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I got my new Flobed - mattress only - earlier this week. I didn't get a new box spring because the Flobed is replacing a Dormia memory foam bed and I'm keeping the Dormia box spring. As it turns out, the Dormia mattress is much heavier than the Flobed so I assume all will be fine. I appreciated BillB's step by step for Foambymail so I thought I would do the same for Flobed. Hopefully it helps some of you in your decision process. Over all, I'm happy with the new bed so far.
The boxes were sort of beat up when they arrived but there was no damage inside. I DO NOT recommend taking the boxes into the house/bedroom. They were pretty dirty and left some black marks on the carpet.
Here's what was inside the 3 boxes. All the components for the mattress. In the 7 bags on the left are the 6 cores and the convolute pad that goes on top. All of the latex components are double bagged. The inner bag is vacuum sealed to compress the latex. The bag to the right is the mattress material - top and bottom. Each bag has a tag to indicate what is inside.
Here I've placed the bottom part of the mattress enclosure on top of the box spring and folded down the sides in preparation for the latex cores.
Taking a latex core out of the first bag. As I mentioned earlier, there is a second bag that is vacuum sealed. If you look closely, you can see the wrinkled plastic from the second bag.
Showing the second bag open and the latex core folded up inside. The latex doesn't expand all that much but vacuum sealing it certainly makes it less bulky for shipping.
The latex core is a bit longer than the mattress enclosure seam on both ends. However, this will not be a problem when zipping up the enclosure.
Each core is labeled on one end to indicate size, firmness, etc. The labeled end should be at the foot of the bed.
Here's an end view after all the cores have been laid in place. They were not difficult at all to place. It is fairly easy to move them and adjust as necessary. Next comes the convolute pad that goes on top.
Here's the convolute pad. OOPS! Houston, we have a problem. They sent a 7th core instead of the pad. I contacted Flobeds and I had a new convolute pad in 2 days. On to the RIGHT photo...
Here's the bed with the convolute pad on top. One side is flat and one side is like an egg carton. Place the egg carton side up. Now you are ready to zip it all up.
As you can kind of see from this photo, the mattress enclosure material seems to fairly heavy duty and of nice quality. The zipper attaches at the foot of the bed in the middle. The photo shows the begining of the zipping process.
I assembled the bed the first time without the convolute pad and used it that way for 2 nights. After adding the pad, I realized the mattress top has sort of a flap on it. Flip this down so it surrounds the latex as you zip. The convolute sort of sticks out and flipping down this material definitely makes it easier to zip.
Here it is all neatly zipped up. I think it looks pretty good in general.
I found the bed to be pretty cold compared to the previous mattress. I think it's a combination of latex being different than memory foam and the fact that it is winter here in Minnesota. So, because I didn't want to feel cold all night long for a 3rd night, I picked up a fiber bed at Kohl's. I personally think this fiber bed is a little too thick. Someone on the forum had mentioned the SnugFleece Original mattress topper. I will look into getting something like that if this doesn't work out.. For now, I think I will be moving the cores around to make things a little firmer on the side I sleep on. The bed seemed very good in terms of firmness until I added the fiber bed. Here is the current set-up for the cores:
I ordered it this way to give me more options for moving things around after the bed arrived. I suspect I will be doing some core exchanges before the 90 days are up. I don't think I need the medium. Today I plan to pull the XFirm from side B and place it on top on side A and see if that takes out some of the extra softeness due to the fiber bed. I will also remove the actual mattress pad as it is pretty thick and I'm sure it adds to the softness. That will leave a moisture cover on the bed and then the fiber bed. The latex is pretty springy. With the memory foam bed, even when it was brand new, there were seemingly permanent indentations in the bed after one night sleeping on it. Not so with the Flobed. It does sink in where your body curves out and then nicely supports the other parts of the body. When you get off the bed, it immediately springs back into shape. That's about all I can think of to say for now. I can always add more photos if there is something specific you want to see. This message was modified Feb 7, 2009 by BobJ
