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Yep, I finally ordered the components for my DIY Eastern King mattress. I decided to go for 6" of high quality latex on top of what I hope will turn out to the ultimate cheapskate's bargain... 5" of extremely inexpensive HR (high-resilience) PU foam. Final selections from the bottom up plus cover: $ 85.00 5" 50 ILD 2.8 lb/cu ft HR PU LUX Foam Skins (5 x 1") 480.00 4" 32 ILD Latex Int'l. Talatech Blended Latex (2 x 2") 240.00 2" 24 ILD Latex Int'l. Talatech Blended Latex X 74.99 11" Luna Zippered Mattress Encasement $ 879.99 TOTAL PU Foam — This is the fun part of my little DIY experiment. The 5" of PU foam should be extremely firm and should have a decent lifetime since it is high density. I was going to go with the regular 50 ILD 2.8 lb/cu ft HR PU LUX Foam until I discovered the skin form of the same foam. About $120 less for 5 inches. We'll see! Latex — I hope I'm guessing right on the choice of latex layers (now the fun begins, right? Cover — The cover? Well, sorry purists, I'm gonna try it and hopefully it won't be too hot and won't mask the latex too much. I guess I like the idea of protecting those layers, plus my wife has allergies and we've lived with a "breathable" encasement on our traditional mattress for years. Gotta run. More later... This message was modified Jun 12, 2010 by pianoman
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Pianoman, I like your choices! You ended up with a mattress similar to what I'm sleeping on at half the price. I have 6 inches of 40 ILD LI blended LI latex, 2 inches of 32 ILD blended LI latex, with 3 inches of 24-28 medium ILD LI natural latex on top....total of 11 inches. So far I love my combination for comfort and support. I would think you will have a similar feel. Mine sits on a very firm foundation from the local mattress company I bought from. Good luck! let us know how it works out. |
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My only question is in your choice of zippered mattress cover. I notice it says it's waterproof and I wonder whether it will be sufficiently breathable. Latex does need to breath, and idk about PU foam, but I'm guessing it does too. I think I would have recommended a simple terry cloth zippered cover instead of the waterproof. Also, when I first got my latex mattress, I also bought a waterproof mattress protector. I found it almost completely nullified the wonderful feel of the latex and didn't have that great a feel itself. So, see how that feels and you might want to change out that one component. Then again, the whole thing may work wonderfully for you. |
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I agree with Kimberly about the mattress pad. But you hopefully can return it and get a cotton terry cover. If you like the pad, great, but I do have my doubts. I think you will like the 2" 24ILD on top, if you get a flexible stretchy cotton cover. If you cover it with a plastic type pad, or firm mattress pad, it will not be the same comfort. I have learned, but most of us have to try ourselves to see. But as I said I am finicky. Best of luck, let us know how it works for you. |
| I don't think you bought LUX HQ foam, I think you bought LUX HR foam. Big difference in longevity between the two foams. |
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laredo7mm wrote: I don't think you bought LUX HQ foam, I think you bought LUX HR foam. Big difference in longevity between the two foams. Great point... I didn't even think about that. |
But they do have both Lux-HQ and Lux-R, and I'll bet you're right. Bet it's the Lux-R (lower grade) crusts I just bought. Oops. I'm going to have to contact the company and see about that. If necessary (and if I still can), I'll have to upgrade back to the Lux-HQ "non-crust" foam. I think I hear their cash register ringing again! |
Leo3 wrote: I agree with Kimberly about the mattress pad. But you hopefully can return it and get a cotton terry cover. If you like the pad, great, but I do have my doubts. I think you will like the 2" 24ILD on top, if you get a flexible stretchy cotton cover. If you cover it with a plastic type pad, or firm mattress pad, it will not be the same comfort. I have learned, but most of us have to try ourselves to see. But as I said I am finicky. Don't know if I can still cancel the order for my cover, but assuming I can, where do I find a good flexible stretchy cotton cover? I'd like one that encases the mattress (to protect the foam) and has a three- or four-sided zipper. I know FBM has 8" (max 9") terry covers but I need 11". |
