before I fell asleep out of pure exhaustion, and after two hours I would wake up in pain, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep again. Sometime I would get up and tear the bed apart rearranging the cores trying to get some relief. Eventually I just went into the guest room and finished out the night on my old mattress. After six weeks I sent it back.

Latex can be very difficult to configure and SleepEZ only gives you one comfort exchange. Sure if you go with Flobeds you can keep trying for the next 90 days, but honestly, I was so worn out I wouldn't have had the energy to go through all that--to say nothing of wanting to incur the shipping charges swapping out cores all the time. The fact is, latex just isn't for everyone. I was really disappointed to discover it wasn't for me at this point in my life, even though I had slept on latex for 20 years as a teenager and young adult and loved it.

After the SleepEZ mattress I went back to an innerspring, but today's innerspring mattresses are more like PU foam mattresses with a built in box spring that sits on a solid foundation. They just don't provide the same kind of support the old flippable mattresses did. So what's next? Kait has the best solution, but it's not as easy as all that to find a mattress maker. And if you just have to settle for what's out there why bother buying a new mattress at all? I've tweaked my mattress by removing some of the foam and replacing it with my own and it's already better than it was, although it's still not perfect yet.  I have to agree with Michelle about so many mattresses these days:  "It totally sucks to spend so much money and have this kind of result."

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #12 Jan 2, 2009 5:05 PM
Joined: May 22, 2008
Points: 171
cloud9 wrote:

I briefly had a SleepEZ mattress too-- nicely constructed, beautiful LI latex--but no matter how I configured it I was so uncomfortable I just couldn't sleep on it. Either the mattress felt so hard my body ached just from lying on it or it was so soft I had no back support and my back hurt in other ways.  I would lie awake for hours before I fell asleep out of pure exhaustion, and after two hours I would wake up in pain, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep again. Sometime I would get up and tear the bed apart rearranging the cores trying to get some relief..xxx... .After the SleepEZ mattress I went back to an innerspring, but today's innerspring mattresses are more like PU foam mattresses with a built in box spring that sits on a solid foundation. They just don't provide the same kind of support the old flippable mattresses did.


Yeah, I don't blame SleepEZ, they were nice and let me keep my exchanges for a long time while I played around with layers. Its just that I could never get the bed feeling really good. Its weird because I feel like its too firm sometimes (especially shoulders) but too soft other times (especially hip area). I may call them back to see what they suggest, but at this point I am thinking that (for whatever reason) latex just isn't for me. There is something to be said for being able to customize your mattress; on the other hand, it would be awfully nice to just buy a bed and have it feel great and last! Since I don't want to go back to an S brand, I'm thinking of checking out Dux and Hastens. Expensive, but worth it if they let me sleep comfortably...

Steve

Re: Feel like I slept on a Rock - Now what?
Reply #13 Jan 3, 2009 9:18 PM
Location: Yosemite area
Joined: Sep 10, 2008
Points: 249
People say that latex doesn't sag, but I had a Talalay mattress that did.  Looked okay, but my low back was in pain.  I don't really like the feel of latex, feels boingy to me. 
It is a serious business to purchase a new bed these days.  I have actually lost count of how many I've gone through in the last ten years.  There is no connection between what I've paid to the length of time they've lasted.  If I went with a name brand, I would have probably gotten a Sealy.  But I didn't because they own S & F and did not honor any warranty on a new bed I bought.  Foam went flat and my back ached inside of three months. 
Shop around.  Try to find an independent place that makes beds, perhaps.  At least you can go back and tweak the insides if it isn't quite right.
Kait