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BobJ, thanks for sharing the pics. I also love my FloBeds and do not find it sleeps cold. I sleep with a duvet cover over a heavy down comforter with a comforter on top over a sheet. I am now using only a fitted sheet over my bed to get the full benefit of the latex. In the summer time, I just take the down comforter out of the duvet cover with the same set-up and I am fine. I ended up liking only X-Firm cores on the firmer side averaging 37 ILD over a 46 ILD Super Firm latex core. I guess I like very firm beds. But I am happy I got to experiment with the latex cores and found that if the bed is too firm (I could not sleep with a topper over the 44 or 46 ILD latex core), I had shoulder pain. If the bed was too soft, I woke up with back pain. It took me awhile but I like the set-up I have now and love sleeping in my comfortable bed. I also love the zippered up mattress cover that feels so nice also. Memory foam sleeps hot keeping you warm in the winter time but making you sweat in the summer time. I would buy yourself a down comforter made for cold winters with a duvet cover and you will not need the extra pads on top of your bed. That is my opinion based on the cold winters I have in Northern NJ which are not even as cold as your winters I am sure. Before I had this set up, I used to sleep with way too many cotton covers that were always a mess. I was initially going to buy a lighter weight down comforter to use all year long but I got a great deal on this Ralph Lauren Discontinued very warm down comforter with free shipping direct from the manufacturer so I went with this instead that was triple washed and does not bother my allergies. I also sleep on natural latex standard pillows that I bought 400 thread count zippered covers for to make them so comfortable. Since I do not yet have a significant other, I sleep alone so I need the warmth of the down comforter in the winter time. My latex bed is warmer than my old approximately 14 year old conventional mattress was but I do not sleep hot like I would if I was sleeping on a memory foam mattress that I am allergic to. I look forward to finding out what your final set-up will be for your FloBed. Again thanks for sharing the pictures for others to see how easy the bed is to put together. I am glad I got split cores also. |
| Thanks Lynn2006. You always provide very useful information and I appreciate it. I am testing tonight without the fiber bed and I hope it works out as I really don't want it - so I'll give an update tomorrow. The fact that your latex bed is warmer than your old bed is encouraging. I do have a down comforter in a duvet cover. I remember when I bought it, the first one was too heavy and hot so I took it back and exchanged for a lighter one. Maybe I need the heavier one now. You may recall that I was upset with Flobed over the screwed up shipment. When the convolute top arrived, they also sent a pillow with memory foam on one side and latex on the other side. It is fantastic - the old pillow is history. So the saga continues. I'm confident I found the right mattress but I may do some fine tuning before it's all done. |
| So the fiber bed is not necessary for warmth. With all the parts, including the convolute pad, the bed is warm. I wonder if Kohl's will let me return it? |
| BobJ, I am glad that your bed is now warm enough wthout the fiber topper. I would pack up the bed and tell Kohl's that you do not need it and I do not see why they would not give you your money back. Or tell them it was a gift and the other person does not want it with your receipt showing you just purchased it. Please keep us updated. If you still need warmth, I would buy the heavier down comforter but maybe you are alright now without any more changes. I am glad FloBeds sent you a pillow and this way you can see which side you like better on the pillow. You are on your way to comfortable sleeping. |
| BobJ, how's the bed working for you? We also received our new Flobed about a week ago and have been enjoying it. My side was soft/med/firm and DH's med/firm/xf, but yesterday we switched the top cores because mine seemed a little soft. I'm worried that the soft core might indent or break down sooner than the others. I think the med/med/firm will be just right for me. But as you can tell, we like fairly soft beds! We're not heavy (128 and 162 pounds) and don't have back issues, at least when we get regular exercise. |