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If I remember correctly the LUX-R is good for 7 years according to the specs on foam by mail's website. You could just use it until it breaks down, and then buy the HQ. I built a similar mattress to yours but I used one 2 inch piece of LUX , and two 2 inch pieces of HD36, with a 3 inch and 1 inch thick topper. So six inches of conventional and 4 inches of latex. I bought all of my foam from foam by mail. I got my cover from here: You might have to search their store a bit to find your size. Not sure if they have an 11" one, but for how tight mine fits, you should be OK if you buy the 12" cover and only stuff it with 11 inches of foam. The cover is OK. I just found it odd that the zipper is on the bottom. It made it kind of hard to get everything aligned and zipped up in the case. I would rather have the zipper on top, so I can use the case to help align the foam, plus make the zippering easier. I also found the dimensions to be a bit small, which also added to the difficulty trying to zip everything up. Small in the 76 x 80 dimension, not the thickness. I thought about turning everything upside down and putting the foam in the case, but being a one man operation with limited space, that wasn't much of an option. Looking at the specs of the case you bought, it says it allows airflow. Should be OK if you decide to stick with it. This message was modified May 28, 2010 by laredo7mm
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| Oh, and I forgot to mention that it took foam by mail about three days to fullfill and ship my order, so if you decide to change the LUX foam, you should have plenty of time to give them a call. |
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Laredo — The cover looks great, and at a great price. I noticed on the web site where I ordered my cover that it says orders placed by 4:00 PM EST ship same day, so I may be out of luck on cancelling it (I ordered this morning). I'll definitely contact FBM to clarify which Lux (HQ or Regular) the foam skins are and to possibly change my order. Or maybe I'll just live with the Lux-R, as you also suggested. Anyway, thanks for the heads up! This message was modified May 28, 2010 by pianoman
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laredo7mm wrote: I don't think you bought LUX HQ foam, I think you bought LUX HR foam. Big difference in longevity between the two foams. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it took foam by mail about three days to fullfill and ship my order, so if you decide to change the LUX foam, you should have plenty of time to give them a call. Should let you know that I did call FBM yesterday (Tuesday) morning when they opened. The FBM receptionist confirmed they are Lux-R skins, so it will the lower quality 1.8 lbs/cu ft density foam. And, despite the fact that my order had just been placed on Friday (and they were closed Saturday through Memorial Day), they said they could not change or add to my order once it was in their system. Seems a little inflexible to me. Anyway, I'll just go with what I ordered for now. This message was modified Jun 3, 2010 by pianoman
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pianoman wrote: Should let you know that I did call FBM yesterday (Tuesday) morning when they opened. The FBM receptionist confirmed they are Lux-R skins, so it will the lower quality 1.8 lbs/cu ft density foam. And, despite the fact that my order had just been placed on Friday (and they were closed Saturday through Memorial Day), they said they could not change or add to my order once it was in their system. Seems a little inflexible to me. Anyway, I'll just go with what I ordered for now. Just looked up my order status and found out that my FBM order shipped yesterday and should arrive tomorrow. So at least they fulfilled it promptly. Now the only thing I'm waiting on is my latex from SleepEZ. It probably won't arrive until next week, but I have to give Shawn from SleepEZ two thumbs up (as so many have in this forum). My order was placed last Friday and he personally called me later that day to confirm my order. He also informed me that they get very few orders for 2" latex layers (they use 3" and 1.5" layers in their beds and presumably for layer exchanges). He told me he would have to order and receive my components from the supplier (Latex International) before he could ship them . He estimated that he would get them tomorrow and would ship them right away. Great communication and customer service, at least so far. When those latex layers arrive, the fun begins!! This message was modified Jun 3, 2010 by pianoman
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| Click for updates on my Hybrid Latex / PU Foam Mattress, including photos! |