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BlueMoon2, I am glad you are liking your new FloBed like I love mine. What is your husband preferring s the latex combination of ILD's? I found I could not sleep on anything softer than an XFirm latex core with a topper so I must like very firm beds but I have back problems now form a car accident. Do you have the soft latex topper on top of your latex cores? My father also loved soft beds while my mother loved very firm beds. They used to sleep on a king platform bed with a king headboard but on top was two twin beds to accommodate their very different comfort levels. I guess I take after my mother and amazingly I see my mom now when I look in the mirror since she passed away when I was 16 and she was 44. She was so cute and petite and a little more curvy than me. I miss her so much. But I'll never forget how hard here bed was and if we were at a hotel and the bed was too soft, she would have me and her sleep on the floor to make sure I never hurt my back. She could not understand how my father liked such a soft bed but he never had back problems. |
| Hello BlueMoon2. I don't have it all "tuned in" yet but I would say the bed is working out pretty well and I have no regrets. I am 165 lbs and right now I have it at firm/xfirm/xfirm. My preference is more like Lynn2006 and I may even get some super firm cores. I've been changing things around. Dewey had advised to not change them too frequently but to give your body time to adjust. I have been changing things about every 2 days which may still be too frequent. I had it softer in the beginning. I liked the soft feel but was finding that my back did not. I've also found that the bed is warmer than the old and I've ended up removing some blankets. Dewey claims that the convoluted pad stimualtes blood circulation and causes your body to be warmer. He said my body will adjust and the sense of being too warm will go away. I hope and assume the cores will hold up and not deteriorate for a long time. The old memory foam bed tended to sag more as the night went on. I have definitely noticed that this bed does not do that and I'm happy about it. I'm sure some folks are completely satisfied with the original cores when the new bed arrives but I am glad we have the 90 day period to do the core exchanges. Even if I don't need the super firm, I want both sides to be the same in the end. Right now, the other side is firm/firm/medium and it is too soft for my liking. So right now I would say I am in "like" with the bed and not yet in "love" with it. I am, however, very pleased with the way it is working out and am confident that I will get it fully tuned in to my liking. |
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I got a request to update the post and add some photos so here goes... Last night I set up the cores as follows: xfirm / xfirm / firm. This has been the best setting todate. I don't sleep on the other side that currently has: firm / firm / medium. I don't think all the xfirm cores are truly the same density and I believe this threw me off a bit last week. I felt I sank in too much on the xfirm at that time and I had the same core configuration as last night. This time I put the other xfirm on top and didn't sink in all that much. I will keep this setting tonight. I think I probably want things a bit more firm yet and am intending to order 2 super firm cores tomorrow. I will likely swap out the medium and a firm. I'm sort of hoping that this will be my only exchange. I expect to have the following 3 cores on each side: super firm / xfirm / firm. I'll say TBD on the stacking sequence of the 3. I'm still happy with the bed and have no concerns about getting it set just the way I want. I've had it for 2 weeks now and I think the core exchange program is great as it really gives you the opportunity to adjust the bed as needed. I'll also say that I still feel the Flowbed is better than memory foam and I don't want a bed with springs in it. I mentioned before that the bed has been a bit warm compared to the memory foam bed. I had 2 blankets and a down comforter. I took away one blanket and things are fine now. Here are some more-detailed photos of the convolute pad: Side view photo below:  Looking straight down on the pad:  View showing top & bottom of pad:  |
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Great pictures Bob. I wish the sellers websites would post pictures like that before you buy! Some have the smallest pictures to try to see the product. Thanks! Thats great you are happy with it and can swap what you want to. Interesting the same firmness is different on each core piece. I thought Dunlop was the only latex that was inconsistent. But it sounds like Talalay is that way too. This message was modified Feb 17, 2009 by Leo3
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| I didn't sleep very well with our top cores switched, so I went back to s/m/f (top down). I had a little back kink this morning, but it was better than with m/f/f. My husband prefers m/f/xf and says he's sleeping well. I was hoping that my morning tossing would stop, but it's probably due to something else. |